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Ruston's ninth (I think) Mexican restaurant is going in Z Buffet. Just what we need, I was thinking we didn't have quite enough.Quote:
Originally Posted by CutiePie72
Not sure about Scott's Seafood, but if I were a betting man...I'd bet on Ruston's 10th Mexican restaurant.
i can go to a different mex restaurant each night of the week. thats AWESOME !!!Quote:
Originally Posted by Blue Dawg
Breakfast at Log Cabin was awesome. I wish someone would open a breakfast all day place that is a step above Waffle House. Or another Italian place north of I-20. We don’t eat out much, but it would be nice to have choices outside of chicken strips and Mexican.
A step above Waffle House?
No such thing.
Ha! Actually, for what they do, I like Waffle House just fine.
gospel!Quote:
Originally Posted by dawgpix
Day surgery center going in the old Scott's Seafood.Quote:
Originally Posted by Blue Dawg
So the new gas station in front of the library—is that a QT?
Yes
Hopefully no diesel for big trucks.Quote:
Originally Posted by TechDawgMc
We finally got the round a bout thing working well in West Monroe, then QT moved in and screwed traffic up.
BTW, our middle daughters family is living in Benton. Nice area. When I see Temple, I always think about you and George Straight.;)
Last I heard, QT will serve big trucks.
That's gonna be a mess.Quote:
Originally Posted by techman05
Truck stops should only be allowed on the very outskirts of a city. I would think the truckers would prefer that too, with easier on/off an interstate.
Speaking of a mess...can someone please do something to alleviate the traffic SNAFU that is the Dallas metro area!? Here's what is needed: a by-pass from I-20 to I-35 just above Denton, going in both directions. This by-pass will NOT, I repeat NOT have any on/off ramps that can be accessed by Dallas dwellers. You access it either off I-20, east/west or via I-35 above Denton. That's it!Quote:
Originally Posted by PawDawg
And hello to all the Texas highway engineers, try this: TRAFFIC CIRCLES!!! Join the rest of the world in the 21st century.
I agree, and my info could absolutely be wrong or old. However, I was told that QT and Bucee’s stay in constant contact. Bucee’s informs them as to when they will be building in an area and if QT owns a space there, they build as well. The goal, apparently, is for QT to serve the traffic that Bucee’s can’t/won’t.Quote:
Originally Posted by PawDawg
Bingo.
If the trucks don't stop at the old Guide plant site east of Monroe or the Pilot/QT at Well Road in West Monroe I'd imagine they'd plan to hit East Bossier or West Shreveport truck stops.
Supposed to be a service road in the works from Tarbutton to Grambling. Big truck stop going in in Grambling. They will probably get a lot of traffic. And they will keep their sales and property tax revenue. Novel concept.
If your goal is to by-pass Dallas from I-20 east, take US69 at Lindale, go thru Mineola then over to Greenville, then over to US380. It takes you thru McKinney, over US75, and finally over to Denton. It doesn't bypass Denton, but connects to I35.Quote:
Originally Posted by dawg80
As far as traffic circles, Dallas attempted one at Northwest Highway and Denton Drive/Harry Hines Blvd. and it was FUBAR. They finally did away with it in late 70's or early 80's. You got on it and so did about 5 other streets, spun around and ATTEMPTED to get right so you could exit at your street. Accidents galore and nothing but frustrated drivers. I lived about a half mile away from it and had to spin thru the damn thing daily for a while. No thanks!
