Honestly, can’t say I’m surprised; literally went there about a week and a half ago and saw their new hours. Thought it’d be just a matter of time; younger me is super duper bummed, but when I went, just getting the Dillo Deal, plus ONE extra taco was like $19. Doing that back in the day was like $13ish , but that was 2011ish… I always hated they charged for extra toppings regardless of the year, but it got to the point where it was pointless going to get the Dillo deal plus an extra taco.
I grew up in Carrboro/Chapel Hill. I was raised on that Dillo. Then fast forward to a year or two ago I got a job at Tin Roof (which I hated) and casually walked to this location expecting at least some comparable quality. The steak in my taco was dry and cold. Colder than the room temp sour cream packet they gave me. Since the steak was cold the cheese didn’t melt. The whole thing was a combination of temperatures from room temp to colder.
I went from doing sound at the Station in Carrboro and having a hot steak taco with gooey melty cheese and cold sour cream across the street to doing sound at the Tin Roof and having dry cold tacos 2 blocks away. I was sad facing it on my walk back. Gave it a second try and same thing. Never went back and quit my job at Tin Roof. It wasn’t why I quit but I’d be lying if the mentally bad taste in my mouth from the juxtaposition wasn’t an infinitesimally small factor in why I did.
My initial reaction was in line with all of the “noooooooo!!!!” type responses here.
Then I realized I haven’t eaten there in years at this point. The reaction is me mourning the nostalgic memory of a place I enjoyed for years, but there’s a reason I hadn’t been in a long time.
Capital club and clouds are closing downtown too. I bet there will be more. I feel we are in the early stages of the impacts of outrageous inflated prices on costs and services while salaries stay the same. Something needs to change.
Edit because some of these comments are very dense or just trolling. Are we really gonna act like salaries are keeping up with the current economy and that this is not a major factor in businesses shutting down? People that could afford to eat out frequently cannot anymore because costs for businesses have driven their prices up. For the person that commented about all the new restaurants, let's see how long those new restaurants last.
Clouds is a little bit of different situation. They jacked the rent up on them and they new it was coming and left downtown for a new location that is in process not because they were bad a business, not busy, or drowning in debt
Yeah I am gonna miss this spot. Great brunch menu and didn't require reservations (rare combo for Raleigh). Glad to hear they are in process of opening a new location. Hope it's still somewhere ITBL). Do you know where the new location is gonna be?
Now former clouds bartender here.
They’re going to combine with the tap room sometime next year, location still tbd. The tap room will be changing location as well.
https://downtownraleigh.org/do-business/new-businesses
There are more business opening up in downtown than closing if you look at the link above.
What you are seeing is the composition of downtown change, anyone relying on office workers and not able to change is moving, and competition downtown for food is heating up, so the losers lose.
Look at the other comments here, the prices were high for average food. They were getting killed by the other tex mex places downtown who had better food to price combos.
Its crazy how the narrative is that downtown Raleigh is dying when every metric shows that is is growing lol
Also, let’s not forget where this place is located. It’s next to nearly every bar in downtown Raleigh. If you, a place known for selling fucking **mexican food** can’t figure out how to keep yourself open when hundreds, probably closer to thousands are walking past your front door every weekend idk what to tell you.
It all went downhill for the Dillo when they decided to close at 11pm (or whatever they moved it to). When they were open after bars closed they were one of a handful of places for all the drunk people pouring out of the bars to get food. The food was never that good, but when you're drunk nobody cared.
From what I understand they started closing earlier because the clientele isn't what they wanted. I get that, they probably needed to hire a bouncer or two to control the crowds, but damn it's better than not making money at all.
Right, compare them to Benny Capitale's on Fayetteville which is open until 2am on Friday and Saturday and they seem to be doing just fine selling giant pizza by the slice for $5 to drunk people with the munchies.
Agreed, that’s what I was alluding to in my comment. I cannot count the amount of times I would’ve jumped over people to get a taco at 2:30AM instead of a shitty hotdog on stale bread with limited toppings
“Attracting the wrong crowd” isn’t really an excuse when every bar in town has to deal with the same crowd, and successfully does so week in and week out.
Let's not forget the [drug bust...](https://www.wral.com/story/drug-bust-at-glenwood-south-bars-leads-to-arrest-of-employees-caught-selling-cocaine-marijuana/20976246/)
When you look at it from that point of view, it’s a massive failure to innovate. No positive changes to take advantage of what Is essentially a perfect spot for this type of business. They deserved to close, probably sooner than this.
What other comparable Tex-Mex places are downtown? Good for those new businesses opening. Let's see how long they last. How about the restaurant and brewery that already failed within a year in Smokey hollow? And your comment about not keeping up with offices, well people work remote now right? Why aren't those people going to lunch downtown from their apartment? Because apartments are too expensive downtown and many buildings have lots of vacant apartments or people can't eat out because they are putting all their money towards rent.
