The restaurant scene in Iola has seen its ups and downs in recent years, due to economic shortages, gains and changes.
The question — “where are we now?”
Over the course of next week, The Register will explore the status of Iola restuarants, highlighting the struggles and successes of everyone from the oldest veterans to the new guys in town.
According to statistics gathered from Iola City Clerk Roxanne Hutton, the restaurant sales tax amounted to $9,426.96 for March 2012 — 10.17 percent of the total sales tax revenue. For comparison’s sake, in March 2011, restaurants brought in $8,830.40 (8.4 percent of total revenue). This year’s tally for March saw restaurant sales tax revenue at $8,803.11 — 9.9 percent of the total sales tax revenue.
While the numbers may seem like a drop in the bucket to the local economy, the restaurants in town affect employment, population and the image that Iola conveys to the surrounding area.
While our economy may seem to be on the rise, do our restaurants reflect that fact? We will let you decide.
Our first two features are King’s Sandwich Shop, one of Iola’s oldest restaurants, and Corleone’s, the newest restaurant in town. Every day for the next week, we will put the spotlight on local restaurants, focusing on what they do to keep their food on your plate.
Series to examine state of locally owned restaurants
