Food was bad. Service was mediocre. Prices were high. Owners were absentee. Real recipe for success there.
MegJune 21, 2011 - 3:07 pm
Anyone comparing a downtown restaurant to Boston Market probably shouldn't. You do realize the quality of their ingredients is SLIGHTLY different, right?
I was a big fan of Tingles. Maybe people that continuously complain about downtown restaurants & act like they know what it takes to run a restaurant should open one & see how easy it is.
BJune 20, 2011 - 8:21 pm
I was just about to post exactly what m said. I liked the atmosphere/idea, but there were no veg options. My meat-eating friends and coworkers would have gone there several times if there had been anything on the menu for me.
BarbJune 20, 2011 - 7:00 pm
The food was just mediocre. No creativity at all. I knew it would last 10 months. It was supposed to be a revival of some old popular Asheville place, but no one who is downtown spending $ lived here 20 years ago. Wonder what the new place will be..wish the pho guy could move his place, but I am sure the rent thing is huge. Could Salsas be moving there??
BarbJune 20, 2011 - 7:00 pm
The food was just mediocre. No creativity at all. I knew it would last 10 months. It was supposed to be a revival of some old popular Asheville place, but no one who is downtown spending $ lived here 20 years ago. Wonder what the new place will be..wish the pho guy could move his place, but I am sure the rent thing is huge. Could Salsas be moving there??
Orbit DVDJune 20, 2011 - 6:32 pm
I've said this before in other forums, but if you are not happy with a business I'm sure the owner would like to hear about it. I think sometimes they are unaware that people are upset.
LilaJune 20, 2011 - 4:53 pm
This restaurant was crap. The food worse than mediocre. Not surprised it closed.
jeffsguyJune 19, 2011 - 2:58 pm
We gave Tingles three tries, two for dinner, once for lunch. We never left raving about the food. It was mediocre at best.The staff was lovely but the food… In a town like this your food needs to meet or exceed expectations. Unfortunately, this one just didn't and we just stopped going. If locals don't come it's your death knell. I hope something truly unique and exciting comes in to fill the void.
mJune 18, 2011 - 10:14 pm
Sad to see any business fail. I didn't eat there because there weren't appealing choices for non-meat eaters. Although more people are meat-eaters, the singular vegetarian in any group decides where the group goes and that is where they offer something tasty and vegetarian/vegan. Restauranteurs that offer a token salad for vegetarians are losing more than the vegetarian crowd.
MegJune 18, 2011 - 8:24 pm
I made a reservation at Tingles for 8 through Open Table the night of the Mumford & Sons concert and when we got there, we saw that it was closed. My husband went next door to Sazerac to ask what was going on and they said that Tingles was changing ownership. Sigh. I really liked this place too. And I thought their prices were very affordable, for downtown anyway. Really doubting the name had anything to do with it's popularity. :-/ <side eye>
DadJune 18, 2011 - 1:29 pm
@plastic paddy…….. 🙂
FoodieJune 18, 2011 - 1:15 pm
I stopped outside Tingles Cafe several times, looked in the window, admired the decor and the concept of recreating a vintage Asheville diner, read the menu posted in the window, noted the prices, and moved on. Meatloaf with two sides, $11.95? Fried chicken at $12.95? Boston Market meatloaf with two sides, cornbread is $7.29. Homegrown meatloaf is $8.00. Mayfel's Meatloaf… 9.50 For real Southern comfort food in a real (not "retro Disney") Asheville diner atmosphere, visitors and locals could choose Five Points Restaurant at half the prices. Tingles was a great idea . .like the revitalized lunch counter at Woolworth Walk, but the prices needed to reflect the reality.
ThePhanJune 18, 2011 - 1:28 am
First, it should be noted that crews are already at work on the space. Clearly, something else is intended for it fairly soon.
Second, Tingles' had great food and service, but the ambience was not good, especially at night. The concept would work great somewhere else, but not in downtown.
The people who think the name was a problem are out of their minds.
avlfoodJune 17, 2011 - 7:17 pm
From what i've heard they aren't closed for good. They are just changing things up a bit.
plastic paddyJune 17, 2011 - 6:56 pm
What if you named your grocery "Ingles"? oh wait…
SuckItMcGeeJune 17, 2011 - 5:52 pm
For dinner, I thought their food and price point were perfect (even though they raised prices a couple of months after opening). I never ate there for lunch, but I figure lunch is always hard to hit on downtown. No one wants to pay $10 for lunch downtown, but I can imagine that the rent in that building is outrageous.
