Need opinions about restaurant location

We have been working on the location for Louis Retailleau's restaurant. The 2 places we have tried to move into had issues. The first place we could not expand and the second the owner is dragging their feet about us expanding the building. We have found a location downtown. It is on located next to Pesto's on 5th and Chestnut. I am asking for opinions on the location. Your input will help greatly before we jump head first into this location. Louis is very anxious to get his restaurant open and we want him to be successful.
I look forward to hear from the Forum for your opinions.

In general, in that area a restaurant would have to derive almost all of revenues from lunch business M-F so that needs to be seriously considered when planning. And there is a lot of competition for that business and many choices currently. If the plan is to have a substantial dinner business I would personally look elsewhere.

Yeah, what Brian said. Don't do it!

I've met Louis, and if he still has the same sort of restaurant in mind that he had a couple years ago, that is NOT the location for it. Frankfort Avenue or St. Matthews, like we talked about, Louis!

[Robin Garr]

A couple of outstanding restaurateurs have tried and failed in that location, and as noted, night business was zip. Your man should definitely be looking at Frankfort Avenue or St. Matthews or Bardstown Road.

As an aside, Debbie, and not meant as snarky: Is your man "hard to please"? I'm starting to get the impression that he has a worrisome tendency to get into deals halfway and then back out. Sometimes you just have to make a decision and push on.

Ditto Brian and Marsha. That location is lunch only. (I used to work across the street.) Dinner locations downtown are going to have to be in NuLu or across from the KCA.

A French Bistro concept, if I'm remembering other threads correctly would do best on Frankfort Ave. or Bardstown Rd, as the others have said.

Agreed with all. That location is dynamite for a lunch counter, but will wither for lack of dinner traffic. (unless we all start going downtown for dinner more and make a concerted effort to bring PM dining back to the heart of downtown, it really is up to us!)

Right now the most promising downtown growth is along Market Street as you head east. And, of course, Frankfort Ave and Bardstown Rd are the mecca for indie dining in this town so you always have that.

[Robin Garr]

Frankfort Ave and Bardstown Rd are the mecca for indie dining in this town so you always have that.

I think St. Matthews is approaching parity, but that's probably a topic for another thread.

What type of food is on the menu?

As an aside, Debbie, and not meant as snarky: Is your man "hard to please"? I'm starting to get the impression that he has a worrisome tendency to get into deals halfway and then back out. Sometimes you just have to make a decision and push on.

The problem has been with the locations. Last year the landloard raised the rent after demolition had be completed and the deal fell thru. The location on Frankfort was too small and could not be expanded due to LG& E and Public Works. The St. Matthews location is at a stand still due to no response form the landloard.

What type of food is on the menu?

This will be a Classic French Menu. Louis is from Bordeaux, France.

[Robin Garr]

The problem has been with the locations. Last year the landloard raised the rent after demolition had be completed and the deal fell thru. The location on Frankfort was too small and could not be expanded due to LG& E and Public Works. The St. Matthews location is at a stand still due to no response form the landloard.

You know, sometimes I get the impression that landlord issues are to blame for about two-thirds of the restaurant failures around this town. I can think of a few "haunted restaurant" locations where I'm pretty darn sure this is the case.

The former Danielle's is open again after a very short lived mediteranean market. I've no idea about the price, but it has an open space upstairs that is just as large as the downstairs. Don't recall if the bathrooms meet today's handicap requirements though. Robin?

[Robin Garr]

The former Danielle's is open again after a very short lived mediteranean market. I've no idea about the price, but it has an open space upstairs that is just as large as the downstairs. Don't recall if the bathrooms meet today's handicap requirements though. Robin?

Dang, I never even got to GO to the Mediterranean market! Sheeesh!

So you're saying it's actually called Danielle's again, Nora? Interesting!

Handicap requirements are funny ... there's a lot of wiggle room under "reasonable accommodation," and frankly, I get a sense that the city is not eager to enforce the ADA very strictly. There's a difficult tension between accommodating wheelchair users and other disabled people on the one hand, and making it financially impractical to put restaurants and other public facilities into older neighborhoods like Bardstown Road or Frankfort Avenue. The easiest way by far to make a building truly accessible is to build it new. In the suburbs. I get a sense that the city reasonably doesn't want to see businesses leaving the urban area in droves, so they quietly ignore access in some cases. It's not an easy call, and I'm glad I don't have to make it.

There are plenty of locations around town that are the kiss of death apparently. There's one that has been empty since I moved here in 2003! It's in the strip mall near CVS and a chiropractor's office. I believe at one point it was Michael E's for five minutes and has been for lease ever since. The location is horrible, pure suicide to make a left turn out of there. I have no idea if it stays empty due to just the traffic issue or if they're asking too much on the lease.

It looks like they've either canceled or put on the hold the strip mall that was going in at the corner of Hurstbourne and South Watterson Trail (the new part west of Bardstown Road). The signs were taken down anyway. There's lots of empty space in the strip mall by Meijer on Hurstbourne and more in the one in front of Glenmary.

Just more cases in point that just because a plot of land is empty doesn't mean it needs a strip mall. If you build it, the dust bunnies will come.

Sorry robin, that was an ambiguous statement! By "open" i meant that it's up for lease again! I guess danielles has turned into a reference point for me like the old sears building is for the natives.
And the market wasn't terribly impressive with 5 racks of dry goods and one case for cheeses and naan. Tons of wasted space.