I’ve decided to try to open my own restaurant downtown. Having never done this before, I’m sure I don’t even know how much I don’t know. Whenever I’m at one of the local restaurants/bars that I admire, I try to meet the owner and ask a few questions. As you probably have heard a hundred times, opening a restaurant is long hours. I’ve been amazed that everyone has been so open and supportive and generous with their time. Places like Cibo’s, Lost Leaf, Lisa G’s wine bar, Matt’s Big Breakfast and Roosevelts, Pizza Bianco, Bentley Projects, Ruby Room, etc are setting downtown apart from the suburbs and the rest of Phoenix. However, we still need more of this. We need more creative and talented business owners to come downtown.
The point of this post is to say that my experience thus far tells me that you’ll have plenty of support from the local small business owners. I’ve been told that the process with the City, although still difficult has improved greatly. I’m convinced that the customer base will grow as fast as the authentic and creative businesses open in this area. Basically, build it and they will come. People are waiting for more. If you’re someone considering opening a downtown business and need to find a space for it we can help you with that.
-Mark
