What style of restaurant?

[hatchman]

Having mentioned before that we bought the closed Roods Creek Diner on Route 17 between Hancock and Deposit at the blinking light over the summer. I'd like to know your thoughts on what type of restaurant you think we should open there.
Here's our current list of ideas.

1. Coffee and donut place with a drive thru with quality coffee,fresh made donuts,breakfast sandwiches etc.
With fresh made hard ice cream.
2. All American Hot dog and Hamburger joint with fresh made Hamburgers (ala 5 guys,smash burger etc.)quality Hot dogs (Sabrett) ,fresh cut fries ,also serving breakfast etc. with fresh made hard ice cream.
3.Fried Chicken joint with fresh battered fried chicken and sides .
4. New York style pizza place.
5. Gay strip bar with table dancers, with a purple velvet lounge VIP room with free coffee ( not really ,I just wanted Beetle to have something to vote for!Lol!!)
6. Sell it to a wealthy Dunkin Donuts franchise for an obscene profit and quit working and just fish for a year.
Except for #5 (sorry Beetle) these are the ideas me and the little woman are thinking about.

Let me know what the Neff family thinks. Between you guys and all the truckers I know it will surely look like the Star Wars bar when it opens!

 

[MACFLY]

Tough choice but I would think 1 or 2 is the ticket. Or maybe combine them

Still though I a, guessing you pull net tens of dollars with beetle headlining your gay bar

Tough choice indeed

Having mentioned before that we bought the closed Roods Creek Diner on Route 17 between Hancock and Deposit at the blinking light over the summer. I'd like to know your thoughts on what type of restaurant you think we should open there.
Here's our current list of ideas.

1. Coffee and donut place with a drive thru with quality coffee,fresh made donuts,breakfast sandwiches etc.
With fresh made hard ice cream.
2. All American Hot dog and Hamburger joint with fresh made Hamburgers (ala 5 guys,smash burger etc.)quality Hot dogs (Sabrett) ,fresh cut fries ,also serving breakfast etc. with fresh made hard ice cream.
3.Fried Chicken joint with fresh battered fried chicken and sides .
4. New York style pizza place.
5. Gay strip bar with table dancers, with a purple velvet lounge VIP room with free coffee ( not really ,I just wanted Beetle to have something to vote for!Lol!!)
6. Sell it to a wealthy Dunkin Donuts franchise for an obscene profit and quit working and just fish for a year.
Except for #5 (sorry Beetle) these are the ideas me and the little woman are thinking about.

Let me know what the Neff family thinks. Between you guys and all the truckers I know it will surely look like the Star Wars bar when it opens!

 

[hatchman]

1 and 2 are our first choices too. There will be a designated drift boat and raft parking .
If the the Gay strip bar materializes there will be a Kayak and Paddleboat rack and Beetle will Headline on Vilage people Karoke night.

 

[Pete]

# 6, but don't limit it to Dunkin, anybody who can make you rich.

While you're waiting for that to happen, do what you're good at, but whoever has the higher income should not quit his/her day job.

 

[mudbug201]

Deposit and Hancock already have hamburgers, hotdogs, and ice cream for days. I'd go with really good donuts or something else unique.

But let me ask - that stretch of road is supposed to (eventually) be converted into an interstate, and I believe this will mean eliminating at-grade intersections and driveways. The project is decades behind schedule, but is still conceivably going to happen in the next 10-20 years, especially if an infrastructure plan gets passed in washington. (not holding my breath)

Will this affect your business? Sure you've thought about this - would hate for somebody to set up a restaurant to serve the highway and then get cut off from it.

 

[hatchman]

Deposit and Hancock already have hamburgers, hotdogs, and ice cream for days. I'd go with really good donuts or something else unique.

But let me ask - that stretch of road is supposed to (eventually) be converted into an interstate, and I believe this will mean eliminating at-grade intersections and driveways. The project is decades behind schedule, but is still conceivably going to happen in the next 10-20 years, especially if an infrastructure plan gets passed in washington. (not holding my breath)

Will this affect your business? Sure you've thought about this - would hate for somebody to set up a restaurant to serve the highway and then get cut off from it.