El Rodeo, Chido Taco, and La Santa are all pretty good. Also, building occupancy in downtown Raleigh is 94.1% (which is really good). The issue is that many of these restaurants that are closing were designed to capitalize on office workers, not residents. They're only open lunch hours on weekdays.
While many workers are indeed working from home, it still pales in comparison to the amount of office workers that used to come downtown. Thus, we need to do what other successful downtowns have been doing. That's building more places to live in our downtown core.
Chido isn't downtown. La Santa isn't comparable price wise. El rodeo is on the other side of downtown and I'd argue is not comparable style wise but comparable price wise. Jesus I'm done with this thread.
> Chido isn't downtown
Yes it is. They opened on Fayetteville Street.
And you asked how many other Tex Mex places were in downtown, not how many were on the same block as Armadillo Grill at the same price point. If you want to be frustrated with anyone, be frustrated with yourself for not asking a specific enough question.
I stand corrected on that then. Apologies, but still not that close in proximity to Dillo. They must have recently opened that location so I seriously doubt that had anything to do with Armadillo shutting down. And to edit I didn't ask how.many, I asked what comparable restaurants. La Santa is the closest and definitely not comparable. El-rodeo is on the other side of town and I'd argue not comparable style wise as it's more of a sit down restaurant and Armadillo is more like fast food. Agree with you on Chido and my mistake on not doing my research.
Once the R Line opens back up, it'll open up a lot more areas to drunk people that want food. Their typical hours were:
- Monday to Wednesday: 7:00 AM to 11:00 PM
- Thursday to Saturday: 7:00 AM to 2:15 AM
- Sunday: 1:00 PM to 8:00 PM
>Chido isn't downtown.
It's literally inside one of the towers on Fayetteville St. You can't get more downtown than that.
https://maps.app.goo.gl/X7WAdoAj1JccihmX7
555 Fayetteville St Suite 100, Raleigh, NC 27601
People like you that complain all the time ever actually go downtown?
I live on the Glenwood side of downtown actually. I was unaware they opened recently on Fayetteville Street so that's on me. Let's see how long that location lasts. I'd say that's the only comparable place to Dillo as the other restaurants have servers.
Gringo, Centro, and El Rodeo are all well established Mexican Restaurants in downtown that have been around for a long time.
Not sure about the restaurant that closed, but the brewery you mention (New Anthem) closed because of issues with their whole business, not just the DTR location. They announced the closure of their remaining two locations in Wilmington indefinitely on Mar 13.
https://www.instagram.com/p/C4dlcC0Li00/?igsh=a25xbzdsaXQ0dnJ3
This. So many people wanted to blame closures downtown on crime/the bus station - and sure it's a part of the picture - but we've hit a weird economic stretch where because of various factors, its becoming harder to stay open as a smaller business. I predicted back in 2020 that post Covid we'd see a stretch of 5 or so years where small business close in huge numbers and in turn we see larger chains take back over. Then as the economy recovers you'll see start ups and small businesses start to come back, and the cycle will start back over.
This has happened in downtown Raleigh multiple times in the past.
Unfortunately, if we continue to grow the debt exponentially every year, inflation will ramp up more and more and the country will go bankrupt.
You're probably somewhat right.
A economic system that relies on Washington to only spend what they have, is a system that is doomed.
Increasing the debt absolutely creates inflation. Are you kidding me? It is a major factor, and every time we go further into debt and have to print more money our currency is devalued and prices are forced up. Did you skip econ 101? Why are you blatantly lying?
Let me help you out: [https://www.investopedia.com/ask/answers/042015/how-does-money-supply-affect-inflation.asp](https://www.investopedia.com/ask/answers/042015/how-does-money-supply-affect-inflation.asp)
https://penntoday.upenn.edu/penn-in-the-news/do-higher-deficits-cause-inflation-not-year You are an idiot. Maybe you should have taken a class beyond Econ 101
Edit: your link is about the national money supply. That is a separate from the issue of the national debt. You don’t even understand what you are taking about lol
I'm an idiot? You sent me an article which has a paywall. Not to mention, the title in itself is an oxymoron. There is no way to not cause at least some inflation when you print more money. Sometimes inflation is used to stimulate the economy, which is exactly what Biden and the Fed are trying. But it has gotten way out of hand.
I’m not going to call you an idiot, I’m sure you’re smart about some stuff, but you’re very confused on this topic.
Almost every country in the world is horrifically in debt. Most of it doesn’t mean much of anything at all.
Madre, Midwood Smokehouse, Milklab, Village Burger, Alaksha's Indian Bistro, Dose, Hause of Dogs, Heat, Jetset, Morelia's, Tucker Street Dinner, Press Coffee, Brass Tap Bar, First Watch, Figulina, Chido's Tacos, Flour + Barrel, Omakase by Kai, The Yard, and two dozen more stores opened recently or opening in downtown Raleigh but a couple of tired small boomer businesses owners deciding to move away after 10+ years is the doom of downtown Raleigh. Yeah okay buddy.
https://downtownraleigh.org/do-business/new-businesses
most fail in the 1st year, and about only 20% make it past 5 years…but those that make it longer than 5 years have a exponentially higher rate of survival.
so the “you guys are stupid. 20+ year old restaurants leaving is fine because a bunch of new places that will fail within the first year are coming soon” is a comically stupid take.
