What should restaurants do to stay afloat?

[Foxfyre]

Stuart Varney was discussing this with an owner of numerous restaurant on Fox Business News this morning. (The linked article was a separate news story from this morning's program.)

Expect more restaurant bankruptcies in 2025, expert says

A growing number of restaurant chains have fallen on hard times. A bankruptcy attorney expects this trend to continue, saying companies are saddled with debt.

www.foxbusiness.com

A increasing number of bankruptcies and shuttered restaurants occurred all during the Biden administration and will like continue for some time.

The primary causes:
--Debt accumulated because of COVID and inability to produce sufficient profits to pay down that debt. Thank an administration and state governors who forced restaurants to stay closed or to severely curtail operations for far long than reasonable or that constitued common sense.

--Inflation that severely cuts into profits of restaurants and has affected quality and quantity of the menus they serve just to make ends meet. Price their menus too high and people wont buy it. This is a double edge sword as the declining quality disappoints customers and customers have only so much they can afford.

--Inability to hire sufficient competent staff. Again COVID restrictions changed the culture and habits for far too many employees who were allowed to stay home and receive unemployment far longer than was advisable and they don't want to work anymore. Their work ethic was seriously compromised.

--Many people are on various diets--Keto, Weight Watchers, Jenny Craig, Atkins etc.--and they come in for maybe an appetizer but not a meal.

--Many restaurants have not kept up with the changing preferences of their customers.

I would add to that restaurant designs with open ceilings and no noise abatements that make it so noisy it is impossible to have a conversation with others. Especially miserable for those with hearing aids.

QUESTION: What would persuade you to start eating out more and save these failing restaurant? Is having the option to go out to eat important to you?

 

[Woodznutz]

They should get a license to sell liquor. Problem solved.

 

[Foxfyre]

They should get a license to sell liquor. Problem solved.

Some already have that--Hooters, Red Lobster, etc.--but still are suffering financially.

 

[toobfreak]

The primary causes:
--Debt accumulated because of COVID and inability to produce sufficient profits to pay down that debt. Thank an administration and state governors who forced restaurants to stay closed or to severely curtail operations for far long than reasonable or that constitued common sense.

That is a fact. That was not Trump's doing but mostly blue state governors who in April 2020 made it clear that they called the shots in their states and would not be following Trump's 14 day guideline to really shut down hard long enough for the virus to die out. Instead, governors went for severe restrictions that still allowed the virus to stay active, but went on for so long that many businesses could not endure.

Then Bedpan Biden got in and kept the mandate going for another two years. By then, the damage was done.

 

[Moonglow]

Some already have that--Hooters, Red Lobster, etc.--but still are suffering financially.

Hooter's was alway an overpriced T and A joint fer the entire family!

 

[Moonglow]

That is a fact. That was not Trump's doing but mostly blue state governors who in April 2020 made it clear that they called the shots in their states and would not be following Trump's 14 day guideline to really shut down hard long enough for the virus to die out. Instead, governors went for severe restrictions that still allowed the virus to stay active, but went on for so long that many businesses could not endure.

Then Bedpan Biden got in and kept the mandate going for another two years. By then, the damage was done.

Why it's never Trump's fault fer a damn thing.

 

[sealybobo]

Stuart Varney was discussing this with an owner of numerous restaurant on Fox Business News this morning. (The linked article was a separate news story from this morning's program.)

Expect more restaurant bankruptcies in 2025, expert says

A growing number of restaurant chains have fallen on hard times. A bankruptcy attorney expects this trend to continue, saying companies are saddled with debt.

www.foxbusiness.com

A increasing number of bankruptcies and shuttered restaurants occurred all during the Biden administration and will like continue for some time.

The primary causes:
--Debt accumulated because of COVID and inability to produce sufficient profits to pay down that debt. Thank an administration and state governors who forced restaurants to stay closed or to severely curtail operations for far long than reasonable or that constitued common sense.

--Inflation that severely cuts into profits of restaurants and has affected quality and quantity of the menus they serve just to make ends meet. Price their menus too high and people wont buy it. This is a double edge sword as the declining quality disappoints customers and customers have only so much they can afford.

