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Valley's Restaurants Stay Hungry to Keep Competitive
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio -- Competition for a share of the region’s dining-out market is growing – witness all the chains coming to the Valley. But restaurants vying for market share are competing for a limited number of consumer dollars.
“I don’t think the pie has gotten any bigger. The pie the past decade has been what it is and everybody is trying to get a piece of it,” says Rick Racick, operations manager at the Blue Wolf Tavern on the bustling Route 224 corridor in Boardman.
The Blue Wolf Tavern competes for the stomachs and wallets of potential customers year round against a range of options from locally owned mom-and-pop outfits to national chains, and from drive-thru fast-food to white tablecloth restaurants.
Following what he describes as “a rough summer,” traffic is picking up once again,” Racick says. “You’re always slower in the summer,” fighting the sun, vacations and graduations, he reflects. He isn’t sure what’s driving business now, although he acknowledges the restaurant has done more advertising.
At Blue Wolf, 95% of the offerings are made from scratch, including salad dressings, Racick says. “We work hard. We try to be consistent and provide good service. And when we make mistakes, we try to correct them so when you leave you’re happy,” he says. “It’s not easy to do but it’s what we strive to do.”
Mark DelGarbino, manager of Leo’s Ristorante in Howland, reports business is better than last year for both the restaurant and banquet operations. Leo’s stays competitive with seasonal changes to its menu, he says.
“We’re in the middle of our fall menu,” which includes items that feature butternut squash and a duck breast from Maple Leaf Farms, DelGarbino says. In addition, Leo’s jointly markets with other local independent restaurants.
Serdar Dede, owner of the original Café 422 on Route 422, the primary commercial corridor in Trumbull County, says business at the restaurant in Warren is improving. Café 422 has been open since 1939 and Dede took over from its former owner, Robert Abruzzi, in 2006.
The longevity of the restaurant “definitely helps business,” Dede says. People who come know they can get a good meal at a reasonable price. Patrons “know good food” and know they can get something different than at a chain restaurant. Not only that, they’re pleased to see someone who personally welcomes them, he adds.
“Owners are very involved in locally owned businesses. You have to be there, building that kind of relationship,” Dede says. “That’s a big plus for us.”
Earlier this year, Dede purchased the former Rusty’s Southside Grille at the southern end of Boardman and opened a second Café 422. After a slow summer, business began picking up there in September. “It seems like it’s going in the right direction. It’s going to take a little bit more time to be as successful as the original location,” he says.
The Fifth Season recently relocated from its original Mahoning Avenue address in Austintown, where it opened in 2002, to space at the banquet center it has operated five years in Mineral Ridge. Business since the move has been “really good,” says co-owner Ashley James. “The weekends are crazy. We haven’t had an open table,” she remarks.
Traffic is benefiting in part from what James describes as “tons of word of mouth” and the lunch trade. Sundays “definitely have been picking up,” she adds. “I think it’s because people want to see the new place.”
The restaurant also benefits from being locally owned, James says. She owns Fifth Season with her husband, Ryan, and his brother, Steve. “We like to support [people in the area] and we hope they like to support us. That’s how these places keep running,” she says.
Christian Rinehart, owner of O’Donold’s Pub & Grille, says his restaurants in Austintown and downtown Youngstown benefit from their ability to adapt to guests. “Being a small corporation, we’re able to move quicker than a large corporation” and stay price-friendly, he says. The two restaurants share crowds “but not a lot,” and a new restaurant Rinehart is opening, Susie’s Dogs and Drafts, will soon join the downtown location.
“We’re always trying to get better at service and always bringing in new concepts and designs, new beers and new food,” he says. All of the menu items are made from scratch and he is working on trying to obtain all of the food locally. “It makes a difference in taste for sure,” he says.
Business at the Shale Tavern & Grille, Lisbon, has “picked up quite a bit” over last year, says owner Michael Naffah. The restaurant is coming up on its second anniversary in December.
“I don’t know if it’s our advertising or our reputation getting out there,” Naffah muses.
“Word of mouth has been pretty strong,” he adds. The restaurant is drawing from the Youngstown area – suburbs such as Canfield, Boardman, Poland and Liberty on the city’s north side.
Naffah cites service and quality as the key factors keeping the Shale Tavern & Grille competitive. Some menu items change semiannually, and specials are offered on every week. New items are added to the menu depending on what is in season. “Or we might try something as a special and if people really like it and keep asking for it, make it available more often,” he says.
Word of mouth is also a main driver at Selah Restaurant in Struthers, says chef Brian Palumbo. Business is on par with last year at the Struthers restaurant, he reports. Events and entertainment also drive restaurant traffic.
“We stay different. We’re never a run-of-the-mill restaurant,” Palumbo says. The menu changes every six months, with the four least-popular items removed. Specials are offered nightly and the most popular are introduced as regular items.
Despite a light start at the beginning of the year and a recent lull about six weeks ago, business at the Mocha House, Warren, is above average for the year, says co-owner Bill Axiotis. “It seems back on track again,” he adds.
“We’re unique in our area,” he remarks.
Soups and pastries are homemade and “price-friendly,” he says. The Mocha House benefits from being a family-owned business restaurant with the owners on site, he points out. “It’s easier to deal with even people [who] need a donation or whatever,” he adds. And the restaurant serves as a community-meeting place before and after events.
“The toughest challenge is keeping our food costs down in this type of environment,” he says. There is a limit to how much food costs can be passed along, he notes.
The market is no less competitive for chains. Hallrich Inc., a Pizza Hut franchisee based in Stow, faces one of the more competitive market segments with other national franchises as well as dozens of homegrown pizza shops. “There are a lot of great operators in Youngstown and we hope we’re one of them,” remarks Carol Magazinni, director of marketing and public relations.
Hallrich opened its first Pizza Hut in Austintown in 1968 and just opened its 17th that serves the Mahoning Valley market a few weeks ago.
“The Youngstown area has always been very good to us” but the competition “keeps us on our toes,” Magazinni says. In addition to its traditional and pan pizzas, Pizza Hut has added items to the menu such as a new three-cheese stuffed-crust pizza. Chicken wings were added several years ago, but different sauces have been added since, and boneless wings can be put on sandwiches and salads.
A chain that got its start in Sharon, Pa., Quaker Steak & Lube, is preparing to mark its 40th anniversary, reports marketing manager Lindy Good. The chain is “doing a little better than the industry as a whole,” she says.
Quaker Steak has 17 restaurants in Ohio and recently broke ground for one in Cortland. Its store in Boardman store on U.S. 224 celebrated its anniversary in the Shops at Boardman Park.
Among the more than 60 locations, the original Sharon restaurant remains one of the company’s top stores, Good says.
“There’s so many people who live [in the Mahoning Valley] will still go to Sharon,” she says.
“Overall I think it’s just the atmosphere of The Lube. It’s always fun,” she remarks. “It’s just a totally different experience when you come to The Lube than when you go anywhere else. That sets us apart.”
EDITOR'S NOTE: First published in the November edition of The Business Journal, published this week.
Copyright 2013 The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.
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