Help me out with something, please

[vraiblonde]

I don't get why some restaurants in this area hit and others die.

The pho place in Ltown had wonderful food, and fairly mainstream Asian - nothing so weird that it only draws a niche market. Pfft. Gone. And you never saw anyone in there.

Mornic's soul food should have been a big hit. Great location, yummy yummy comfort food...and now they're gone. Again, whenever I went in there was nobody in there.

Today my friend and I had lunch at Cocoa's Caribbean on GMR. It should have been packed with contractors, but nope...there was only two other tables besides us.

So what gives? Why do you all flock to the Indian place, flock to the Greek place, but the Thai place and the jerk place are snubbed? And don't say because "the locals" only like chicken wings and mozzarella sticks - the Indian place does a huge business and they are way outside the mainstream. That crappy place on the corner - I can't say the name of it - that has THE WORST food EVER, their crazy menu is all over the place with every country insulted from France to China, they have a horrible parking situation, and every time I've gone in there for lunch there are people waiting for tables in that rot hole. (Before you ask why I go there if the food sucks, it's because the choice was made by someone else and I didn't care enough to put up a fight.)

Help me understand this?

 

[LightRoasted]

If I may ...

People voting with their wallets?

 

[NorthBeachPerso]

They aren't chains.

 

[BernieP]

If I may ...

People voting with their wallets?

Quantity over quality IMHO

But in fairness to Vrai, the question is rather complex

First is location; is it close by, is it VISIBLE. How many people know that Cocoa's Caribbean and Mornic's exist (and where they are if they did hear of them).

Service; can I get a table, order, eat and get back to work in the alloted time?

Environment: for lack of a better term. Is the place clean, comfortable, etc. Thai Inter is much better than the previous places that went in there. I remember being in the Pizza joint when it was sorching in the summer (A/C didn't work) and cold in the winter. When we were in Pho the one room was rather cool, some in the party said cold.

Price: LightRoasted rasied that point, but it's more than price, a lot of people will opt for the all you can eat for 7.95 than lmited portions for maybe slightlty more.

Pho (IMHO) was hit by location, service and environment. Look at where the majority of the restuarants are in the county. Those are the ones doing both lunch and dinner business.
Pho was going to do more dinner than lunch. But the service was hit or miss and the place could be uncomfortable. Does Cocoa even open in the evening?

 

[PeoplesElbow]

If I may, I hate Bollywood, like Thai Inter, didn't try Pho Siagon because the way noodles are slurped grosses me out. Mixing Bowls parking does suck, but it is right outside the gate and fairly fast and I always got pretty decent food there.

The Jamaican place I tried once and there were dirty tables everywhere so it made me wonder about the cleanliness of their kitchen, that and the food wasn't very good.

 

[DEEKAYPEE8569]

Quantity over quality IMHO

But in fairness to Vrai, the question is rather complex

First is location; is it close by, is it VISIBLE. How many people know that Cocoa's Caribbean and Mornic's exist (and where they are if they did hear of them).

Service; can I get a table, order, eat and get back to work in the alloted time?

Environment: for lack of a better term. Is the place clean, comfortable, etc. Thai Inter is much better than the previous places that went in there. I remember being in the Pizza joint when it was sorching in the summer (A/C didn't work) and cold in the winter. When we were in Pho the one room was rather cool, some in the party said cold.

Price: LightRoasted rasied that point, but it's more than price, a lot of people will opt for the all you can eat for 7.95 than lmited portions for maybe slightlty more.

Pho (IMHO) was hit by location, service and environment. Look at where the majority of the restuarants are in the county. Those are the ones doing both lunch and dinner business.
Pho was going to do more dinner than lunch. But the service was hit or miss and the place could be uncomfortable. Does Cocoa even open in the evening?

.....and remember.....the 'allotted time' is 30 min..

 

[lovinmaryland]

Quantity over quality IMHO

But in fairness to Vrai, the question is rather complex

First is location; is it close by, is it VISIBLE. How many people know that Cocoa's Caribbean and Mornic's exist (and where they are if they did hear of them).

Service; can I get a table, order, eat and get back to work in the alloted time?

