Handling The Commotion Of New Poughkeepsie Chain Restaurants

We all love to support our smaller, family owned restaurants. They’re family owned, they get to know you by name, recognize your face, and they’re relatable. The waiters and waitresses, the managers, even other customers all seem to be familiar. You even almost get the word “family” in familiar. At a local “Mom and Pop” restaurant, some of the regulars even feel like it applies. But what happens when chain restaurants start making their presence known in the area? Because let’s be honest, as much as everyone loves their go-to smaller yet cozy favorite, we all love our big name brand places too. We all love the traditional Applebee’s and Buffalo Wild Wings and Texas Roadhouse. Which, the latter of the three just so happens to be opening a new restaurant on Route 9 in Poughkeepsie.

Texas Roadhouse, which is looking to officially open its doors in a few weeks (Halloween to be exact) isn’t the only major chain on its way over. Also coming to Poughkeepsie is a Golden Corral, which will be right next door to Roadhouse, a Popeye’s on Haight street closer to Vassar, and a Tilted Kilt (a Hooter’s type bar/restaurant) which will replace the old Bugaboo Creek steakhouse, farther down Route 9 by the Poughkeepsie Galleria mall.

While all plan to open between Halloween and the end of the year, the restaurants plan on bringing more than just food to the area. On the Tilted Kilt site, there are job applications seeking those who wish to become a Tilted Kilt Girl (or Guy) while their managers are currently down in Alabama for training. Golden Corral and Popeye’s could be bringing in managing positions, and Texas Roadhouse gave a hiring estimate of two hundred employees as a whole, with approximately seventy employees on hand at any given time. But what does this mean for those lovable family owned restaurants?

The Violet Ave Cafe and Creamery over on Violet Avenue, Hyde Park doesn’t seem too concerned. One of the managers there, Bob, has only been since late July after taking over what was previously known as “Clancy’s” just last year. Not only did they take over the cafe, but they own the car shop next to it and aren’t too worried about chain restaurants too much. “People always flood them in the beginning.” Bob told me while manning the register after just opening up shop. Violet Ave is a vastly different restaurant from most chains and attracts very different crowds to his hand-full of tables. With the loyal locals and tourists from the FDR historic site always coming in, Bob keeps his advertising simple and his customers happy.

Steve, the owner of The Red Fox Eatery feels similarly. Though Red Fox is actually located on Route 9, it’s farther up where he isn’t too concerned about the new chains emerging. If anything, he’s excited about it. “It could look better for the whole area,” he says when referring to Poughkeepsie’s new restaurant chains. The Red Fox Eatery has been open for about five years now, and Steve thinks chain restaurants could look good for Poughkeepsie, by giving it a more modern look. Steve thinks it could even impact his business in a positive way. If more common restaurants start popping up, it could pique people’s interests and draw them to the area, causing them to stumble upon his own restaurant. Other than that unique and uncommon outlook, he doesn’t think there will be much of an influence or change for him. While he specializes in sandwiches and draws in people from the immediate area and particularly a student body, those bigger money gobblers have “a mixed crowd” and serve a different variety than he does. They could go to Golden Corral for pretty much any kind of meal, where Red Fox is a sandwich-craving kind of place. Due to his location, Steve has plenty of loyal customers, whose pictures cover the interior to show the inviting nature of the place.

Of the four chain restaurants, the one with the smallest revenue is Golden Corral, still taking in “195.1 million USD” according to them. Texas Roadhouse had “Net sales or Revenues” of 1.81 billion dollars last year according to the website amigobulls.com and their stocks page. That’s quite a lot of money, and Alison, the manager of Coyote Grill knows it. Unlike the previous two sources, Alison isn’t exactly thrilled about the new chains opening up just down the road from her own. She has been at Coyote Grill for 12 of the 14 years it has been open, and is very close with the family that owns it; the family that also owns Double O Grill, and the Eveready diners. When asked about the chain restaurants, her demeanor changed a noticeable amount. “There will definitely be some competition, but we survived through the T.G.I. Friday’s and the Red Robin” she tells me optimistically. “We have dedicated customers who love our food and the atmosphere.”

However, she believes that there are plenty of differences, not in just the service and the atmosphere, but the food as well. While Texas Roadhouse can be looked at as a steak house, and may beat Coyote Grill there, Coyote Grill has a wider variety. They offer salads, Mexican dishes, pasta, and many other dishes that may draw customers away from the chain. “It depends what the customer is looking for.” Alison’s confidence also stems from the restaurant’s ability to accommodate customers. Customers can order anything they want, and virtually switch things in and out or mix and match and it wouldn’t cause any sort of an issue, where chain restaurants aren’t always able to do that with their food. Though she doesn’t seem too worried about Golden Corral or Popeye’s, she’s hoping Tilted Kilt is no match for the Coyote Grill food and drink selection and has hopes that after a six month period, everything will go back to normal as they have in the past. It’s also to be noted how proud of the atmosphere they clearly are. “Our customers are loyal. They feel like they’re a part of something, there’s a sense of camaraderie here.” “At the faculty Christmas parties, everyone knows everyone. We’re all very close and I think the customers feel that in their service and their experience here.” These are some key components to having a successful restaurant; good food, good service, and put them together for an overall good experience.