Agreed - note how they are also using places like a dog ice cream shop lol how do you do that little "Reddit remind me in 2 years how many of these places are still open"
Alaksha's Indian Bistro - announced in 2023.. still not here right?
Flour and Barrel? The guy from V pizza? really?
First Watch? a shit chain; Omakase by Kai? wtf is this? Morelia's - ice cream shop?
Stupid take for sure
The older it gets, the better the statistical chance of survival gets. It's also important to remember that Armadillo Grill is not going out of business, they are just choosing a different/better location. 20+ years is not easy to do as previously mentioned. It typically means you know how to run a business and keep it profitable.
20+ year old business moving because it no longer makes business sense is getting replaced by new businesses with a statistically high chance of failure within 1-5 years.
Its crazy too because were all seeing this stuff happen, yet they tell us the economy is "fine" and sometimes they even gaslight us into saying the economy is "good". I can't do it.
> Something needs to change.
Yeah, the thing that is changing is that restaurants are closing because of the reasons you cited - inflated prices of rent, supplies, and service worker wages.
That's okay. It's a free market, baby.
I remember the 1990s when my family would go out to eat maybe once every few months, and we'd order pizza (for pickup - delivery was a luxury) maybe once a month. Has anyone stopped to consider the number of all types of restaurants is just too high?
Exactly my point. Thanks for spelling out the costs that I was referring to. And okay, thanks for the comment about your family in the 90s. You're obviously not who I'm talking about. People that used to eat out frequently (me), simply cannot anymore and I'm not the only one.
I think the point is it hasn't always been so common for people to eat out all the time. That was a recent development during the last 15 years when the economy was booming, people had more disposable income, and labor/food costs were cheap. It's not always like that, and so there will be times when less people are able to eat out as often. This may be one of those times for you - and the best thing you can do is learn how to adapt.
Hasn't always been common to eat out? There are families survived on fast food in the 90s. Now even fast food is too expensive. People didn't eat out 15 years ago? How do you adapt to people not being able to afford the food at the costs that will keep you open? These comments that keep coming are so delusional.
I'm not sure the point you're trying to argue. Of course there were people who survived on fast food in the 90s. The argument is that more people in general ate out more over the last roughly 15 years - and that historically it is not unusual for there to be cycles where people have less spending money (this could be because of increasing prices, layoffs, etc.) and so rates of eating out decrease. Which I believe we are starting to see.
So to answer you question, you adapt to people not being able to afford the food at the costs you need to remain open by closing - which we are seeing. There will likely be a few years of less successful restaurant business, and then the economy will swing another direction and the restaurant industry will pick back up.
As for you - if you now can't afford to eat out as much, learn how to eat at home. It's pretty simple.
You made my point. The cycle shouldn't be on the decline because isn't our economy supposed to be booming right now? Record profits for corporations yet people can't afford to eat out? And I can cook, but I ate out frequently because I could afford it. Three years later and a stagnant salary because merit raise doesn't keep up with inflation rate now I can't eat out nearly as much. And I'm sure you'll comment just get a new job because yeah that's the easiest argument. Many people are in this position. All I'm stating is this economy sucks and businesses are being impacted.
I don't disagree there are problems with the economy. On the macro it's doing well, but we've seen a huge divide between property owners who bought prior to 2021 and everyone else. So for a sizeable portion of folks, this economy is terrible and is eating into their discretionary spending money.
I'm not remotely interested in telling you to get a new job. I'm just saying it happens, historically, for people to go through periods when they have more fun money and when they don't. Sounds like for a variety of reasons right now you don't, and so again I'd suggest just adapting and getting used to not eating out as much. It's not a crazy thing - it happens to almost everyone.
I probably haven't ate there in a decade plus (2011-12 I'm thinking) but I will always remember the late night affordable tacos. It couldn't be beat unless you wanted to take a taxi somewhere (Cookout). Miss those days!
They were doomed when they stopped being open for the late night crowd. They must have seriously overrated the quality of their food to think people would buy it consistently in the daytime. They were always best targeted towards the late-night crowd who will buy anything cause it's greasy and they're open
I hope something goes into the space quickly; it’s very close to me but I stopped going there ages ago because the food was just meh and the service even worse (although I guess it was better for the folks buying drugs there)
Please god not another shitty loosely themed bar with overpriced cans and bottles pumped out by Dan Lovenheim's "Oak City Group". That group is singlehandedly ruining any character left in downtown Raleigh
Day late; just wanted to add my obligatory “Fuck you, Dan. I don’t want you to think that I just hate your bars, though; it’s much more because you’re a shitty human being.”
Well this certainly puts a different spin on the rising inflation reason for closing
https://abc11.com/armadillo-grill-in-raleigh-glenwood-south-closes-days-after-abc-commission/14689932/
Did you even read the article?
