Originally Posted by BamaVol
Currently, the exit down from the mall is being developed. It will have a Best Buy, a Target, one or two more stores of equal size and prominence, and a bunch of smaller ones. The town has been courting Olive Garden as a tenant. We have plenty of competitors; Ruby Tuesday, Applebees, Logans, Red Lobster, Ocharleys, etc. In 4 years, I have seen no chain restaurant fold. The few good non-chains struggle for business. Several have closed in the last month, while you have to wait 2 hours on a Friday night for a table at Outback.
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You described I81 south of Wilkes-Barre Pa. They built this huge boxstore development and put one of every national chain restaurant in and around.
I used to frequent an independent beer-pub that in addition to brewing some really good beer, offered some pretty good meals. I remember an evening having a Cajun rib-eye, a fresh dinner salad and homemade garlic mash potatoes with a couple of good Stouts and the bill was less than $25 bucks. An equal meal at the Outback would have been closer to $35.
Unfortunately the place closed a few months after the mall was completed as they couldn't compete with Olive Garden and the rest.
I'm still searching for a good local restaurant in the area.