Monday, June 3, 2013

Fine Dining: 30 East Main Closes

Obviously, it's because Joe Hardy reads my blog and knew I think it's a letdown, right!?

But yes, for I believe the third time, 30 East Main has closed its doors. After closing, reopening, allegedly being deemed not good enough and closed again, then turned into its current (former) incarnation.

Now, restaurant closures--or any business closures--aren't exactly new here. Starting a business isn't easy anyway, but I'm pretty sure starting one up in Fayette County brings more challenges than usual. And I know I'm not the only one who misses Luigi's and Coffee on Crawford. We've all seen so many places come and go--including some places that I'm not sure if they're open or not--that we could probably produce a very long list. Some places were mediocre or maybe boring or maybe had zero advertising--did anyone else notice last winter or so when Luigi's had a new owner for a hot minute?--but some places have succeeded for a long time, like Meloni's, and others are relatively new but still regularly busy, like Olive Garden, which probably made enough money to survive for a while the night of my liveblog alone.

The last time (or two) 30 East Main closed, I heard all kinds of arguments from it was just too nice a place for the Nam or too expensive or they should've let Joe Hardy have that valet parking he was fighting for. 30 East Main had a lot going for it, like live music, decent pricing, and a neat atmosphere--but what it lacked was the high-quality food it promised, and if you ask me, that was its true downfall. I would never have gone back had it stayed here longer. I didn't try the second run of 30 East Main, but I tried the first and third, and two of three ain't bad. And based on that, the first version was by far the best, with much better food quality, variety, and even much better decor. They may have been going for an Americana tavern vibe this time, but it failed, and I'm not the only one displeased. You can make all the arguments you want, but the fact is the Nam has sported some very nice eating establishments that are still sticking around. People will pay for it, even here, as long as it's good, and 30 East Main just wasn't.

Really, I wouldn't mind at all seeing them give it another go with a different cooking staff and a different menu. But for now, so long, 30 East Main. You managed to be one of just three Fayette County eating establishments I disliked.

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