--Inability to hire sufficient competent staff. Again COVID restrictions changed the culture and habits for far too many employees who were allowed to stay home and receive unemployment far longer than was advisable and they don't want to work anymore. Their work ethic was seriously compromised.

--Many people are on various diets--Keto, Weight Watchers, Jenny Craig, Atkins etc.--and they come in for maybe an appetizer but not a meal.

--Many restaurants have not kept up with the changing preferences of their customers.

I would add to that restaurant designs with open ceilings and no noise abatements that make it so noisy it is impossible to have a conversation with others. Especially miserable for those with hearing aids.

QUESTION: What would persuade you to start eating out more and save these failing restaurant? Is having the option to go out to eat important to you?

If I started a restaurant I would make 2 dishes a day. Veggy and Meat dinners. Good portions for $10. Grab and take home dinner, with salad. Different kind of salads each day too.

And you can buy a membership. Monthly. You pay $50 a week you can eat 6 days a week. Closed on Sunday's. Months that have 5 weeks it's $250 a month to have someone cook for you 6 days a week. I spend $20 every day at Krogers it feels like. So $10 a day is cheap.

Stuffed cabbage, greek pastisto, mousaka, chicken and rice, chicken and greek potatoes, pot roast, chicken parm, lasanga, sweet and sour chiken and rice with egg rolls, california rolls, Chicken Schwarma, Big Burritos with lettuce on top of it, you get the point. Curry Pad Tai, Plus all the sweet veggy dishes.

Good portions. Most people have leftover after they eat. And some couples split the dinners.

And a sweet breakfast.

 

[Foxfyre]

If I started a restaurant I would make 2 dishes a day. Veggy and Meat dinners. Good portions for $10. Grab and take home dinner, with salad. Different kind of salads each day too.

And you can buy a membership. Monthly. You pay $50 a week you can eat 6 days a week. Closed on Sunday's. Months that have 5 weeks it's $250 a month to have someone cook for you 6 days a week. I spend $20 every day at Krogers it feels like. So $10 a day is cheap.

Stuffed cabbage, greek pastisto, mousaka, chicken and rice, chicken and greek potatoes, pot roast, chicken parm, lasanga, sweet and sour chiken and rice with egg rolls, california rolls, Chicken Schwarma, Big Burritos with lettuce on top of it, you get the point. Curry Pad Tai, Plus all the sweet veggy dishes.

Good portions. Most people have leftover after they eat. And some couples split the dinners.

And a sweet breakfast.

When we first moved to Salina, I got a temp job with a small manufacturing plant in a tiny town in northwestern Kansas--a 20 minute drive on the interstate from my house. On our lunch break most of us went to this little hole-in-the-wall restaurant that had three meals on its menu, each for I think $2.50 as I recall. You checked the wall for the menu when you came in, signaled your request with one or two or three fingers. When you were done you put the money in the open cash register yourself and made your own change.

They did a booming business. I asked the owner if he got ripped off a lot and he said no. People left decent tips and either didn't pay or took money from the register very rarely--maybe a half dozen times in 10 years of doing business. But again a small town with regular customers and when people still valued personal integrity, honesty, ethics.

 

[Foxfyre]

Why it's never Trump's fault fer a damn thing.

Trump has been President for 38 days. In his first term he was in the last months of his presidency when he requested--did not demand but requested--a shut down for 14 days in early 2020. That was probably ill advised but that's what the 'scientific' medical experts recommended. Then he said it was time for everybody to open back up.

It was mostly woke governors who kept the shutdowns going and thereby ruined countless small businesses, severely damaged the education and emotional well being of millions and millions of school children, and changed the culture and work ethic for the worst. And the Democratic controlled Congress kept throwing money--mostly wasted I'm pretty sure--into that process to make the shutdowns possible.

Our own governor told state employees they were not required to return to work until their unemployment benefits ran out and Biden--not Trump--kept those going far longer than was ever reasonably necessary.

 

[sealybobo]

Trump has been President for 38 days. In his first term he was in the last months of his presidency when he requested--did not demand but requested--a shut down for 14 days in early 2020. That was probably ill advised but that's what the 'scientific' medical experts recommended. Then he said it was time for everybody to open back up.

