Giving the conventioneers what they want.
Living in Chinatown, I get an above-average number of tourists looking for advice. “Which way is the Liberty Bell?” “Do you know where I can buy a six pack around here?’ “Is there anywhere good around here to have dinner?”
There are many good places around here to have dinner. However, I recognize that the average pack of 4+ tourists may have different criteria than I would when they ask that question. In general, I assume it should:
- be able to seat them immediately
- be relatively inexpensive
- be relatively quiet, or at least not be a raucous bar scene
Beyond that, I always have to remind myself that most people don’t want to eat ethnic food. Seemingly, ever. (You can always tell when a science convention is in town, because it’s one of the few times that conventioneers venture into Chinatown in large numbers.) And, I hate to recommend chain places, though Maggiano’s, Chili’s and the Melting Pot are wildly popular with convention-goers.
But I think the real issue is, when in the vacinity of the Convention Center, if you don’t already know which way to go, it can feel like you’re stranded on an island of office space, with nary a clue that, just beyond the next block, a (relative) oasis of retail and restaurants awaits. Between Market and Chestnut, 13th St. has the post office, a parking lot, and a church before your first retail of a mini-mart, and the service side of Macys on the other side of the street. 12th St. has the service side of the Loews PSFS, facing a T-Mobile store, and a luncheonette that seems to close around 1PM. So you see folks looking at Market, thinking, well, I can eat at Sole Food, the Hard Rock, or go back to my hotel and order room service, and I want to tell them, no! go a block south and the whole city will open up before you! Or, at least, you won’t look down the street and say, well, I guess this is it.
The question remains, where to send people? Moriarty’s is usually a safe bet. I’m excited to try Smokin’ Betty’s, which looks pretty ideal, from the menu. I try to point people at El Vez, but even Mexican is outside the comfort zone for a lot of people. Where would you recommend for convention-goers?