That was true. The State spent $98 million on the Parksville bypass to eliminate that stop light and Made Parksville a Ghost town.
They planned to do the same at the blinking light Where the Diner is
. For ten years I inquired about it and was told the State had control
Of it and the bypass was a definite . They decided the logistics and costs were too great to bypass the blinking light and changed the parameters of the project and cancelled the bypass there and put the
Diner up for sale . I was told this by the head of the project in the State DOT department in Binghamton .its the only reason it was put up for sale for its back taxes, which they had to do since the bypass there was cancelled.

 

[mudbug201]

That was true. The State spent $98 million on the Parksville bypass to eliminate that stop light and Made Parksville a Ghost town.
They planned to do the same at the blinking light Where the Diner is
. For ten years I inquired about it and was told the State had control
Of it and the bypass was a definite . They decided the logistics and costs were too great to bypass the blinking light and changed the parameters of the project and cancelled the bypass there and put the
Diner up for sale . I was told this by the head of the project in the State DOT department in Binghamton .its the only reason it was put up for sale for its back taxes, which they had to do since the bypass there was cancelled.

Makes sense. Sorry for assuming you might be a moron who needed protecting from his own bad decisions. You never know.

 

[hatchman]

Makes sense. Sorry for assuming you might be a moron who needed protecting from his own bad decisions. You never know.

No problem. I appreciate the heads up. I might not have known that.
The Guyanan guy who bought the Mobil station where the light used to be in Parksville didn’t know about the coming bypass there, and paid $375,000 just for the business there not the property about a year or so before they started construction for the bypass. He also
Paid very expensive rent there. He went broke when the bypass opened and would sit in there with the lights out and drink himself
Half to death. The guy was an arrogant asshole who wore a Mohawk
And a hunting knife on his hip and treated his employees like shit before the bypass when it was busy. Karma is a mean mistress when you get on her bad side ....

 

[lightenup]

Sell it to the highest bidder, make a profit and have fun, the restaurant business is a shitty grind, can be rewarding and fulfilling, but rough to say the least....At at least make sure you close early enough so you don't miss all the evening hatches, one of my biggest complaints is working evenings...

 

[dcabarle]

Having mentioned before that we bought the closed Roods Creek Diner on Route 17 between Hancock and Deposit at the blinking light over the summer. I'd like to know your thoughts on what type of restaurant you think we should open there.
Here's our current list of ideas.

1. Coffee and donut place with a drive thru with quality coffee,fresh made donuts,breakfast sandwiches etc.
With fresh made hard ice cream.
2. All American Hot dog and Hamburger joint with fresh made Hamburgers (ala 5 guys,smash burger etc.)quality Hot dogs (Sabrett) ,fresh cut fries ,also serving breakfast etc. with fresh made hard ice cream.
3.Fried Chicken joint with fresh battered fried chicken and sides .
4. New York style pizza place.
5. Gay strip bar with table dancers, with a purple velvet lounge VIP room with free coffee ( not really ,I just wanted Beetle to have something to vote for!Lol!!)
6. Sell it to a wealthy Dunkin Donuts franchise for an obscene profit and quit working and just fish for a year.
Except for #5 (sorry Beetle) these are the ideas me and the little woman are thinking about.

Let me know what the Neff family thinks. Between you guys and all the truckers I know it will surely look like the Star Wars bar when it opens!

I have to say, I'm rather surprised that Mac didn't jump on number 5. I'm all about 1 and 2 but you're going to have to do it right. One example of doing it incorrectly is hiring a guy like Lightenup to flip the burgers and turn the dogs properly.

You'll probably only do well 5 months out of the year, probably when you would want to be on the water.

Anybody can make burgers and rotate hot dogs, you're going to have to be unique. Get a good doughnut recipe and run with it, I think that would do well.

 

[hatchman]

Sell it to the highest bidder, make a profit and have fun, the restaurant business is a shitty grind, can be rewarding and fulfilling, but rough to say the least....At at least make sure you close early enough so you don't miss all the evening hatches, one of my biggest complaints is working evenings...

