OT - Anyone here own a restaurant?

("Darkwing" wrote)
If the food sucks people might call it the Barf Bag!


Call it ....Doolittles Air Cafe - I know where there's a big neon sign soon
to be available. g
http://www.doolittlesaircafe.com/giftcards/


Montblack

Call it ....Doolittles Air Cafe - I know where there's a big neon sign
soon to be available. g
http://www.doolittlesaircafe.com/giftcards/

Yeah -- I wonder if they want to recycle their restaurant down by us?
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

Brad wrote:

We want to call it "the Tower"


Hey! That was my name submission from the contest.

I better get a free dinner Jay!

Be careful what you ask for. Jay just might offer you a job managing
the place!

Matt

"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!

Jay,

It sounds like a winner just to buy the land if the traffic around it is
going to increase a lot.

As far as a great aviation-themed restaurant goes, check out the Hnagar
Bar & Grill in Rochester, MN. It is off-airport, but the FBO will shuttle
you over.

Al

There is a resturant on the field at Norman, OK. I believe it to be
successful because the University of Oklahoma is right nearby. We go for
the $100. breakfast. They serve lots of greasy breakfast food for not
much money. Fun place to fly.

There is one at Fayetteville (AR) Drake field that seems to struggle and
is not open on Sundays.

I always think these things should be open both weekend days.

I also have a friend that owns a marina, has a airport at the marina,
and a resturant. He is always complaining about the cost of running the
resturant, but it is there for the marina and airplane folks.

Good luck

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!

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"

There is one at Fayetteville (AR) Drake field that seems to struggle and
is not open on Sundays.

I always think these things should be open both weekend days.

Isn't that nuts? There are precisely two days for a restaurant to make $$$
on breakfast, and so many of them choose to be closed on half of them.

Close Monday, if you must -- but never Sunday morning.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

A previous poster said the fly-in crowd isn't enough. True, you'd need
a location with a fair-sized population to support you during the week
when we (pilots) aren't looking for $100 pancakes. IMO, a properly
marketed restaurant with good food & decent portions should do OK at an
airport with a large local population. It might take a bit to get the
word out though, and you'd need to be properly funded for that or risk
folding.


Wooly

Resturant name:

Hawk's Nest Resturant, bar is the Crow's Nest. :-)

Best regards,

Jer/ "Flight instruction and mountain flying are my vocations!"
--
Jer/ (Slash) Eberhard, Mountain Flying Aviation, LTD, Ft Collins, CO
CELL 970 231-6325 EMAIL jeratfrii.com http://users.frii.com/jer/
C-206 N9513G, CFII Airplane&Glider FAA-DEN Aviation Safety Counselor
CAP-CO Mission&Aircraft CheckPilot BM218 HAM N0FZD 235 Young Eagles!

OK... my hat goes in...

Jay, business _is_ my business...my job is helping people start,
maintain, operate, expand etc. businesses..

so...(with the caveat that this may be worth only what you are paying
for it )

.............................................

Sell an experience with the (good) food... this is your "edge"

BE THERE! They say customers are always right! Right?

I have news!, - they lie , cheat and steal! And employees... the
same.. (But you run a motel, you have already figured that out...)

Know what EVERYTHING COSTS before you serve it..

I have a very successful friend in the business, (37 years)- he
monitors the costs of his portions to two decimal places, and never
violates his margins.

Waste and "little dishonesties" can kill you.... And you have to
(according to him) know all the tricks.. the stories he can tell
about how some people would steal just leave me shaking my head...
unfreakin believeable! And how he managed to catch them.. !

Stay current, with your theme and your market..

Servers? Gender should be obvious, and find the ones who are outgoing
and smile with their eyes... (here is that experience thingy again)

We have a place here that after you get beat up all morning, you
can drag yourself in for lunch, and head backto work walking on
clouds,- because of the people there. Dono where he gets them, but he
does. They make "regulars" out of everybody....and the servers
average about double in tips than the servers in some other
restaurants...

Find a mentor that can guide you along, - " learning " this particular
business can be expensive, .........get a head start.

Last tip... the successful restauranteurs here have something in
common, the LOVE what they are doing!

Cheers and the best!

Dave



"On Thu, 12 Jan 2006 13:56:20 GMT, "Jay Honeck"
wrote:

There is one at Fayetteville (AR) Drake field that seems to struggle and
is not open on Sundays.

I always think these things should be open both weekend days.

Isn't that nuts? There are precisely two days for a restaurant to make $$$
on breakfast, and so many of them choose to be closed on half of them.

Close Monday, if you must -- but never Sunday morning.

Waste and "little dishonesties" can kill you.... And you have to
(according to him) know all the tricks.. the stories he can tell
about how some people would steal just leave me shaking my head...
unfreakin believeable! And how he managed to catch them.. !

I'd like to hear those stories!

Jose
--
Money: what you need when you run out of brains.
for Email, make the obvious change in the address.