Word broke on Monday that The Ground Round, a family-style steakhouse, could soon be arriving in the old Chi-Chi’s building across from the Oakdale Mall in Johnson City.
I’m glad to see a business potentially returning to that location, although I’m sure I’m not the only one around here who still misses the old Mexican eatery’s delectable chimichangas.
Word of the new steakhouse coming to town — and my still-broke-college-kid appetite — got me thinking of several other familiar chains that would fit great in the Binghamton area:
The first name that comes to mind is Sonic. The hamburger chain’s incessant television advertising in the Southern Tier is baffling, and an unfair tease; the nearest Sonic is in Morgantown, Pa., 134.42 miles — and approximately three hours — from Binghamton.
For me, no childhood trip to the orthodontist would’ve been complete without a post-op Slurpee — but for many in the Southern Tier, 7-Eleven is nothing more than a mis-dialed 4-1-1 call, or the eleventh day of July. 7-Eleven’s Store Locator returns zero results near zip code 13905, even though, according to their site, “Finding a 7-Eleven close to you has never been easier.” (Sheetz, however, is only about an hour south.)
And if “what you crave” is White Castle, you’re looking at quite a trip. The nearest Crave Cases to the Southern Tier are in Yonkers and Nanuet, or in the freezer at your local Wal-Mart, Wegmans or Sam’s Club. With an abundance of White Castles, several dozen in fact, scattered throughout New York City, Queens and Long Island, a lone location in the Southern Tier — or in the entire state of Pennsylvania — would be appreciated.
That’s not to say that the establishments found here in the Southern Tier are sub-par or inadequate. Nowhere on the island can a hungry traveler pull off and pick up a lamb spiedie.
But there are certain comfort foods that people from around the state and the region have come to love throughout childhood. When there’s nowhere to find those delicious complex carbs, those succulent sweets, (dare I say, in our health-conscious day and age, those fantastic fats?), you stumble upon an avoidable deterrent — from visiting the area, moving to the area, or, as I wrote last week, staying in the area.
Bringing in the aforementioned types of fast-food joints could also help liven up the City of Binghamton. A drive down Court Street at night is stunningly underwhelming, with every business, save for a strip of bars, closed until the morning.
If there were more to check out at night than a hoard of drunks cordoned off by a handful of cops, perhaps the city could once again begin to flourish. And that could begin with keeping a restaurant or two, or even one of these fast-food shops, open past dusk.
Providing places of sustenance — whether they’re national chains or a home-grown business — would encourage more entertainment and commercial development, and brighten up the town’s dark streets once and for all.
A simple walk through the city shows there’s more than enough space for an intrepid entrepreneur or two — or eight. With plenty of gorgeous riverfront property and a “MetroCenter” that, despite its age, could still become a bustling center of commerce, it appears that more businesses — more night-time businesses — are “What We Crave.”
Strub is a part-time copy editor at the Press & Sun-Bulletin. His column appears Thursdays.
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