SAYWHAT?
Insider is an anonymous, opinion-based examination of the hidden details of Augusta politics and personalities.
Supper… er, Dinner Time! It’s the circle of life in the restaurant industry
Dino’s on Fury’s Ferry Road closed recently, a year after becoming the first franchised location of the 11-yearold restaurant. It is startling. Not the restaurant closing (it’s a very tough time for fast casual restaurants, which offer higher quality food at higher prices). What is so surprising is the attitude of the founder, Dino Dakuras. In public (and private) remarks, he has nothing but kind words for his first franchisee. Not everyone feels the need to blame
someone for everything? Interesting. While on the Fury’s Ferry restaurant beat, a locally owned casual dining restaurant is rumored to be on the market a little over a year since opening. Over on Walton Way Extension, Buffalo Wild Wing has opened and is taking on Carolina Ale House in a beer/wing/sports bar mano a mano. In just a very short while, the formerly fading Target/Robert C. Daniel area of West Augusta has taken off. Bar West and the Usual Place
Bar and Grille are smaller alternatives to the hustle of the wingaporiums, and by all accounts are doing quite nicely. Limelite Cafe, the sports bar across from Regal Cinemas known for it’s incredible beer selection, has big plans to remind folks they were there first. Rumors are swirling that one local bar/ club will be forced to rein itself in or lose out on a prime locale. The blue bloods enjoy a cocktail or two, but once things get too down market, it’s time to go.
A product of the competitive restaurant business locally has been more and more eateries staying open all day, as opposed to opening for lunch then closing down till dinner. (We refuse to call it supper. Austin, please stop calling it supper. Unless you are ringing a dinner bell while holding your petticoat close from the breeze… it’s dinner. But that’s just us. Call it what you will.) Goolsby’s in Evans and Blue Sky Kitchen downtown are but two recent examples.
“Flight com, I can’t hold her! She’s breaking up! She’s breaking—” The Six Million Dollar Man seems to have broken up fo’ shizzle. Vaudevillian Herman Cain is winding down his “Get to Know Me” press junket in a rather time-tested way… the skirt-chasing
gotcha… the “I got no idea what you talkin’ ‘bout Willis” defense. Certainly a bright and successful man (dare we say articulate?), Herman was never cut out to be Republican material.
No chance Rick or Mitt has ever had to pay any settlements for liking the ladies a little too much. Love “real” Republican style is just too boring. (No foul intended Mark Sanford… you
did awesome!) How long before the election? Our unctuous-osity meter is red lining.
Cross Takes the Stage Dear Lord, they finally came
Though the Lady Antebellum ramp up is finally over — the local media, including the Metro Spirit, has been participating in it for seemingly the last six months and it is finally, thankfully and definitively over — we can’t let the concert go by without giving it a quick look for those of you who were too busy to wait in line for tickets or too poorly connected to know someone who was a VIP to hit up for passes. When Columbia County throws a party, the VIPs nearly outnumber the
regular attendees. In actuality it was a 2,000 to 3,100 split, but still… 2,000 is an awful lot of VIPs. Unfortunately VIP status didn’t include free food and drinks. “Let them eat cake!” Or not. Complaints began early. Parking was going to be a nightmare. The band was only going to play a short acoustic set. With only the sound guy and lighting tech on stage. Inviting folks to enjoy the concert from outside the fences was going to create a familial, yet possibly snarky, riot.
Lost to most of the detractors was that we experienced a tour de force performance by a band at the apex of their international fame… right in our backyard. And on to the complaints about Ron Cross. Some say he has driven home a boondoggle to be reckoned with for years to come. Pat Boone and Lee Greenwood will certainly pass before the park is paid for. Then what? Well, relax. The quality of life equation has been increased tenfold.
And to be truthful, Cross wasn’t wearing a leather jacket. He’s a Republican, after all, which means he was wearing a leather sports coat. Big difference. Either way, he couldn’t seem to get enough of being seen wearing it. You’ve got to figure he’s earned it, though. It may be the Lady Antebellum Pavilion and the Josh Kelley Stage, but it was the Ron Cross tenacity that brought it all together.
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