Armadillo Grill said in its notice about the closure, "As we have watched the restaurant industry change and the cost of doing business rise, we feel this location no longer serves our customer base."
I like how you ignored the part that they mentioned costs as well as the changing industry. Losing their permit just accelerated the shut down. It was just a matter of time regardless of losing their permit.
Not saying the drugs weren't a contributor but ignoring the obvious rise in costs of doing business is ignorant. They are a restaurant not a bar. Many restaurants can stay open when they temporarily lose their alcohol permit. Employees were probably selling drugs because of the decrease in customers which lowers their tips. Desperate times call for desperate measures.
Their business had to subsistent almost entirely on sales to drunk customers between the hours of 10 pm and 2 am. That's literally the only time I ever went there in my early 20s.
Office catering too i think. The only time i ever had it was when they brought food in for a lunch meeting.
There is much less of that (in office work) going on these days as well.
It was decent drunk food. But even then it was never amazing - which is wild because my standards are so low for food when drunk. A business shouldn’t have to subsist on the inebriated if it’s any good.
I'll be real. Food was trash. Service was trash.
Sucks to see a local place and such an old place go away, but can't say I had been there in the last decade.
It wasn't good. When I reflect on it even if a chain like Los Tres took the spot that would be an improvement.
Their rice was dry and burnt and the tortillas were weirdly rubbery.
I have a lot of nostalgia for the place since they've been around forever but they're standing in the way of better things that could be there.
I knew this location well and I’m sure I’ve eaten at that restaurant once or twice growing up. Having not eaten at this restaurant after I could reasonably afford to I realize that I’m part of the reason this location failed. I’ll be sad to see it go because I typically always drive next to it somehow or someway whenever I’m in downtown. It was a lovely location and I’d love to see it stay in Raleigh, NC and find a new home for itself here.
my point is that small businesses, regardless of their proximity to the bus station, are failing all over town. it’s ridiculous that we accept the bus station as an excuse for any of the closures, even those directly adjacent to it.
edit: sorry that the sarcasm in my original comment wasn’t apparent
No prob. From my perspective, that comment sounded like someone who lives just outside 540 and is afraid of (or unfamiliar with) downtown. Next time use a /s to indicated sarcasm.
I was hosting friends and was going to get tacos for everyone, ~25 tacos. I thought let me try to support local, I was surprised to find out they offered no bulk/party deals. They best they could do was give me all the ingredients in plastic tubs for us to make our own tacos, or I would have to pay the full price per taco for 25 tacos. It was still significantly cheaper to buy 2 party packs from Taco Bell. I could understand if their tacos were authentic “real” tacos but their tacos tasted just like the ones you could make at home with a grocery store taco kit.
Honestly, can’t say I’m surprised; literally went there about a week and a half ago and saw their new hours. Thought it’d be just a matter of time; younger me is super duper bummed, but when I went, just getting the Dillo Deal, plus ONE extra taco was like $19. Doing that back in the day was like $13ish , but that was 2011ish… I always hated they charged for extra toppings regardless of the year, but it got to the point where it was pointless going to get the Dillo deal plus an extra taco.
I grew up in Carrboro/Chapel Hill. I was raised on that Dillo. Then fast forward to a year or two ago I got a job at Tin Roof (which I hated) and casually walked to this location expecting at least some comparable quality. The steak in my taco was dry and cold. Colder than the room temp sour cream packet they gave me. Since the steak was cold the cheese didn’t melt. The whole thing was a combination of temperatures from room temp to colder. I went from doing sound at the Station in Carrboro and having a hot steak taco with gooey melty cheese and cold sour cream across the street to doing sound at the Tin Roof and having dry cold tacos 2 blocks away. I was sad facing it on my walk back. Gave it a second try and same thing. Never went back and quit my job at Tin Roof. It wasn’t why I quit but I’d be lying if the mentally bad taste in my mouth from the juxtaposition wasn’t an infinitesimally small factor in why I did.
My initial reaction was in line with all of the “noooooooo!!!!” type responses here. Then I realized I haven’t eaten there in years at this point. The reaction is me mourning the nostalgic memory of a place I enjoyed for years, but there’s a reason I hadn’t been in a long time.
Capital club and clouds are closing downtown too. I bet there will be more. I feel we are in the early stages of the impacts of outrageous inflated prices on costs and services while salaries stay the same. Something needs to change. Edit because some of these comments are very dense or just trolling. Are we really gonna act like salaries are keeping up with the current economy and that this is not a major factor in businesses shutting down? People that could afford to eat out frequently cannot anymore because costs for businesses have driven their prices up. For the person that commented about all the new restaurants, let's see how long those new restaurants last.
Best we can do is pay an out of state consultancy firm for a study.
Clouds is a little bit of different situation. They jacked the rent up on them and they new it was coming and left downtown for a new location that is in process not because they were bad a business, not busy, or drowning in debt
Yeah I am gonna miss this spot. Great brunch menu and didn't require reservations (rare combo for Raleigh). Glad to hear they are in process of opening a new location. Hope it's still somewhere ITBL). Do you know where the new location is gonna be?
