Dawson's on Main loses phone service, 'game-changing money' with Indy 500 weeks away

Indianapolis Star

05-05-2025

Speedway eatery Dawson's on Main has been without phone service for over a week after trying to switch providers.
Co-owner Tony Hill estimates the outage has cost his restaurant around $20,000 in lost business.
May can be a make-or-break time for Speedway businesses.
As a restaurant owner in Speedway, Tony Hill banks on the month of May to keep his business running through the summer. But right now, he and his staff at Dawson's on Main are scrambling to stem the loss of what Hill said could be tens of thousands of dollars due to a phone outage.
Hill, who has co-owned Dawson's with his brother Chris since June 2006, told IndyStar the restaurant's phone lines have been out of order since the last week of April.
After nearly 20 years with the same phone and internet provider, the Hills decided in late January to switch from Comcast to AT&T to save money. However, the [phone] number that Dawson's used for years was caught in a no man's land between the two companies, and the Hills have paid bills to both providers each of the last three months to retain the Dawson's phone line. About two weeks ago, the line stopped working and AT&T has been unable to fix it, Hill said.
Even in the digital age, a simple landline can be crucial to a restaurant's operations. While Dawson's offers online reservations through OpenTable, Hill said call-in reservations, carry-out orders and catering orders are a huge part of his business. He estimates the restaurant has missed out on around $20,000 in the weeks that Dawson's has been without a functioning phone line to date.
"When you call and you get, 'This number is not in service,' it makes it look like we're not here," he said.
The malfunction led Dawson's to decide to close on Mother's Day. The restaurant planned to offer a buffet that customers reserve over the phone. Hill called the holiday "a $15-to-20,000 day."
Then there's the money that Speedway businesses like Dawson's stand to make as the Indianapolis 500 approaches. Hill considers weeks leading up to the race his restaurant's version of the Christmas season for retail stores. Some servers can earn more than five times their typical pay during a shift, Hill said.
While staffers at Dawson's hope the issue will be resolved soon, they're nervous about what late May will look like without a heavily relied-upon service at their disposal.
"They're all scared," Hill said. "When you're a restaurant two blocks from the track in the month of May, it's a big deal."
In the meantime, customers can place reservations on Dawson's' website through OpenTable and contact the restaurant at [e-mail]. Customers can reach out via Facebook direct message and a staffer will call back from a cell phone. Hill, who said he and his brother have "tried it all" with regards to troubleshooting and suggestions from concerned customers, remains optimistic the situation will improve shortly.
"I hope it gets resolved here quickly and we can enjoy the month of May with a bunch of people," he said. "It's a busy, hectic month. Crazy, but it's fun — and it's not so fun right now."