Tuesday, April 14, 2009

 

You can't eat in Central park

As if finding a Baldino's in Fayetteville was enough to make the trip worth it, I was fairly certain I had once heard that Fayetteville also had Central Park Hamburgers. Much like Baldino's, I got hooked on Central Park in Macon, and they have all since closed.
You may recall my excitement on my last Chattanooga trip over 2 years ago, when i discovered they had Central Park. They are very hard to find and unlike Baldino's, the Central Park website is of absolutely no help. If you find one, you're lucky, and you better go there when you can as they seem to have trouble staying open. Like the one in Fayetteville.
Prior to leaving Wilmington, I had located the single Central Park in Fayetteville (on Murcheson Rd.) and loaded the address into Sally, my GPS. As I came up Murcheson I couldn't see a sign for Central Park at all and I got worried. The reason I couldn't see one? There isn't one. The only "road side" advertising is the building itself. With Central Park's unique "Burger Tower" set up, this might be eye catching enough, but sadly, this building was so beat up and run down it was hard to tell what it was let alone know if it was open. The only reason I knew it was open was I saw another car pulling out of the drive thru as I pulled up.
Along the side you can see the classic "Burger fries Chicken Coke" that was the standard at the Park for a long time. Actually it was "Burger Fries and Coke" for a long time, but chicken was eventually added.
I think the simple menu is what kept Central Park going for some many years. Once the added chicken and began to "diversify" the menu, things went down hill. In the first picture, you can see all the signs on the wall showing the items not listed on the menu. Did the menu change cause the Park to decline, or was the menu change a response to the decline? I don't know. I tend to believe that if you do something well, at a good price (and the Park has ALWAYS had great prices), then people will come to you, you don't have to chase the people.
The menu showed little about the offerings, but a lot about the age and upkeep of the place. There was only a menu on one side of the building despite being a "double drive thru. Clear packing tape held the menu to the wall and price changes were simply printed on duct tape and that was put over the old prices. A few items had simply been marked out with a big black marker. It was quite sad, really, knowing the way things were in the "glory days" of Central Park.
Since it was early (about 11am) I wasn't especially hungry, but I couldn't NOT get something, so I went with the single cheeseburger, fries and a Coke.
Gone were the glory days of "bonus fries" where they'd put your order of fries in the bag and then toss in an extra handful. Apparently the economy has been tough on the Park.
But the burgers are still delicious. I love the Park, I just hate to see it slowly dying. I know the website (and the cups and bags) proclaim hopeful messages about their 25th year, and how they are "expanding." But the few I have seen over the years look to have been built 25 years ago and have outlasted their useful life.
So if you happen to see a Central Park, go grab yourself a burger. Not only is it a great burger at a fantastic price, you may not ever have another chance to have a burger at Central Park.
Krystal Lovers like hot buns.

# posted by JasonJ1052 @ 8:38 AM
Comments:
My first job was at a now torn down Central Park in Knoxville, TN. We have only 1 remaining store in Knoxville and just down the road in Maryville is the only other location in the area. Best fast food burger place in town! I seem to remember that the same guys who started Krystals started Central Park. Both got their starts in Chattanoiga, TN.
# posted by Blogger JLuvBug : 7:12 AM
 
Post a Comment



<< Home

This page is powered by Blogger. Isn't yours?