West Franklin businesses looking to make the most of Fall Festival

EVANSVILLE, Ind. (WFIE) - Fall Festival crowds are filling West Franklin Street, with nonprofit booths drawing people in for festival food.

But the restaurants and other businesses along the street are also looking to make the most of the week.

For restaurants on West Franklin, fall festival week means preparing for a different kind of crowd.

At one restaurant, that meant stocking up for margaritas and adding walking tacos to the menu.

“Basically making sure that we have everything in stock. This year we started doing the walking tacos, so that was an addition this year. So basically just having enough chips and produce as well, because usually we just have to worry about the margaritas,” Noche General Manager, Blake Deweese says. “The last couple of years they’ve been a big hit and it’s definitely ramping up again this year as well as the walking tacos getting added. So it’s trying to figure out the, I guess, the calm and the madness.“

He says the walking tacos have already been popular, and this year has been busier than the last couple of festivals.

He says the crowds also give the restaurant a chance to introduce itself to people walking by.

“Fall fest is definitely a big boost for us. I think here recently they started doing the thing where you can walk around with alcoholic beverages. So, kind of worked out really good with the timing of our opening because people are able to take our margaritas on the street. and, you know, to toot my own horn, we’d like to say we have the best margarita in town, but I’ll let the customers decide that,” Deweese says.

Just down the street, prime sports is getting its first fall festival week after opening about a week before the festival.

Prime Sports owner David Parker says business has been steady, though the restaurant is still figuring out what festival customers are looking for.

“Well, the opportunity for us to say, hey, we’re here was the thing we were so excited about why we pushed so hard to get open before fall festival,” Parker says. “The challenge has been, honestly, everyone knows this... the parking and getting deliveries and those types of things has been a little bit of a challenge. But you know, you adjust, you figure it out, and then you move on. we’ll be way better prepared next year.”

Parker says the restaurant is keeping its full menu available and adjusting staffing as it learns the festival’s pace. He expects to use what they learn this week to be better prepared next year.