Eating Spots Increase In Downtown Gainesville

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John Haynes owns The Turnstile Deli on Green Street,
one of a growing number of eateries that are filling Gainesville's downtown central business district. Two years ago, there were
fewer than five restaurants in the area, which is bounded by
Jesse Jewell and E.E. Butler parkways and Academy street.

ALVIN PEABODY
The Times

Move over Dawsonville Highway and Jesse Jewell Parkway.
There's a new "restaurant row" emerging in and around Gainesville's downtown central business district.

Bordered by E.E. Butler and Jesse Jewell parkways and Academy Street, the area is currently home to 23 new, existing or planned restaurants.

"When we opened our restaurant 26 years ago, there were very few in and around the downtown area," said Henry Ward Jr., owner of Henry O's at 322 Spring St. "Now, it's really amazing to see the growth in the number of restaurants that have moved to the downtown area within the past few years."

The growth in the number of eateries is attributed to several factors. Chief among them is more dining options for the nearly 3,000 people who work downtown, as well as for area residents who prefer to avoid the many regional and national chain restaurants.

Such eateries dot the landscape along Dawsonville Highway and Jesse Jewell Parkway. They include Ryan's Family and Longhorn steakhouses and Kentucky Fried Chicken and McDonald's franchises.

Joe Burnett, executive director of Main Street Gainesville, said the number of dining places offers people more reasons for wanting to be in the central business district.

The agency works to improve the city's downtown business district.

"Having all of these restaurants also helps to alleviate traffic congestion, because many people really don't want to get in their cars to drive too far off for a bite to eat," Burnett said.

The ultimate goal, however, is to extend the business day into the evening hours, Burnett said.

"We're certainly providing a healthy balance of retail and service to our daytime population," he said. "However, I think it's equally important to lure those who don't work in the downtown area during the day to come and enjoy it at night."

Within the past year, many of the dining spots in and around downtown Gainesville have changed ownership, expanded their dining hours and remodeled to accommodate a growing evening crowd.

Two new restaurants, Peeches At The Tracks and Sports Time Grill, opened last year. Another, Tea Tyme, which offers dancing, opened soon afterward.

The Collegiate Grill, a Gainesville mainstay for more than 50 years, changed ownership last year and is completing a deck addition.

Also, businessman Juan Luna spent $250,000 to renovate and remodel a 2,400-square-foot space for a piano bar adjacent to his restaurant in the Hunt Tower office building at 200 Main St.

The fact that all of these eateries are owned locally also helps to draw a large crowd, said restaurateur John Haynes.

Five years ago, the Hall County native and his wife, Susan, opened the Turnstile Deli at 109 Green St.

"We all know that the chain restaurants are here," Haynes said. "But I think most people prefer to go to places where they can socially interact with their friends and other business acquaintances."

Joel Cordle, a resource coordinator for the Georgia Department of Community Affairs in Gainesville and a frequent patron at the 100-seat Turnstile eatery, agreed.

"You also get to see the owners working in his or her own place of business," Cordle said Thursday as he lunched on a sandwich. "Often times, that's not the case at the chain restaurants."

New restaurants planned for the area include Coffee Shop of Horror, Electric Burrito and Roly Poly.

The growing dining presence in and around the downtown area is not a new trend, said longtime Gainesville residents and people who do business there.

In the late 1800s and early 1900s, many such businesses lined the area, including a Woolworth lunch counter that operated at the intersection of Washington and Main streets.

However, most closed and never reopened after a 1936 tornado destroyed much of the downtown business center.

"As a child growing up in Gainesville, Woolworth was truly the top spot for lunchtime gathering," said businessman Doug Carter.

"A lot of people are longing for those days gone by and I think business owners are responding to those wishes," said Carter, president of Don Carter Realty.