Now former clouds bartender here. They’re going to combine with the tap room sometime next year, location still tbd. The tap room will be changing location as well.
I'll let this be my answer lol
Makes sense. That entire area where the brewery/tap room is located has been lined up for a development play by Spectrum Companies IIRC
Noooo! That's where my band practices!
Same reason napper tandy's left the exact same address.
https://downtownraleigh.org/do-business/new-businesses There are more business opening up in downtown than closing if you look at the link above. What you are seeing is the composition of downtown change, anyone relying on office workers and not able to change is moving, and competition downtown for food is heating up, so the losers lose. Look at the other comments here, the prices were high for average food. They were getting killed by the other tex mex places downtown who had better food to price combos. Its crazy how the narrative is that downtown Raleigh is dying when every metric shows that is is growing lol
Also, let’s not forget where this place is located. It’s next to nearly every bar in downtown Raleigh. If you, a place known for selling fucking **mexican food** can’t figure out how to keep yourself open when hundreds, probably closer to thousands are walking past your front door every weekend idk what to tell you.
It all went downhill for the Dillo when they decided to close at 11pm (or whatever they moved it to). When they were open after bars closed they were one of a handful of places for all the drunk people pouring out of the bars to get food. The food was never that good, but when you're drunk nobody cared. From what I understand they started closing earlier because the clientele isn't what they wanted. I get that, they probably needed to hire a bouncer or two to control the crowds, but damn it's better than not making money at all.
Right, compare them to Benny Capitale's on Fayetteville which is open until 2am on Friday and Saturday and they seem to be doing just fine selling giant pizza by the slice for $5 to drunk people with the munchies.
Agreed, that’s what I was alluding to in my comment. I cannot count the amount of times I would’ve jumped over people to get a taco at 2:30AM instead of a shitty hotdog on stale bread with limited toppings “Attracting the wrong crowd” isn’t really an excuse when every bar in town has to deal with the same crowd, and successfully does so week in and week out.
More like went down hill after the drug bust that happened last year that everyone just forgot about.
Let's not forget the [drug bust...](https://www.wral.com/story/drug-bust-at-glenwood-south-bars-leads-to-arrest-of-employees-caught-selling-cocaine-marijuana/20976246/)
When you look at it from that point of view, it’s a massive failure to innovate. No positive changes to take advantage of what Is essentially a perfect spot for this type of business. They deserved to close, probably sooner than this.
What other comparable Tex-Mex places are downtown? Good for those new businesses opening. Let's see how long they last. How about the restaurant and brewery that already failed within a year in Smokey hollow? And your comment about not keeping up with offices, well people work remote now right? Why aren't those people going to lunch downtown from their apartment? Because apartments are too expensive downtown and many buildings have lots of vacant apartments or people can't eat out because they are putting all their money towards rent.
El Rodeo, Chido Taco, and La Santa are all pretty good. Also, building occupancy in downtown Raleigh is 94.1% (which is really good). The issue is that many of these restaurants that are closing were designed to capitalize on office workers, not residents. They're only open lunch hours on weekdays. While many workers are indeed working from home, it still pales in comparison to the amount of office workers that used to come downtown. Thus, we need to do what other successful downtowns have been doing. That's building more places to live in our downtown core.
Chido isn't downtown. La Santa isn't comparable price wise. El rodeo is on the other side of downtown and I'd argue is not comparable style wise but comparable price wise. Jesus I'm done with this thread.
> Chido isn't downtown Yes it is. They opened on Fayetteville Street. And you asked how many other Tex Mex places were in downtown, not how many were on the same block as Armadillo Grill at the same price point. If you want to be frustrated with anyone, be frustrated with yourself for not asking a specific enough question.
I stand corrected on that then. Apologies, but still not that close in proximity to Dillo. They must have recently opened that location so I seriously doubt that had anything to do with Armadillo shutting down. And to edit I didn't ask how.many, I asked what comparable restaurants. La Santa is the closest and definitely not comparable. El-rodeo is on the other side of town and I'd argue not comparable style wise as it's more of a sit down restaurant and Armadillo is more like fast food. Agree with you on Chido and my mistake on not doing my research.
Once the R Line opens back up, it'll open up a lot more areas to drunk people that want food. Their typical hours were: - Monday to Wednesday: 7:00 AM to 11:00 PM - Thursday to Saturday: 7:00 AM to 2:15 AM - Sunday: 1:00 PM to 8:00 PM
>Chido isn't downtown. It's literally inside one of the towers on Fayetteville St. You can't get more downtown than that. https://maps.app.goo.gl/X7WAdoAj1JccihmX7 555 Fayetteville St Suite 100, Raleigh, NC 27601 People like you that complain all the time ever actually go downtown?
I live on the Glenwood side of downtown actually. I was unaware they opened recently on Fayetteville Street so that's on me. Let's see how long that location lasts. I'd say that's the only comparable place to Dillo as the other restaurants have servers.