Rayville Pilot is an easy in and easy out for Trucks:icon_roll:...Now better with the new traffic circle, but it must not matter because they are always full. So it the cluster at Pilot West Monroe...and the Pilot at DFM's favorite town in Bossier Parish is always rockin'...I HATE Pilot because they are always the first to price gouge on gasoline.Quote:
Originally Posted by Dawgpix
Fort Worth has two traffic circles, a small one near TCU and a bigger one farther west. They're fine, I guess.Quote:
Originally Posted by Amos Moses
We have tried that route twice. Last time it took us 3 hrs 35 mins to go 113 miles. The intersection on US380 at Prosper is where they most need a traffic circle.Quote:
Originally Posted by Amos Moses
The traffic circles in Washington DC are a hoot! Got honked at, cussed at a few times, but then they are multiple lanes with staggered traffic lights, one of which I ran because I thought the green light was mine...wrong. Albany, New York has a bunch of traffic circles, with right-of-way backwards to what I am used to. Here you yield to enter the circle have the ROW to exit. There it's just the opposite. Took me all of....hmmm....once to get used to it. :icon_roll:
We tried it one time. Looking at a map, it looks promising. It wasn't. We never really stopped moving, which was kind of the goal, but it took much longer than staying on I-20, Hwy 80, 635, etc.. even with the normal drive time stalls.Quote:
Originally Posted by dawg80
I go that way a lot. I am surprised to hear you say it was longer than going thru Dallas via LBJ (I-635). Another route if you want to bypass LBJ is to take the Bush Turnpike over to I-35 just north of North LBJ. It is a toll road but misses all the idiots on LBJ. You do, however, still have to go thru Farmer's Branch and Lewisville on I-35.Quote:
Originally Posted by PawDawg
Wait! In May, The Pilot east of Leeds Buc-ee's was 15 cents cheaper than the Beav. I thought Buc-ee's was all about being the loss leader on gas.Quote:
Originally Posted by PawDawg
My opinion is based on personal experience with the WM Pilot. They change their prices based on what gas prices are expected to be in 3-5 days not what they actually paid for what they have on hand. Almost all retailers increase pump prices when the tanker unloads at the location.
Know someone who works at one of the Brookshire's/super1 stores. She reports in to the manager on what prices she saw driving in that morning. Pricing is adjusted accordingly.Quote:
Originally Posted by PawDawg
Yes I’ve noticed the Brookshire peeps and neighborhood markets stay together. Murphy USA and Raceway do the sameQuote:
Originally Posted by Dawgpix
Yep, gasoline is a commodity and pricing is based on "futures." Prices at the pump are determined by several factors including what the price/gallon is going to be when the station will buy the next tanker load. The market is also a big factor, of course, but all the stations are playing the same pricing game.Quote:
Originally Posted by PawDawg
That was my point...Pilot in West Monroe does not play the same pricing game as the rest. Pilot in general is higher than most other large fuel retailers.Quote:
Originally Posted by dawg80
Never really paid that close of attention but I thought Pilot generally has "good" prices as compared to others. I know both CONOCO and Phillips 66 have higher prices than the local markets. I own stock in both but never buy gas from them!Quote:
Originally Posted by PawDawg
Recently we were traveling, low on gas, and saw a station with 2.99 gas. Thought, okay, that's pretty good. Pumped in about 27 gallons at a cost of $82. We get back on the highway, drive 3 miles and see a Walmart with 2.97 gas. Dern! Heck! Could have saved .54! :shocked2:
Quote:
Originally Posted by dawg80
Every market has a station who is the leading loss leader.Quote:
Originally Posted by PawDawg
Kinda like cases of water at grocery stores pre-COVID.
Consumers are typically paying $0.30 (low end) to $0.50 per gallon over invoice bulk price from the jobber -
It is not on futures -
Fuelman cards (bulk) run about $0.20 to $0.25 per gallon
Here at the parish we are paying $0.09 per gallon thru out local jobber over invoice
The old saying that stations are only making a NICKEL a gallon is absolute bullshit
Where(from who) do the jobbers buy their bulk supply from? Probably a wholesaler who in turns buys from...the oil companies, i.e. some holding company, whose own cost basis is dynamic depending on the price of oil on the world market.Quote:
Originally Posted by Dwayne From Minden
Locally (regionally) we have Lott Oil, Co. which supplies local/regional stations. Lott does not drill and then refine its own oil to produce gasoline. Lott buys the gasoline, in bulk, and then resells it with a mark up. Actually, I see Lott operates in Louisiana, Arkansas, and Texas. Their price from their distributor varies month to month, perhaps more often, because that supplier never knows what their price is going to be over a certain period of time, because....[drum roll] ultimately at the beginning of the supply chain the sale of oil FUTURES determines the price structure for everyone...right down to the consumer at the pump.