We were seriously thinking about selling it. I know a very wealthy guy who owns a bunch of Truck stops , Burger Kings etc who I talked to who would be interested in putting a Dunkin Donuts there.
After talking about it we decided to keep it and do a simple concept there. I’ve owned successful restaurants before and sold them. I’ve also been in the restaurant equipment and supply business and seen
Many people sink everything they had into places and go belly up within a year. The restaurant business is a very tough business and I usually warn people myself to stay out of it. I know I can make
Money there with the right concept. There’s nothing else on the highway for a long way. You have to get off an exit, which many travelers and truckers don’t like to do. I’m more concerned with
Having public bathrooms on an interstate highway. People will do
Things you wouldn’t imagine to your bathrooms , and I’m not talking
About Beetle hanging out in the Men’s room looking for Love, we’ll have a fire hose hooked up to handle that!!

 

[hatchman]

I have to say, I'm rather surprised that Mac didn't jump on number 5. I'm all about 1 and 2 but you're going to have to do it right. One example of doing it incorrectly is hiring a guy like Lightenup to flip the burgers and turn the dogs properly.

You'll probably only do well 5 months out of the year, probably when you would want to be on the water.

Anybody can make burgers and rotate hot dogs, you're going to have to be unique. Get a good doughnut recipe and run with it, I think that would do well.

We’re leaning towards the Coffee Donut concept ourselves.Pretty profitable and fairly simple with right equipment.As far as being
Busy only 5 months , it’s definitely busier inthe summer travel
Season , but it’s a busy Highway year round. I was told 17,000 cars and
Trucks a day and definitely more on Fridays.We bought a farm here about a year and a half ago( I’m not a farmer, we just loved the house and property ) and live about 20 minutes from the Diner and being here
Year round you can see how busy the highway is . It’s not route 17 in Paramus��, but it’s still a fairly busy highway, and there’s nothing else on the highway .

 

[hatchman]

I’m surprised nobody said a good fried chicken place like Popeyes,Chicken Delight or Chicken Galore. I used to own a fried chicken place in NJ and was very busy, we delivered though and that sucks.I still buy and sell restaurant equipment and actually just bought out a whole fried chicken place with some really nice equipment that might find its way into the restaurant .

 

[lightenup]

I’m surprised nobody said a good fried chicken place like Popeyes,Chicken Delight or Chicken Galore. I used to own a fried chicken place in NJ and was very busy, we delivered though and that sucks.I still buy and sell restaurant equipment and actually just bought out a whole fried chicken place with some really nice equipment that might find its way into the restaurant .

I like fried chicken....on waffles, with maple syrup...mmmmmm

 

[cocopelao]

Unless there is a gas station there as well, I don't think any food place would do well. IMHO, people driving between NY Metro and Syracuse (and all stops in between) only want to stop once.
I'd love to see a good old 24 hour diner and grab the people like myself that can't stand the Roscoe Diner but you'd probably go broke. Good luck!

 

[WBDluver]

Makes sense. Sorry for assuming you might be a moron who needed protecting from his own bad decisions. You never know.

That is reservered for LU

 

[hatchman]

I like fried chicken....on waffles, with maple syrup...mmmmmm

I've always heard of Chicken and waffles,never had it sounds good though..

 

[WBDluver]

I’ve consulted my people and #1 or 6. You also have hunting season that goes into Dec. But many times i justed wanted a coffee and something cakey

 

[hatchman]

Unless there is a gas station there as well, I don't think any food place would do well. IMHO, people driving between NY Metro and Syracuse (and all stops in between) only want to stop once.
I'd love to see a good old 24 hour diner and grab the people like myself that can't stand the Roscoe Diner but you'd probably go broke. Good luck!

There actually used to be gas pumps there but they were taken out by The state in 2010 .
I have no interest in a gas station,but I think good food in a fun atmosphere with clean restrooms will do well there. I have about 50 truck drivers I know personally who can't wait for it to open . Most truck drivers don't like getting off exits if they don't have to,that's why the places that were at the light in Parksville were so busy.
As far as travelers many are just looking to get out and stretch their legs use the rest room and get something quick to eat.
As far as 24 hours ,no way not me,unless I can put my own toll booth at the blinking light!lol!

