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Thread of local businesses that don't survive the coronavirus

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On 4/20/2020 at 9:14 PM, Larry T. Spider said:

I can live with everything so far but damn I love draught house on a nice day. 

I used to go there pretty often in the 2000s, but very rarely since I moved.  But there was this one dude that seems to ALWAYS be there, and he brings his own mug.  Even in the last decade, if i happen to be in Austin and I happen to have free time to drink, and a couple of my friends happen to all agree to go there, (which has been maybe 3 times in the last decade) that dude is STILL always there.  Anyways, id feel bad for him, he'd have to find another hangout .

11 minutes ago, Pato del Muerto said:

 

So which ones are unimportant, thus the need for the qualifier in the tweet?  The ones that aren’t as good, aren’t local, and don’t employ a few people?

The ones your overlords tell you that are.

Duh!

19 minutes ago, LebongJames said:

Where will they go?

Somewhere other than Austin where a 1/1 apartment runs $1500 to $2000 per month amongst other high costs.

I'm buying a condo here in San Antonio and the real estate agent I'm working with when we first met said, "Man, I'm getting so many people from Austin now over this last year or so".

/csb

57 minutes ago, blacklab said:

Just came here to post that. Sucks. Probably my favorite sandwich place in town. 

When our office was down the street I'd go there at least once a week and sometimes more. 

yep..first one of these closures that i still frequented.  actually picked it up the last day of "normalcy" for the wife's bday.

On 4/19/2020 at 3:55 PM, BurntEyes said:

I promise you, my sister will never give up trying.

We know.

8 minutes ago, Cajun said:

Somewhere other than Austin where a 1/1 apartment runs $1500 to $2000 per month amongst other high costs.

I'm buying a condo here in San Antonio and the real estate agent I'm working with when we first met said, "Man, I'm getting so many people from Austin now over this last year or so".

/csb

Sure some will do that. A lot more from California, Seattle and the Northeast will move to Austin because of your exact example.

5 minutes ago, LebongJames said:

Sure some will do that. A lot more from California, Seattle and the Northeast will move to Austin because of your exact example.

Agreed and we'll see how that shakes out.  My only point here is that current ATX service industry folks are gonna no longer be ATX service industry folks.  It's been happening for awhile now and a 55 gallon drum of race fuel just got dumped on top of that fire.

3 hours ago, Pato del Muerto said:

Why is a sandwich shop important?

Not into negging but I'm debating on this one. 

44 minutes ago, Chet Steadman said:

Not into negging but I'm debating on this one. 

Do what makes you feel good. Doesn’t affect me. My issue is with the tweet calling the place important. 

Edited by Pato del Muerto

4 minutes ago, Pato del Muerto said:

Do what makes you feel good. Doesn’t affect me. My issue is with the tweet calling the place important. 

Why?

Just now, utee94 said:

Why?

Why is it important, relative to other businesses?  Is there some sort of history there?

1 minute ago, Pato del Muerto said:

Why is it important, relative to other businesses?  Is there some sort of history there?

No, I'm asking you why you have an issue with it?

1 minute ago, utee94 said:

No, I'm asking you why you have an issue with it?

Because it makes no sense to me, and appears to be dramatizing a business closure.  What makes it “important sandwich shop closes” instead of “another sandwich shop closes?”

Just now, Pato del Muerto said:

Because it makes no sense to me, and appears to be dramatizing a business closure.  What makes it “important sandwich shop closes” instead of “another sandwich shop closes?”

OK.  Seems like weird thing to take issue with, but like you said, do what makes you feel good, doesn't affect me.

 

 

Maybe important means “kind of weird to get to by car”

21 minutes ago, utee94 said:

OK.  Seems like weird thing to take issue with, but like you said, do what makes you feel good, doesn't affect me.

 

 

Maybe he owns a Subway?

On 4/20/2020 at 7:52 PM, Sleep off ugly said:

Plug-

Deep Eddy Cabaret is open tomorrow and for the rest of the week. Drinks to go and food (simple stuff- beans and rice, sandwiches). Hours are limited, 3 to 8. 

Steve-Hopson-bar-WEB.jpg

2 minutes ago, Deej said:

Maybe he owns a Subway?

Shit, now you just cranked up the cruiser bat signal.  We're all DOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMEEEDDDDD.

During this time of crisis, Pinballz Arcade will rent any pinball or arcade machine and set it up at your house.

I'll bet the people who feed their kids by working there can answer this question better than anyone here.

Yeah, just came to post about fricanos. Was friends with the owners, it’s too bad. I bet that rent is insane.
5 hours ago, Pato del Muerto said:

Why is a sandwich shop important?

Why are boobs good?

