Onyx Restaurant Closes

Well, another restaurant, Onyx, closed their doors.

Recently Johnny Carino's closed.

For those who aren't familiar with either restaurant, they were located in Fayetteville. If you drive down Hwy. 85 from the center of town toward the Pavilion, the building shells are both on the left.

Carino's surprised me. It seemed to have a fairly good crowd and the food was great.

I'm going to have to go out and see what I can find out about the closing. Could have been a company thing, could have been a local problem. They did fairly well when they opened, but then other restaurants, closer to the Pavilion opened. Possibly the other's took just enough of their crowd to ultimately cause them to tip over too far to recover.

I'll let you know what I find.

I never walked through the doors of the Onyx. I heard the food was great from everyone who sampled their fare. However, I also heard portions were small and prices were high. In the finer restaurants, portions usually are smaller. You're paying for quality and are expected to sit, relax and enjoy slowly, savoring the various tastes. You're paying for an experience.

I love jazz. Good food and jazz would normally have me sitting at a booth regularly.

The location is horrible. Shoney's couldn't make it. Hooters couldn't make it. No one likes to go out to eat and then have to take their life in their own hands to get out of the restaurant. If you know the area then coming in the back way, and leaving the same way, isn't a problem. However, for the general public, trying to find that one little hole between the traffic merging from Hwy. 314 onto Hwy. 85 while you sit in the turn lane blocking all those behind you who want to turn left at Hwy. 314 is nerve wracking to say the least.

I don't know of any restaurant that could be successful in that location if Shoney's and Hooters couldn't make it. Maybe a new restaurant named "Enter at Big Lots" might last a bit longer.