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The Ballston BID "Restaurant Challenge" - A Business Decision Disguised As A Public Event


DonRocks

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The Red Parrot in Ballston closed last December, and Ballston BID is holding a contest to determine who gets to take over the space (complete with a truckload of business incentives).

Earlier today, the eight semifinalists were announced (details on the Ballston BID Restaurant Challenge page).

Included among the contestants are several donrockwell.com members (some out, some not). Good luck to all the semifinalists - the winner will be announced in June, with the new restaurant to open later this year.

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Wow.    There is a heckuva rent deal connected to that opportunity.  Good luck to the winner.

hmmm....I wonder if that base rent comes with a percentage clause???   :)   regardless the rent part of that equation is danged great in this marketplace.

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As a comment from someone who lives 2.5 blocks away, for what it is worth, although submissions are already in and it isn't up to me:

Ballston ChopHouse- this is a nice fit for the neighborhood in my opinion.  We don't really have a steak house, and a nice deli sandwich for lunch is a good idea as it is in an office building and by Marymount.  I would love another bar to go to with some good happy hour specials that is causal.  I don't think high end really fits that space or our neighborhood, as well.  Even Willow has casual-ed it up a bit.  They need to be able to transition from day to night.  I would go here.

Bambazo- no offense, it sounds like it could be good, but with Fuego, Rio Grande, Taco Bamba, Taqueria Poblano, La Union, etc etc I am not excited about another Mexican restaurant.  Although I have high hopes for the food, I just think there is a lot of competition already.

Daily Dish- could be interesting, but it sounds a lot like Willow, which has great flatbreads and breads.  I also don't like the name.

Casitas- I don't dislike Spanish food, I just don't see this doing well and don't think it would be someplace I would go to often.  And I would love some place as close as this to be one I really love.

Market Bar- this sounds really cool in some ways, like for instance if Society Fair were closer to my house I would be in there ALL the time. We are always looking for ready to eat or ready to heat dinner.  I think the downfall might be the Tasting Room, if they spun it Society Fair style with some more casual nights, I think it might work.  Again I just don't see this being a fine dining space.  We could use another nice wine bar.  If Grand Cru had a better menu I would be there a lot.

I would love to know the actual food concept for Bottle House, it's a little weak in it's description on the website.

I like the idea of the Pearl.  I hope it isn't too fancy.  I would like them to keep easy breakfast for the weekend, but don't know if it would be viable, could be cool.

Red and Blue I think will just be too fancy.  Not that people in Ballston don't eat that type of thing, I just don't think it would be enough to be really busy.

Anyway those are my thoughts.

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Hmmm, The BottleHouse, does look interesting <_< . Anyone who would like details just email me. For anyone who has been to Tria in Philadelphia, think along those lines in terms of no hard spirits, as well a focus on food that pairs with wine and beer. And when we say beer, no Miller Lite, No Bud Light. There are plenty of places in Ballston that serve those items. Wines that are acid based, food based, and affordable. Nothing above the $80 line for a bottle, most likely not over $70. Our focus isn't just on food as you might notice we are the only contestants that are not solely chef driven. Three equal parts sharing the same stage. Blue Jeans fine, Suits, sure, but an establishment that will take our product seriously. My time behind the wine pages, almost 20 years, one partner with 10 behind the suds boards, and another whose talents showcase a wide variety of culinary twists and turns. Price point on menu $20 and below. Think simple entrees, protein focused with a small side portion, not always veg, not always starch. Something I took away from spending time here and there in Philly was that establishments of all different make up welcome all different walks. Sitting at The Standard Tap bar one time I was dressed in an old Millie's T-shirt from back in the day, while this rather well to do couple dressed to the nines sat drinking pints of beer talking about the Opera. Pretty cool if you ask me. So go ahead, ask away.

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Josh, that sounds pretty cool. Though to be fair, I think a lot of the concepts would be cool - I just hope the location is okay for them. I don't think people (at least yet) think of walking that way except those going to the Melting Pot.

And I hope whoever wins opens up before I move out of Ballston. :D

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Hmmm, The BottleHouse, does look interesting <_< . Anyone who would like details just email me. For anyone who has been to Tria in Philadelphia, think along those lines in terms of no hard spirits, as well a focus on food that pairs with wine and beer. And when we say beer, no Miller Lite, No Bud Light. There are plenty of places in Ballston that serve those items. Wines that are acid based, food based, and affordable. Nothing above the $80 line for a bottle, most likely not over $70. Our focus isn't just on food as you might notice we are the only contestants that are not solely chef driven. Three equal parts sharing the same stage. Blue Jeans fine, Suits, sure, but an establishment that will take our product seriously. My time behind the wine pages, almost 20 years, one partner with 10 behind the suds boards, and another whose talents showcase a wide variety of culinary twists and turns. Price point on menu $20 and below. Think simple entrees, protein focused with a small side portion, not always veg, not always starch. Something I took away from spending time here and there in Philly was that establishments of all different make up welcome all different walks. Sitting at The Standard Tap bar one time I was dressed in an old Millie's T-shirt from back in the day, while this rather well to do couple dressed to the nines sat drinking pints of beer talking about the Opera. Pretty cool if you ask me. So go ahead, ask away.