It was mostly woke governors who kept the shutdowns going and thereby ruined countless small businesses, severely damaged the education and emotional well being of millions and millions of school children, and changed the culture and work ethic for the worst. And the Democratic controlled Congress kept throwing money--mostly wasted I'm pretty sure--into that process to make the shutdowns possible.

Our own governor told state employees they were not required to return to work until their unemployment benefits ran out and Biden--not Trump--kept those going far longer than was ever reasonably necessary.

We don't want to hear the excuses. You saddled Biden with stuff that started on Trump's watch. He said Day one. So one broken campaign promise right off the bat.

 

[sealybobo]

When we first moved to Salina, I got a temp job with a small manufacturing plant in a tiny town in northwestern Kansas--a 20 minute drive on the interstate from my house. On our lunch break most of us went to this little hole-in-the-wall restaurant that had three meals on its menu, each for I think $2.50 as I recall. You checked the wall for the menu when you came in, signaled your request with one or two or three fingers. When you we3e done you put the money in the open cash register yourself and made your own change.

They did a booming business. I asked the owner if he got ripped off a lot and he said no. People left decent tips and either didn't pay or took money from the register very rarely--maybe a half dozen times in 10 years of doing business. But again a small town with regular customers and when people still valued personal integrity, honesty, ethics.

Here's another great idea. You find an office complex with a lot of business' in it and around the area. We have one of these by my house. The restaurant is only open from breakfast to lunch. No dinner. Because they are in a office building, when they go home the restaurant closes.

Many people failed but that's because their food and service sucked. The owners now are MONEY! So good. Everything they make it GREAT. And those restaurant owners don't have to work morning till night. 8-3pm Mon-Friday. Saturday 8-2pm

 

[JohnDB]

Well....
It's going to require the stopping of paying the waitstaff anything except for their SS/medicaid taxes.

Then that money can be spent back of house for true cooks.

The cost of going out to a restaurant is continually increasing....but food quality and safety is not...$30/place sitting is normal....but for heat and eat processed food it is unacceptable anymore.

So they need to get real cooks....food made from scratch. It's value people prize. Not just convenience. They can get convenience at fast food drive thru.

But they also want taste. "Is it worth the calories?" Is a real question asked by patrons today. It doesn't have to be super fancy....just well made from scratch is sufficient.

You can get a chemical tasting cookie from Subway....or one made from scratch at a bakery. Similar in price (baker's is a bit more) but the bakery wins EVERY time for a reason.

Steaks are great....but so is pot roast and gravy that tastes genuine like "Mamma" made it.

And restaurants are slow to catch on.....well corporate ones are....they have a whole supply chain built around "heat and eat" menus. Because the money isn't in the restaurants....it's in the supplying restaurants with groceries.

 

[sealybobo]

Well....
It's going to require the stopping of paying the waitstaff anything except for their SS/medicaid taxes.

Then that money can be spent back of house for true cooks.

The cost of going out to a restaurant is continually increasing....but food quality and safety is not...$30/place sitting is normal....but for heat and eat processed food it is unacceptable anymore.

So they need to get real cooks....food made from scratch. It's value people prize. Not just convenience. They can get convenience at fast food drive thru.

But they also want taste. "Is it worth the calories?" Is a real question asked by patrons today. It doesn't have to be super fancy....just well made from scratch is sufficient.

You can get a chemical tasting cookie from Subway....or one made from scratch at a bakery. Similar in price (baker's is a bit more) but the bakery wins EVERY time for a reason.

Steaks are great....but so is pot roast and gravy that tastes genuine like "Mamma" made it.

And restaurant

ts are slow to catch on.....well corporate ones are....they have a whole supply chain built around "heat and eat" menus. Because the money isn't in the restaurants....it's in the supplying restaurants with groceries.

Before covid, a chicken schwarma sandwich was $6.36 with tax. So I got 2 and I was full. Now a chicken schwarma sandwich is $10. So $20 for 2? Fuck that. $13 for 2. $14 with the buck tip carry out. That's fair. And they were big. Now they aren't so big and $10?

 

[Foxfyre]

We don't want to hear the excuses. You saddled Biden with stuff that started on Trump's watch. He said Day one. So one broken campaign promise right off the bat.