Environment: for lack of a better term. Is the place clean, comfortable, etc. Thai Inter is much better than the previous places that went in there. I remember being in the Pizza joint when it was sorching in the summer (A/C didn't work) and cold in the winter. When we were in Pho the one room was rather cool, some in the party said cold.

Price: LightRoasted rasied that point, but it's more than price, a lot of people will opt for the all you can eat for 7.95 than lmited portions for maybe slightlty more.

Pho (IMHO) was hit by location, service and environment. Look at where the majority of the restuarants are in the county. Those are the ones doing both lunch and dinner business.
Pho was going to do more dinner than lunch. But the service was hit or miss and the place could be uncomfortable. Does Cocoa even open in the evening?

Plus is it something you are going to feel like more than say once or twice a month? I mean I LOVE Pho but once a month maybe twice and then I'm over it. Same w/ Caribbean sorry that's like a once a year thing for me. Now I really did want to make it over to Mornics but its a 45 minute drive for me and unless I had something going on in that area I'm not driving 45 minutes for comfort food when I can make that at home.

 

[PeoplesElbow]

Never heard of Mornics btw, where was it? Perhaps they should have spent some on advertising.

 

[GWguy]

Never heard of Mornics btw, where was it? Perhaps they should have spent some on advertising.

^

I tried it twice because Vrai recommended it. I just wasn't impressed.

 

[frequentflier]

Never heard of Mornics btw, where was it? Perhaps they should have spent some on advertising.

In a small plaza (where Jake and Al's used to be) behind the Lusby post office. I never ate there but understand they had some soul food. Unfortunately, they would mostly rely on people from CRE and maybe Drum Point for business. Besides the liquor store and laundromat in that plaza, most other businesses don't do well.

 

[Spook]

Cocoa's is dirty and nasty. The staff there is even worse.

 

[my-thyme]

The Coffee Quarter. Great little spot, and delicious food!

 

[RoseRed]

The Coffee Quarter. Great little spot, and delicious food!

yes!

 

[vraiblonde]

Cocoa's is dirty and nasty. The staff there is even worse.

Pretty sure you're thinking of somewhere else. I had lunch yesterday at Cocoa's and again today, and it's quite clean in there, the staff is great, and the food is delicious.

 

[CalvertNewb]

I just moved here in June. Part of it for me is yelp and TripAdvisor. I've never seen Mornic's, Cocoa's or Mixing bowls listed on there. These all are places I would try. I have heard that Yelp is a scam and charges money to get business profiles up and positive reviews listed so maybe these restaurants aren't playing into their system.

 

[RoseRed]

I just moved here in June. Part of it for me is yelp and TripAdvisor. I've never seen Mornic's, Cocoa's or Mixing bowls listed on there. These all are places I would try. I have heard that Yelp is a scam and charges money to get business profiles up and positive reviews listed so maybe these restaurants aren't playing into their system.

Welcome. What area are you in?

 

[frequentflier]

I just moved here in June. Part of it for me is yelp and TripAdvisor. I've never seen Mornic's, Cocoa's or Mixing bowls listed on there. These all are places I would try. I have heard that Yelp is a scam and charges money to get business profiles up and positive reviews listed so maybe these restaurants aren't playing into their system.

YELP is indeed a scam. They try to extort money from small businesses and won't post favorable reviews unless you pay them. They have ramped it up lately with emails and I expect they will start calling my business soon and I will, once again, have to tell them they are extortionists and to leave me alone.

 

[vraiblonde]

Welcome. What area are you in?

I'm guessing Calvert.

 

[kwillia]

Whenever I'm going to hit a town that I'm not familiar with I always head to tripadvisor.com for ideas on where to dine. I don't just go by "how many stars out of 5" I read through the reviews to get a feel for what the place has to offer. I'm not nearly as nitpicky as some so I easily filter out the whiner reviews.

The latest good find for my sister and I was Tino's Italian Bistro in Columbia, Maryland. They are a small place in a strip mall section, but if you like Italian dishes they are a "must visit" as they make everything including noodles from scratch. www.tinositalianbistro.com

 

[RoseRed]

I'm guessing Calvert.