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About three years ago, a survey of Hastings area consumers made it abundantly clear that the marketplace wanted more dining opportunities.
Since the survey, Kitty’s Roadhouse, Jimmy John’s and Rivals opened their doors. And we have not one, not two, not three, but FOUR really good Mexican restaurants. Since that time, we’ve seen entrepreneurial efforts such as the Courtyard, Sgetti’s, the Brick House, The Back Rib and Come & Get It Barbecue close up shop. Even Valentino’s went away for a while…
In response to the survey, we saw new breakfast offerings from Bullseye’s Sports Bar & Grille and Murphy’s Wagon Wheel—both of which have either been scaled back or have disappeared altogether due to lack of consumer traffic. The Blue Moon and Back Alley Bakery offer lunch as well as tasty fare for a morning coffee break, but they are not as busy as they would like, we’re sure.
And, of course, there are the other long-time homegrown Hastings staples: Bernardo’s, the Barrel Bar, Papa Ray’s, the Garden Café, Taylor’s, Dally’s Deli, Hastings Keno, the OK Café, Imperial Garden, the Goldenrod and—just a short drive away in Juniata—the Plainsman.
Add all the regional/national pizza, burger and other fast food chains (plus whoever TMB has inadvertently overlooked)—and that’s a pretty impressive list for a town of 25,000 in the middle of corn and cattle country.
But spite of all these options…in spite of all this local flavor, unique menu items and hometown investment…it turns out that what Hastings diners really wanted…what they really wished upon a star for every night as they lay their weary heads and hungry tummies down to sleep…was an Applebee’s. Like the ones you see advertised on the teevee. All you had to do was ask anyone on the street about what restaurant they’d like to see in town—and that was the answer: Applebee’s. Really.
It will be interesting to see how this all plays out. Will having Applebee’s on the edge of town provide one more compelling reason to NOT drive another 30 miles north? Has Hastings finally “made it” as a community now that we have “something good in the neighborhood”? Or will the lure of the Olive Garden and Perkins just 30 miles away be simply too much to overcome? Will “2 for $20″ and “Sizzling Entrées” eventually become passé and familiar…and we find ourselves longing for a new restaurant relationship with the passion and excitement we once felt for Applebee’s?
TMB sincerely hopes that Applebee’s enjoys great and long-lived success in Hastings. But hopefully not at the expense (or demise) of the local restaurateurs who have invested their own money, vision, heart and sweat equity in building something truly special in their hometown. If Hastings diners are serious about wanting dining options, then they must also patronize those who offer those options. Or those options will go away. And we’ll be left with nothing but the cookie-cutter national franchise restaurants that will make Hastings just another predictable, bland, middle-sized American town instead of a community with an interesting, unique and homemade flavor that truly is something special.
Congratulations, Hastings. You finally got your Applebee’s. Bon appetît!
But remember the inimitable GW on the deck of the aircraft carrier proudly declaring “Mission Accomplished.” We all know how that turned out.
About the author: The Masked Blogger
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Gee, why not tell us what you really think. Not even brave enough to give us your identity. If this is what you really think of Hastings, then bloody well move somewhere else! Something good is happening here and all you can do is slam it. I’ve got two words for you… PISS OFF!
You need to get some facts on this whole situation.
Why don’t we share the whole TRUTH about how Applebee’s has been compensated $350,000.00 to make this little journey to our community. Let everyone know about the DEAL to get Mr. Bryd and his group to take another Bite out of Hastings. I am sure the Village Inn adventure will pale in comparison to his Applebee’s preformance when it is all said and done. One would think that with that kind of money to throw around we could get some light industry or some retail to come here. People travel to Grand Island to shop and then may eat at Applebees, they will not stop or stay here to shop because we have Applebees. Mask Blogger thank you for your comments. Anyone else should have the facts before gushing about this development. Speak to any of the other operators in the community about their take on this. Rod Strong Bullseye’s Sports Bar & Grille
Your input is very interesting to say the least. I appreciate that every body as an opinion. Everybody in this town has longed for more dining options…mainly family friendly choices. A place to take the kids other than pizza or mexican. I think we have plenty of that. I am guilty in the fact that I do go to Grand Island ALOT, nearly once a week. It it not for the dining its for the shopping. I cannot find anything I want in Hastings so I shop in Grand Island. Then yes it usually ends up in a dining experience. Why not? So many choices. I have said it before and I’ll say it here..I really dont think an Applebee’s will make it here, I dont think the average medium income family can afford to frequent an Applebee’s. Sure maybe a splurge outting, but a business like that needs constant traffic to make it pay. Their 2 for $20 sounds like a great deal…add a couple beverages…a tip and your up to 2 for $40.00! As a couple local places can tell you, you can spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on the surface of an establishment, that does not gaurantee it will be successful. This is a poor economy and 80% of bars/resteraunts that open today will close. Only time will tell I guess.
