Los Angeles gastropub owners are scrambling in response to a nationwide chalkboard shortage. The shortage threatens the lifeblood of the gastropub industry: its laid-back, “put this together in an hour” aesthetic. The industry thrives on giving off the impression that its restaurants are decorated and stocked with things found lying around at the time, and the pièce de résistance of any gastropub is a dusty wall-sized chalkboard.
“I don’t know where I’m supposed to write the menu” said Derek Sievers, owner of Compass & Boy in Eagle Rock, which is scheduled to open next week, “People are going to walk in, look around for a giant menu on a chalkboard and immediately feel lost. Am I supposed to print menus? Applebee’s prints menus. I didn’t get into this business to open an Applebee’s.” Gesturing around the room, with its eclectic mix of reclaimed whiskey barrels for tables, bench seating, and vintage bicycle baskets holding artisan ketchups and aioli sauces, Sievers said that none of it mattered without the chalkboard. “I look at this, and I don’t see a gastropub. I see a pub. A plain ol’ lousy pub.”
Across the street, artisan eatery Drum & Cracker knows the effect of the shortage all too well. “We’ve got nothing to write our puns and clever limericks on for the sidewalk sandwich board,” Tyler Jardine, the owner, said, “I tried writing, ‘Our Beer is as Cold as Your Ex’s Heart’ on a piece of printer paper, and it wasn’t an hour before it’d blown away. People love the food but just can’t figure out what our ‘deal’ is.” The most recent one star review states, “My bacon heirloom tomato burger was perfection. The brussels sprouts had whole cloves of garlic, which really made the flavor pop. But where’s the personality? So disappointing. My boyfriend complained and they comped our whole meal, but I’ll never be back.”
UCLA Economics Professor Adriana Lleras-Muney says another factor compounding the shortage is a decrease in funding for public education. “We’re not building more schools so they’re not making as many blackboards. Simple supply and demand.” However, Lleras-Muney did seem confident the industry would be out of crisis when gastropubs outnumbered schools in Los Angeles, “So, like, three or four months.”
At press time, Sievers had decided to delay the opening of Compass & Boy, “I pride myself on doing different, unique things,” he said, “I’ll focus on one of my other ventures, like my gourmet grilled cheese eatery or my flash-baked pizza joint.”
