Uneasy Rhetoric

In her “State of Downtown” address, Mayor Fargo mentioned that about one quarter of sales tax revenue flowing from the central city into city coffers came from restaurants. I have no idea if that’s typical, but I can’t imagine that any sales-tax base is stable when that much of it comes from one industry.

Now the restaurant industry in Sacramento is beginning to crumble, according to a Mike Dunne story in the Sunday Bee.

It’s worth pointing out, however, that, with the unfortunate exception of Emma’s Taco House on K Street, none of the restaurants he mentions as closing or wanting to close are in what I would consider to be the central city. Aioli, which is in midtown, was only rumored to be closing, and that was a false rumor.

Dunne talks of a market that “seems saturated,” but I would argue that it isn’t that simple. The restaurant business is a high-cost, high-stress, low-margin business that is highly susceptible to changes in the economy and to trends. Just because a restaurant is popular today, doesn’t mean anyone will want to go there when the next hot chef rolls into town. And when you need to economize what do you do? Eat out less.

And restaurants compete. There are cities with far more restaurants than Sacramento (San Francisco, Portland, Boston) that have vibrant restaurant communities. One restaurant closes but another opens. Hope springs eternal.

As sad as I am to see Emma’s go, surely it is a sign of progress that an established restaurant on one of the most blighted stretches of K Street was feeling the heat from nearby competition.

I think Sacramento’s restaurant market has only just begun to show its potential, especially if someone wants to open a restaurant that isn’t a steakhouse or an Italian joint. Maybe an Italian steakhouse…(Hey Randy, there’s an idea, but for God’s sake don’t give me credit!)

And I don’t much care about what’s happening in Roseville or Loomis.