With Olympic throngs crowding downtown Salt Lake City, many restaurants hoped to cash in?but those Olympic dreams are quickly fading.
Many restaurants surrounding the U have found canceled reservations and empty seats.
“There are a lot of negative effects on small businesses as a result of the Games,” said Karen Gladstone, president of Brumby’s Bistro.
The business drop-off from the Games is hitting Salt Lake businesses even harder because of the already-slow economy.
“Things have been slow since Sept. 11. We were hoping the Olympics would spark things up,” she said. “But what actually happened is we’ve really received less business.”
This situation has come as a shock. Gladstone was expecting a packed restaurant because of good reviews she received in The New York Times.
“We were one of six restaurants recommended in the Times in their special Salt Lake City issue, and still we have little business,” she said.
On Feb. 8, the day of the Opening Ceremony, Gladstone had many reservations, but customers canceled on all of them.
“There were heavy parking restrictions on 1300 East,” she said. “Afterward, a lot of them called and said they were sorry for canceling because they were in line for a long time, and then froze in their seats for two hours.”
Along with the traffic, the U’s three-week Spring Break has kept business slow, Gladstone said.
“We usually have faculty from the U, but now we’re not seeing any of that, and any of our other customers are just afraid to come here,” she said. “Some restauranteurs feel the same way.”
The Pie Pizzeria has lost a significant amount of morning business, but the new delivery service has helped bring in money.
“We’re getting a lot of calls for delivery,” said Barry Priest, general manager of The Pie Delivery. “But it hasn’t made up for the lost morning business.”
Priest hired extra people because he expected “big business,” but it just hasn’t happened.
“We hired extra people to help during the Olympics. We have a festival booth, but there’s nothing going on down there,” he said.
Business at Chop Suey Luey’s is all but dead.
“Business is bad. We’ve got no people because school is out,” said Zhong Huang, friend and helper of the owner.
While many of the express and delivery businesses are losing money, the Market Street Broiler is faring well.
“Friday [Feb. 8] was great because of the Opening Ceremony, but the weekend after was slower than usual,” said Patrick Le Bras, general manager.
However, business picked up for Valentine’s Day.
“The locals are starting to come out of their caves,” he said. “[Feb. 14] was a great day for business.”
Although Feb. 14 was a good day, the Broiler has lost a lot of its lunch business because of the U’s closure.
“Because the U is out, U professors and workers aren’t coming in,” Le Bras said. “But business will be back to normal when school starts again.”
Many of the other restauranteurs also feel business will return to normal when the U opens, even with the Paralympics taking place.
“I think the Paralympics will have no effect on business because the U is open,” Gladstone said.
Other restaurant managers feel the same way.
“I’m not expecting too much of a change with the Paralympics,” Priest said. “Honestly, I think business will pick back up after the Olympics and the U opens up and students return to the new dorms.”