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So I moved to Newport back in May 2013. Maybe it was about 6 months ago or so that Azucar closed down. Skylark has been sitting shut for maybe 3 months, and most recently (must have been within the last month), Boca Grande has shut down as well. Obviously it's too soon to tell for Boca Grande, but with Azucar closed for like half a year now and no sign of anyone willing to come in and take its place, I was wondering if anyone here knew anything at all about new potential restaurants coming in. Do restaurants even want to come in and set up shop at Newport?
I never had a chance to eat at Azucar or Boca Grande but did frequent Skylark on numerous occasions. It's a shame because I can at least say from experience that Skylark was pretty decent. However, that place was never busy, not even on Friday or Saturday nights (Saturday and Sunday brunches seemed to be the busiest they ever got, but even then, it was never completely full or anywhere that close to being full).
I would like to get some thoughts on what you think might be going on. Is the restaurant demand just not there for Newport? Is this a case where its proximity to NYC, Hoboken, and even Grove Street hurt its restaurant demand? I would certainly at the least say that the quality of restaurants is not top-level (Fire & Oak at the Westin is the best by far; VB3 makes amazing pizza; Batello was great for New Year's, but I have not gone otherwise; Raaz is decent Indian but nothing special). After all, the restaurants that closed all had very decidedly average reviews. Newport is also really known as the more quiet part of Jersey City with not a lot going on after sundown, so maybe it's just the environment there that is turning off new restaurants from coming.
It just seems strange to me how the area gets touted as being "happening" and "constantly growing." They opened that new building, Laguna, a year and a half ago maybe. I don't know how well it has filled up, but I guess developers still saw demand to be met and dollars to be made for residences. It just doesn't seem to be the same for businesses around here. So, what do you think is going on with the restaurants? Was it just lackluster quality that shut them down, or do people in the area just not care about what these restaurants were offering?
Noy only do they keep tabs on rent increases, I heard they are very controlling about approving new tenants and "protecting" existing tenants. For example, Dorian's has buffalo wings and other party food, so Loradella's was not allowed to serve any or be in violation of their lease. Loradella's was only allowed to serve pizza and pasta (have you noticed that Newport only has ONE Chinese restaurant, ONE Italian restaurant, etc?). However, Loradella had to apply for and receive special permission to serve them for Superbowl and ever since then it's been on some secret unadvertised menu... I can see not allowing restaurants to innovate and expand their business could hurt sustainability.
Wow, that's really absurd. If that's true, then maybe Skylark closing had something to do with they had the cafe section, and they were right across the street from Starbucks. Seriously though, they never could have done that well, anyway. They just were so empty most of the time, and practically no one was ever at the bar.
It's funny how you mention how there is only one "kind" of specific restaurants in Newport. I never really thought about it that way. I mean, you do have two pizzerias though in Loradella's and VB3, not mention a third Italian (ugh, Bertucci's, really?). But other than that, it is only one of each. Kind of shocking when you think about it considering that the Indian and Asian populations are HUGE here. You would think they would be more attuned to serve them. To hell with it though. If I want good Indian food, I wouldn't even go to Raaz. I'd hop on the PATH and go to Journal Square.
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