Thanks for the description!  Are the plan to be open during the day, or just at night?  Do people at Taste of Arlington vote to decide who gets to make it through? If not how are they deciding who makes it through to the next round?  I wish that description was on the website, that sounds like somewhere I would go, so hopefully that means other people around me would too.  I hope the perks mean a business can get established as it is sad to see businesses go in and out of a location of death.

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Don't forget that I worked in the original location of death, what is now Willow, used to be 4 other restaurants prior. I worked at one of them, Bistro Bistro, from 1997-98. Yikes. We actually plan on being open day and night, with the concept still growing of possibly being open for coffee service M-Friday early.

People can vote for fan favorite but the two that move to the final round are judged by the BID and the owners of the building. As well there is an interview process that counts and as well concept that all play a part.

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And just because I am a bit fired up I will say... why would they not consider the fan favorite more favorably?  Obviously if people liked the food it means they are likely to go get the food, and this is a location where they need people who want to go get the food.  Le sigh.  

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I liked the idea of this, but the execution (and I was annoyed by the way it was handled at Taste of Arlington) is leaving something to be desired.

(More good work from Jessica Sidman!)

Good article!!!   hmmmmmmmmmmmm   it looks like the BID group and the landlord milked this thing for visibility and publicity.  But it ends up being something not different from how most landlords work...albeit the landlord got a lot of existing and potential restaurant operators to put out a lot of effort and $$ to show well.

The competition was not what it was marketed to be.  But a winner will get some visibility and publicity.  The winner will also get a sweetheart rental deal, albeit one in a somewhat questionable location.  The restaurant will need help to compete.  Its an off the main route location.

Too bad about the less than honest lead in to this thing.  The BID and the landlord should explain themselves...but really for that sweetheart deal...its really the landlord who should be making the decision.

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I looked at the outline of that rent deal.  It is great, at least IMHO and from what fragmented info I know about rents in this general area.

The one year up front free and up front money basically are a tremendous opportunity for the operator to put out a great restaurant on the food and service side for the first year.  Its a huge money saver.  Put more money and effort into your food and service and anything else to build a name and a rep.

Even after that the established rent...if it is not materially different from what they described  (and lord knows it could be) is dramatically lower than other discounted rents I've seen in this corridor.

(I'm  not a pro anymore or on top of that type of info as I once was)   At that deal I don't blame the landlords for making the big big decision.

The bad thing was this whole effort with publicity and public involvement and PR and all that jazz gave the impression of something totally different in terms of a final decision.  Totally different.

If I were that BID, I'd be loathe to pull the same stunt.  You've just now burned the public with a gimmick that wasn't at all what you indicated.

Meanwhile:  Good luck to whomever wins.

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The bad thing was this whole effort with publicity and public involvement and PR and all that jazz gave the impression of something totally different in terms of a final decision.  Totally different.

If I were that BID, I'd be loathe to pull the same stunt.  You've just now burned the public with a gimmick that wasn't at all what you indicated.

Exactly. The public was duped.

I have nothing against a business decision, but it really ticks me off that these people misled the public.

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To be honest, I'm super annoyed that they're going with the guy who said "I'm opening in Ballston no matter what" -- if that's the truth, Ballston already *HAS* him. Get someone in who might break out and make more of a destination!

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To be honest, I'm super annoyed that they're going with the guy who said "I'm opening in Ballston no matter what" -- if that's the truth, Ballston already *HAS* him. Get someone in who might break out and make more of a destination!

I don't know anything about this - could you link to that quote?

You know ... I'm a busy guy and don't have time to look into every single thing that comes my way. I remember this as sounding perfectly legitimate and good-natured, and I was really happy to publicize it without expecting anything in return; but it's starting to smack of backroom deals, baiting-and-switching, and something resembling a flim-flam. I'm not sure just how taken in the general public was by this, so I'm not sure how angry to be (I couldn't care less if *I* was misled), but as of today, I don't like the smell of this. I'm not pulling out my poison pen, yet, but if I do? There's going to be some sacred cow tipping.

Could you, or someone, explain what the hell happened?