9 minutes ago, bluto said:


Why’s a sunset good?

How exactly does a posi trac on the rear end of a Plymouth work?

4 hours ago, Deej said:

During this time of crisis, Pinballz Arcade will rent any pinball or arcade machine and set it up at your house.

shit   I might have to take them up on that offer.   

 

I worry for that Biderman’s at 360/2244 speaking of great Sandwiches.  They started out in that dead spot real slow. But we’re just picking up serious momentum and were completely full each time I was there in February.  But they’re not even open for carry out/favor service or anything like that.  And yes Utee, the subway down the street always looks busy.  

Edited by Lobo

6 hours ago, Deej said:

During this time of crisis, Pinballz Arcade will rent any pinball or arcade machine and set it up at your house.

Whoa.

8 hours ago, Deej said:

During this time of crisis, Pinballz Arcade will rent any pinball or arcade machine and set it up at your house.

Yeah, their website doesnt seem to list out specific games and prices and shit. 

 

My kids would love that, and dad would like a shuffleboard. 

From Pinballz

Our current rental specials for pinball games start at $250 per week/$500 per month plus a $95 first floor Austin metro area delivery cost.  Expanded delivery area is available on select dates.  Our classic video game cabinets (MsPac, Galaga) and multi-cades (60+ games in one cabinet) rates start at $200 per week/$400 per month plus delivery.  

That seems pricey af to me.

What’s a good pinball machine cost these days?

On 4/19/2020 at 1:21 PM, jimmyjazz said:

Was Magnolia Cafe ever good enough to suffer a "slide" in quality?

I mean, I loved a good drunk plate of Eggs Zapatino as much as the next guy, but in general it was a pretty average, slightly overpriced diner that could have used a lot more scrubbing.

Magnolia Cafe was really good back in the day. In fact, I think it was Bon Appetite that published their cornbread pancake recipe. Yeah, I know that doesn’t really prove anything.

My wife and I frequently ate breakfast there back in the 80s and 90s. We loved both their corn meal and whole wheat pancakes loaded with pecans, but I opted for the Love Migas whenever a certain cook was there (insert joke about what Love meant). Sometimes, we’d call ahead to see who was in the kitchen before deciding which location to patronize. We generally preferred the Lake Austin Boulevard location for nostalgic reasons.

We’ve only been back to Austin a half-dozen few times over the past 15 years, and we noticed a decline. Last time, they didn’t even offer the whole wheat pancakes, and others definitely weren’t as loaded with pecans.

3 hours ago, ChickenSandwich said:

From Pinballz

Our current rental specials for pinball games start at $250 per week/$500 per month plus a $95 first floor Austin metro area delivery cost.  Expanded delivery area is available on select dates.  Our classic video game cabinets (MsPac, Galaga) and multi-cades (60+ games in one cabinet) rates start at $200 per week/$400 per month plus delivery.  

I'm not in Austin but, if that place had one of those table-top, domed hockey games, I'd rent it for a month.

2 hours ago, tbone_ said:

That seems pricey af to me.

What’s a good pinball machine cost these days?

Between $2k and $10k. Unless you want some ratty old-school one, then $750, if you're lucky.

41 minutes ago, ImissWallyPryor said:

Magnolia Cafe was really good back in the day. In fact, I think it was Bon Appetite that published their cornbread pancake recipe. Yeah, I know that doesn’t really prove anything.

My wife and I frequently ate breakfast there back in the 80s and 90s. We loved both their corn meal and whole wheat pancakes loaded with pecans, but I opted for the Love Migas whenever a certain cook was there (insert joke about what Love meant). Sometimes, we’d call ahead to see who was in the kitchen before deciding which location to patronize. We generally preferred the Lake Austin Boulevard location for nostalgic reasons.

We’ve only been back to Austin a half-dozen few times over the past 15 years, and we noticed a decline. Last time, they didn’t even offer the whole wheat pancakes, and others definitely weren’t as loaded with pecans.

I dug through a drawer and found the cornmeal pancake recipe from back in the early 90s. 
0-A0-E4-DAA-794-B-4-D84-ACAB-9-DD77-A02-

Edited by ImissWallyPryor

1 hour ago, Deej said:

Between $2k and $10k. Unless you want some ratty old-school one, then $750, if you're lucky.

Of course I'd want a ratty old-school one.

Just now, jimmyjazz said:

Of course I'd want a ratty old-school one.

But in good shape, I'd be hard pressed to not go with the best of them all:

Captain Fantastic — Arcades At Home - Chicago Area Pinball Repair

1 minute ago, jimmyjazz said:

But in good shape, I'd be hard pressed to not go with the best of them all:

Captain Fantastic — Arcades At Home - Chicago Area Pinball Repair

I had some good HS friends (twin brothers) in San Antonio who I secretly envied because they were always making money in oddball ways. They salvaged and rehabbed old pin ball machines which they kept in their game room for our entertainment until they were sold.

