Santiago, what's missing?

Nov 25, 2008
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Just want to get feed back on;" what is Santiago missing for us native english speaking people"
this thread has a follow up to your reponse
 

jrhartley

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Sep 10, 2008
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did he say he was un-willing to learn spanish? must people be so quick to judge.He doesnt actually say he cant speak spanish
 

Tor

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Jan 1, 2002
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Some sidewalks cafes where you can have a cold beer and watch the beautiful Santiageras walking by.
 

AZB

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Jan 2, 2002
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Just want to get feed back on;" what is Santiago missing for us native english speaking people"
this thread has a follow up to your reponse

Why not come here for a couple of days on the weekend and mingle with the santiagueros? You will have all your questions answered in no time.
If you are looking for a little sosua type setup in santiago, forget it. Its a real latin american city without beach atmosphere. The people live normal everyday lives, no one is on vacation and no senior citizen shorts wearing expats. People do what you folks do back home in your own home countries. There is no vacation type environment here. No on-your-face type hookers. its for people who live here and the visitors who come here to meet and do specific things. Spanish is a must in order to achieve maximum benefit of this city.
In simple terms, santiago is not for tourists.
AZB
 
Nov 25, 2008
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my original question was as a point of view to the reader, I myself have been living here on and off since 82, planning in opening up a cafe type of operation, but mostly thinking of my American friends to see what they miss from the states [ex. smoothies, slush puppies, bagels ....]
get the idea, just feed back
 

carlos

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May 29, 2002
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not for tourist at all

However, it is easy to fall in live with. There is something about Santiago that you just can't compare with any other Dominican city. The atmoshpere and the people are amazing. I may be biased as a satiaguero.
 

Tor

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Jan 1, 2002
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my original question was as a point of view to the reader, I myself have been living here on and off since 82, planning in opening up a cafe type of operation, but mostly thinking of my American friends to see what they miss from the states [ex. smoothies, slush puppies, bagels ....]
get the idea, just feed back

What I think would have been a great busines idea is to open something on Calle del Sol. That long, busy, fantastic street, and not a single place to sit down with a cold beer, and just watch. I think it's almost unbelivable
 

suarezn

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Feb 3, 2002
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What I think would have been a great busines idea is to open something on Calle del Sol. That long, busy, fantastic street, and not a single place to sit down with a cold beer, and just watch. I think it's almost unbelivable

All you gotta do is open one place and as soon as you're successful the whole street will be lined with cafes. That's the typical Dominican MO (copy whatever is doing well) In the end it gets saturated and then nobody does well...
 
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carlos

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What I think would have been a great busines idea is to open something on Calle del Sol. That long, busy, fantastic street, and not a single place to sit down with a cold beer, and just watch. I think it's almost unbelivable


too narrow don't you think? I like the idea though
 

Tor

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Jan 1, 2002
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too narrow don't you think? I like the idea though

Maybe, but you could do it innside, but with a open wall consept.
I love to walk around on that streets and the side streets, but realy miss the oppurtunities to sit down with a beer and relax a little.
 

carlos

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Maybe, but you could do it innside, but with a open wall consept.
I love to walk around on that streets and the side streets, but realy miss the oppurtunities to sit down with a beer and relax a little.

I think it would do well
 

Tallman1818

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Nov 19, 2007
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Santiago is missing an American type dinner (24 hours) pancakes, bacon, eggs, shakes, roast beef, ect. just like back home. And the Cibao Airport needs to be able to take direct flights from Europe so my job can be a lot easier.
 

AZB

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Jan 2, 2002
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I will second the 24/7 dinner idea. We need an american type dinner here, clean and good prices.
Now if anyone is thinking of opening up an american type cafe on the side walk like in tourist resort areas, forget it. Santiago is real dominican republic, not an off-shoot of sosua and cabarete. Things work differently here. No tourists to begin on top of that, the economy really sucks at the moment. No matter what business you will open up now, it will probably go under in short time. You need to speak good spanish to get anything done here. You need contacts here as well. There is a good chance, 3 more businesses like yourself would open up near you within a year. The copycats just wait around to see who is doing good, then copy the business and everyone goes to hell in the end.
A 24/7 dinner sounds good, but still a risky business. There are plenty of late night famous carts all over the city and then you have marchena who serves all dominican food plus sandwiches. You have super central that is also open 24/7 and serves real campo dominican food. If your prices are gringo, then forget it.
AZB
 

Ricardo900

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Jul 12, 2004
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I like the 24/7 "Diner" idea and the Cafe on Calle del Sol.

What about a "Dave & Busters" or an "ESPN Zone"?? That would be nice, since you have a TGIFs and a Hard Rock in the Capital.
 

johne

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Jun 28, 2003
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Maybe nothing?

You might come to the conclusion it's not missing anything. It is what it is and it works.
 
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