What's on your Christmas wish list? Our guess is it looks a little different than ours.
You never know where Santa might look for holiday gift inspiration, so this year we asked local business leaders to share their Christmas wishes for the community via the weekly BizBeat column. Plus, we enlisted the help of News Tribune readers and made a few requests of our own to round out the list.
In no particular order, here's what we came up with. Expect at least one or two of these wrapped and topped with a bow by the end of the week. (Wishful thinking.)
Downtown: Chinese or Mexican restaurant
"I was really sad to see the Chinese restaurant (Sze Chuan) go, and I think downtown could really support that. I also think downtown could support a Mexican restaurant in walking distance." - Stephanie Bell, Downtown Association president
East side: Hardware store
"One welcome business addition to the east side of Jefferson City would be a hardware store/lumber yard. As a local business owner, I think it would be great if it were an independent owner; but there are very few options to purchase construction products on this side of U.S. Highway 54. With several opportunities for investment on the east side it would be ideal to be able to purchase supplies near project sites." - Ross Kassman, East Side Business Association president
West side: Technology company
"What we'd really like on the west side (or anywhere in JC for that matter) is a new technology company/data center that would add 1,000 high-paying jobs to the community. If we can't get that, we will apparently settle for a drive-thru Starbucks, Going Bonkers and Duluth Trading Company." - Jamie Reed, West Side Business Association president
Old Munichburg: Grocery store
"A neighborhood grocery, maybe a Natural Grocers, would be a fantastic addition to Old Munichburg and would be unique for our community. The Old Munichburg neighborhood was once a place that boasted businesses within walking distance to serve all the needs of the residents. We still have a hospital, school, church, gas station, funeral home, industry, restaurants and shopping, but we no longer have a full-service grocery store within the district. ...
"Another wish is for someone to re-open the entrance to the cave in the hillside of the 700 block of Jefferson (with an entrance big enough to drive a pickup into) and turn it into a restaurant, beer garden or entertainment venue." - Becky Bocklage, Old Munichburg Association president
People's choice: Olive Garden
Someone had to say it. (Like it hasn't been said before. Repeatedly.) Who knows if Jefferson City will ever get its much-requested Olive Garden? But if and when it does, we can assume the grand opening line will be as long as a Chick-fil-A campsite in mid-winter. (Yeah, that's happened here before, too.) We're not sure what it is about Olive Garden's mix of pasta, salad and breadsticks that has had Jefferson City residents salivating for years - but, Santa, if you're reading this, how many times do we have to make this particular wish?
For what it's worth, a Trader Joe's grocery store took a close second in our Twitter poll, and QuikTrip made a strong showing as well. A few write-in candidates included Well Read Books and the perennial Dunkin' Donuts - which, as the News Tribune reported earlier this year, is set to return to Jefferson City alongside Baskin-Robbins in 2017.
Staff pick: Waffle House
Maybe we're just in it for the unlimited coffee, but an informal survey of the News Tribune newsroom staff - complete with a slightly longer-than-necessary discussion regarding the merits of breakfast food and Jefferson City's proximity to the interstate - landed us here. We submit our Christmas wish regardless of the likelihood of securing a local Waffle House: regardless of Missouri's relation to the Mason-Dixon line that evidently plays into the dominantly southern franchise's placement, 24-hour access to blueberry-topped waffles with a large side of bacon is clearly high on our priority list. As one staff member aptly phrased it, "Don't go in there unless you like the smell of grease." And, apparently, we do.
Columnist's choice: Fazoli's
I know. It's just fast-food pasta. ("Real Italian food, fast," actually.) But I can still taste those - again, unlimited - breadsticks seasoned heavily with garlic and nostalgia when I think about it hard enough. (Full disclosure: I was there a lot.) The only bright spot in this sad story is that Jefferson City's Fazoli's restaurant closed in October 2014, just before I took over writing this column, so I wasn't the one to break the disappointing news. To any future Fazoli's franchise operator in Jefferson City: if nothing else, you can count on my dedicated patronage.