CITY AND AREA
University Daily Kansan, August 22, 1984
Page 6
Fast-food lane is 23rd Street
By CINDY HOBSON Staff Reporter
When KU students decide to go out to eat, one particular street in Lawrence probably has what they want.
Twenty five restaurants, more than one-fourth of the city's approximate total of 90, can be found on a stretch of blacktop known to some as "restaurant road," "fast-food and "junk-food ellipse" — 23rd Street!
With 10 of the city's 25 fast-food restaurants located on 23rd Street, the competition to attract customers is tough.
"It IS COMPETITIVE," said Mike White, manager of Taco Bell, 1408 W. 23rd St. "You can feel the competition when other businesses have sales."
in throughout the city, restaurants hope to attract the weary traveler or the late-night student with varieties of cuisine — whether the customer has a taste for a quick burger or a full-course Chinese dinner.
LAWRENCE OFFERS 12 Mexican food restaurants, providing consumers with eight places for fast-fod convenience or four full-service restaurants.
Italian food lovers may find what they want at one of Lawrence's 12 Italian restaurants. Most specialize in pizza, but many have a salad bar and serve lasagna and Italian sandwiches.
sahwice. For those who want Oriental fare, three local restaurants serve authentic Chinese cuisine.
lawrence offers three restaurants for barbeque fans. They offer a variety of smoked and barbequed meats, including beef, pork, chicken and turkey.
Ten restaurants feature the hamburger as the main attraction. Most also offer chicken or fish for customers burned out on burgers.
For the meat and potatoes person, the city has five steak restaurants from which to choose.
from wiener to stu-
STUDENTS WHO GET late-night
munches can take advantage of
four restaurants open 24 hours each day.
Some local taverns and private clubs serve food, usually sandwiches. Members are needed for private club, although we have public dining areas.
While a variety of restaurants is all over Lawrence, the main flow of traffic heads towards 23rd Street.
The large number of restaurants could be considered beneficial to other 23rd Street businesses, but
tratic is sometimes a problem, leaving one business manager unhappy with the situation.
"Getting to and from businesses is kind of hazardous," said Judy Jewell, manager of Hatch's Books and Gifts, 2016 W. 23rd St.
"People don't know how to use the center lane."
Jewell said that she would like the city to build access roads on both sides of the street to alleviate some of the traffic problems.
MIKE WILDGEN, assistant city manager, said that an access road was a good idea, but not feasible.
Many businesses are too close to the side of the street to have room for an access road, he said.
The city has made improvements, such as adding a fifth lane and traffic lights at the intersections on Louisiana, Massachusetts and Iowa streets, making traffic on the street better. Wilden said.
In addition, the city requires that new businesses opening on 23rd Street provide a site plan to the city that details parking and landscaping plans.
Because the street is also Kansas Highway 10 east ofLawrence, it has always had a high traffic level, Wildgen said.
By DAVID O'BRIEN Staff Reporter
The population of Lawrence swells each August as about 20,000 college students return in the pursuit of higher education.
SUE GIESER, manager of Domino's Pizza, 1445 W. 23rd St., agreed that business increased drastically with the return of the students.
KU crowd swells pizza deliveries
And as the pace picks up in Lawrence with registration and fee payment at the University of Kansas, the number of pizza and sandwich deliveries at least doubles that of the summer months, according to several local restaurant managers.
"We get about 50 to 60 delivery orders on a Saturday night during the summer, and over 100 on a Saturday night during the school year," said David Barlow, manager of Pizza Shoppe, 601 Kasdow Drive.
"I'd say we double or even triple business during school," she said. "We've got 15 to 20 delivery boys out at a time during the school year. We get maybe 300 calls on a good night, like a weekend or a rainy night."
sky's Pizza, 2228 Iowa St, said that even though Minsky's caters more to a dine-in business, deliveries also substantially during the school year.
Trey Gratwick, manager of Min
"We make about 10 deliveries on an average summer weeknight," he said. "While on a weeknight during school, we will make 20 to 30 deliveries."
With almost a dozen restaurants offering delivery service, competition can make things tough, especially during the summer months, several managers said.
"IT GETS TIGHT in the summertime," said Robert Safarik, manager of Valentino's Pizza, 544 W. 23rd St. "We have to tighten our belts a little. The students are a very big buying power in this town."
"With as many places as there are in town, it's getting close to the cutthroat point," said Ripi "Rita Pizza." (The owner of Jamaica's Pizza, 900 Indiana St.)
Sue Doyon, manager of the Grinder Man, 704 $ _{1/2} $ Massachusetts St., agreed that competition for KU students' money was tight in Lawrence.
"You're always in competition with everyone else," she said. "It's always better when the students
come back. I think most businesses in town would tell you that."
But the return of KU students also has its bad side, according to many restaurant managers, as the increase in deliveries is accompanied by an increase in practical jokes and pranks played at the expense of the restaurants.
"I DON'T SUPPUEE we get as many as a lot of places, but we get our share," Doyon said. "There's really not much you can do about it."
Doyon said that if the Grinder Man repeatedly received prank calls, precautions were taken.
"After a spell of pranks, we try to call back to confirm orders," she said.
But even with such precautions, restaurant managers agreed that pranks were still unavoidable. Some said that such calls even made the job interesting.
Safarik recalled an incident that occurred with a Valentino's delivery last year.
"we got a call from a lady and delivered a pizza to what we thought was her house," he said. "It turned out to be where her spouse was staying, and there had been 11 other deliveries before ours."
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