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I can explain what happened and no bitter pill here to swallow. My team at The Bottlehouse spent over $5K in logo design, menus, banner, food, t-shirts, payroll, patenting our name, and lastly renting a commercial kitchen. From day 1 our operation chose to never utilize, purchase or even have one ounce of product cooked, cleaned, prepped, wrapped at our current place of employment. After all was said and done, 2 days of pure exhaustion working 12 hour days at one job and prepping and cooking at night through the morning.

I would do it again in a heartbeat. Did our food fail? Yes. We were asked at 315PM to have dishes prepared for the judges, which after 3 hours of cooking and running around made it difficult.(All contestants had the same criteria so again the guy who complained that his food wasn't as fresh, all of us had the same issue) But no different than a Food Trucks operation, or a busy restaurant on any given night. We reached with our items because we did not feel that with our concept one dish signified what our concept was going into the competition. 2/3's of our operation were null and void from the start. We couldn't sell or showcase our wine and beer knowledge. So instead we braised our pork in beer and our short ribs in red wine. (get it) Interestingly enough only two teams did not get a call from the reporter, Bottlehouse and The Ballston Chophouse. Look, do I think it would have been great had the judges seen our booth, looked at our logos and menus, talked with us in action, sure. But everyone who was in the competition got the same treatment. Its not like Victor and Christiana had the judges in their booth and they side tracked the rest of us. Yes, I think our logo is pretty cool. Yes, our menus looked awesome. But in the end no restaurant got extra treatment from the judges. Do Victor and David Guas know each closely, yes. Same with Mike Isabella, of course. And in fairness that is to his advantage just like any restaurant owner that has a large social following can attract the masses before opening his or her doors without serving one plate of food. see Spike Mendelhson.

The criteria for the competition was clearly laid out for 'anyone' to enter, experienced or not. Plenty of other restaurant owners could have participated but chose not to and we knew that from day 1

In the end this is a business decision for Brookfield and the property owners. Some might not like, some will understand but in the end for me, I had a blast.

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I can explain what happened and no bitter pill here to swallow. My team at The Bottlehouse spent over $5K in logo design, menus, banner, food, t-shirts, payroll, patenting our name, and lastly renting a commercial kitchen. From day 1 our operation chose to never utilize, purchase or even have one ounce of product cooked, cleaned, prepped, wrapped at our current place of employment. After all was said and done, 2 days of pure exhaustion working 12 hour days at one job and prepping and cooking at night through the morning.

I would do it again in a heartbeat. Did our food fail? Yes. We were asked at 315PM to have dishes prepared for the judges, which after 3 hours of cooking and running around made it difficult.(All contestants had the same criteria so again the guy who complained that his food wasn't as fresh, all of us had the same issue) But no different than a Food Trucks operation, or a busy restaurant on any given night. We reached with our items because we did not feel that with our concept one dish signified what our concept was going into the competition. 2/3's of our operation were null and void from the start. We couldn't sell or showcase our wine and beer knowledge. So instead we braised our pork in beer and our short ribs in red wine. (get it) Interestingly enough only two teams did not get a call from the reporter, Bottlehouse and The Ballston Chophouse. Look, do I think it would have been great had the judges seen our booth, looked at our logos and menus, talked with us in action, sure. But everyone who was in the competition got the same treatment. Its not like Victor and Christiana had the judges in their booth and they side tracked the rest of us. Yes, I think our logo is pretty cool. Yes, our menus looked awesome. But in the end no restaurant got extra treatment from the judges. Do Victor and David Guas know each closely, yes. Same with Mike Isabella, of course. And in fairness that is to his advantage just like any restaurant owner that has a large social following can attract the masses before opening his or her doors without serving one plate of food. see Spike Mendelhson.

The criteria for the competition was clearly laid out for 'anyone' to enter, experienced or not. Plenty of other restaurant owners could have participated but chose not to and we knew that from day 1

In the end this is a business decision for Brookfield and the property owners. Some might not like, some will understand but in the end for me, I had a blast.

Thanks for your comments.   I looked at this from a real estate perspective.  I used to lease and sell commercial space and specifically did a lot of restaurant deals early in that career.  I'm partially cognizant of commercial rents in the Rosslyn Ballston corridor.  I find them astonishingly high and more specifically they have boomed in rates;  I think the explosion in rental rates started sometime in the early 2000's.  Current higher rates just astound me.  

Retail rents are amazingly diverse.  They depend on so many factors, one of the greatest being when the lease was written, how long is it and how it might escalate.  Two stores/restaurants could be next door or across the street and dependent on different factors one could be paying 1/3 per foot or less than what the neighbor is paying.  Location --even being very close...but just marginally off the main "path" could have enormous impact.   The address/location of this space/opportunity is off the beaten path in Ballston...but it is danged close to the walk around parts...and if the restaurant "hits a home run"   its a great enormous market of diners and guests etc etc.

