Local Eatery Obituaries

Marketplace Morning Report

The countdown clock at Fido, a Nashville coffee shop, is hard to miss. It measures the time until the place closes in two years. "It felt good putting that up," says Bob Bernstein, the founder and owner. "Sad as it is, it was sweet." Fido will still serve as a wedding venue this year and, come spring, the birthplace of many dissertations for students at neighboring universities. But Bernstein is part of a generation that shaped Nashville's food scene, and he is worried about who will take his place. He used to sign his lease for ten years at a time, but Nashville's skyrocketing rent prices have forced his retirement.

The number of independent restaurants in the US dropped last year by 2.3 percent, according to preliminary data from Technomic, a research and consulting firm for the restaurant industry. Meanwhile, the number of chain restaurants rose by 1.4 percent. Once those independents close, they are hard to replace. Rich Shanks, vice president at Technomic, says when chains move in, a city can lose its individual identity. "You go to Nashville versus Chicago or Tampa or wherever, 'cause the restaurants are the same and they look the same and they don't have the regional flavors and the personalities behind it to provide that unique culture."