Bellevue’s Main Street core sees restaurants leaving the table
By Eric Valentine
Back in the day, when a few watering holes simultaneously thrived on Bellevue’s Main Street, folks who were giving the phrase “mountain drunk” some anecdotal legitimacy might describe that section of the street between Oak and Elm as “the Barmuda triangle.” It was a humorous comparison of a patron’s loss of good measure to the Bermuda Triangle—the section of the Atlantic Ocean off North America in which dozens of ships and airplanes are said to have mysteriously disappeared.
Right now, an afternoon stroll through Bellevue’s commercial sliver of the Valley’s only real thoroughfare might elicit that moniker, too, as more lease signage adorns the area than people looking to party or eat and drink. And like any good skeptic or member of the free market faithful should do, people are asking this sobering question: Is Bellevue becoming a ghost town?
The anecdotal evidence—collected amid a local housing crisis as brutal as any around the country and historic, across-the-board inflation that experts say has and has not been caused by a pandemic and the most violent war in oil-producing Eastern Europe since World War II—is this:
• 7 Fuego: Closing May 22. Building for lease.
• Oak Street Deli: Restaurant closed. Building still being used for catering and other food service projects.
• Silver Dollar Saloon: Open. Building for lease or sale.
• Mahoney’s Bar & Grill: Open. Building for sale.
• Mama Inez: Open.
• Lucy’s Breakfast: Open.
And since the bullet points above are just anecdotal (and not even comprehensive), just south of Bellevue, in Carey, is some metaphorical evidence. On Monday, the Loading Chute building, which used to house a former restaurant and bar, burned to the ground. As of press deadline Tuesday, an investigation relying on things other than anecdote and metaphor was being conducted by the Idaho State Fire Marshal’s Office.
A Perfect Storm vs. A Fire Sale
For the Valley’s chamber of commerce executive director, Mike McKenna, it’s a perfect storm, not a food and beverage firesale; and the weather’s not as bad as it feels.
“This is basically a labor issue. Our housing crisis fueled out the working class,” McKenna said. “If you take an inventory of that section of Main Street from the beginning of the year to now, Bellevue’s only down one (eatery).”
Depending on how far up and down the road you go and what timeframe is used, McKenna’s math is right. And a business for sale is far different than a business that’s closed down for good. In one instance, an economically thriving company is more valuable if purchased by a new owner, rather than that new owner investing in and developing something from scratch. Mahoney’s and the Silver Dollar could become someone else’s one day. 7 Fuego is done and gone.
But McKenna certainly acknowledges the optics are bad. And, if a restaurant can’t fully staff up to be open at the right time for the optimal amount of time, it likely won’t be able to cover its rent and other operating expenses.
“It’s not a drastic change to the culture of Main Street, it’s a trend we’ve been seeing,” observed McKenna, who noted that just a few years ago someone earning $40,000 a year could afford to live in the Valley. “Our cities and county leaders are really doing everything they can and everything right, but I do think they got off to a late start. You can’t stop an avalanche mid-flow. This stuff is cyclical,” and we all need to get better at seeing the cycles come before they go.
EDITOR’S NOTE
FRET NOT, FOODIES … Geordy Murphy of Cypress Hospitality Group knows success in the hospitality industry. He talks about how things are looking up for restaurants sooner than later in this True 7 Life podcast.