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Schnellenberger to Open Sports Restaurant on 20th Street

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The guy is going to do what he wants. Literally a living legend. 
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Brandon Kirby-Wolverlora Simon said

The guy is going to do what he wants. Literally a living legend. 
Posted On: Jul 29th 2015, 5:59 PM #346775


And he will fail with this restaurant.

Rocky Aiyash is the name of the guy doing this with Howard if anyone wants to try and contact him.
I was just reading they are putting TV's in the booths,it looks like they are just dumping way too much money into a place off 20th.
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fauowl said

Howard stopped by today and wanted to take me to lunch. I didn't know he was coming so I had no one to take over for me. So he went next door and bought some food, and we made a table out of boxes and sat in the middle of the store and had lunch (bottom left). haha. He is awesome.

That's a really awesome story. Just further elevates Schnellenberger's reputation on here.

fauowl said

He calls it a steakhouse & Sports Theatre. It will be "upscale"



Okay, look, to be fair… maybe it'll work. Who knows. We haven't seen the menu, tasted the food or experienced the atmosphere.

But upscale, especially in this location, is a real gamble. The steak and burger business can be lucrative, as I've pointed out before, but the food would have to be so good that it would pull people from other upscale steakhouses/seafood places in the area.

From our perspective as fans and alumni we think the main priority here should be about expanding the student experience, like Coach owes it to FAU and the burgeoning 20th Street project to have a cheap place to eat that's FAU-themed.

And not that he doesn't care about that, because I'm sure he does, but I think Schnellenberger's looking at this more as an investment. He's done coaching and he needs to diversify his income streams, so what incentive does he have to sell $3 burgers or $1 tacos or 25 cent wings and have a razor thin profit margin? He'd have to sell a ton of them to make his money. And if he's going to put his name on the sign, it makes sense that he'd want to be all about quality.

Still, it's an ominous sign. It's also the kind of thing I feared about 20th Street: developments that are superficially for the FAU community but realistically pricing them out (like University Commons)

Time will tell.
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I know Howard is looking at this as an investment. That is why you do something like this. To make money. The people involved in this are not stupid . They know what they are doing.  It won't be a coat and tie place but it will be priced to be profitable. Mid ranged pricing is a safer then low cost . My guess is wide range of pricing , giving way to after dinner snacking ,drinking, hanging out crowd. Mid range being up to $15-$18 per meal. I am sure they will also need to offer hamburger type food at $8-$12 range also. If you have good food and good service at a fair price, people will return. But, the name won't do it alone. It must be good food!
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I would be totally blown away if this place is anything like Mortons, let's not overreact. 

First, he's putting in a sports theater, for any of you that got to go to the first Schnellys restaurant (it's fatal flaw was the location), my money is that they'll be identical which means it'll be as upscale as Outback. My hope is that he does a similar 360 degrees screen like the old place, it was incredible. Good news for Owlcountry, I got plenty drunk at the old Schnellys during road games, even saw the Fau v Arky St  3-0 overtime thriller there with Walty, the game was so bad it was turned off the big screens and we were relegated to a corner by ourselves and a 27in TV…i don't miss the days of being the only fan in the bar.

I'm no restraunteur but I'd guess that choice steaks, ribs and seafood but not at the ala carte prices is the sweet spot in the dining biz. He's going to attract the customer that wants to watch football, have some drinks, enjoy the game and not have a panick attack when the bill is $150
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One of the greatest football coaches ever was in your store buying you lunch and eating off a cardboard box with you... One of the coolest things ever!
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owlmart said

One of the greatest football coaches ever was in your store buying you lunch and eating off a cardboard box with you… One of the coolest things ever!
Posted On: Jul 29th 2015, 8:27 PM #346781

+1

It has been pretty cool. I haven't shared a lot, but this isn't the first time this has happened. We have had a lunch on a box table before. Coach has been a mentor to me. Before the store existed and we were an online store only as a hobby, he called me to his office and shared some great stories.

