Sixty-percent of new restaurants fail within the first year. Urban Eats in Dutchtown has pivoted from a restaurant to a neighborhood food hall, shared kitchen and food incubator to give those in disadvantaged areas an opportunity to experiment and learn before taking on a huge financial strain.
John Chen is the president and co-founder of Urban Eats. He says when he first came to Dutchtown, two of his tenants were in the food business and both were out of business in a few months. One had to file for bankruptcy because she'd spent so much money building out the kitchen. He realized there was a complete lack of affordable kitchen space in the area.
Hear Debbie Monterrey's audio story with John Chen at Urban Eats:
"We want to help people figure it out," says Chen. "This is a less risky, or I would say, no risk environment to make mistakes and learn."
Chen says kitchen members are asked to give it a minimum of three months. The merchant members who have restaurants in the food hall are asked to give it at least six months. If they quit after that, Chen considers that a victory. That person realized the food industry was not for them and can walk away without debt or saddled with a lease.
Ideally, he would like merchant members to graduate to their own space, preferably an empty storefront in Dutchtown.