Within the last 18 months, great restaurants have opened in Northfield, The Stanley, and the Eastbridge Town Center. Most of these places have received tremendous reviews from Stapleton residents and residents city-wide who have ventured east to try them. Prior to these restaurants opening, Stapleton already had some quality restaurants as well. The influx of options for residents has been great. “It used to be you always met your friends at the same one or two places,” said local resident Shane Murphy. “Now, it’s an actual conversation as to where you should go to eat or have drinks. There are so many great options.” Jaime Strassburg agrees. “I guess it makes going out to dinner a little harder because of all the places you have to choose from,” said Strassburg. “But, options are a good thing.” Unfortunately, having so many terrific places to eat hasn’t been all good for the restaurants. “I think the same number or percentage of people continue to go out to eat,” said a local restauranteur. “Stapleton is growing, but the number of restaurants has outgrown the demand. And, unfortunately, Stapleton still isn’t getting a big draw from the rest of the city.” This factored in with randomly, inaccurate bad reviews on social media put the restaurants in jeopardy of closing. “The numbers just weren’t working out,” said another local restauranteur. “So, we decided to shut our doors in Stapleton on November 7th. It was tough, but it was a business decision.” Almost two dozen other locally owned, quality restaurants closed the same day, immediately causing home values to drop 8%. “I didn’t see this coming,” said resident Adam Yagla. “I didn’t go out to eat very often, but I really enjoyed having the options. Really sucks.” Jennifer Nielson also expressed remorse as she heard the news. “Just horrible news,” said Nielson. “It appears the chain restaurants made it through just fine, but not sure we will start regularly eating at Ihop.” Residents are hoping new restaurants will slowly start to build up again. “Maybe new, even better restaurants will take their place,” said a wishful Scott Jones. Wishes rarely come true, however, so it looks like Stapleton residents will have to get comfortable eating at McDonalds and Red Lobster. Editor’s Note: There are many great restaurants in Stapleton, and although it is not your job to keep them in business, there are things you can do to help. 1) Invite non-Stapleton friends to the hood and take them out to eat at one of these many fine establishments. 2) If you have one bad experience at a local spot, don’t post it on social media. We all have different tastes, so if your friends ask you directly, tell them your opinion. But, you’re not a food critic. The world doesn’t need your opinion on cuisine. Keep your public opinions to politics and religion like the rest of us.