Monday, October 28, 2013

Longboards bites the dust on East Blvd.

In another round of the disappearing restaurants at Kenilworth Drive and East Blvd. saga, Longboards Tap and Taco is no more.

I learned of the closure Friday night, when I had arranged to meet some friends there after work. When we showed up - whoops, no Longboards. Even most of the furniture in the darkened building had been removed. No one answered the restaurant's phone on Monday.

The restaurant lasted for about six months, in a troubled spot that has now been Picasso's, Sutton House and Longboards in the mere three years I've lived in the neighborhood. So what's wrong with the location? Here's Charlotte Restaurant Traffic's take

"What went wrong? I don’t think you can open a restaurant in Charlotte without one parking space? Maybe you don’t need parking in New York City to run a successful restaurant but here you are dooming yourself to failure. Throw in Longboards mediocre food and you have a recipe for disaster. I drove by Longboards on Saturday and it looked like buzzards had picked the place clean, even the booths are gone. We give credit to groups that take it upon themselves to try to open restaurants and feel bad when they don’t make it. Longboards tried and failed."


While I agree with Charlotte Restaurant Traffic that the food was "meh," I'll miss Longboards' good, fairly-priced local beer selection. The atmosphere, while at times a bit loud and confusing, was also a step up over Longboards' predecessors.

So long, Longboards. We hardly knew ye.

What do you think could make it in that spot? Anything?

Bonus question: Do you think the huge mural on the side of the Longboards building should stay or go?



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12 comments:

El Hefe said...

For those ECU Pirate fans looking for viewing parties come out to Queen City Q!

bigtraps said...

The mural has to go!!! Would be good for the side of a Head Shop, but WAY out of place where it is.

Unknown said...

Food was expensive for what it is, and it was the 3rd "taco" joint to open in the area (2 alone are on Montford). And charging for chips and salsa should be a criminal offense in a place like this. Bring back Dilworth Brewery!

Rodney said...

I ate there quite regularly and never thought the food was expensive. there was alot of different options there.

Kevin said...

Landlords of East Blvd have killed their own cash cow by greed. They've priced out the independents and trashed the concept of cool, walkable, local row of rest.

Shame...

Unknown said...

Indeed, no parking, and the fact that East Blvd now takes 15 minutes to go 3 blocks BECAUSE DILWORTH GENIUSES TOOK EAST BLVD DOWN FROM 4 LANES TO 2! Place was a dump. At least Picassos was fun. Oh well, us folks with cash that like to pop in places while driving around......don't frequent East Blvd anymore. Hopefully some of the other places around there are making real money.

Garth Vader said...

Willy Loman gets it exactly right: the Central Ministry Of Citizen Punishment And Automobile Hatred is what is killing East Blvd.

Can't drive; can't park; won't shop. Buh-bye.

James Reetzke said...

I thought this place was great! Too bad it's gone. I never had a problem finding parking at the place across the street.

Ludwig said...

I drove by Longboards on Saturday and it looked like buzzards had ... longboardsatom.blogspot.de

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