Now, FUTURES does not account for all the hanky panky that goes on along the supply chain, nor does it totally account for local market conditions, but it is the root of the whole system.
My problem is that some chains and some of their individual outlets (like Pilot and Pilot WM) go up based on what is being reported and not on what they actually have invested. Some call that capitalism, but I call it price gouging. The water analogy TMo used is a prime example. Toilet paper is another over simplified example.
When I see the truck backed up to the Brookshires, Super One, or Walmart dump I know the price is about to go up or down. They NEVER adjust the day before the truck delivers like Pilot does and Pilot is ALWAYS the last to go down in price.
Looking at the big picture . . . . do you think the overall price of gas is cheaper here in NELA than other parts of the country?Quote:
Originally Posted by PawDawg
In my travels from South Carolina to Arkansas to Omaha to San Antonio, I find the pricing cheaper
Definitely less here. Shreveport is higher. Texas is higher. South Arkansas is higher. Alexandria is higher
I’m not paying attention.Quote:
Originally Posted by sportdawg
I see what you did there.Quote:
Originally Posted by PawDawg
https://www.knoe.com/2023/06/08/amtrak-src-hold-meetings-discuss-development-passenger-rail/
https://t4america.org/wp-content/upl...th-callout.png
This news is a few months old but I just saw the news of the proposal of Ruston getting an Amtrak stop. They'll build it between the railroad and the old firehouse station, next to the farmer's market. The video in the link shows the plans from the mayor but I can't find the design anywhere else online. If it comes to fruition, that'll really help downtown Ruston. It'll help make it more walkable, bring more customers to businesses there and give students and fans options to travel to Ruston. Hopefully it will also become the Greyhound stop as well for the city creating a central station for transportation.
If they can bring more hotels to downtown Ruston you could get off a train, walk a few minutes to your hotel, have dining options all around downtown and take the shuttle to football games all without having to pay or worry about gas and parking. It's also why I wish they hadn't built the housing on the other side of Tech Drive but put it closer to downtown Ruston as it would make it easier for students to patronize businesses downtown and now be able to take the train without needing to drive.
The Monroe mayor is trying to out-AMTRAK the Ruston mayor. Monroe mayor has held several pressers.
I could not care less . . . unless the route goes straight to the East Coast (Charleston, hint hint)
Most of the QTs I've seen have at least one set of pumps for trucks, but that's a pretty small space to put much there, especially since they usually have quite a few regular pumps.Quote:
Originally Posted by techman05
WM QT on well Road has a side diesel setup AND large overnight truck parking.
...and it is a total cluster. They use the two lane behind QT to sneak out the back which causes a cluster on Cypress.Quote:
Originally Posted by Dawgpix
Well . . . yeah. Busted!Quote:
Originally Posted by PawDawg
Push your elected officials for train expansion in the country and you could get your wish!Quote:
Originally Posted by Dawgpix
Though in my opinion, Charleston is a bit far for a train ride from Ruston but to each their own. Trains should be utilized more for distances that are in general too far to drive but to close to fly. Dallas to Ruston is a good distance for the train. I know people will say that 4 hours isn't too far to drive but for others those 4 hours would be better spent on a train relaxing taking into account not having to worry about gas, parking, traffic, or vehicular breakdowns if driving.
Following the I-20 corridor to the east coast is NOT out of line.
Thanks they already have the major league markets handled.
If they want to expand, have some vision.
Not out of line to build, I agree. But for personal journeys, it's a long distance to go from Ruston to Charleston. Better than driving definitely if that is the alternative but that's my personal preference.Quote:
Originally Posted by Dawgpix
I am sure they have the vision, but not the desired funding or control.
