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darksideofthemoon131 t1_jbwmezu wrote

Reply to comment by Sithlordbelichick in What happened to late night Dining in the Canal District? by Doom-Hauer451

>no idea why Worcester is so dead at night

As someone in the restaurant/bar industry let me answer- Covid.

People stopped going out late night for food and such. With the advent of Doordash, grubhub etc there's less staff for service and more dedicated to takeout orders. Closing early became the norm. The issue with Canal district and food is it's just not feasible to stay open when parking is either taken by the baseball park or bar customers. Restaurants aren't seeing the value of late night. Wings can't get drivers for delivery or anyone who wants to deal with the drunk and sometimes violent late night crowd.

It's not just Worcester, restaurants in Providence and Boston are seeing the shift too.

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Doom-Hauer451 OP t1_jbxe2hw wrote

I get that. I just figured with more people going back to concerts and stuff like that the night scene would be coming back. If they’re parking downtown to go to ball games and bars (of course baseball season hasn’t started yet either) shouldn’t the restaurants also be picking up some of that business? The only thing that makes sense is a shift in demand (not as many people want to go out late) or the difficulty of finding workers for the restaurant industry which has had a shortage for the last few years.

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darksideofthemoon131 t1_jbxi44e wrote

>) shouldn’t the restaurants also be picking up some of that

For maybe an hour before the game. During game parking is taken- bars/restaurants are empty.

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Doom-Hauer451 OP t1_jbxj1h9 wrote

Yeah, that makes sense - they need more parking garages. What about after the game though? I remember that being one of the selling points about building the park in the first place.

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FoxFogwell t1_jbxmkhn wrote

Statistically, stadiums do not increase a cities economy.

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Doom-Hauer451 OP t1_jbxmyvu wrote

Exactly. I remember hearing this statistic 5 years ago when everyone was arguing about building it.

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guybehindawall t1_jbxqo0h wrote

That was one of the big selling points, and it's just by and large not happening. Most fans are just going to the stadium, parking, going to the game, going back in their cars, and going home.

The Sundown's patio is a particularly good spot to watch hordes of WooSox fans beeline straight to their cars without hardly noticing the open bar they're walking by.

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your_city_councilor t1_jc31mo3 wrote

None of these restaurants seem to be trying to attract people to come from the games though.

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AceOfTheSwords t1_jc7mp4w wrote

So weird. I'd expect many of them to just leave, but after a point why wouldn't some people stop to eat for an hour just to avoid the rush of traffic from people leaving? Are they getting cheaper food in the stadium?

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darksideofthemoon131 t1_jbxj49g wrote

Bars sure, who goes out to dinner at 10pm?

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Doom-Hauer451 OP t1_jbxk9qb wrote

I don’t know about “dinner” dinner (I still get dinner that late after a movie sometimes) but late night takeout at least used to be a thing here. After parties, people getting out of the bars etc.

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Speedwagon1935 t1_jcijx1d wrote

Most people in college

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darksideofthemoon131 t1_jckad6x wrote

Most people in college aren't spending enough to sustain a business.

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Speedwagon1935 t1_jckhxsk wrote

Tell that to the Boynton

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darksideofthemoon131 t1_jckjazi wrote

The Boynton is next to the college and a large majority of its business is families and middle aged people. Most restaurants on Park Ave and adjacent will tell you that the colleges provide very little business to the restaurants. Pizza places and fast food will tell ya differently but its cuz theyre cheap and deliver. With the stricter liquor laws, underage drinking isn't happening in the bars anymore. Leitrims is the last "college bar" in the city and they're struggling. They just aren't a sustainable demographic in the industry.

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BrokedownAlice69 t1_jc00277 wrote

They are building one right now. You should see what I’m taking about next time you drive by.

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