That is so absurd and lame even for you. Trump was powerless to do anything once Biden took over. Trump had no authority over the various governors of the states in what rules they put into place. Trump didn't exacerbate inflation. He wasn't in office. Trump didn't keep the schools closed. And Trump made zero policy about what restaurants were allowed to open and what rules they had to operate under.

That isn't making excuses. That is stating fact.

 

[initforme]

It's not hard to find good waitstaff. It's beyond easy too find them. That's bunk. Covid has nothing to do with work ethic.

 

[initforme]

Stuart Varney was discussing this with an owner of numerous restaurant on Fox Business News this morning. (The linked article was a separate news story from this morning's program.)

Expect more restaurant bankruptcies in 2025, expert says

A growing number of restaurant chains have fallen on hard times. A bankruptcy attorney expects this trend to continue, saying companies are saddled with debt.

www.foxbusiness.com

A increasing number of bankruptcies and shuttered restaurants occurred all during the Biden administration and will like continue for some time.

The primary causes:
--Debt accumulated because of COVID and inability to produce sufficient profits to pay down that debt. Thank an administration and state governors who forced restaurants to stay closed or to severely curtail operations for far long than reasonable or that constitued common sense.

--Inflation that severely cuts into profits of restaurants and has affected quality and quantity of the menus they serve just to make ends meet. Price their menus too high and people wont buy it. This is a double edge sword as the declining quality disappoints customers and customers have only so much they can afford.

--Inability to hire sufficient competent staff. Again COVID restrictions changed the culture and habits for far too many employees who were allowed to stay home and receive unemployment far longer than was advisable and they don't want to work anymore. Their work ethic was seriously compromised.

--Many people are on various diets--Keto, Weight Watchers, Jenny Craig, Atkins etc.--and they come in for maybe an appetizer but not a meal.

--Many restaurants have not kept up with the changing preferences of their customers.

I would add to that restaurant designs with open ceilings and no noise abatements that make it so noisy it is impossible to have a conversation with others. Especially miserable for those with hearing aids.

QUESTION: What would persuade you to start eating out more and save these failing restaurant? Is having the option to go out to eat important to you?

As to the question...i don't go to a business to support them. I've never considered doing such a thing.

 

[Woodznutz]

I miss the 'mom and pop' cafes with a lunch counter on one side and booths by the windows, comfort food and bottomless coffee cup at reasonable prices. Too many high-priced boutique eateries.

Also, many national chain restaurants have franchisee stores who have mortgaged their souls to the parent company. A McD's franchise can cost you $2Million for a good location.

 

[sealybobo]

That is so absurd and lame even for you. Trump was powerless to do anything once Biden took over. Trump had no authority over the various governors of the states in what rules they put into place. Trump didn't exacerbate inflation. He wasn't in office. Trump didn't keep the schools closed. And Trump made zero policy about what restaurants were allowed to open and what rules they had to operate under.

That isn't making excuses. That is stating fact.

Thank God Trump didn't win. He held super spreader rallies. Mocked wearing masks and he just appointed a vaccine conspiracy theorist nut to run the HHS

Texas leaders quiet amid the biggest measles outbreak in decades​

Declining vaccination rates, decreasing trust in government and a political unwillingness to endorse vaccines is shaping Texas’ measles response.

 

[sealybobo]

I miss the 'mom and pop' cafes with a lunch counter on one side and booths by the windows, comfort food and bottomless coffee cup at reasonable prices. Too many high-priced boutique eateries.

Also, many national chain restaurants have franchisee stores who have mortgaged their souls to the parent company. A McD's franchise can cost you $2Million for a good location.

Yea but that McD franchise makes you a lot of money. It's not like buying a Subway. If you want a cheap franchise where you will make $30K profit per location, buy 3 Subway locations.

 

[JohnDB]

Before covid, a chicken schwarma sandwich was $6.36 with tax. So I got 2 and I was full. Now a chicken schwarma sandwich is $10. So $20 for 2? Fuck that. $13 for 2. $14 with the buck tip carry out. That's fair. And they were big. Now they aren't so big and $10?

Exactly!

Chicken prices are going to remain outrageous for over a year, maybe two due to Bird flu and an overly zealous FDA and CDC.

They are coming for beef soon too.
Expect the processing plants to be overwhelmed and prices falling before they rise sky high and not come back down due to new regulations and infections.