Bouchon's little street food business seems to have gotten it right, but I've never eaten there for lunch during the week either, does it tend to stay busy?
pbnjJune 17, 2011 - 5:00 pm
that's unfortunate.
more than the name was a problem though…was not impressed with their lunch considering the price.
ExJune 17, 2011 - 4:57 pm
Does anyone know what happened? I don't make it downtown much and I LOVED their food.
mikeJune 17, 2011 - 3:38 pm
its the name. if i opened a grocery called 'bingles' no one would go either
19 Comments
Food was bad. Service was mediocre. Prices were high. Owners were absentee. Real recipe for success there.
Anyone comparing a downtown restaurant to Boston Market probably shouldn't. You do realize the quality of their ingredients is SLIGHTLY different, right?
I was a big fan of Tingles. Maybe people that continuously complain about downtown restaurants & act like they know what it takes to run a restaurant should open one & see how easy it is.
I was just about to post exactly what m said. I liked the atmosphere/idea, but there were no veg options. My meat-eating friends and coworkers would have gone there several times if there had been anything on the menu for me.
The food was just mediocre. No creativity at all. I knew it would last 10 months. It was supposed to be a revival of some old popular Asheville place, but no one who is downtown spending $ lived here 20 years ago. Wonder what the new place will be..wish the pho guy could move his place, but I am sure the rent thing is huge. Could Salsas be moving there??
The food was just mediocre. No creativity at all. I knew it would last 10 months. It was supposed to be a revival of some old popular Asheville place, but no one who is downtown spending $ lived here 20 years ago. Wonder what the new place will be..wish the pho guy could move his place, but I am sure the rent thing is huge. Could Salsas be moving there??
I've said this before in other forums, but if you are not happy with a business I'm sure the owner would like to hear about it. I think sometimes they are unaware that people are upset.
This restaurant was crap. The food worse than mediocre. Not surprised it closed.
We gave Tingles three tries, two for dinner, once for lunch. We never left raving about the food. It was mediocre at best.The staff was lovely but the food… In a town like this your food needs to meet or exceed expectations. Unfortunately, this one just didn't and we just stopped going. If locals don't come it's your death knell. I hope something truly unique and exciting comes in to fill the void.
Sad to see any business fail. I didn't eat there because there weren't appealing choices for non-meat eaters. Although more people are meat-eaters, the singular vegetarian in any group decides where the group goes and that is where they offer something tasty and vegetarian/vegan. Restauranteurs that offer a token salad for vegetarians are losing more than the vegetarian crowd.
I made a reservation at Tingles for 8 through Open Table the night of the Mumford & Sons concert and when we got there, we saw that it was closed. My husband went next door to Sazerac to ask what was going on and they said that Tingles was changing ownership. Sigh. I really liked this place too. And I thought their prices were very affordable, for downtown anyway. Really doubting the name had anything to do with it's popularity. :-/ <side eye>
@plastic paddy…….. 🙂
I stopped outside Tingles Cafe several times, looked in the window, admired the decor and the concept of recreating a vintage Asheville diner, read the menu posted in the window, noted the prices, and moved on. Meatloaf with two sides, $11.95? Fried chicken at $12.95? Boston Market meatloaf with two sides, cornbread is $7.29. Homegrown meatloaf is $8.00. Mayfel's Meatloaf… 9.50 For real Southern comfort food in a real (not "retro Disney") Asheville diner atmosphere, visitors and locals could choose Five Points Restaurant at half the prices.
Tingles was a great idea . .like the revitalized lunch counter at Woolworth Walk, but the prices needed to reflect the reality.
First, it should be noted that crews are already at work on the space. Clearly, something else is intended for it fairly soon.
Second, Tingles' had great food and service, but the ambience was not good, especially at night. The concept would work great somewhere else, but not in downtown.
The people who think the name was a problem are out of their minds.
From what i've heard they aren't closed for good. They are just changing things up a bit.
What if you named your grocery "Ingles"? oh wait…
For dinner, I thought their food and price point were perfect (even though they raised prices a couple of months after opening). I never ate there for lunch, but I figure lunch is always hard to hit on downtown. No one wants to pay $10 for lunch downtown, but I can imagine that the rent in that building is outrageous.
Bouchon's little street food business seems to have gotten it right, but I've never eaten there for lunch during the week either, does it tend to stay busy?
that's unfortunate.
more than the name was a problem though…was not impressed with their lunch considering the price.
Does anyone know what happened? I don't make it downtown much and I LOVED their food.
its the name. if i opened a grocery called 'bingles' no one would go either