OT - Anyone here own a restaurant?

Jay Honeck wrote:

You have to sell a lot of $4.00 hamburgers, $2.00 hotdogs etc. to make a
decent amount of money.


True. However, I see a restaurant as a necessary adjunct to the Inn, nothing
more.

If it were to merely break even -- but double out hotel business -- I'd be a
happy guy. :-)

God knows it's a great location. They're building a Super Wal-Mart down the
road from us (if it ever gets out of court), which should increase traffic,
oh, 5000% or so?

My sister-in-law manages a small restaurant and bakery. They are very
popular, almost always full with a line waiting at the door and just
barely break even. If they lost 20% of their business, they would lose
money. The margins are razor thin for a restaurant.

I'm not saying you shouldn't do it, just keep in mind that you will
likely lose money for a year or two and then break even or make a little
only if you are VERY popular, always busy and run a very tight ship.


Matt

My sister-in-law manages a small restaurant and bakery. They are very
popular, almost always full with a line waiting at the door and just
barely break even. If they lost 20% of their business, they would lose
money. The margins are razor thin for a restaurant.

Matt

Perhaps a small price increase might be worthwhile.. not enought to run
off business, but enough to get above break even.

Dave

("Jay Honeck" wrote)
So the land adjacent to the inn is for sale, and we want to put an
aviation themed restaurant on the site. It'll be the perfect fly-in
restaurant, with breakfast all day, decent prices, ugly waitresses, and a
2nd-floor patio over-looking the airport. We want to call it "the Tower",
and it'll have a great view of the runways!


Hmm.... that name needs work :-)

Q. What do the numbers say?
A. "ARE YOU INSANE?" g

How about real estate instead? Buy those remaining airport lots (20 acres?)
and build 40 airpark homes on the site. I know, I know - zoning.

Since this will be your last newsgroup post before you enter 'the restaurant
business' I want to wish you - Good Luck!


Montblack

Jack Nicholson in Five Easy Pieces (1970)

[Bobby wants plain toast, which isn't on the menu.]
Bobby: I'd like an omelet, plain, and a chicken salad sandwich on wheat
toast, no mayonnaise, no butter, no lettuce. And a cup of coffee.

Waitress: A #2, chicken salad sand. Hold the butter, the lettuce, the
mayonnaise, and a cup of coffee. Anything else?

Bobby: Yeah, now all you have to do is hold the chicken, bring me the
toast, give me a check for the chicken salad sandwich, and you haven't
broken any rules...

I've represented banks in loan workouts with restaurants. Restaurants exist
primarily on the good will of the public. There is no collateral of value.
The accounts receivable and inventory are fleeting. The forks, knives and
tables are worthless. Much of the business is done in cash, which often
ends up in the pocket of the owner (or worse, stolen by employees) without
having been income taxed or paid to the bank on the loan. About 95% of new
restaurants fail in the first year, except big operation franchises because
the big operations are very particular about the locations of their
franchises. Location is critical. You will not get the whim of the public
to partake of your enterprise if it is not well located. Only the
cognoscenti will go to your establishment if quality is your main draw over
location.



You ought to go to some restaurants that are located on or near airports
similar to yours and talk the owners about their operations. Your operation
is unique because not many aviation themed hotels exist in the world and
even fewer are located next to airports. I frequently fly to Eau Claire
Wisconsin, because the airport restaurant is only about an hour from the
Twin Cities, and the locals go there. It is a full service restaurant, but
I've never had a beer there. The best beer they serve is Leinenkugels. Many
restaurant operations make more on their beverage service than on food.



A coffee only cafe is located at the Brainerd Minnesota airport. It has good
food and good service at reasonable prices. I also fly to Princeton
Minnesota for the restaurants there, one two blocks and the other six blocks
from the airport. One serves alcohol and the other is a family place with
great pancakes. Service is often slow at these small town restaurants, so
you should place your order as soon as you sit down, and give your credit
card when the food is served.



I often feel compelled to have a hamburger when I go flying because that is
often the safest thing on the menu. I've also learned to tolerate small-town
ditch-water coffee from flying. When I grew up in a small town with bad
water in North Dakota, I thought Mrs. Olsen's coffee was great. Now, thanks
to Starbucks and Caribou, Mrs. Olsen's coffee is less enticing. I wonder if
she knows how to make lefse.



It would be really nice to have some good Walleye at an airport restaurant.
Kevin Dunlevy









"Jay Honeck" wrote in message
oups.com...
So the land adjacent to the inn is for sale, and we want to put an
aviation themed restaurant on the site. It'll be the perfect fly-in
restaurant, with breakfast all day, decent prices, ugly waitresses, and
a 2nd-floor patio over-looking the airport. We want to call it "the
Tower", and it'll have a great view of the runways!

Trouble of it is, we don't know *anything* about running a restaurant.
Now, this never stopped us before -- we didn't know anything about
hotels, either -- but, hey, this sounds WAY more complicated, from my
uneducated standpoint.

Anyone here own/operate/manage a restaurant? Got any words of advice?
Any advice on finding someone who DOES know something about
restaurants?
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

Kevin Dunlevy wrote:

Much of the business is done in cash, which often
ends up in the pocket of the owner (or worse, stolen by employees) ...

