So many closings. Is our fabled eats scene crashing?

[Robin Garr]

No one likes to talk about this, but it seems a lot of restaurants have closed lately. Is the local food scene that we're so proud of going downhill? Will it recover? What do you think, and why?

out-of-business.jpg

There is a definitely a malaise among consumers and discretionary spending among average-income folks has declined. I don't see as many small businesses outside of restaurants closing as fast, but layoffs among large businesses have accelerated in the past few months. I've predicted ten out of the last two recessions, so I'm not foolish enough to play that game, but I do think we're likely in a slowing environment (even if we don't have current government statistics to know for sure).

When the AI bubble bursts, it's going to be bad out there.

I listened to an economics podcast the other day (possibly The Indicator or Planet Money). The person they interviewed had statistics showing that nearly all of the "healthy" level of consumer spending we are seeing is generated by the top 20%, and also that equity valuations are fairly high. The hypothesis was that if the stock market experiences a decline, a recession will inevitably follow because the top 20% are going to feel tangibly poorer and cut their discretionary spending.

Personally, I've taken a little break because I'm a little burnt out from dining out, but am also trying to grab takeout from places I've never tried.

[Robin Garr]

Thanks, Nathaniel. Good summary.

OUTCAST fish & oyster bar just announced it's closing and addressed the overall struggles of the industry.

Short answer--of course not!

The scene has expanded well beyond such traditional areas such the Highlands, St Matthews and Crescent Hill. Places such as Jeffersonville, New Albany, NuLu, Norton Commons, Fern Creek, and others either hardly existed 15 years ago, or were basically foodie deserts. There are also many more ethnic eateries and a good number of them don't make it on the radar screen for many of us.

So I conclude that this is still a great city for food and drink (I forgot to mention the enormous growth of bourbon experiences in town now), but the deck has been shuffled a number of times.

[Robin Garr]

Short answer--of course not!

The scene has expanded well beyond such traditional areas such the Highlands, St Matthews and Crescent Hill. Places such as Jeffersonville, New Albany, NuLu, Norton Commons, Fern Creek, and others either hardly existed 15 years ago, or were basically foodie deserts. There are also many more ethnic eateries and a good number of them don't make it on the radar screen for many of us.

So I conclude that this is still a great city for food and drink (I forgot to mention the enormous growth of bourbon experiences in town now), but the deck has been shuffled a number of times.

James, that’s a good point. Taken as a whole, I’m wrong. But it still feels to me that the nature of the scene is changing in ways we haven’t seen, particularly in the past areas of concentration. Is this good or bad? Maybe it depends on where you live?

Yeah, I think we can agree that it has indeed changed. I presented a broader perspective of looking at the evolution in terms ofexpansion into other areas. Whether its better or worse, the conclusion that it depends on where you live may be the best way of seeing it. In either case, I still think we have a great scene overall.