I haven't been to the Roscoe Diner in over 20 years , I remember them being slightly expensive,but they seem to do a good business..

One of the places I have the fondest memories growing up was the Red Apple �� restaurant on old 17 In the Southfields section of Tuxedo,when it was in its heyday . That was alway a mandatory stop for my family when I was a kid in the 60's when we were heading upstate from Jersey. It was a tradition and always exciting as a little kid with all the people and buses and good food . Sadly it closed years ago and fell into shambles. I don't even know if it's still standing ,but that place was an icon in its time. I actually just ordered a book written by the original owners daughter about growing up running it in its prime.

 

[hatchman]

I’ve consulted my people and #1 or 6. You also have hunting season that goes into Dec. But many times i justed wanted a coffee and something cakey

Can your "people " meet me with cash at Midnite to exercise option 6?lol!

The general consensus is a Good Coffee and donut shop ,that's our first choice too.

I forgot option 7
A fresh Trout Fish fry joint ! I'll need to hire a first mate for my Hyde to help me seine the West Branch at night
And look out for comparadun as we stock up through Bard Parker .....

 

[MACFLY]

1 and 2 are our first choices too. There will be a designated drift boat and raft parking .
If the the Gay strip bar materializes there will be a Kayak and Paddleboat rack and Beetle will Headline on Vilage people Karoke night.

Sounds like a plan. I’ll reseve a table now but I’ll only pay for a small coffee

Seriously though good luck with it. There’s a place in ocean City Nj called Oves that makes fresh donuts. They only make like 5 or 6 different ones but man do they do a brisk business

 

[falcon]

The Roscoe Diner 30 years ago was great ....maybe a little expensive. However the French toast and home fries were awesome. Not so good anymore. God luck with your venture

 

[hatchman]

Sounds like a plan. I’ll reseve a table now but I’ll only pay for a small coffee

Seriously though good luck with it. There’s a place in ocean City Nj called Oves that makes fresh donuts. They only make like 5 or 6 different ones but man do they do a brisk business

Thanks Mac. Yeah a good donut place does well , some Dunkin Donuts are so busy you think they’re giving away $100 bills. I’ll stop at them , but I won’t wait in a crazy line.

It’s a tough choice. I have equipment to open almost any style place
Just want it to be fun and simple , and sort of profitable.

 

[hatchman]

The Roscoe Diner 30 years ago was great ....maybe a little expensive. However the French toast and home fries were awesome. Not so good anymore. God luck with your venture

Thanks! I’ve only been in the Roscoe diner a handful of times in the last 30 years and it seemed ok. I like old fashioned vintage stainless steel diners . I like the history and nostalgia of Them. I like old fashion hot dog joints too.

 

[Andy]

So long as I can park in your lot and walk the creek under the highway to fish the WBA water you can count me in as one of your customers!

 

[hatchman]

So long as I can park in your lot and walk the creek under the highway to fish the WBA water you can count me in as one of your customers!

It's a deal!

Disclaimer- we will not be responsible for any trespassing or any other criminal ,or immoral acts by our customers ,such as stealing panties or tightie whities from local clothes lines (Beetle),intimate relations with livestock (Beetle) , or lewd behavior in the parking lot at night after closing (Beetle)Thank you ! Lol!

 

[flyI4]

glad to hear something is coming of that place- its been quiet there since I've been coming up. My place is only 5 minutes away- I'll be in there once u are opened regardless aside from option 6. That will likely just be the lesbians coming down from the mountains trying to cure their writer's block, and maybe the dude that owns the place at harvard bridge. Best of luck.

JC

 

[hatchman]

glad to hear something is coming of that place- its been quiet there since I've been coming up. My place is only 5 minutes away- I'll be in there once u are opened regardless aside from option 6. That will likely just be the lesbians coming down from the mountains trying to cure their writer's block, and maybe the dude that owns the place at harvard bridge. Best of luck.

JC

Thanks. Still working on the concept. Hopefully late spring
Early summer if things go as planned