The only mystery here is why anyone is surprised diners enjoy dinner by the river, however, this success should help encourage more opening of our rivers to the public, for dining and recreation.
Bob Shallit: New Scott's Seafood reels them in
Scott's newest location on river already drawing big dinner, lunch crowd
Published 12:00 am PST Monday, March 3, 2008
Restaurateur Alan Irvine was hoping to gradually build up traffic at his new Scott's Seafood Grill & Bar, which sits south of downtown along the Sacramento River.
He wanted to start off slowly. Give his employees time to work out the kinks.
But it's been breakneck busy since the "soft opening" in January, he says.
"We got about a day and a half under our belts and then the place went nuts," says Irvine, who also is the managing partner for two other Scott's outlets in Sacramento and Folsom.
He says crowds starting coming when the restaurant first opened for dinner only, then kept flowing in as Scott's added lunch and, just last week, breakfast service.
For a restaurant located away from downtown or busy suburban settings, Irvine says, the biggest surprise has been the heavy lunch business.
"Being in a neighborhood, we felt we'd see .. maybe 30 to 40" lunchtime guests. Instead, it's been triple that number, he says. "It's surprised the heck out of me."
