Hillbillie's restaurant opening on O' connell st

firesidechat

Hillbillie's fast food restaurant is opening on monday.
It represents a 600.000 euro investment in ennis and will
employ 15 people.
I think they took over Moran's on O' Connell st.
Has anyone ever heard of this franchise?

chubba1984

Hillbillies is a decent takeaway, have been in the one in Tralee, fairly nice chicken to be had. It's goin into where Pearl City used to be. A few new fast food options in town now what with Eddie Rockets and McD's opened as well. Expect the waistlines to be expanding!

I passed down O'C St today, Eurosaver is goin into where Moran's used to be.
Glad to see the businesses which closed down are being replaced with something instead of laying vacant

CptSternn

Yeah, but its a bit of a misnomer to call it a chicken place. Their menu is the same as enzos and all the other chippers in town. They have a snackbox on the menu and all of a sudden they want to be KFC. I was disappointed to see they were moving here - I mean - we need a proper chicken place, not just another chipper that calls themselves a chicken place.

mayordenis

CptSternn wrote: »

Yeah, but its a bit of a misnomer to call it a chicken place. Their menu is the same as enzos and all the other chippers in town. They have a snackbox on the menu and all of a sudden they want to be KFC. I was disappointed to see they were moving here - I mean - we need a proper chicken place, not just another chipper that calls themselves a chicken place.

Well the ones in Cork and Waterford are very much chicken places - basically a bunch of different chicken burgers, different snack box type things, chicken this and chicken that. and gravy.

Stuxnet

hillbillies rocks...
bout 10 years ago...used to go to cork for the jazz festival...never saw any jazz..
but we'd always go to hillbillies...fookin delish..chicken and gravey chip.best ive ever had

Amy33

I walked past half an hour ago and Morans is now one of those Euroland type shops...

beamwidth

The one on mccurtain street in cork is great. real chips, good flavoured chicken. it should do well!

BLITZ_Molloy

The center of town is going to be all fast food and pound shops soon. I'm not sure that's something I'd be celebrating.

Hawk Wing

BLITZ_Molloy wrote: »

The center of town is going to be all fast food and pound shops soon. I'm not sure that's something I'd be celebrating.

Recession strikes!

My brother nearly crapped himself with excitement when he saw it..Its going in where pearl city was..

drunken_munky52

Another feckin Euro shop! Just what we need... NOT. That Morans building is massive and its such a shame to be wasted on such a cheap enterprise. This reflects on Ennis badly, shows the towns people as cheap. Letterkenny, a town with not even half the pop of Ennis, has big name shops in it like "Sony Centre, Argos, etc", what does Ennis have..? Jimmy's discount store!

palaver

Ennis isn't exactly a shopping and culinary town and it gets worse, methinks.
Might be that Limerick and Galway are close enough for Clare people to shop and dine, unlike Letterkenny which has only Derry to compete with - well, regarding shopping and restaurants Derry isn't really a competition.

But still, I have the feeling that Ennis never made an effort. There have been some nice shops and interesting restaurants and pubs around town but probably it wasn't worth while - or simply profitable enough. Or whatever.

Has nothing to do with recession, was like this before. Maybe there are no entrepeneurs anymore in Clare, maybe the rents are still too high unless for cheap chain stores, who knows...

drunken_munky52

I reckon not enough progressive non old fashion consumers, too many Supermac dieters and boy racer tracksuiters around. No culture means no market... Ennis will always be this way until a dramatic shake up... like the Cusack Park development, this would have shifted the whole feel of the town up a gear, instead it got rejected by farmer councilors... it will happen someday, just years behind everyone else because of the backwardness of of local electrorate

unwyse

Enzos used to be the dogs for chicken but gone downhilll bigtime for at least a couple of years,think the main man must have taken a back seat or something,but the memorys of that southern fried goodstuff,mmmmmm,come back soon Enzo;);)