She also doesn’t believe that so many restaurants coming to the area is any kind of coincidence. A Hudson Valley native her whole life, she has watched the area change over quite some time, even as she rose from the ranks of bartender to manager at her current work place. “People from the Westchester area or college graduates from around here are finding that there is easy housing, and an easy commute to the city that is draws people in. The community is growing and there are a lot of things to do here all of a sudden.” Alison mentions things like apple picking and historic sites, to name a few. Despite the new commotion and big changes in the Hudson Valley, specifically Poughkeepsie, Alison is hoping to withstand another obstacle in the food business, and keep her loyal customers coming.

The Red Fox Eatery isn’t the only good sandwich shop in town. The famous Rossi’s Deli is known for their delicious sandwiches and Italian cuisine. The business has been around and family run since 1979, and looks to continue on with that streak. Speaking to Fabio Rossi, he explains that there is always enough to go around and that they’ll never be envious of other businesses. Fabio, one of the many family members there, along with his mother and siblings among others, are well aware that they aren’t a “franchisable” business and don’t look to be. A very specific menu, and a very relatable, family friendly business helps draw in their regulars. “You’re getting an experience here. You’re getting quality.” Fabio explains to me, as he jokes around with one of his familiar face customers, that the Rossi family orders “culture specific” items that most chain restaurants and even super markets can’t afford.

Fabio Rossi also explains that Rossi’s has become a place with a reputation among locals like a chain restaurant. “The parking here sucks. It’s out of the way for everyone, and yet we still get faithful customers everyday.” Between their name, their food, and their loyal customers, Fabio doesn’t seem worried about the chain restaurants coming to town. Though, also having grown up here all his life (delivered Rossi’s to people in grade school) he is like Alison in the sense that they have both seen this area grow and change. “Many businesses have made Route 9 their home… Prospective customers have grown and so many people work on, around, or pass through Route 9 and the food business has noticed.” Fabio himself once looked into buying land around the Hannaford area, and found that a lot less than a full acre was being sold for no less than a million dollars. He assumes that any restaurant buying land on Route 9 must have good reason. He left off with a Golden Corral defense, after getting fact checked by his own mother at the register, saying “Buffets have a history of doing well. Traditionally people around here want more for their money so buffet style restaurants flourish.” Fabio is confident that hand filet cutlets, all fresh, breaded and shallow fried (not deep fried) is one of the many food components to separate Rossi’s from the pack.

In defense of all of this, the Senior Director of Public Relations at Texas Roadhouse, Travis Doster, likes to think of the restaurants as “not a chain, but a collection of independent restaurants.” Mr. Doster explains that nobody is being sent to Poughkeepsie to work. The restaurant is going to be “locally driven” and a lot of its money will be going back to the workers who are hired from Poughkeepsie. Doster elaborated on the job process by saying the manager of that particular restaurant is Peter Plourde and said “Peter may be hiring a lot of people close to him such as family members or friends” and that in some ways, its very much like a family owned restaurant because each branch is run by a manager hired from the area (Peter being a local business owner himself). Doster also looks forward to opening up on Route 9, saying that their main locations are in Texas, Indiana and Ohio, but are moving East. They’ve done well in other New York areas such as Long Island and Staten Island, and feel Poughkeepsie is another good move for them. Typically, Texas Roadhouse avoids cities. They like a more neighborhood oriented place where people can go to eat dinner after they themselves are done at work. Since Poughkeepsie is a key location with a high traffic area and a lot of schools (grade schools and colleges) they think the demographics here work well. New York is especially part of their movement East because “New development follows growth” and “New York is a growing area,” which is part of the reason why they hire from the local area. Locals know their area best, and can have a big hand in picking the location of the actual restaurant.

When asked if they had a big opening planned for Halloween, Mr. Doster actually replied “we don’t really do grand openings.” It’s a tactic of theirs. They prefer what’s called a “soft open” which is when they don’t over advertise and kind of just, open the doors one day and let people wander in. This can help beat the chaos that many restaurants go through in the first six months. A grand opening can not only scare away customers with long lines, but can overwhelm servers too. They want to sell a good experience as well as good food. They also don’t do lunch or many specials which is why they shoot for a big dinner crowd in populated areas that aren’t cities. They aren’t even located in Dallas.

General manager Peter Plourde explained that he is well aware of the loyalty to the family run “Mom and Pop” places and thinks there may be some competition, but thinks the Poughkeepsie population will be a great place to get business regardless. He too mentioned great demographics here, stating that this deal had been in the works for 10 years, and the actual property was even bought a year and a half ago. Not only is Mr. Plourde confident that the big name chain restaurant will flourish, he believes that the quality of the food can separate them from other chains as well. “All the food is made from scratch, our steaks are hand cut, bread is freshly baked, nothing goes in the microwave.”

With all of this commotion of Poughkeepsie changing and becoming quite the food frenzy, it seems as if everyone has a different way of handling it, and all seem to be pretty positive and confident. The family run stores that have been here for awhile seem to have established a good crowd and figured out what atmosphere works for them, while the chain restaurants are confident in their name and brand to carry them through to a successful path. Looks like Fabio Rossi was right, there is enough to go around.