Restaurants in downtown Rome are expecting a busy day today, thanks in part to three graduations at The Forum.
Model, Coosa and Armuchee students will get their diplomas today. With lots of families and friends of the graduates on and around Broad Street, businesses are bracing for good crowds around mealtimes.
“Ever since early May, we’ve seen an increase in business and several graduation parties,” said Justin Deal, the dining room manager at La Scala Italian restaurant. “It seems we’ve had more people come in for big family gatherings.
“It doesn’t have a dramatic effect, but I think it does help us get more business, being so close to The Forum.”
Some downtown restaurants say graduations are just part of the typical weekend crowds.
“From what I understand, graduation weekends can get pretty busy just because of a lot of people going through downtown,” said Richard Waby, the night manager at Schroeder’s New Deli. “We’ve got five or six kids who work here who are graduating, so I know we will probably see a lot of their families and friends.
“There are really a lot of things that help us pull people in, from theater events at the DeSoto to tennis tournaments to concerts,” Waby said.
Other restaurant workers agreed that a variety of downtown events provide a boost for business.
“The hospitality association gives us a yearly agenda so we kind of know when events are coming up,” said Noreen Hullander, an owner of Jefferson’s restaurant. “Things like the rodeo, the circus, the gun show, concerts — all those are good for business.
“Sometimes it’s a catch-22, because there’s not a lot of parking downtown, but I think it evens out because we get more foot traffic,” she said.
Melinda Naranjo of El Zarape agreed that different events during the year cater to different restaurants.
“With graduations, it just depends — sometimes it gets busy, sometimes we don’t get a lot of people,” Naranjo said. “But when we have things like bicycle races or tennis tournaments or rodeos or concerts, those seem to be really good for our business.”
Naranjo said being a restaurant on Broad Street does have some advantages.
“I think it helps to be close when they have big events,” she said. “The Christmas parade each year is right in front of us, and it’s one of our busiest nights of the year. People come in to eat before and after.”
The oldest restaurant on Broad Street is The Partridge, and owner Karemy Jacobs said downtown events have always been good for the hospitality industry.
“We’re celebrating our 75th year here on Broad Street, and whenever there are local events, we seem to do a little better,” Jacobs said. “The only trouble is that sometimes there’s not much parking.
“But we love being here and we like getting a lot of the families that come in.”
