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Why Restaurants Are So Fucked

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Re: Why Restaurants Are So Fucked

#271

Post by watt »

AnthonyMouse wrote: post #203
toohotatopic wrote: post #201

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Too large shouldn't be a problem. Every large space can be trimmed down to a small space. If there are too many vacant shops in an area, and there would be a market for smaller shops, I would assume that tenants add walls and rent out the smaller space. Even if that walled-off space is unused, tenants would make more money than not renting out at all.

That's assuming the zoning allows the space to be subdivided.

Do you live in some kind of dictatorship? In a democracy there are tools how a community makes it allowed.

Re: Why Restaurants Are So Fucked

#272

Post by tomatocracy »

mark-r wrote: post #93
Digory wrote: post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And yet I'm not sure it's a smart deal to be a commercial landlord. These "Retail space per capita" graphs have been eye-popping for awhile.[0] The landlords that win seem to be the landlords who play the political subsidy and tax games, not just good developers. [0]

My favorite is the landlords that refuse to lower their rents to attract tenants. They got a loan to buy the property, and the loan is backed by the revenue potential of the property. If rents decrease, the revenue potential also decreases and the lenders require the property owners to make up the difference. It produces a huge incentive for a property to go unrented at a high price rather than rented at a low price.

Large landlords who own an entire street/area in upmarket or aspiring parts of a city also worry about low end tenants dragging the rest down. Completely rationally they'd rather have 60% occupancy at 2x the average rent than 95% at 1x and they know that high end retailers will pay a lot less (if anything) for a site next to a McDonald's (for example) than for a site next to another high end retailer.

Re: Why Restaurants Are So Fucked

#273

Post by Causality1 »

kinkrtyavimoodh wrote: post #236
causality0 wrote: post #200

>Let’s aim for 19% I love the cojones in this post. The argument isn't "pay more so we can pay our staff more, so we can buy better ingredients, so our restaurants can be cleaner." No, it's literally "pay more so we have a bigger profit margin and as a side effect we might not go under when the next economic collapse happens." The author literally wants society to agree to a massive price-fixing scheme where instead…

First, I don't see how you can call it price-fixing given that we are talking of an industry with thousands and thousands of isolated players. But even going with the sentiment behind your claim, it's not unfair to say that if you like the restaurant eating experience it is in your benefit that it remains profitable enough for people to open restaurants.

Any agreement between competing sellers to maintain prices at a certain level is price fixing. That's the dictionary definition. Any restaurant or group of restaurants who heed her call to collectively raise prices to create a higher profit margin are engaged in price fixing. Perhaps morally justifiable price fixing, but they're still opting-out of competing with each other on price.

I'll pay higher prices for restaurants who pay their employees better than minimum wage. I'll pay higher prices for restaurants who use higher quality ingredients. I sure as shit am not going to pay higher prices just to take the owner's profit margin from 9% to 19%.

Re: Why Restaurants Are So Fucked

#274

Post by jerome-jh »

simonebrunozzi wrote: post #215

I really dislike the way in which this article has been written - it reads as the typical piece from the "bro culture" that massively ignores the rest of the world. Besides this, which is not the point... 1) most restaurants in US and high-end Europe that survive and thrive do so by having big margins on alcohol. Their margins are not single-digits. (edit: just saw other comments mentioning this). 2) Many restaurateu…

Having a restaurant is like owning your production tool. The invested capital allows you to make a revenue. High margin is not required since there is little investment to do, except refreshing the furniture every 2 years.

They do, however, have a serious problem with the pandemic, unless they turn to pick up meals or delivery.

Re: Why Restaurants Are So Fucked

#275

Post by MattGaiser »

I suspect restaurants just overbuilt and there are too many with eating space.

40% of the population consists of introverts. UberEats lets us eat in the comfort of our own homes for a $5 premium. I go to restaurants far less as a result. Problem is, I bet restaurants have lost money on most of my orders given what UberEats/Doordash charges them so while I spend more on restaurants as a result, I make them nothing.

Re: Why Restaurants Are So Fucked

#276

Post by simonw »

winter_blue wrote: post #231
sleavey wrote: post #197

Something's up. In Germany in a normal city I can get a döner the same size as the one in the photo for €3 ($3.50?). It's not sourdough nor high quality protein but that can't explain the $7.50 difference. Edit: as the commenter below reminded me, it's actually more like €4-5 but my point stands.

Yea, a döner can be made for far less money . They're using over-the-top expensive premium ingredients, but if you just use regular supermarket ingredients, you could make a döner for far far less . Let me attempt a prices breakdown: I'm in the U.S., and the nearby Aldi sells boneless, skinless chicken breasts for $2.49 per pound (a restaurant could probably order in bulk, and get that an even lower price). A pound i…

That's because Tara Inn is a bar. They likely lose money on the cheap food and make it up on drinks.

Re: Why Restaurants Are So Fucked

#277

Post by MattGaiser »

gambiting wrote: post #244
MattGaiser wrote: post #229

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Isn't this just a buffet?

Buffet for me means one of these restaurants where you pay a fixed price and then eat as much as you like. That's not the kind of restaurant that is common in Central/Eastern Europe(in fact those all-you-can eat restaurants have never caught on here)

So what are they like?

Re: Why Restaurants Are So Fucked

#278

Post by hnick »

JackFr wrote: post #150
every wrote: post #112

I worked bar and restaurant for 25 years. I would never, ever open or own a restaurant voluntarily. The margins are minuscule and require huge up-front costs with micro-managed inventory, labor and quality control to break even. Bars however are a dream. Inventory control is simply tracking portions and comps. Outside of garnishes nothing rots or goes bad. And assuming tips are good, labor is no worry either. We had…

Yeah it’s funny that she ever mentions booze, where the markups are 200-500%. If you can use your tables and food to sell bottles of wine, you can really improve your bottom line.

Now that just makes me wonder how the economics pans out in an Islamic country.

Re: Why Restaurants Are So Fucked

#279

Post by hnick »

Mikeb85 wrote: post #264
sleavey wrote: post #197

Something's up. In Germany in a normal city I can get a döner the same size as the one in the photo for €3 ($3.50?). It's not sourdough nor high quality protein but that can't explain the $7.50 difference. Edit: as the commenter below reminded me, it's actually more like €4-5 but my point stands.

Donairs (how we Canadians spell Döner) everywhere are like $8-11 in Canada. And not for a premium one either. Meat here is more expensive than the US or Europe, rents are more expensive than the US or Europe, health and ventilation requirements for restaurants are more stringent than the US or Europe and in Ontario the minimum wage is $14/hr. I've never been to Germany, but many of my favourite bars and restaurants i…

It's about the same here in Sydney too. I'm almost certain most of this is due to rent, some of it minimum wage.

Re: Why Restaurants Are So Fucked

#280

Post by sl1ck731 »

nullc wrote: post #209
JackFr wrote: post #150

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah it’s funny that she ever mentions booze, where the markups are 200-500%. If you can use your tables and food to sell bottles of wine, you can really improve your bottom line.

Ah the benefits of selling an addictive substance in a market with a large base of addicts and a legal environment that largely shields you from liability for even the fairly direct consequences of your product (such as drunk driving after serving at places and times where the non-availability of alternatives guarentees that most of your patrons will be driving).

Are you arguing for prohibition? Or just prohibition outside of a few handful of cities where driving is uncommon?
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