What would you give up to get a Wegmans in the Capital District?

Last week, when my buddy Jeremy McNamara and I ate breakfast at the Miss Albany Diner, we talked about the various businesses and restaurants that have arrived and departed over the years.

“Everybody went crying because the Troy Co-Op shut down,” I said, “and a short time later everyone forgot about it because they were happy to get a Trader Joe’s.”

“Yeah,” J-Mac said, noshing on his breakfast.

And it dawned on me.  All the people who are bemoaning the loss of the Miss Albany Diner, appreciating the last taste of MAD Irish Toast, missing the atmosphere and the menu and all that – they would have tossed the Miss Albany Diner in the dumpster if it meant getting a Wegmans to build right on the very spot where we ate.

So now you and I are going to play along here.  And if you’ve ever played the grade school game “Lifeboat,” in which five people are in an imaginary lifeboat and there are only enough supplies for four people to survive, who do you throw out of the boat so that others can survive…

Play along, kids.

Let’s say that tomorrow morning, the owners of the Wegmans grocery store chain will hold a press conference in the Capital District.  It’s the news everybody has been waiting for eons to hear – that Wegmans is going to build its first supermarket in our area.  It’s going to be the best and biggest Wegmans ever constructed, it will have grocery items no other Wegmans will ever sell, and it’ll be so close and so convenient to you.  If it was legal in New York State, you would marry it.

However, there’s a catch.  And it’s a big one.

In order to get this Wegmans, one major restaurant in the Capital District must close its doors immediately and forever.  That’s right.  One restaurant with deep ties to the Capital Region, a restaurant where if you had to describe to a new Capital District resident the best place to eat, you would say, “You have to eat at such and such, or you haven’t eaten like a true Capital District resident.”

Personally, it wouldn’t make a difference to me if Wegmans came here or not.  We’ve got three major grocery stores in the area – five if you count Stewarts and Walmart.  The milk tastes the same in each store, the bananas taste the same in each store, and the prices are reasonably competitive.

And you can’t get rid of a nationwide chain restaurant.  You can’t get rid of Olive Garden or the 99 or Chipotle.

Okay, so are we ready?  Here are your choices.  If it meant that the Capital District would receive the greatest Wegmans ever built, which of these restaurants would you sacrifice to achieve the new Wegmans?

Your choices are:

– Jack’s Oyster House.  That’s right.  If Wegmans moved in here, you’d have to give up Jack’s and all the Capital District legacy attached to it.

– Bombers Burrito Bar.  Would you be willing to give up your burritos and atmosphere if it meant getting a Wegmans?

– Dinosaur Bar-B-Que.  Remember when everybody went to the Dinosaur Bar-B-Que as if it was manna from heaven?  Think about all those tender, juicy ribs.  And that savory sauce.  Is it worth tossing away to get a Wegmans?

– The Standard.  You could get the best food ever at Wegmans, but would you sacrifice your Rat Pack vibe at the Capital Region’s most popular martini bar?

– Jumpin’ Jack’s.  Would you give up the water ski team and the great eats along the Mohawk River, if it meant Wegmans would arrive?

There’s your five choices.  Remember – you either have to pick one of the restaurants to close forever – or you have to say, “I don’t need a Wegmans grocery store that badly.”

The poll is below.  And tell me why you voted for one restaurant or another to close.  Would you sacrifice oysters, summer fun, martinis, burritos, barbecued ribs… or just go without a Wegmans?

[poll id=”8″]