Yep, that's something to watch out for. There used to be a bar & grill beside
the entrance to Kupper airport. The owner had a local manager running the show,
and he was running a steady loss. So, he sold the place and closed down.

He let the manager go after the sale and ran the place himself for the last
month. He was amazed at how much money the place made. His manager had been
robbing him blind. Too late to stop the sale, though.

George Patterson
Coffee is only a way of stealing time that should by rights belong to
your slightly older self.

"Jay Honeck" wrote in message
oups.com...
So the land adjacent to the inn is for sale, and we want to put an
aviation themed restaurant on the site. It'll be the perfect fly-in
restaurant, with breakfast all day, decent prices, ugly waitresses, and
a 2nd-floor patio over-looking the airport. We want to call it "the
Tower", and it'll have a great view of the runways!

Will it be adjacent to the airport property and as such will pilots be able
to taxi up there to the restaurant, tie their plane down, and eat? Being
able to tie your plane down overnight while staying at your hotel would be
an added benefit... One thing that you might want to consider is
differentiating your restaurant from other local restaurants by way of
menu... My experience up there in Iowa while on contract for Rockwell
Collins was that there are NO good BBQ restaurants in the entire state. OK,
I'm from Texas, so my standards are probably pretty high, but those people
up there think a chunk of pork roasted in an electric oven with BBQ sauce
poured on it afterwards classifies as "BBQ"... Of course, everyone knows
that the only *real* BBQ is made from BEEF BRISKET...

Will it be adjacent to the airport property and as such will pilots be
able
to taxi up there to the restaurant, tie their plane down, and eat?

Sadly, no. But it will be right across a small road from the fence, and
we've tentatively received permission to allow planes to park on the other
side of the fence. (We'll have to put in a gate.)

It'll be maybe a 100 yard walk.

One thing that you might want to consider is
differentiating your restaurant from other local restaurants by way of
menu... My experience up there in Iowa while on contract for Rockwell
Collins was that there are NO good BBQ restaurants in the entire state.

Agreed, but from a slightly different angle.

Iowa City is like the "anti-Iowa" in many ways. It's got dozens of
"fru-fru" restaurants (a rarity in the rest of Iowa), thanks to the
University crowd, all of which serve tiny portions at outrageous prices.
You can get excellent Indian, Vegetarian, Mediterranean, Japanese, French,
and California (whatever *that* is) cuisine -- but you CAN'T get a decent
burger or breakfast served all day for less than $15 per person.

IMHO, a restaurant with those two items, reasonably priced and served fresh,
would make a mint in this goofy town.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

Jay Honeck wrote:
Will it be adjacent to the airport property and as such will pilots be
able
to taxi up there to the restaurant, tie their plane down, and eat?


Sadly, no. But it will be right across a small road from the fence, and
we've tentatively received permission to allow planes to park on the other
side of the fence. (We'll have to put in a gate.)

It'll be maybe a 100 yard walk.


One thing that you might want to consider is
differentiating your restaurant from other local restaurants by way of
menu... My experience up there in Iowa while on contract for Rockwell
Collins was that there are NO good BBQ restaurants in the entire state.


Agreed, but from a slightly different angle.

Iowa City is like the "anti-Iowa" in many ways. It's got dozens of
"fru-fru" restaurants (a rarity in the rest of Iowa), thanks to the
University crowd, all of which serve tiny portions at outrageous prices.
You can get excellent Indian, Vegetarian, Mediterranean, Japanese, French,
and California (whatever *that* is) cuisine -- but you CAN'T get a decent
burger or breakfast served all day for less than $15 per person.

IMHO, a restaurant with those two items, reasonably priced and served fresh,
would make a mint in this goofy town.

Nancy's Airfield Cafe at K6B6 is a fine place to eat. I believe most
of their business comes from surrounding towns rather the planes.
Contact Nancy McPherson for more info. Web:
http://www.NancysAirfieldCafe.com

"Jay Honeck" wrote:
IMHO, a restaurant with those two items, reasonably
priced and served fresh, would make a mint in this goofy town.

A good friend has been in the restaurant business for a couple of
decades and has had two small, successful restaurants during that time.
She said aside from having A LOT of time and energy and the obvious
issues -- an adequate-but-not-overwhelming menu with fair prices,
reliable cooks that prepare consistently good meals, *consistently*
friendly and efficient service, hours that meet the demand, and an
environment that is clean and comfortable -- the biggest key to making
it a success is knowing how to ORDER. I think someone else early in this
thread said it, too -- knowing how much to order so that perishable food
lasts but does not spoil and your next order is received before you run
out, and even your garnishes (lettuce, tomatoes, parsley, etc.) are
fresh and edible and don't look like they're one step away from being
rotten. One quote of hers that we've all experienced: "It's okay if
people have to wait a few minutes to sit down, but NEVER make anyone
*wait* to pay once they're full and ready to leave!" Lastly, NEVER be
cited in a health inspection as that kind news is never forgotten.

Good luck! I've always thought that despite the long hours and hard
work, it could be rewarding and fun, especially with a theme that you
and your customers love.

One other thing... I have noticed that many of the basic hotels I've
been around have no restaurant attached to them, but are built in an
area that has lots of separate basic restaurants nearby. I'll bet
there's a reason for this.

Jose
--
Money: what you need when you run out of brains.
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