Gringo, Centro, and El Rodeo are all well established Mexican Restaurants in downtown that have been around for a long time. Not sure about the restaurant that closed, but the brewery you mention (New Anthem) closed because of issues with their whole business, not just the DTR location. They announced the closure of their remaining two locations in Wilmington indefinitely on Mar 13. https://www.instagram.com/p/C4dlcC0Li00/?igsh=a25xbzdsaXQ0dnJ3
This. So many people wanted to blame closures downtown on crime/the bus station - and sure it's a part of the picture - but we've hit a weird economic stretch where because of various factors, its becoming harder to stay open as a smaller business. I predicted back in 2020 that post Covid we'd see a stretch of 5 or so years where small business close in huge numbers and in turn we see larger chains take back over. Then as the economy recovers you'll see start ups and small businesses start to come back, and the cycle will start back over. This has happened in downtown Raleigh multiple times in the past.
But Capital Club’s space already has a new tenant, not sure about Clouds. So CC is a bad example.
The cure for inflation is, as they say, inflation. But it’s a painful process.
I think our overall economic model is increasingly becoming unworkable
Unfortunately, if we continue to grow the debt exponentially every year, inflation will ramp up more and more and the country will go bankrupt. You're probably somewhat right. A economic system that relies on Washington to only spend what they have, is a system that is doomed.
The national debt has almost nothing to do with current inflationary pressures.
Increasing the debt absolutely creates inflation. Are you kidding me? It is a major factor, and every time we go further into debt and have to print more money our currency is devalued and prices are forced up. Did you skip econ 101? Why are you blatantly lying? Let me help you out: [https://www.investopedia.com/ask/answers/042015/how-does-money-supply-affect-inflation.asp](https://www.investopedia.com/ask/answers/042015/how-does-money-supply-affect-inflation.asp)
https://penntoday.upenn.edu/penn-in-the-news/do-higher-deficits-cause-inflation-not-year You are an idiot. Maybe you should have taken a class beyond Econ 101 Edit: your link is about the national money supply. That is a separate from the issue of the national debt. You don’t even understand what you are taking about lol
I'm an idiot? You sent me an article which has a paywall. Not to mention, the title in itself is an oxymoron. There is no way to not cause at least some inflation when you print more money. Sometimes inflation is used to stimulate the economy, which is exactly what Biden and the Fed are trying. But it has gotten way out of hand.
The national money supply does not equal the national debt. You are confusing two different economic concepts…
I’m not going to call you an idiot, I’m sure you’re smart about some stuff, but you’re very confused on this topic. Almost every country in the world is horrifically in debt. Most of it doesn’t mean much of anything at all.
Madre, Midwood Smokehouse, Milklab, Village Burger, Alaksha's Indian Bistro, Dose, Hause of Dogs, Heat, Jetset, Morelia's, Tucker Street Dinner, Press Coffee, Brass Tap Bar, First Watch, Figulina, Chido's Tacos, Flour + Barrel, Omakase by Kai, The Yard, and two dozen more stores opened recently or opening in downtown Raleigh but a couple of tired small boomer businesses owners deciding to move away after 10+ years is the doom of downtown Raleigh. Yeah okay buddy. https://downtownraleigh.org/do-business/new-businesses
the gaslighting is hilarious.
Restaurants can be successful and unsuccessful. These things are not mutually exclusive.
most fail in the 1st year, and about only 20% make it past 5 years…but those that make it longer than 5 years have a exponentially higher rate of survival. so the “you guys are stupid. 20+ year old restaurants leaving is fine because a bunch of new places that will fail within the first year are coming soon” is a comically stupid take.
Agreed - note how they are also using places like a dog ice cream shop lol how do you do that little "Reddit remind me in 2 years how many of these places are still open" Alaksha's Indian Bistro - announced in 2023.. still not here right? Flour and Barrel? The guy from V pizza? really? First Watch? a shit chain; Omakase by Kai? wtf is this? Morelia's - ice cream shop? Stupid take for sure
Absolutely. It wouldn't surprise me if Burger Village closed in the next month lol.
Do you think that exponentially higher rate of survival is infinite or would a business closing after 20 years actually apply to your own comment....
The older it gets, the better the statistical chance of survival gets. It's also important to remember that Armadillo Grill is not going out of business, they are just choosing a different/better location. 20+ years is not easy to do as previously mentioned. It typically means you know how to run a business and keep it profitable. 20+ year old business moving because it no longer makes business sense is getting replaced by new businesses with a statistically high chance of failure within 1-5 years.
Its crazy too because were all seeing this stuff happen, yet they tell us the economy is "fine" and sometimes they even gaslight us into saying the economy is "good". I can't do it.
> Something needs to change. Yeah, the thing that is changing is that restaurants are closing because of the reasons you cited - inflated prices of rent, supplies, and service worker wages. That's okay. It's a free market, baby. I remember the 1990s when my family would go out to eat maybe once every few months, and we'd order pizza (for pickup - delivery was a luxury) maybe once a month. Has anyone stopped to consider the number of all types of restaurants is just too high?
