Friday, June 24, 2005

South Side Inn files bankruptcy, but owners are optimistic and will keep working

Enduring New Albany diner files bankruptcy South Side owners expect to recover, by Ben Zion Hershberg of the Courier-Journal (limited shelf life for C-J links).

This story carries more than a passing interest for NA Confidential, who is in the same business as Mark Troub and Jeannie Burchfield, the South Side Inn’s owners, albeit with a radically different philosophical intent and target market.

The “bankruptcy” headline actually produced somewhat of a shock over my morning espresso, as I’ve become so accustomed to thinking of South Side strictly in a metaphorical sense (see the masthead above) that the restaurant’s actual physical existence on Main Street is an afterthought.

Truthfully, I haven’t eaten at South Side since well before the current owners bought the business seven years ago, so it’s beyond me to comment on whether the restaurant’s bill of fare is prepared any better or worse than before, the point being that irrespective of location, it’s not the sort of food I typically seek.

Others do, and that’s fine with me. Symbolism aside, I'll be pulling for the owners make it back from their financial problems. According to the C-J’s Hershberg, Troub sees hope ahead for his South Side Inn:

“He said he also thinks the traffic he expects to be generated by the Scribner Place development, which is to include a YMCA and a municipal swimming complex in the next block, will help the restaurant enormously when it opens in two years or so.”

I wonder how many of his customers agree with that sentiment?

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