Why Opening Nights Generally Suck

The near hysteria that surrounded the opening of Paul Qui’s new restaurant on East 6th was not atypical of what happens when the “first in line” frenzy takes over. Gotta love those early adopters.

The result yielded about as strange a mix of customer reviews as I’ve ever seen. Some loved it, some hated it, some were simply annoyed that they couldn’t get in. Some thought the prices were too high and some thought they weren’t high enough. And some of the haters clearly don’t understand what Paul Qui is about.

I rarely, as in almost never attend grand opening nights. New restaurants, even those helmed by the mighty Paul Qui, take some time to settle in. It takes time to get the front of the house in sync with the back of the house. Service issues usually arise and it takes some time to resolve them. And the foodies who descend upon these places with HUGE expectations often don’t get all of those expectations met.

Qui is going to be just fine, probably spectacular. But not on opening night. Me, I’ll wait 2-3 weeks and see you there.