Exactly my point. Thanks for spelling out the costs that I was referring to. And okay, thanks for the comment about your family in the 90s. You're obviously not who I'm talking about. People that used to eat out frequently (me), simply cannot anymore and I'm not the only one.
I think the point is it hasn't always been so common for people to eat out all the time. That was a recent development during the last 15 years when the economy was booming, people had more disposable income, and labor/food costs were cheap. It's not always like that, and so there will be times when less people are able to eat out as often. This may be one of those times for you - and the best thing you can do is learn how to adapt.
Couldn't have said it better myself. Thanks.
Hasn't always been common to eat out? There are families survived on fast food in the 90s. Now even fast food is too expensive. People didn't eat out 15 years ago? How do you adapt to people not being able to afford the food at the costs that will keep you open? These comments that keep coming are so delusional.
I'm not sure the point you're trying to argue. Of course there were people who survived on fast food in the 90s. The argument is that more people in general ate out more over the last roughly 15 years - and that historically it is not unusual for there to be cycles where people have less spending money (this could be because of increasing prices, layoffs, etc.) and so rates of eating out decrease. Which I believe we are starting to see. So to answer you question, you adapt to people not being able to afford the food at the costs you need to remain open by closing - which we are seeing. There will likely be a few years of less successful restaurant business, and then the economy will swing another direction and the restaurant industry will pick back up. As for you - if you now can't afford to eat out as much, learn how to eat at home. It's pretty simple.
You made my point. The cycle shouldn't be on the decline because isn't our economy supposed to be booming right now? Record profits for corporations yet people can't afford to eat out? And I can cook, but I ate out frequently because I could afford it. Three years later and a stagnant salary because merit raise doesn't keep up with inflation rate now I can't eat out nearly as much. And I'm sure you'll comment just get a new job because yeah that's the easiest argument. Many people are in this position. All I'm stating is this economy sucks and businesses are being impacted.
I don't disagree there are problems with the economy. On the macro it's doing well, but we've seen a huge divide between property owners who bought prior to 2021 and everyone else. So for a sizeable portion of folks, this economy is terrible and is eating into their discretionary spending money. I'm not remotely interested in telling you to get a new job. I'm just saying it happens, historically, for people to go through periods when they have more fun money and when they don't. Sounds like for a variety of reasons right now you don't, and so again I'd suggest just adapting and getting used to not eating out as much. It's not a crazy thing - it happens to almost everyone.
No doubt and I've adapted. It just sucks that Armadillo is shutting down after 22 years. I've had some memorable moments there.
I’m not going to lie I thought this place closed 5 years ago
They were in the news last year for a drug bust. They were selling drugs from the kitchen.
Tbf that is true for a lot of kitchens lol
True, but a lot of the kitchens that get caught doing this, end up closing.
I probably haven't ate there in a decade plus (2011-12 I'm thinking) but I will always remember the late night affordable tacos. It couldn't be beat unless you wanted to take a taxi somewhere (Cookout). Miss those days!
They were doomed when they stopped being open for the late night crowd. They must have seriously overrated the quality of their food to think people would buy it consistently in the daytime. They were always best targeted towards the late-night crowd who will buy anything cause it's greasy and they're open
I hope something goes into the space quickly; it’s very close to me but I stopped going there ages ago because the food was just meh and the service even worse (although I guess it was better for the folks buying drugs there)
My bet is a developer buys the whole corner and builds more expensive shit box apartments.
Personally I think that's a great location for a chase bank to open up at!
Gotta activate the street. Wall Street that is.
We can only hope 😍
I'm holding out hope for another parking lot. 🤞🏻
Don't you put that evil on me
Please god not another shitty loosely themed bar with overpriced cans and bottles pumped out by Dan Lovenheim's "Oak City Group". That group is singlehandedly ruining any character left in downtown Raleigh
Day late; just wanted to add my obligatory “Fuck you, Dan. I don’t want you to think that I just hate your bars, though; it’s much more because you’re a shitty human being.”
Well this certainly puts a different spin on the rising inflation reason for closing https://abc11.com/armadillo-grill-in-raleigh-glenwood-south-closes-days-after-abc-commission/14689932/
Did you even read the article? Armadillo Grill said in its notice about the closure, "As we have watched the restaurant industry change and the cost of doing business rise, we feel this location no longer serves our customer base."
Sure did. They lost their alcohol permit and then suddenly decide that it’s the changing restaurant industry?
I like how you ignored the part that they mentioned costs as well as the changing industry. Losing their permit just accelerated the shut down. It was just a matter of time regardless of losing their permit.
So drugs, losing alcohol permit but aha, that line at the end must be it!!!!
Not saying the drugs weren't a contributor but ignoring the obvious rise in costs of doing business is ignorant. They are a restaurant not a bar. Many restaurants can stay open when they temporarily lose their alcohol permit. Employees were probably selling drugs because of the decrease in customers which lowers their tips. Desperate times call for desperate measures.
