NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — It doesn't feel that long ago when the pandemic brought us only bad news for our beloved local restaurants. But this is a new day, and a report is showing a whole lot of positives for restaurants across the country.
"When we were growing up, we didn't agree on a lot of things to eat, but fries was one of those universal things we agreed upon," said Brandon Littleton, sitting next to brother James.
The two have just opened Bag Lady's on Buchanan Street in north Nashville.
"We specialize in hand-cut fries," Brandon said.
"We get those potatoes fresh," James continued. "Best potatoes come from Idaho. We wash them up. We hand-chop them up. The cooking process is over a two, three-day process. Aw, they're damn good."
"We literally have our Ph.D. in loaded fries," Brandon added.
The place couldn't be more personal, with a wall decorated in their refrigerator magnets and movies from when they were kids. They cook from the recipes of their grandmothers.
"The 'bag lady' term was a joke between those two," James said. "When they cooked their fries, they put them in paper bags."
Their business is part of a nationwide restaurant boom just detailed in a report by market research company the NPD Group. That report said last fall, 18,000 new restaurants opened across the country. It's worth noting these numbers are not as high as pre-pandemic.
The pandemic was devastating for Brandon and James' previous dry cleaning business. Watching market trends, when Bag Lady's first launched as a brand two years ago, it was as a food truck.
"We noticed even though restaurants were closing, food trucks were still being booked up," said Brandon.
Though they say they didn't plan it this way, this turned out to be an ideal time for their brick-and-mortar business. That same report by the NPD Group said nationwide dine-in visits to restaurants were up 24% in January over the same month last year. Food service consumer spending was also up 7%.
"People want to get out," Brandon said.
"Here we are opening up our first brick-and-mortar at the same time," James added. "Everybody likes fries, so it's a good business to be in."
