Apple Didn’t Get There Fast Enough

by Staff | Jul 11, 2011 11:18 am

(16) Comments | Commenting has been closed | E-mail the Author

Posted to: Citizen Contributions, Downtown

New Haven’s soon-to-open Apple Store may bring new business to the Broadway area, but not soon enough for one nearby business, Bulldog Burrito. The Elm Street eatery closed its doors after seven years and left a note notifying loyal patrons, one of whom sent in these photos.

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posted by: regular on July 11, 2011 12:06pm Sorry to hear you’ve closed but quality of food & overall cleanliness had been on a steady decline over the past 9 mos. Wish you all well.

posted by: Stan on July 11, 2011 12:07pm I so much enjoyed getting my burrito from these guys. They were great tasting and the staff were always very friendly. Maybe they can open a store in Westville.

posted by: Local Guy on July 11, 2011 12:21pm Hmmm… Is Yale once again adjusting its hand of cards? Yale Coop,...,...

posted by: Mister Jones on July 11, 2011 12:45pm Many downtown food business are struggling, even the ones that seem busy are just surviving as the costs of doing business keep going up and the customers are spread thinner. One thing that doesn’t get discussed is the proliferation of low-overhead food carts. It should be no surprise that bricks-and-mortar Bulldog Burrito couldn’t compete against Franco’s Tijuana Taco Company burrito cart. A $200 vendor license and $280 health department fee, plus a cart, is all it takes. The city should consider raising the permit fees to add revenue and level the playing field for the restaurants that pay much more in property taxes. Empty storefronts don’t help the budget. Right now there are cart farms by the hospital and on Sachem. If more are allowed, you’ll be doing more stories like this.

posted by: matt on July 11, 2011 1:00pm Interesting that they say “at 320 Elm” wonder if they are going to open up somewhere else. Who is the landlord over there?

posted by: Lauren on July 11, 2011 1:33pm This town is doomed. Its unattainable for merchants.

posted by: S on July 11, 2011 1:43pm Frankly, I thought the food there was pretty bad. Competition is tough…there are so many quality food options downtown. I don’t think it’s necessarily the faulty of Yale or the cars.

posted by: davec on July 11, 2011 2:19pm Franco’s superior burrito cart finally felled them.

posted by: Gerbert on July 11, 2011 4:37pm I’m surprised the establishment held out as long as it did against the food-carts—but that location has always been hard; there’s not as much foot traffic. I hope the new joint, Box 63, can make a go of it on the corner across the street. As for me, I used to spend $10-20/per day eating meals downtown (breakfast, lunch and sometimes dinner) while working. Now, I only buy food at the grocery and I pack my lunch religiously. I don’t even buy sodas anymore. So, that’s about $5000 this year that’s being sucked out of downtown eateries. I can’t imagine I’m the only one.

posted by: Goatville mom on July 11, 2011 9:40pm Can’t help but think there’s more to this story.

Why are they closing there and opening a new location?

Is Ivy Noodle also having problems?

The landlord is Yale.

No doubt the carts are hurting lunch business, but Bulldog was open at night, until very late…clearly the carts weren’t cutting into that business.

posted by: Ian on July 11, 2011 11:04pm The City should NOT raise the fees to open and operate the food carts. Take a walk down Cedar St across from the Yale ER and feel the vibrancy that a thriving food cart location has. The ability to pay very little for a significant amount of food is awesome. Lets not do anything to take that away.

posted by: Limited Life on July 12, 2011 5:49am Another stunning success brought to you by Team DeStefano. Yes it’s true. Tax them too much and they will go.

posted by: Stephen Harris on July 12, 2011 6:54am That’s a shame. But if they’re looking for new space in New Haven try Westville center or maybe Grand Avenue.

posted by: Steve Bradley on July 13, 2011 8:51am This story smacks of more Yale University hardball landlording over every business in downtown New Haven. Yale should pay as much attention to educating its students (i.e. customers) as it does to manipulating the city’s business landscape.

And then perhaps it could find away to lower tuition and make a Yale education much more equitable to local students.

posted by: Matt I can’t say I’m affected by BB’s closing. I stopped in there twice in the last two years, and both times was very disappointed with the food and cleanliness of the shop.