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Monday a boon for restaurants

by Andrew Kirk, OF THE RECORD STAFF

Several Park City restaurants had lines out the door on Monday.

Fourth of July festivities brought large numbers of people out onto the streets and around lunchtime they swarmed local cafes to relax and grab a bite to eat.

Snow Creek Plaza restaurants Wasatch Bagel, Flippin’ Burgers and Nick’s Café said they could not have asked for more Monday morning and midday.

Kreg Van Stralen said Wasatch Bagel was up 30 percent over last year.

"We were off-the-hook busy before the parade; people were lined up out the door for a few hours," he said.

Flippin’ Burgers was "slammed" and had people lined up out the door for burgers, fries and wings for three hours, said owner Rob Taranto.

"We prepared for it, and that made it a lot easier to handle," he said. "Our biggest months are July and August."

Nick’s Café served a lot of Chicago dogs between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m., said owner Ying Zhou.

"A lot of people came our way for dinner, too. And Saturday was also really good."

Weekend events likely contributed to that, Zhou said.

Main Street restaurants also reported busy traffic.

Shabu benefited from a special group booking on Monday, but was busy all weekend, said co-owner Kevin Valaika.

"It was a really great weekend. When the Fourth comes on a Monday, it makes all three days very busy," he said. "It was the best three-day period since winter."

There was a really positive atmosphere on Main Street Monday and that translated to better sales, he added.

Steve McComb, owner of Cisero’s, Bistro 412 and Baja Cantina, said his managers reported a big weekend the best so far of the off season.

Jesse Schettler, co-owner of Butcher’s Chop House and No Name Saloon, said Butcher’s was up 40 percent during July 1-4 over the same period last year. No Name was up 21 percent.

"We saw a general consistency throughout the whole day," he said.

Hans Fuegi said The Grub Steak in Prospector, which was open only for dinner, was especially busy on Saturday and had good business all weekend.

"Our average check size was up pretty good over last year," he said.

Even Kimball Junction, which does not always enjoy spillover traffic from Main Street, reported a great lunch hour.

Jason Wang, owner of Full House Bistro said he was very busy.

Stefen Foltz at Good Thymes Bistro said Monday morning was "ridiculous." Scheduled to go home at 1:30 p.m., he stayed another two hours to help with the lunch rush, he said.

Several said they were particularly impressed with the quality of the parade this year.

"It was one of the best parades I’ve seen Park City put on," Valaika said. "The size of the crowd and the quality of the atmosphere was great."

Schettler agreed.

"Quite honestly the general consensus of the group around me was that this was one of the best parades in years. It didn’t feel as long as in past years, but it just looked like better floats. People took more time and put cool things together," he said. "It was a pleasure to watch this year."

Van Stralen said he’s excited about all the summer events held around town.

"The leaders are really kicking butt. The Canyons’ events, Park Silly Market, all of those things are starting to grow," he said. "(People) bring friends, they tell friends."


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