I realise this is an entirely irrelevant point, but any ideas why Germany was doing so well up until this crisis?
have you eaten German food before?
The state of the restaurant industry
111–120 of 591 posts
Re: The state of the restaurant industry
#112Earlier quoted context omitted.
Remarkable how quickly you were able to dehumanize the economic impact on millions of lives and yet simultaneously anthropomorphize the “economy”. A single sentence.
The restaurant industry is brittle and consolidating, and the the American middle class might not be strong enough to support it anymore. Recent events just magnify the weaknesses of the existing system. We could talk about things like the expansion of government programs, or we could talk about your theory of how I'm stripping people's humanities away. You would also presume quite poorly if you thought I haven't wor…
The assertion that restaurants failing in the wake of the government mandating them to close in response to a once in a lifetime pandemic is evidence of them being unviable as an industry is utterly laughable.
Re: The state of the restaurant industry
#113Earlier quoted context omitted.
If there's a silver lining, it's that takeout is higher margin for restaurants and I'm sure takeout revenue is spiking during city shutdowns.
In today’s world Uber eats, Grubhub, etc take 30% of the gross on an order. No way it’s more profitable than having people in house buying alcohol.
The one time I bought on Grubhub I had trouble getting the price to something reasonable even with the coupon I had (only reason I was trying it) because all the menu prices were way higher than at the actual restaurants. Even with (IIRC) the delivery fee waived and a significant % off (I wanna say 20 or 30?) it was about the same as going in. Does Grubhub do the menu-price adjusting part, or do the restaurants?
Unlike your average delivery joint the numbers kept getting worse the more you added, too—no "two large two-topping pizzas and breadsticks at 70% menu price" deals or anything like that.
Re: The state of the restaurant industry
#114Earlier quoted context omitted.
Industrial farming practices in the US and many other countries could easily lead to similarly dangerous animal-to-human transmissions.
> Industrial farming practices in the US and many other countries could easily lead to similarly dangerous animal-to-human transmissions SARS-CoV-2 appears to have originated in bats, been passed to Malayan pangolins, and then made its jump to humans [1]. That is likely in a wet market. It is not likely on a single-animal industrial farm. [1] https://www.cell.com/pb-assets/journals/research/current-bio...
Past black swan events are not necessarily good indicators for future black swan events. This time it was (probably) bats and pangolins--next time it could be chickens and pigs.
I don't dispute that the wet markets are higher risk, but there is certainly some risk in industrial farming too.
Re: The state of the restaurant industry
#115Perhaps US eat-out culture will die, and those who worked those jobs will just have to find some other means by which to negotiate value from the economy.
> find some other means by which to negotiate value from the economy
Do people actually talk like this about the livelihood of millions of people in real life, or is an affectation for HN?
Re: The state of the restaurant industry
#116Earlier quoted context omitted.
If there's a silver lining, it's that takeout is higher margin for restaurants and I'm sure takeout revenue is spiking during city shutdowns.
In today’s world Uber eats, Grubhub, etc take 30% of the gross on an order. No way it’s more profitable than having people in house buying alcohol.
Previous poster said take out, not delivery. Some restaurants bump up take-out item price or add a surcharge, factor in no need for waiting/cleaning staff and the profit is substantial.
Protip: call in your orders, those take-out apps often take a cut that's just added to the restaurant's list price (last night I saw a $12 half-duck = $16 phone-in takeout or $25 Caviar take-out)
Re: The state of the restaurant industry
#117Is this really that surprising given that states and countries are now explicitly prohibiting dine-in options and mandating restaurants to be takeout only? I'd love to see this data overlaid against the changes in takeout orders.
Absolutely. My town shut down restaurant eat in this week, but when I went my favorite Thai place for pickup the owner said they had one of their busiest Saturdays ever. Despite fear, rational or not, people still need to eat.
Re: The state of the restaurant industry
#118Earlier quoted context omitted.
Remarkable how quickly you were able to dehumanize the economic impact on millions of lives and yet simultaneously anthropomorphize the “economy”. A single sentence.
The restaurant industry is brittle and consolidating, and the the American middle class might not be strong enough to support it anymore. Recent events just magnify the weaknesses of the existing system. We could talk about things like the expansion of government programs, or we could talk about your theory of how I'm stripping people's humanities away. You would also presume quite poorly if you thought I haven't wor…
Whats more remarkable is that no one has made a peep about RENTAL PAYMENT DEFERRALS or SUSPENSIONS to even COMMERCIAL LANDLORDS of APARTMENTS / SINGLE FAMILY HOMES yet somehow sit-down restaurants and their health are a top concern.
These priorities are lop-sided at best.
Restaurants are not a critical component of your basic sustenance. They never were, in the course of human history. Heavy dependence on them for ones immediate sustenance needs is a very recent development.
On the other hand, shelter is.
Re: The state of the restaurant industry
#119Earlier quoted context omitted.
Remarkable how quickly you were able to dehumanize the economic impact on millions of lives and yet simultaneously anthropomorphize the “economy”. A single sentence.
The restaurant industry is brittle and consolidating, and the the American middle class might not be strong enough to support it anymore. Recent events just magnify the weaknesses of the existing system. We could talk about things like the expansion of government programs, or we could talk about your theory of how I'm stripping people's humanities away. You would also presume quite poorly if you thought I haven't wor…
>If you have something interesting to offer to the scenario of collapsing American restaurants, go ahead.
You didn't quite offer anything interesting, just stated the industry is collapsing and workers should get other jobs...that isn't interesting or helpful.
Curious how many people you employ and if your business is immune from the economic impact of this pandemic, maybe some of these workers would like you to hire them.
Re: The state of the restaurant industry
#120Getting ready to nose dive totally. Here in NC we just joined the list of states that have banned dine-in service entirely. Curbside or delivery only, after 5PM today.
Same in Illinois and Michigan.