I believe that you all have valid input. BUT, I used to be a manager at Applebee’s in Grand Island. I was utterly amazed at how many people I knew from the Hastings AREA (key word) I saw weekly for lunch and dinner. They always said to me, it’s so nice to have a family friendly atmosphere, good quality food, and their biggest sticking point to me was Service. Now before anyone goes off on a tirade, I can say that there a few places in town that know what service is. BUT then there are others, I can sit at a table and feel like we must have pushed the invisible button. We have left establishments on the count of the poor service, or worse, no service whatsoever. A business has to have service first, then quality and a good value. But without service, forget it. The world is made of competition. Be competitive, advertise to let people know what you have. I am a believer in quantity too. If I sell beer for maybe 10 to 15 cents under everyone else, but I sell twice as many as my competitor, and I have the same amount of staff working that I would selling less beers, dont you believe I would make more money selling it for just a little less. Packed vs just kind of busy, which would everyone like to be. Applebee’s has a tremendous amount of weight in their name and they have earned it. They stress, SERVICE, SERVICE, SERVICE, upsell, temping food, customer satisfaction. My staff would on the average walk out on even the slowest of nights with no less than $100 in tips for a 5 or 6 hour shift. Grand Island hasn’t hurt at all, and look at all the restaurants, including the individually owned ones are still making it. And, there are more restaurants to come in Grand Island. I was once told that Grand Island was working on being the next Lincoln, and I truly believe they are well on their way. But, we don’t just need restaurants, we need industry, we need retail. I agree with Deneeta, I shop very little in Hastings. I do my grocery shopping here, and the essentials, but for anything else, (i.e. clothing, shoes, etc.) I shop elsewhere, not just Grand Island. I shop Lincoln, Omaha and online. Hastings is a nice place to live, but for some reason, no one likes competition. Competition is good. It makes the owners work a little harder and not just take the “open the door and they will come” attitude. If you have a special, how am I supposed to find out about it? I’m not telepathic. Mike and I do try to go to different places to eat, BUT, we always go back most to the place that offers…..guess what the word is…. SERVICE!!! I’m not going to rush out to Applebee’s two or three nights a week to eat, I will continue to support the individually owned restaurants as well, but,to those of you (individually owned businesses) and you should know who you are, that can’t step up to the plate and offer service, unlike a few establishments here in town can, sorry, we will be infrequent flyers at your establishment. Maybe Applebee’s can be good for Hastings. It could bring more people out and about, it might draw from the southern tier of Nebraska too. So every business owner needs to get to their drawing boards and sit down with the fact that it is coming and see what they can do to COMPETE!!
I’m excited to get a family style restaurant in Hastings even though I enjoy several of the restaurants here. Some of the places listed in your blog are essentially bars, not restaurants. Hastings Keno, Rivals, Kitty’s Roadhouse, The Barrel Bar, and Bullseye are examples of what some consider to be bars and not restaurants.
I think the city should of brought a restaurant to town that GI and Kearney didn’t have that way those folks would of came to Hastings to eat something different.
Sour grapes there masked blogger?
Sounds like you are invested in the failure of Applebee’s. I will continue to frequent the Goldenrod and Sanchez Plaza as they are great at what they do but it is a nice alternative to traveling somewhere for a family meal. Lighten up, and instead of towing the liberal line of anti-big business get behind something.
Why don’t you see that this adds jobs to the economy. Why can’t you get over yourself and your small business only mindset and realize that there is actual good that can come of this. If one thing closed in Hastings it should be this website.
I agree with TMB. Keep on writing!
The survey say’s “Applebees”. Why? It’s simple, people know who they are, what they do, and what they offer that other’s don’t. They build a brand. “The Friendly Neighborhood Bar and Grill”. “Two for Twenty”. Everyone has an image of this in the back of their minds, because they tell people about it, time and time again. Same as McDonalds, Burger King, so on and so on. Myself, I really couldn’t care less about a burger from a chain restraunt, nothing special, but at least they tell me what they offer. I enjoy eating at our small business restraunts more, but when Applebees is in town and a family is thinking about sitting down for a family meal, who are they going to think of first? I’m guessing not the small business, that expects to survive on word of mouth. Our small joints have plenty to offer. They just need to start talking about it. Build their brands. Show their value, or do nothing, just like most of them have always done, and get what they’ve always got.
Having recently visited the new Applebee’s, I’m curious to know how others feel after their initial visit. Personally, I have a few complaints from my 1st visit in regard to some staff issues (I also heard someone else comment on the same issue). I hope it’s just an initial growing pains issue. This won’t affect a 2nd visit, but if not corrected, it could affect further visits.
We also tried Napoli’s last weekend and LOVED it. I really hope it can make a go of things at the mall location.
Thoughts, anyone else?
Hi, Jill….Totally agree with you about Napoli’s. I truly hope Hastings and the surrounding area will continue to support them, as the non-national chain newbie in town. We enjoyed our meal at Applebee’s, too, but I’m not worried about their survival, since they have national name-brand recognition and advertising.
How sad that after a few months, Applebee’s is still having issues. Our experience tonight was pretty sad. You’d think that after an area waited this long for this restaurant, someone would make sure it was exceeding all expectations instead of failing miserably on basics.
Jill, I am the General Manager for Applebee’s here in Hastings, and would love a chance to talk with you further about your recent experience in our restaurant. Please feel free to give me a call at 402-462-6978.
I just want to comment that I have spoken to Mr. Boudreaux and we discussed my concerns at length. Mr. Boudreaux has gone above & beyond in what I had expected in the treatment of a dissatisfied customer. Thank you Mr. Boudreaux.