Personally I didn't pay close attention to the BID advertisements and announcements.  I found the competition interesting and intriguing and would have bought a ticket/tickets if it had made a larger impact.

As a reader of the marketing descriptive materials I did get a "sense" that public opinion was a part of the judging.  But I wasn't paying close attention.

If I had been reading these pieces and had my "business knowledge and experience hat on" I would have read through the marketing materials and still been completely aware that the landlord was making the final judgement--to heck with what the marketing materials say.

BID's in most of the region are controlled by businesses in that market/neighborhood and usually the real estate interests are by far the leaders in that effort:  The landlords may individually compete for renters and tenants but they are united in wanting to make the neighborhood more attractive and more compelling.  Usually the landlords call the shots.  They put in the most money for most BID's in most neighborhoods.

But by not applying a critical eye to the process and marketing materials I too thought the public would have involvement in the process.   But I'm neither that invested or involved in the efforts or the community.   It really doesn't bother me.

But if I were that BID, I'd be very very very careful on any future efforts wherein they attempted to get "public buy in".  Their marketing efforts to the public, the residents and the ticket buyers were misleading and most of the public would have no idea of what was going on behind the scenes.

Way back when I was representing spaces for lease that had a lot of attractiveness, restaurants and restaurant groups would pursue the spaces and in many cases would make significant presentation efforts.  They weren't public.  In scope of hours, and preparation, planning and expenditure  they might have rivaled what Josh described above in some form or fashion and human effort.     Ultimately the landlord made the choice.  Its the landlord's space, and three four -11 years down the line the landlord is counting on the rent, counting on the tenant being easy to work with, counting on the tenant to be timely with payments, and wanting the retail space to be a boon to the building and not a detriment.   At some point the landlord might really be looking to maximize return on dollars and when that moment occurs, that landlord is going to try and boost that rent to its max.

Its nice to know that Josh knew what he and his group was getting into.  Its unfortunate the BID group misled the public.

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I can explain what happened and no bitter pill here to swallow. My team at The Bottlehouse spent over $5K in logo design, menus, banner, food, t-shirts, payroll, patenting our name, and lastly renting a commercial kitchen. From day 1 our operation chose to never utilize, purchase or even have one ounce of product cooked, cleaned, prepped, wrapped at our current place of employment. After all was said and done, 2 days of pure exhaustion working 12 hour days at one job and prepping and cooking at night through the morning.

I would do it again in a heartbeat. Did our food fail? Yes. We were asked at 315PM to have dishes prepared for the judges, which after 3 hours of cooking and running around made it difficult.(All contestants had the same criteria so again the guy who complained that his food wasn't as fresh, all of us had the same issue) But no different than a Food Trucks operation, or a busy restaurant on any given night. We reached with our items because we did not feel that with our concept one dish signified what our concept was going into the competition. 2/3's of our operation were null and void from the start. We couldn't sell or showcase our wine and beer knowledge. So instead we braised our pork in beer and our short ribs in red wine. (get it) Interestingly enough only two teams did not get a call from the reporter, Bottlehouse and The Ballston Chophouse. Look, do I think it would have been great had the judges seen our booth, looked at our logos and menus, talked with us in action, sure. But everyone who was in the competition got the same treatment. Its not like Victor and Christiana had the judges in their booth and they side tracked the rest of us. Yes, I think our logo is pretty cool. Yes, our menus looked awesome. But in the end no restaurant got extra treatment from the judges. Do Victor and David Guas know each closely, yes. Same with Mike Isabella, of course. And in fairness that is to his advantage just like any restaurant owner that has a large social following can attract the masses before opening his or her doors without serving one plate of food. see Spike Mendelhson.

The criteria for the competition was clearly laid out for 'anyone' to enter, experienced or not. Plenty of other restaurant owners could have participated but chose not to and we knew that from day 1

In the end this is a business decision for Brookfield and the property owners. Some might not like, some will understand but in the end for me, I had a blast.

So, are you folks still looking for a spot?  I love Tria in Philly and so love your concept as well.

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I believe Victor dropped out after hearing about Mike Isabella's cantina moving forward and only being about 4-5 blocks away.

Why? There's plenty of demand for both. Think how busy Rio Grande is (was?)

And what Cantina? I thought it was G Sandwich?!

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Rio Grande is ALWAYS fairly busy, despite the mediocre food and how expensive that food is, but there are a lot of Mexican restaurants in the vicinity, but not really walking distance.  (Taqueria Poblano, District Taco, La Union, El Paso, La Union Market, Fuego...)

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