The boost in uptown business from fans attending today's Meineke Car Care Bowl, pitting Wake Forest against the University of Connecticut, isn't as big as it would have been if both teams were from outside the Carolinas, business owners acknowledged Friday.
But even with Wake Forest fans from the Carolinas not spending as much time or money in Charlotte, owners are happy with the impact from visiting Huskies.
"We're getting pounded, and we love it," said Greg Ruffino, manager of Ri-Ra Irish Restaurant & Pub on Friday afternoon. "From Wednesday night through this very moment we have done an incredible amount of business from the Huskies fans. ... The Connecticut fans have come down in swarms."
At Uno Chicago Grill, Huskies fans began pouring in Thursday night, said manager Cheryl Santilli. She expects more of an influx of Wake Forest fans today.
"It's a good week," she said.
Lodging is also feeling an impact. Ravi Patel, CEO of Sree Hotels, said business is up at his 11 area hotels, none of which are uptown but some of which are near the airport and in Ballantyne.
"It is historically a slow time, so it helps all the hotels for Saturday night. Downtown will get more, of course," Patel said. Normally this time of year, his hotels would be running at 20 percent to 40 percent of capacity, but this weekend he's looking at 50 percent to 60 percent.
Uptown hot dog purveyor Matt Sielsky also reported brisk UConn trade on Friday, what would otherwise have been a quiet day between the Christmas and New Year's holidays.
"We have seen a ton of people from Connecticut. ... I would say if the football fans were not here, we would have been 20 percent lower (from normal sales)," said the owner of Matt's Chicago Dog of his uptown location on The Green. "It has been a big boost."
Business today is expected to be brisk due to both football factions. Sielsky is opening at 9 a.m. -- an hour-and-a-half earlier -- and will stay open as late as people want to eat. Normally, Matt's closes at 3 on Saturdays.
He said, "We'll stay open until after the game and everyone starts to head home."