They were excellent golfers and worked part time at Pecan Valley CC where they would buy beat-to-hellshit golf clubs which they rebuilt to playing condition (I remember one old persimmon driver that was almost split in 3 pieces that they repaired and let me use to test out because I was the type who swung out of his spikes from the tee box). They had a collection worth probably $15,000-$20,000 in late-1970s dollars.

These guys were the first I ever knew who donned scuba gear to salvage golf balls from water hazards. They bought a used motorized ball washer, and they would sort the balls for resale to the golf clubs. They had trash barrels full of sorted golf balls. I didn’t pay for a single Titleist for probably 10 years.

Interdasting guys. 

Remember that pinball machine at the Waterloo ice house next to the record store that printed baseball cards? That thing was fuckin’ bad ass.

22 hours ago, dingleberryswitzer said:

I used to go there pretty often in the 2000s, but very rarely since I moved.  But there was this one dude that seems to ALWAYS be there, and he brings his own mug.  Even in the last decade, if i happen to be in Austin and I happen to have free time to drink, and a couple of my friends happen to all agree to go there, (which has been maybe 3 times in the last decade) that dude is STILL always there.  Anyways, id feel bad for him, he'd have to find another hangout .

i can recall a guy with shorts and shirt tucked into them matching the description you're talking about.  dimpled mug that I think was maybe some sort of thing they did at some point where if you drink all the beers you get your own mug that is hung up above the bar or something.

i haven't had a drink 4.5 years but I'd shed a tear for the Draughthouse.

8 minutes ago, ImissWallyPryor said:

These guys were the first I ever knew who donned scuba gear to salvage golf balls from water hazards.

Scuba gear?  That's next level.  We'd sneak onto the local country club course at night and just fish around with our hands.  Sometimes you'd score a turtle, which is pretty damn freaky in the dark.

7 minutes ago, Celery Man said:

i can recall a guy with shorts and shirt tucked into them matching the description you're talking about.  dimpled mug that I think was maybe some sort of thing they did at some point where if you drink all the beers you get your own mug that is hung up above the bar or something.

i haven't had a drink 4.5 years but I'd shed a tear for the Draughthouse.

Wait, what's happening with Draughthouse?

I had to go back a few pages but I think people are just speculating or talking about places that would hit hard.  I don't see anything on the interwebs about them closing down.

59 minutes ago, Celery Man said:

i can recall a guy with shorts and shirt tucked into them matching the description you're talking about.  dimpled mug that I think was maybe some sort of thing they did at some point where if you drink all the beers you get your own mug that is hung up above the bar or something.

i haven't had a drink 4.5 years but I'd shed a tear for the Draughthouse.

That's probably him.

On 4/22/2020 at 12:02 PM, Cajun said:

Somewhere other than Austin where a 1/1 apartment runs $1500 to $2000 per month amongst other high costs.

I'm buying a condo here in San Antonio and the real estate agent I'm working with when we first met said, "Man, I'm getting so many people from Austin now over this last year or so".

/csb

That's what's killing old Austin. There was an anti-growth city council in the 70s. Then controlled growth. Then the developers, inevitably won. Throw in local news reporting that businesses moving here are bringing "jobs" instead of "people" and the cycle of deterioration to to equilibrium with Houston heads to completion.

It was cheap to be a student or musician here. It was cheap to live and work in a locally owned business. The millenials are doing their best to keep the city an interesting place, but it's hard to keep the larger part of most cities from becoming Anywhere, USA.

/csb, too

19 hours ago, Biff Tannen said:

Why are boobs good?

Misspelled god.

3 hours ago, ImissWallyPryor said:

I had some good HS friends (twin brothers) in San Antonio who I secretly envied because they were always making money in oddball ways. They salvaged and rehabbed old pin ball machines which they kept in their game room for our entertainment until they were sold.

They were excellent golfers and worked part time at Pecan Valley CC where they would buy beat-to-hellshit golf clubs which they rebuilt to playing condition (I remember one old persimmon driver that was almost split in 3 pieces that they repaired and let me use to test out because I was the type who swung out of his spikes from the tee box). They had a collection worth probably $15,000-$20,000 in late-1970s dollars.

These guys were the first I ever knew who donned scuba gear to salvage golf balls from water hazards. They bought a used motorized ball washer, and they would sort the balls for resale to the golf clubs. They had trash barrels full of sorted golf balls. I didn’t pay for a single Titleist for probably 10 years.

Interdasting guys. 

I miss Pecan Valley.

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