by Carrie Resch
Staff Writer
Downtown’s up-scale restaurants look for business as usual ... but a lot more business.
A survey indicates that managers are ready for the Super Bowl with additional help and provisions. Surprisingly, few have events booked in advance.
Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse, for instance, is not doing anything special for the Super Bowl. The menu will be the same and it will be business as usual except for Thursday, Friday and Saturday where they will open at 2 p.m. and stay open through volume of customers.
Manager Derek Deichelbor said they’ve been making preparations for the last couple of weeks. They’ve been coaching and training the staff and generally preparing.
“We plan on a lot of people being here,” Deichelbor said.
Bistro Aix is putting together a special menu for the week with normal preferred seating and may be open for lunch on Saturday and brunch on Sunday. They will also be open during and after the game and may do some off site catering.
“We’ll stay open as long as we need to,” said General Manager Jerry Mullen. “The good news is that we’ve been really busy in the past. It’s hard to anticipate how busy we are going to be because we haven’t been through a Super Bowl, but we’re doing everything we can to be prepared as possible.”
To prepare, they made sure they had, enough supplies, that they’re organized, documented schedule changes, trained the staff, and developed new menus.
“We’re looking to have a good time for a week and be busy,” Mullen said.
The Chart House will be hosting some private parties and possibly will be doing some a la carte dining. They may be offering lunch on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday during the Super Bowl.
The restaurant is preparing as it usually would for big parties, but no dates are definitely set. According to General Manager Ray Kayanek said, “The Super Bowl is like Christmas shopping — people wait until the last minute.”
bb’s will be open to the public and will have a different menu.
Scott Dippel, a manager, said “It will be pretty much the same as usual. We’re ready and waiting.”
Operations will be normal but they’ve added staffing and later hours.
Carol Kimsey, sales and marketing manager for Morton’s, said, “It will basically be business as usual. No closures or large parties because we wanted to be able to be open to the public.”
The hours will mostly be the same except for Sunday when they will be open at noon for lunch with sports agents and former NFL star Archie Manning attending. They will also be open after the game.
Morton’s has prepared as best as possible, borrowing staff from a Morton’s in South Florida, renting an ice truck, and telling the staff to get plenty of rest.
“It will certainly be a big who’s who during the four major days,” Kimsey said.
And Bravo!?
The Adam’s Mark’s upscale restaurant will be busy all the time as it’s in the hotel which has the NFL officials and the key media.