They're dealing with a notoriously difficult industry and an even tougher economy, but many Davis Square restaurants are keeping their heads above water.
Bolstered by the return of Tufts' student population and buffered by a multifaceted consumer base, some of the Square's best-known restaurants and cafés feel comfortable about their futures.
The national food-service industry felt the recession's unforgiving impact, as Americans cut down on eating out and buying expensive groceries. Regardless, expansion still seems to be the name of the game in Davis Square. The casual eatery Boston Burger Company opened in April this year and has seen relative success since. "We're doing alright, we're stable, and so far it's been okay," owner and manager Paul Malvone told the Daily.
Dave's Fresh Pasta, another popular spot located just off the square, expanded its footprint earlier in the year, absorbing an adjacent store and roughly doubling in size.
Many establishments are interested in attracting the freshman class' hundreds of newcomers to the Square.
In line with this effort, a number of eateries participated earlier this month in "Discover Davis Square," Tufts' newest addition to its freshmen orientation program. Restaurants contributed coupons and offers of free or discounted food, aiming to acquaint freshmen with the area over the Labor Day weekend.
"We saw a good amount of [Discover Davis] coupons" come into the store, Malvone said.
Davis Square's multifaceted clientele has helped soften the blows that the economy has dealt over the past two years. Several restaurant managers described their customer bases as balanced between Tufts students and Somerville locals, many of whom commute via the T's Red Line or one of the several bus routes running through the square.
"It's a mix of students and people that live in the area," Blue Shirt Café manager Mike Chen told the Daily.
On the weekdays, the crowd mostly includes locals, with the balance shifting toward students on weekends, Chen said.
The infusion of students back to campus at the start of the academic year added a boost to local eateries' returns.
"August was slow, but at the end of August it came back right away," Malvone said.
Carolyn Rahn, a manager at Diesel Café, similarly described Diesel Café's clientele as "a mix," adding that its busiest day of the year came during Somerville's July ArtBeat Festival, when relatively few students were in the area. The arrival of Tufts students is a significant boost to business overall, she told the Daily.
"Whenever we don't have students here, you can tell," Rahn said. In contrast to the summer months, which Rahn described as more relaxed, the café is currently "tremendously busy."
For Blue Shirt Café, business "has picked up a little bit" since the summertime, but manager Chen attributed the main fluctuations in overall activity to another factor altogether: weather.
"It's really dependent on the weather," Chen said. "If it's nice and warm and sunny out, our business does pick up. But when it's cold or cloudy, it does drop down."
Malvone agreed, saying that "nice weather and live music" outside the restaurant help to attract foot traffic, while rain can deter potential customers from visiting Davis altogether.
All things considered, life has been relatively good for these restaurant proprietors, recession or not. "We do just enough to survive and have fun and grow a little bit every year," Rahn said of Diesel Café.
