My husband and I have a saying for every time we find ourselves in a busy restaurant or waiting in a long check-out line: “Just think how crowded it would be if there wasn’t a recession!”
Aren’t consumers supposed to be spending less and staying home more? This spring, I could barely squeeze my Jeep past all the cars parked in front of the nursery in my neighborhood. The economy is bad; people have lost their jobs; who’s got money for geraniums?
My thoughts were similar when I heard the Cherry Cricket restaurant and bar in Denver was undergoing a $1.1 million expansion to add seats and accommodate the patrons who now wait 30 to 60 minutes for a table. “Good thing there’s a recession, or I’d never be able to get into the Cricket.”
I said as much to Lee Driscoll, president of Wynkoop Holdings Inc., which owns the Cricket and six other restaurants, including the Wynkoop Brewing Co.
Driscoll begged to differ. The sour economy is partly to blame for a rise in customer traffic, he said.
“What’s happening is we’re maintaining our normal base of customers, but we’ve incrementally added a group who normally dine at more expensive places, and maybe occasionally go to the Cricket,” he said. “They are increasing the number of times they go to the Cricket. It’s a migration.”
Ah, yes, the trade down. Entrées at the Cricket are between $4 and $9, or as Driscoll put it, you can get a burger and beer for about $12.
I can concede to his theory. Still, the venerable restaurant is undertaking a costly expansion. Something else must be going on. The Cherry Cricket has long been considered a working-class restaurant in Denver’s tony Cherry Creek North neighborhood. It also used to be more bar than restaurant, so when the state banned smoking in public places three years ago, some questioned whether the Cricket would survive. I predicted it would. And at least I was right about that.
“The smoking ban was a huge benefit for the Cricket,” Driscoll said. “The Cricket fell into the category of a bar with good food. Overnight we were able to capture that customer who appreciated the food but the cigarette smoke had been an obstacle for them.”
The expansion, which should be finished by July 4, will add 39 indoor seats and a 60-seat patio. Maybe next month I’ll stop by for lunch and on my way home buy some geraniums.— [email protected]