The problem is that the train ride from Dallas to Ruston will have a bucket of stops along the way and take 7+ hours. And the drive is less than 3 hours 45 minutes. The train from Ft. Worth to San Antonio is 7 hrs. 45 minutes and the drive is 4 hours. But the train is way more relaxing as I35 sucks.Quote:
Originally Posted by Dawgonit
I still want to take my son to a Cubs game and ride the train from Jackson to Chicago. Friend told me it’s a relatively easy trip. That seems worth it.
Yeah, if they can't figure out a way to give passenger trains priority and make fewer stops, they have no hope of really attracting most people. Pity. Good trains are easy travel. Loved taking the train in Europe.Quote:
Originally Posted by olddog75
I’ve taken the Amtrak from Jackson to Chicago three times. Enjoyed it immensely. Last time was 2009, so not sure if anything has changed since then.
Had a supervisor that took his boy to a few games in Chicago. Last time was probably 2015-16. He said it was always enjoyable.
Looks like the Ruston QT is near completion. The best news is that I didn't see any truck diesel pumps. Its amazing how fast QT contractors can get things done.
guess Karl Malone and family are bringing back the Teriyaki Grill
Pretty please!Quote:
Originally Posted by rebelboi
only thing that gets me po about this is that I had a frequent customer card that was almost clipped enough for a free meal that I thew awayQuote:
Originally Posted by Dawgpix
Just got on to see if anyone knows where the Chase operations will be on North Service Road? KNOE and this article did not or would not say. Also, is Teriyaki Grill going back where it was? Heard Delta Biscuits may be going in the Origin Bank depot location on Alabama. Is that true?
it's now called Lola’s Teriyaki and will be in a new locationQuote:
Originally Posted by CutiePie72
https://www.instagram.com/lolasteriyaki/
Thanks.
I think the Chase operations center may be going in behind Tractor Supply. I could be wrong. That would be a great anchor for more development there.
For sure. Ruston leadership continues to move and shake. It's a shame Tech can't keep up.Quote:
Originally Posted by techman05
That was my thought after thinking where there was enough empty space. Good for a large office building/parking down there with not much public traffic since it’s kind of out of the way to put in retail/eateries that need through traffic or quick interstate access, at least for now. At least they will be seen from 20 unlike Scott’s Seafood that was too far off the beaten path. But good step in that direction. Hope that makes sense.Quote:
Originally Posted by techman05
Congrats to the City of Ruston for their new animal adoption center/shelter. Ruston joins the growing list of cities taking control of the humane treatment of animals with an emphasis on saving their lives and getting them adopted out to good homes. I am on the board of directors of FAUNA which is the Natchitoches organization of the humane society. Our goal is to close the city's kill shelter and replace it with an adoption center. As always, Ruston is waaaaaaaaaaay ahead of Natchitoches in actually seeing results. Again, congrats to Ruston on the new center.Quote:
Originally Posted by PawDawg
And, yeah, too bad Tech lags behind Ruston...
This is great to hear! Thanks for posting.Quote:
Originally Posted by dawg80
What's the hold up on QT opening up? That thing looked complete weeks ago. Looks like they are just now stocking the shelves. I was looking forward to a cup of coffee early this morning for the road.
Dawg House is now for sale
Only a matter of time when your construction goes over budget and your business underperforms.Quote:
Originally Posted by rebelboi
now they've posted on FB that they aren't closingQuote:
Originally Posted by techman05
Dawg house was a turd long before they did the stupid rebuilding thing.
