Today my Wife and I decided to meet for lunch as we do on a regular basis.  We live and work in Westfield and absolutely love this City and as a real estate broker where a  main focus is on SR 32 I spend a lot of time in the mix of things.  The thing that really has me upset is the unwillingness of the local American restaurant owners to adapt and realize that what used to work doesn’t anymore.  We went to a recently renamed(for the fourth or fifth time) restaurant, Main Street Bar and Grill, which states that it is a Family Friendly Place.  I walked in and after I ran into the pool table the staff informed me that it had been changed back to a smoking bar and the 2 months they tried to make it work was unsuccessful.  Was I ever steamed!  Here we are putting everything into this community and nobody can figure out how to serve a burger to a family.  We have Queso Blanco knocking em out on Mexican food, Italia Mia is amazing Italian food and Maneki Neko(sp) is great.  But when it comes to casual family dining, it does not exist and our neighbors to the south spend their evenings capitalizing on it.  With a city that is formed around families and middle class living it’s a shame that a Pub owner will not adapt and on top of that can’t understand why they are not busy.  I see successful restaurateurs opening up around town including Scotty’s, Wolfies and Sahm’s to name a few and they would put every smokey, “rock n roll” bar out of business up here.  If we are going to progress as a community we must demand to have these amenities or we don’t even compete.  I have been in the restaurant industry for 20 years and have successfully operated and marketed at nearly every level and would have loved an opportunity to serve such an affluent community.  I also understand the lazy mindset that keeps the owners going back to what they know.  Sadly, what they know doesn’t work anymore and until they wake up and figure this out, they will continue to rename and start over in a slam dunk market.  Hopefully, you readers will jump on board, speak up and demand that a good bar and grill opens up and in return we will make them a lot of money, one burger at a time.  Join the revolt!  Now you go!
-curt