FWB deemed best place to open new restaurant

FWB deemed best place to open new restaurant
April 08, 2010 4:53 AM
Dusty Ricketts
Daily News

A national trade magazine for the restaurant industry has named Fort Walton Beach and its surrounding communities as the best area in the country to open a new restaurant in.

Restaurant Business magazine compiles a list each year of the top 150 cities in the country to open a restaurant. For the past several years, Fort Walton Beach has ranked second to Myrtle Beach, S.C.

Fort Walton claimed the top spot for the first time in the magazine’s April edition.

“We as a community have to be monumentally proud of that that fact,” said Ted Corcoran, president and CEO of the Greater Fort Walton Beach Chamber of Commerce. “That is a great, great reflection on the perception of Fort Walton Beach, as we’re now getting up there with the big boys. Fort Walton Beach is on the map again in a category of fun and quality of life.”

Corcoran said he believed the diversity of customers available to Fort Walton Beach restaurants is the reason the city scored so well in Restaurant Business’ list.

“Certainly military, local residents and tourists is a nice variety to choose from,” Corcoran said. “I think the quality of life in our area lends itself to people dining out and relaxing, having a good time.

“There is a very relaxed environment in our area for a lot of folks who enjoy dining out as part of that relaxation,” he added. “Many, many people go out for lunch for their job or part of their social scene.”

Nielsen Claritas, the company that also tracks television ratings, compiles a list of the top U.S. markets for restaurants each year. Nielsen uses a formula that looks at restaurant sales per capita in a given market versus per capita sales nationwide, along with other figures, to determine a city’s restaurant growth index.