Much like the animal kingdom, when it comes to downtown College Park restaurants, only the strong survive.
Ledo Restaurant — an eatery that serves pizza and other Italian food — is moving to College Park by next summer. And with so many similar restaurants situated in a concentrated area coupled with an economic downturn, some toes are bound to get stepped on, some tensions are likely to flare, and restaurants are all forced to devise their own methods of staying atop the food chain.
Ledo Restaurant owner Tommy Marcos said he looks forward to the challenge of moving into the saturated downtown area.
“I actually look forward to the competition,” Marcos said. “Competition doesn’t scare me — the economy does.”
But not every restaurant is complaining of lower profits or frugal students.
“Business went up for us almost literally 500 percent as opposed to the summer,” said Martin Chavez, the manager of Fat Tino’s Pizzeria, which opened in late May. “I think right now it’s kind of fun being the new guy in town. A lot of people want to come try it.”
And he’s not shy about picking on some of the city’s most established eateries.
“I think that Ledo’s caters to a different taste of pizza,” Chavez said. “I personally despise it.”
Chavez didn’t stop there.
“[We’re] far, far better than Ratsie’s,” the Brooklyn pizza maker said. “I can safely say we use much better products.”
Ratsie’s Pizza & Subs owner Mike Falamoun simply said the only business he worries about is his own and that business is good, and Marcos took a more amicable look at the situation.
“We probably won’t pull customers from somewhere else, but we’ll bring our customers in,” he said. “We’re bringing people to the area that haven’t been there before.”
And it’s not just pizza places that have competition on the brain.
“We certainly are mindful of what the competition is doing, and not just Cluck-U and Buffalo Wild Wings, but also Dominos and Pizza Boli’s,” said Wing Zone manager Ben Demeo.
But Cluck-U Chicken Manager Kenny Brady said he would rather focus on what he can control — his own establishment.
“They never enter my thoughts honestly,” Brady said . “There’s 60,000 students, so there should be plenty of business to go around.”
Even promotions in this town often come in twos — both Panda and Shanghai have similar late-night specials that target students exiting the bars, and pizza chains Domino’s and Papa John’s both sport a student-only $5.99 large cheese pizza special.
But not all related restaurants have a contentious relationship.
Pita Pit manager Keegan Riseling sometimes refers customers to Pita Plus, a kosher restaurant down the road.
“We’ll refer customers there if they ask for something we don’t have,” Riseling said of those looking for kosher options. “I wouldn’t hesitate to show them where it is.”
But despite the food fights ranging amongst the local restaurants, students often make their dining selections based on either price or quality.
Senior communications major Rebecca Noel said the Domino’s student deal is too good to pass up, even though she thinks there’s better pizza available. But she does indulge in Jason’s Deli despite the expense.
“Jason’s Deli has the calories on the menu, so it makes me feel better about ordering,” Noel added.
But some students, like junior aerospace engineering major Ryman Wiemann, would rather pay more at Potbelly’s than eat at a bigger, national chain.
“Quiznos and Subway are just the same shit all the time,” Wiemann said.
rhodes@umdbk.com
