I've heard of local stories where restaurants are pairing up to provide meals - i.e. dinners with a combination of a nearby desert place. This may be temporary but perhaps will be a model that continues in the future to support local businesses.
Why Restaurants Are So Fucked
71–80 of 498 posts
Re: Why Restaurants Are So Fucked
#72Amazing. 11 USD for a döner! A döner is between 2.5 and 5.0 EUR in Berlin (roughly 2.75 to 5.5 USD). That's takeaway or eat in at a place with a few tables but w/o table service. Meraba, which uses high quality organic meat from the region, comparable to the quality of the protein stated in the article, asks 4.5 EUR. A whole plate is 10 EUR.[1] If order to your doorstep it's 6.5 EUR.[2] [1] https://www.top10berlin.de…
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Re: Why Restaurants Are So Fucked
#73In my opinion. In here (NYC), food quality compared to big cities in Asia (at least that's what I know, both from 3rd world countries Asia and 1st world countries Asia) are way better than here in NYC. It is crazy how bad food quality in NYC for its price. It is so bad that I almost feel like there is a conspiracy between restaurants in the city that goes on like this: restaurantA: "Hey you know, we can make good foo…
Brand value extraction might be the name of the game. It seems only when a restaurant is ascendant is the quality excellent. Once they have a good reputation, the quality slides.
Re: Why Restaurants Are So Fucked
#74Amazing. 11 USD for a döner! A döner is between 2.5 and 5.0 EUR in Berlin (roughly 2.75 to 5.5 USD). That's takeaway or eat in at a place with a few tables but w/o table service. Meraba, which uses high quality organic meat from the region, comparable to the quality of the protein stated in the article, asks 4.5 EUR. A whole plate is 10 EUR.[1] If order to your doorstep it's 6.5 EUR.[2] [1] https://www.top10berlin.de…
I would argue Berlin has some of the cheapest food in Europe. Though to be honest the food quality of the 2.5 EUR Döners is usually questionable and I'm not sure how they can turn any profit or actually live from it.
Re: Why Restaurants Are So Fucked
#75> So, why are the margins so bad anyway? Well, it starts with the fact that the industry as a whole shot itself in the foot when it started competing on price.
Started? You're always competing on price until you hit a certain status. Restaurants are low-margin if they offer a commoditized product.
They're also up against time. People lose interest in restaurants, and if they can't maintain enough business a few years after opening, they're not going to make it.
Re: Why Restaurants Are So Fucked
#76Earlier quoted context omitted.
They have way better efficiency on goods and marketing. Your local mcdonalds isn’t advertising on TV. They pay franchise fees but its not a 1:1 cost to benefit. Depending on the size of the chain, they can also negotiate discounts by buying at predictable and high volumes.
Your local McDonalds sure is paying for TV advertising, in two ways. One is through franchise fees for national advertising, and the second is through co-op advertising in a region where franchisee's pool their advertising dollars. The only reason fast-food franchises are better commercial tenants is because they're usually better capitalized than bespoke restaurants. (McDonalds franchises also don't worry about rent…
How do they “not worry about rent”? The local franchise pays rent to the parent company.
Re: Why Restaurants Are So Fucked
#77Earlier quoted context omitted.
> The bizarre thing is that even before the pandemic I've seen popular Bay Area restaurants close down due to huge rent increases and then the spaces are still vacant years later. I don't understand what commercial landlords are thinking? If its anything like what I saw in Boulder, most are held by large companies (TEBO) who can write off the losses come tax year because they have other more profitable locations/site…
> most are held by large companies (TEBO) who can write off the losses come tax year because they have other more profitable locations/sites. That’s not how taxes and “write-offs” work. You deduct your expenses from your income, and pay tax on a percentage of what’s left. Having more income is always better than having more expenses.
> That’s not how taxes and “write-offs” work. You deduct your expenses from your income, and pay tax on a percentage of what’s left. Having more income is always better than having more expenses.
Does that apply to all properties, including commercial buildings? I only said that because a close friend of Tebo's wife (that's his actual name, and he named his business after himself from striking it big in collectors Coins) was a trainer at the gym I went to and we'd often talk about how all the property surrounding the area was owned by him and a lot are vacant, he said that was her rationale. He could be wrong or made it up, I suppose.
He literately is a Feudal Lord in Boulder and has obscene amounts of holdings, its actually alarming how much clout the guy has a result of it and the effect it has on the local population.
Re: Why Restaurants Are So Fucked
#78In my opinion. In here (NYC), food quality compared to big cities in Asia (at least that's what I know, both from 3rd world countries Asia and 1st world countries Asia) are way better than here in NYC. It is crazy how bad food quality in NYC for its price. It is so bad that I almost feel like there is a conspiracy between restaurants in the city that goes on like this: restaurantA: "Hey you know, we can make good foo…
The lion share of the price goes for the privilege of eating in a NY establishment. The rent is too damn high [0]. I bet you can find world class Asian food in NY, it's just that it's going to be a whole lot more expensive.
[0] 'The Rent Is Too Damn High Party is a single issue political party, primarily active in the state of New York, that has nominated candidates for mayor of New York City in 2005 and 2009, and for governor and senator in 2010.', https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rent_Is_Too_Damn_High_Party
Re: Why Restaurants Are So Fucked
#79> Drinks for instance cost us more than at the grocery store — but we can’t exactly go get 20 cases of pop per day, so we don’t have much choice. I didn't understand this. It may not be feasible to buy 100 cases of pop at a regular grocery store, but isn't Costco/Sam's Club set up for that? I do think it comes down ultimately to real estate prices. Major metros in North America have gradually become unaffordable for…
> real estate prices
For older, less popular restaurants, maybe, but a salad at Sweetgreen is, what, $10-$15? And that's fast casual. Clearly overhead is being passed on to customers.
Re: Why Restaurants Are So Fucked
#80In my opinion. In here (NYC), food quality compared to big cities in Asia (at least that's what I know, both from 3rd world countries Asia and 1st world countries Asia) are way better than here in NYC. It is crazy how bad food quality in NYC for its price. It is so bad that I almost feel like there is a conspiracy between restaurants in the city that goes on like this: restaurantA: "Hey you know, we can make good foo…
Whole Foods is the only place to buy quality food at okay prices in the whole city