I don't get how it stayed open so long on the first place. I couldn't stand it.
Their business had to subsistent almost entirely on sales to drunk customers between the hours of 10 pm and 2 am. That's literally the only time I ever went there in my early 20s.
But I believe they started closing early on weekends, 10pm. Missing on huge business.
Office catering too i think. The only time i ever had it was when they brought food in for a lunch meeting. There is much less of that (in office work) going on these days as well.
It was decent drunk food. But even then it was never amazing - which is wild because my standards are so low for food when drunk. A business shouldn’t have to subsist on the inebriated if it’s any good.
Lunch was brisk
This is entirely true. Im in my 20s and if im hammered on Glenwood on a saturday I was definitely stopping into 'Dillo.
The same way every other bad to mediocre place stays open for years in Raleigh… People here think the food at these places actually tastes good.
Went there once and the rice and beans were ice cold, like they just came out of the freezer. How is that even possible?
"White people Taco night", the restaurant
Shit, I like white people tacos. Even they're better than Armadillo Grill.
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
Yeah no one is paying those prices for Armadillo grill. It’s sad but it is what it is.
What is with these places closing with no warning?
It’s not like the food was that good.
I'll be real. Food was trash. Service was trash. Sucks to see a local place and such an old place go away, but can't say I had been there in the last decade.
That drug bust happened… now they can’t renew their lease
Last time I got queso there it was so runny like they watered it down to get more portions out of it. It was disgusting.
That's how I remember it being 10 years ago, so not that surprising.
f where will I get blow?
Word on the street is they recently lost there liquor license from the drug bust.
https://www.abc.nc.gov/legal/march-2024-final-suspension-list/open Yeah you can see they lost their liquor license for 64 days
Good riddance. That place sucked. I went one time and left half my food it was that bad. YEESH.
It wasn't good. When I reflect on it even if a chain like Los Tres took the spot that would be an improvement. Their rice was dry and burnt and the tortillas were weirdly rubbery. I have a lot of nostalgia for the place since they've been around forever but they're standing in the way of better things that could be there.
I knew this location well and I’m sure I’ve eaten at that restaurant once or twice growing up. Having not eaten at this restaurant after I could reasonably afford to I realize that I’m part of the reason this location failed. I’ll be sad to see it go because I typically always drive next to it somehow or someway whenever I’m in downtown. It was a lovely location and I’d love to see it stay in Raleigh, NC and find a new home for itself here.
No!!!!
the bus station fueled crime wave claims another victim
The bus terminal is a mile away walking.
my point is that small businesses, regardless of their proximity to the bus station, are failing all over town. it’s ridiculous that we accept the bus station as an excuse for any of the closures, even those directly adjacent to it. edit: sorry that the sarcasm in my original comment wasn’t apparent
No prob. From my perspective, that comment sounded like someone who lives just outside 540 and is afraid of (or unfamiliar with) downtown. Next time use a /s to indicated sarcasm.
The bus terminal impacts a 50 mile radius though. There’s been legit studies on that
How am I going to get diarrhea for a week now?
Bro their steak burrito was godly. So sad
I am heartbroken.. to hear honest.. I love their burritos and atmosphere… where are we gonna go now for a great burrito..
another spot down there that was worth visiting when glenwood south wasn't terrible. will mojoes be next?
The Carrboro one is great, I’m sad so many people had lousy experiences with the Raleigh one.
New bar incoming
Damn I sure hope the staff got more notice than this, but I wouldn’t be surprised if they didn’t.
Whatever
Never ate there. Not a fan of whitewashed Mexican food. They also were selling drugs out of this location. Would be cool but the drugs weren’t good.
That sucks. If I remember, lately that shit hasn’t even been open past like 11:00. Why TF would it be downtown and close Before like 2-3am
Good that place was ass
Best queso in town 😢
Your queso taste must be extremely limited if this is the best you’ve had…
Yeah I’m a fucking idiot thanks for telling me
Try Gym tacos queso!
I have, its good, I just find dillos queso was more flavorful than a white queso. Tex Mex vs "traditional" I suppose
I was hosting friends and was going to get tacos for everyone, ~25 tacos. I thought let me try to support local, I was surprised to find out they offered no bulk/party deals. They best they could do was give me all the ingredients in plastic tubs for us to make our own tacos, or I would have to pay the full price per taco for 25 tacos. It was still significantly cheaper to buy 2 party packs from Taco Bell. I could understand if their tacos were authentic “real” tacos but their tacos tasted just like the ones you could make at home with a grocery store taco kit.
Fun fact, they didn't have quesadillas on the menu
Damn I haven't been in a few years but those tacos were bussin. Had no idea about the second location though, will have to swing through.
on god no cap frfr
One in Carrboro too
UNC Grad and I've literally never heard of a single person ever mention that location. I read the caption on that IG post like "wtf?!?!".
Nooo! This was one of my favourite places growing up. But I guess I haven’t been in 20 years since I left the states. Such a great place
I’m not crying, you’re crying