Everyone knows him as the savior of the Miami program, but he was also responsible for building the Miami brand from a merchandising standpoint. Miami went from being the worst in sales in the country for Gear to #1 in the nation in collegiate merchandise sales under him. He personally took control of it at Miami. He loves the merchandising aspect of it and how important it is to the team.

He has probably been in my store as much as anyone. He will stop by and interact with customers. He will offer to sign anything. And he never asks for anything in return. He just wants us to succeed. One time he stopped in and said he was driving by so he just stopped in to see if I needed anything.

I asked him if he was going to sell any merchandise in his restaurant, like Schnellenberger shirts, etc. He said: if they want to buy merchandise, I am going to send them to your store. He is a true fan, and it is humbling. He loves FAU.

Don't judge his decisions until you see the final result. If I did what made sense from a business perspective, I would never have opened my store. Sometimes you do things because you have a dream and none of it makes sense on paper.

Let's celebrate that we have things happening at FAU and around FAU that just a few years ago, we never thought were possible.

Owls Up!
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Local Owl said

I know Howard is looking at this as an investment. That is why you do something like this. To make money. The people involved in this are not stupid . They know what they are doing.  It won't be a coat and tie place but it will be priced to be profitable. Mid ranged pricing is a safer then low cost . My guess is wide range of pricing , giving way to after dinner snacking ,drinking, hanging out crowd. Mid range being up to $15-$18 per meal. I am sure they will also need to offer hamburger type food at $8-$12 range also. If you have good food and good service at a fair price, people will return. But, the name won't do it alone. It must be good food!
Posted On: Jul 29th 2015, 7:44 PM #346778


The guy who is running this for Howard (Rocky Aiyash) filed for bankruptcy in 2012…..
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teambeer said

I would be totally blown away if this place is anything like Mortons, let's not overreact. 

First, he's putting in a sports theater, for any of you that got to go to the first Schnellys restaurant (it's fatal flaw was the location), my money is that they'll be identical which means it'll be as upscale as Outback. My hope is that he does a similar 360 degrees screen like the old place, it was incredible. Good news for Owlcountry, I got plenty drunk at the old Schnellys during road games, even saw the Fau v Arky St  3-0 overtime thriller there with Walty, the game was so bad it was turned off the big screens and we were relegated to a corner by ourselves and a 27in TV…i don't miss the days of being the only fan in the bar.

I'm no restraunteur but I'd guess that choice steaks, ribs and seafood but not at the ala carte prices is the sweet spot in the dining biz. He's going to attract the customer that wants to watch football, have some drinks, enjoy the game and not have a panick attack when the bill is $150
Posted On: Jul 29th 2015, 8:00 PM #346779
That's all fine but the watch the ge crowd will only be there so many times a year.
How are people going to he pulled into that place on a Tuesday in that location?
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owlcountry40 said

Local Owl said

I know Howard is looking at this as an investment. That is why you do something like this. To make money. The people involved in this are not stupid . They know what they are doing.  It won't be a coat and tie place but it will be priced to be profitable. Mid ranged pricing is a safer then low cost . My guess is wide range of pricing , giving way to after dinner snacking ,drinking, hanging out crowd. Mid range being up to $15-$18 per meal. I am sure they will also need to offer hamburger type food at $8-$12 range also. If you have good food and good service at a fair price, people will return. But, the name won't do it alone. It must be good food!
Posted On: Jul 29th 2015, 7:44 PM #346778
The guy who is running this for Howard (Rocky Aiyash) filed for bankruptcy in 2012…..

Posted On: Jul 29th 2015, 10:37 PM #346785


Restaurants and constructions companies are #1 and #2 in businesses that fail.   What did he file bankruptcy for?  A LOT of people file bankruptcy.  If a business fails and most do, you file bankruptcy.

The bottom line is, if the places has GOOD food, GREAT service and has FUN atmosphere it doesn't matter where the place is located.  Anybody remember Burt & Jacks?  That place was inside Port Everglades.  A different time before national security stuff!
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