firesidechat

While all investment in Ennis has to be welcomed and we do need a lot more of it, I personally beleive it also must be controlled.
The streets of are unique from many other towns in ireland with the narrow sidewalks and building that go back to the beginning of the last century.It has that old town feeling and i love nothing more than to take a leisurly strool around ennis on a saturday.There are some very unique boutique shops ,clothing stores, cafes and even jimmy brohan's shop
is almost a rariety in small towns these days.Ennis has so much to offer both to consumers and tourists.It is high time the council regulated as to what kind of retail outlets can open on O' Connell st, Abbey st and parnell st.These three streets make up the unique atmosphere that our town has to offer and we are in danger of losing any future potential stores from investing in town.All businesses have the right to operate but we must create zones to protect what we have.If not O'Connell st will be littered
with phone shops,pound shops and fast food outlets.
Come to think of it , We are not far from that already.
We should learn from other town's mistakes but that would involve future thinking by the town council, and let's face it They can barely see past their nose..:(

BLITZ_Molloy

I didn't mean to be too negative. I think we have a fair few more local independent retailers than most places, certainly more than many cities which all have the same interchangeable international chain stores. Ennis is very good on the fashion front. There are a lot of independent clothes shops stocking stuff that you can't get anywhere else, and that draws in people from Limerick and Galway. I used to work in Club Dangan and while I find what they stock a bit backward there were people coming up from Cork and buying a thousand euro of stuff at a time. The place is offering something you can't get elsewhere even if I'd rather hypocritically prefer shop in H&M and TK Maxx.

We've also got a nice selection of bars, and a fairly snazzy nightclub so I wouldn't be ashamed bringing a friend from somewhere else out here.

Hopefully the O'Connell St. rents are dropping and this'll keep the local independents going, and make it less impossible for new enterpreneurs to get a good location. I think it's the chains that tend to thrive in high rent situations because they can get long leases and undercut everybody else on the basis that they're reliable and won't default on payments.

croker95

I agree with Fireside and Blitz.
The government are currently looking at legislation regarding so called "upward only rent reviews". If these are outlawed it will encourage new businesses to set up with realistic rents.
Not something I would have noticed myself, but friends of mine from outside Clare said to me a while back that Ennis is famous for its variety of independent boutiques.
Also as Blitz said the Pubs in town have improved in the last 12 months with pubs like the Cloister, Brewery, Mossy's, Library and Bar 21 all getting a bit of investment. I've heard the new job in O'Keefes is impressive also.
If we could just get a few quality, value for money restaurants....:(

m83

For those not in the know, HillBillies chicken sandwich has a nigh on legendary status in cork. Try one, you will be amazed.

seany2929

Looking forward to giving this place a try When's it opening or is it open already?

finbarrk

I think I heard on Clare fm that it opens today.

exiot

Woohoo! Must head down there later and take a look inside

irishturkey

Hillbillys opened today. I was driving past and saw a guy unloading his van and bringing what appeared to be amplifiers inside. Sure enough when I got a bit closer they were having a bit of a hooley to celebrate... with a Neil Diamond tribute act!!! Yes Neil Diamond. I thought they were dealing in chicken not cheese!!! Get it? Cheese? Neil Diamond? Anyone? I thought it was funny anyway

JONJO THE MISER

Oh my god im going to have to Drive down to Ennis to get my hands on some snackboxes and a breast on a bun, im drooling just thinking about it, hillbillies is by far the best take away in the world nay universe.

romah

irishturkey wrote: »

Hillbillys opened today. I was driving past and saw a guy unloading his van and bringing what appeared to be amplifiers inside. Sure enough when I got a bit closer they were having a bit of a hooley to celebrate... with a Neil Diamond tribute act!!! Yes Neil Diamond. I thought they were dealing in chicken not cheese!!! Get it? Cheese? Neil Diamond? Anyone? I thought it was funny anyway

Featuring such songs as

The Jazz Chicken , Crackling Chicken and Sweet Chickoline

marzic

unwyse wrote: »

Enzos used to be the 'dogs for chicken' but gone downhilll bigtime for at least a couple of years,think the main man must have taken a back seat or something,but the memorys of that southern fried goodstuff,mmmmmm,come back soon Enzo;);)

I knew something tasted funny.

