The Corner

In a break from our regularly scheduled programming, I would like to consider a philosophical question. What makes a location cursed? Is it as simple as repeated occupancy by people who don't know how to run a business? Is it the typical direction of traffic approaching it? Available parking? What? 

Oh, you don't know what I mean by "cursed"? I'm talking about those locations where it seems like nothing can stay open more than a couple of years, although businesses around it thrive. One prime example is that spot next to El Charro on South Main, the one that has, in the past four years, been an Indian place, a Cajun place, and now..."The Vibe," whatever that is. Yesterday, I ate in one such location. It's right down town, where Water Street crosses Main. Think about that spot. Billy Jack's, Dave's, Jack Brown's, and Earth & Tea all do really good business, every day. Dave's has been in that area for ever, and I predict long life for at least one of the other restaurants on that list. And then there's...what are they calling it now? Oh, right, The Corner. 95 South Main. Not to rag on the Corner itself, per se, but why doesn't anything thrive in that spot? We've had, just in the seven years that I've been a Harrisonburger, Luigi's, Fuzions, Cuchi Guido's, and now this. I really don't get it. That location should be *awesome*. You can't get any more downtown. I mean, I remember that the stoners at Luigi's would sometimes take a couple of hours to make a pizza, but that was really good pizza. Fuzions had the poor fortune to open around the same time as Beyond, but the location was far more prominent than Beyond's; if either of them should have failed, I would have expected it to be the one tucked up on the back end of Water Street. Cuchi Guido's was, by all reports, incredibly badly managed and deserved to fail (one of my colleagues actually told the owner, "I give you three months." This turned out to be a generous prediction). 

If anyone has a theory about this location curse phenomenon, please leave it in the comments. I'd like to know what you think.

And now we have The Corner, which, if you'll forgive my saying so, I think is also doomed. In addition to whatever mystery poltergeist trashed all those other places, the food is just okay, not terrible, but okay, and the place lacks personality. I have no idea how it expects to compete with Jess's or Jack Brown's, which have similar fare, but much stronger signatures. 

Well, good luck, The Corner. You'll need it. 

• Location: 95 South Main St.
• Website: http://thecornerdowntown.com/
• Food profile: Beer and beer-related food. The kind of food you would want with beer.
• Local sourcing: They don't say, but I'm thinking no.
• Takeout: The website doesn't say, but it's the kind of place where you'd expect takeout.
• Warnings: Not an awesome place for small children--no changing table in the bathroom, random sheets of glass leaning up against the wall. I wouldn't take my two-year-old back there until he was much bigger. Of course, I don't get the impression that they are trying to be a particularly kid-friendly restaurant.
• Specialties: In all fairness, no one in my party had a specialty pizza, which is what The Corner is really proud of. You should give that a try. My mother-in-law had a sandwich on some sort of pretzel bread, which she said was really good and unusual.

Food: 

Founded by a guy who wanted to bring the flavors of Long Island to the Valley, The Corner offers subs, pizzas, and lots of beer. I spent many summers of my childhood on Long Island, and I can attest that this is the real deal. 

Atmosphere: 

As I said, it kind of lacks much personality. It's not bad, the food's not bad, the atmosphere isn't bad. It's just that the bar for downtown dining is so high, now, I don't think I would pick this place over most of the other downtown offerings. I should note that our server was totally awesome, which definitely counts for a lot.