Portland, Tennessee Blog

in this taxed to death town. you are beyond dreaming. the only thing you'll see open up here is another slavedriving sweatshop factory built by the local millionares paying 6.50/hr. oh, you would probably make 8.00/hr but you would have to compensate the temp services in town about 2 to 3 dollars an hour. crooks!

I was thinking the same thing Debra, either like that or a bowling alley. I would love for something that had a party room you could rent for birthday parties.

I think it would be a great idea if someone bought the building and turned it into A Family Entertainment Center. It seems big enough a have an arcade room, pool tables, maybe a virtual ride of some sort, snack bar with tables, a play area with slides etc. for kids. The location is great with a nice size parking area. You would just charge admission at the door. And charge more for special occasions such as birthday parties. Just a thought.

I lived in Portland 30 yrs. which was all my life. Portland has never had anything to offer, no matter what you needed, you had to drive somewhere else to get it. I took a job in Bardstown, Ky. and I couldn't wait to leave Portland. I was back in town 3 weeks later, and it didn't take 10 minutes in town to relize I didn't miss it at all.

It is not liquor by the drink that turns people into alcoholics, it is the choice those people make to continue to drink. Drinking alcohol is not evil (Jesus did, after all, drink wine), but the abuse of it is.

Jonathan that was very well put! Portland could be so much more if it would clean up its act.Why is it that the city are not on these people to clean up there act? Hendersonville has a law enforcing certin codes.White House has bloomed over the years. Why is the mayor of this city just letting progress pass us by.My husband and I moved here 2 years ago and had hopes of a good small town life but we have thought about moving back to Hendersonville because nothing has changed in two years. We went to play tennis the other day. May I ask why the courts look the way they do? Why Meadowbrook Park has not had a face lift? I hate driving 30 min to play a round of tennis, shop and eat. What does the mayor do all day?Does he care about Portland? If its not the mayors job then who should take care of this?

It is interesting to me that several people on this thread have stated that they go to Gallatin to eat, or Bowling Green. Why is that?

I think it is more than How well the facilities are run...most poeple don't care how a place is run if the food is decent.

I think there are several reasons....

1. Portland Unfortunately has a reputation of being a dirty little town! I hate to slap everyone with the truth but that is the truth. You come in on 109 from the south and you see a Machine shop with junk all over the place....once your in town, you see uncared for buildings (near O'rielly's). Comming in to town on 52 from I-65 you see Uncared for Mobile Homes and for the most part, run down little houses and other run down buildings. From the North on 109 it has a dumpy look to it. Little metal buildings that are serving as businesses....it just looks bad. This is what people remember when they think of Portland. This needs to change. These people need to be held accountable to building codes and if there are no ways of causing these people to update their buildings.....there needs to be an ordinance to force these people the clean up these buildings and clean up the yards etc....

second issue is this.....we will not attract good quality long term restaurants...without liquor by the drink.....that is another reason people are going to Gallatin, etc. This needs to be approached as an economic issue and not a religious issue. The reasons I have heard against it are so full of holes it isn't funny.

I live here with the rest of you, and I want ot see this community grow and prosper....lets do what we have to do to make this happen. With this new exit off of 109, Portland could grow very quickly. This will not happen if we don't step out and take some risks. The people will continue to pass us by and go to Gallatin!

Until this city makes some badly needed changes, it will not be able to attract shops of any great detail, city hall has scares from the past that has hurt this town deeply.

I wonder if Arby's will make here also, bets are they won't.

I think the problem goes a little deeper than poorly managed restaurants.We have no retail to help support the good restaurants.When most people need anice pair of shoes,jeans,a shirt,etc.,they have to go to Gallatin,Rivergate,or Bowling Green.Most of the time they will eat in these cities as well.Thats money we could use here,and I would like to see it spent here,but until we are able to recruit some nicer retail establishments,our money willsadly go to these other cities.

What happened to Taco Bell?

I think many have hit the nail on head when they talk about the management of the restaurants that have shut down in Portland. Many know about he problems Burger King was having, and Ponderosa was pretty bad for a while too.
I try to support my local restaurants, but for a while Ponderosa was so bad, I just couldn't stomach it. Someone else mentioned it had gotten better which, in my opinion, was definitely true. I was eating there at least once a week, and although it was a little pricey, at least it was good.
It is unfortunate that these things have happened and Pondersoa was not able to recover from the damage done by past managers, but as in the case with Burger King (man do I prefer Arby's), sometimes better things come from these bad things that happen.

Well I thought that Ponderosa had improved. I eat out a lot in Portland and I have no major problems. I guess to really apppreciate what these people do you have to have worked in the restaurant business before. I have worked at several restaurants before and we always had a health department score of 90 and higher. Maybe another restaurant will come in and do good there.

How many managers did the Ponderosa have while they were here? 2 or 3? And the food there was not the Best. I can say the same about Burger King before they left. I don't know how many different managers they had but the food quality went down hill and the customer service was awful. People are going to go where the food is good and the customer service is great. It's not a Portland problem!!

To be honest how many fast food places in Portland are run well? Does it take that much to make a nice resturant? I never eat out in Portland because I have yet to go into one that is nice and clean.

Shoney's is a nationwide problem, they are in a tough money crunch, the only thing that is making money for the corp. is Capitan D's.

Shoney's main office has been laying off while Capitan D's has not.

This is not a Portland issue like one said it is management, when the buffet is small and Ryan's in Bowling Green is the size it is and for the same amount, one will drive the few extra minutes for the better meal and deal.

Shoneys just shut down in Franklin and at least 4 have shut down in Gallatin in the last 18 months, along with a few in Rivergate; so i do not think it is a Portland problem. A lot of times when a resturant closes it is due to bad management.