Warper

Anyone ate there yet?

BLITZ_Molloy

LOL at the Clare Champion this week. Big article about it with a picture of cowboys outside. "The town mayor (...or whoever it was, I forget) would like the welcome Hillbillys to Ennis, the boutique capital of Ireland." It's like.. what?

Akrasia

I used to be really proud of Ennis because it didnt have all the chain shops everywhere that the likes of Limerick and dublin and galway had, but now in the last few years
Mcdonalds
euro 2
eddie rockets
dominos
apache
specsavers
boots
that book shop on bank place
subway (jim nevins was way feckin nicer)

Everytime one of these chain stores opens up, it takes a huge amount of trade away from the local businesses simply because of brand recognition and habit (people know what to expect and don't want to take a risk on the places they haven't heard of before)

Teadrinker

Akrasia wrote: »

I used to be really proud of Ennis because it didnt have all the chain shops everywhere that the likes of Limerick and dublin and galway had, but now in the last few years
Mcdonalds
euro 2
eddie rockets
dominos
apache
specsavers
boots
that book shop on bank place
subway (jim nevins was way feckin nicer)

Everytime one of these chain stores opens up, it takes a huge amount of trade away from the local businesses simply because of brand recognition and habit (people know what to expect and don't want to take a risk on the places they haven't heard of before)

I know, I know. It's terrible altogether, this choice and competition and variety. And you forgot
O'Brien's
Costa Coffee
BBs
and my own personal downfall, Bagel Factory. Now, that place really killed it for the 'local' bagel places!

BLITZ_Molloy

And Papa Pizza and Remix Pizza.

We've had a few new independents open lately I suppose as well though to be fair. Beehive Cafe, the clothes shop over by the Clare Champion offices.. umm.. Pizza Ritz, Henry J's Pizza, the kebab/pizza takeaway next to JD's.

palaver

Ah now, I'm all for variety, and I'm certainly for some reliable names, like Boots which supplies certain brands you won't find in any other shops. But I know where Akrasia is coming from, more or less.
There are too many global chaines coming in without providing variety and quality. Especially fast food chaines. I don't think that there is variety and choice in McDonald's/Enzo/Hillbilly's and whatnot.

About the local and original shops:They were often to expensive and they were not too flexible in their stock. I loved Moran's but just for the good old-fashioned things, not for every day shopping.
Or whatever happened to Henry's?

Does any local shop ever manage to find a way between original and chain stuff?
I don't think so.

dh0661

palaver wrote: »

/Enzo/
Does any local shop ever manage to find a way between original and chain stuff? I don't think so.

I think Enzo is nearly due to collect his Clare passport shortly, after 20 (approx) years trading in Ennis.

CptSternn

I took the family to Hillbillies yesterday to give it a go sure. It was good, but I was expecting more.

Thats because so many people I know from Cork are always going on about the place.

The chicken is pretty much the same as they have at Enzo's.

Then again, they don't have Enzo's in Cork, so maybe thats why so many people there think its so brilliant.

Stuxnet

what a let down,
i remember we used go to hill billies in cork & it was delish
went to the one in town saturday, it was absolute muck, wtf putting hash brown's into burgers, the portion of chips wouldn't feed a four year old, seriously, only one small sized soft drink, dont sell coke, fookin disgrace in there, food was muck, service was crap, couldnt sit any where,
never going back

DenMan

I was in one for the first time in Cork City on Sat night. Lovely chicken and tasty hot gravy. mmmmmmmmm. Lucky you guys.

BLITZ_Molloy

I went to a place called Dino's in Cork today after my repeat exam. It wasn't bad. Pretty similar to Hillbilly's really.