Still, it's nice to have one place in the whole city that's 1) a "Tech sports place" and 2) not yet another Mexican restaurantQuote:
Originally Posted by PawDawg
Sundown is for sale too. Too much debt, inconsistent food, and shit service is a bad combination.Quote:
Originally Posted by techman05
Yes, especially when you are in there sitting with your family and some idiot is playing hip hop with MF Bombs being "rapped". Complained to the pissant owners and go no response. Also, the bathrooms were always filthy, which is a direct indictor of the kitchen area.Quote:
Originally Posted by Blue Dawg
Sounds like we're in good shape for Refried Beans & Bar #17 and #18!Quote:
Originally Posted by eagle2180
I’ve heard rumor of grown up green icee time, but haven’t seen any movement. Food choices are definitely limited in Ruston.Quote:
Originally Posted by Blue Dawg
Normally I'd jump for that but we have enough (Mexican places that is, not choices)! This is ludicrous.Quote:
Originally Posted by eagle2180
Italian, seasfood, bbq, a deli, southern comfort food. So many things that would be good and do well if run right
You guys have one of the top bbq joints in the state over there already, and it ain't the one with the Scatterload.Quote:
Originally Posted by techman05
Bad Wolf or Hot Rods?
Monjuni’s , Little Pizzoli’s didn’t make it on the Italian front. Roma’s does ok. Seafood-not many options other than fried, Scott’s old location will soon be a medical clinic. We have some decent bbq options. Soul food/ Southern comfort there is still an option or two.Quote:
Originally Posted by techman05
I would think it’s more of a population issue. Too many choices, not enough people that eat out more than 1-2 times a week.
You could be right. Can’t help but think other places would have made it without 9 Tex-Mex options.
How do the Tex-mex options survive? They laundering money or providing better food and service?:laugh:
All the texmex places look packed to me as I drive by. Maybe it's just a perceptionQuote:
Originally Posted by eagle2180
16.Quote:
Originally Posted by techman05
Don Chuy is for sale too! Texmex places struggling too. Maybe Buc-ees and the sports complex can save it all.Quote:
Originally Posted by Blue Dawg
Most of them are decent and you can be in and out in 40-45 minutes any time of any day. Don Chuy’s cheapest item might be 10% higher than the highest item at the other mex options. I know it’s not, but the point is that it’s way overpriced. And it’s not very good.Quote:
Originally Posted by eagle2180
Well, Monjuni’s isn’t good.Quote:
Originally Posted by eagle2180
One time I went and asked something about the pizza, and the waitress straight up told me not to get pizza.
Honesty is hard to come by these days to be fairQuote:
Originally Posted by Tech52
Bad Wolf.Quote:
Originally Posted by eagle2180
I will say that a fair amount of my food budget went to Hot Rod back in the day though. That $5 Tech Special was too good to pass up.
Nothing will ever top the Blue Light Cafe on that front. That place was something special.Quote:
Originally Posted by eagle2180
It's no different that other towns, but Sunday nite offerings are slim and none on the non-TexMex.
We settled for Rotolo's and with some new menu items it was fit the bill for us.
100% agree with that statement!!!Quote:
Originally Posted by Dowty
What a quaint place to eat some great food.Quote:
Originally Posted by Dowty
I was wrong. The new Chase location is going in by the shopping center where hobby lobby is located. Hopefully that will help the shopping center fill up, and maybe some other businesses can come in on the service road right there.
Still not open almost a month later. I bet there is a fire marshal issue or some such thing.Quote:
Originally Posted by PawDawg
What is going where the old gas station used car lot was on south Vienna at the red light at the food trucks and Uptown Downtown?
Also, what is going directly to the east of Walgreen’s across 167?
Not sure what the plans are for old used car lot.
The old Ledford's Barber Shop is being renovated and turned into a short term rental.
Freddie's Burgers is coming in next to Waffle House in the old Exxon on Tech Drive.
We got more chicken restaurants in 2023 but some closures of other places. Jalisco's, a good Mexican restaurant on LA 33 closed; there's work on the building but don't know what's going in. Jimmy Johns closed; building sitting vacant. Sundown is closed and good riddance. It had gotten really bad. You can buy the building for just under $1 million. Lots of former office space upstairs or it could be turned into residential if the appropriate authorities cooperate.
The new QT staying very busy.
Took them a while to get it opened. So glad it is doing well. I HATE the one in WM with QT on the North side of I-20 and Pilot on South side. Both selling Truck Diesel.Quote:
Originally Posted by roughedge