More restaurants are providing free parking service

Russ Carroll felt like he was trying to infiltrate a secret society.

In working to set up the new free valet parking at Granite City Food & Brewery, the general manager said one of the oddest obstacles he faced was tracking down the proper kind of podium.

"They acted like everything is top secret," Carroll said of one business that deals in valet equipment.

Carroll eventually secured an all-weather, locking podium with key hooks, but it wasn't easy. Additional startup efforts included working out a deal with West Towne Mall management, getting signs, ticket stubs and a qualified valet staff.

Hiring drivers wasn't easy for Carroll, either.

"Finding a staff that doesn't have drunk driving on their record in Wisconsin was difficult," he said. Ultimately, he hired five valets and Granite City began its complementary service in mid-October. Granite City, which opened last December, is on the front side of the mall between Sears and the main entrance.

It's too early to tell how successful the venture is, but Carroll thinks the coming months will bear out the decision.

"The prime parking spots get taken up quickly, which is not a big problem in the summer," he said.

Carroll said offering free valet parking is a way to make the restaurant more accessible and appealing to all clientele. Older patrons, people with children or women alone out late all could have particular reasons for not wanting to walk through a large parking lot at night. And everyone has a reason to avoid it during the snowy season, he said.

"The verbal response so far has been very good," Carroll said, although he noted some people have been confused. Carroll said some would-be patrons wearing casual attire had to ask if they were dressed appropriately -- mistakenly thinking valet service meant the restaurant was perhaps too high-class.

"It kind of creeped people out at first," Carroll laughed.

The complimentary service is available Thursday and Friday evenings and all day Saturday with a Granite City receipt from that day. Parking is $10 without a receipt, but Carroll stressed that the parking will accept any restaurant receipt.

"There's no minimum purchase," he said. An added bonus of the new service has been people stopping in for just a drink (to get a receipt) and then coming back to try more, Carroll said.

Three restaurants in the Portofino Place Mall, 601 Junction Road, are the beneficiaries of a new free valet service offered through property owners Gallina Companies. Gallina contracts the service with a Chicago-based Encore Valet Inc.

Biaggi's, Panera Bread and Eno Vino Wine Bar and Bistro are located in the mall, which offers the service Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights.

Tom Brooke, vice president of Gallina Companies, said the decision to implement free valet parking in mid-July was made for two reasons: convenience for the customer and to provide additional parking in the existing mall lot. Valet-parked vehicles are taken to an off-site parking lot.

"Use has been very good," Brooke said. "We've seen higher numbers almost every weekend that we've done it."

And as restaurants reach their busier time of the year and weather turns colder, Brooke expects the use to continue climbing.

Although free valet parking is still not common in Madison, Brooke said the company took its inspiration from cities such as Chicago, where parking is difficult to come by, and Las Vegas, where establishments are eager to get customers out of cars and into venues as easily as possible.

Andrew Nicholson, chef partner at Biaggi's, said the venture seems to be garnering more interest as the temperatures start to drop.

Construction in the area has taken up some staff and customer parking areas recently, so Nicholson said it seems like the valet service will be useful.

Downtown parking there, hard to find

Susan Schmitz, president of Downtown Madison Inc., said some Downtown hotels offer free or paid valet parking, but she's not aware of any restaurants doing so.

"There's been talk of it," she said, but it's not on the top of anyone's priority list.

Schmitz said the availability of Downtown parking isn't a problem, but sometimes it can be hard to locate.

Schmitz is chairwoman of a committee undertaking a parking strategic study and one of its tasks is to find better ways to identify available parking for downtown customers.

"There isn't great signage," she said.

According to DMI's Web site, Downtown boasts 5,000 public parking spaces, including 1,300 on-street metered spots. Schmitz said it's rare that parking demand exceeds the supply. She also said she's noticed a trend where Downtown business customers seem more willing to walk a few blocks and take advantage of the urban experience.

"They like the energy of Downtown," she said.

Lisa Maddux is a Madison freelance reporter.