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#21
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OT - Anyone here own a restaurant?
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 $15 per person. IMHO, a restaurant with those two items, reasonably priced and served fresh, would make a mint in this goofy town. Nancy's Airfield Cafe at K6B6 is a fine place to eat. I believe most of their business comes from surrounding towns rather the planes. Contact Nancy McPherson for more info. Web: http://www.NancysAirfieldCafe.com |
#22
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OT - Anyone here own a restaurant?
I agree a restaurant is a great idea. But the business is tough.
If I were you I'd build the restaurant and lease it to someone with proven experience in the biz. "Jay Honeck" wrote in message news:Qv7xf.690299$x96.490384@attbi_s72... 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? -- Jay Honeck Iowa City, IA Pathfinder N56993 www.AlexisParkInn.com "Your Aviation Destination" |
#23
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OT - Anyone here own a restaurant?
If I were you I'd build the restaurant and lease it to someone with proven
experience in the biz. Great idea. Where do you find these mythic creatures? -- Jay Honeck Iowa City, IA Pathfinder N56993 www.AlexisParkInn.com "Your Aviation Destination" |
#24
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OT - Anyone here own a restaurant?
"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. |
#25
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OT - Anyone here own a restaurant?
I've never run a restaurant, but I've heard it's a very slim margin
business. I've been a restaurant customer in many restaurants that have run up against their margins. They had one choice: either raise their prices, or lower their quality. Every restaurant that chose the latter failed. Jose -- Money: what you need when you run out of brains. for Email, make the obvious change in the address. |
#26
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OT - Anyone here own a restaurant?
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. for Email, make the obvious change in the address. |
#27
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OT - Anyone here own a restaurant?
"babes" at LNR??? OK...I'm assuming there's supposed to be a smiley face
somewhere! |
#28
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OT - Anyone here own a restaurant?
On 10 Jan 2006 14:59:44 -0800, "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? Two thoughts quick - 1) Contain food costs. The fastest way to go broke in the restaurant business is to open a steak house. The slowest way is to open a pasta joint. 2) You're looking *building* a restaurant, not just running one. If you were just leasing a pre-existing restaurant space and opening a new business the odds would be against you. If you were leasing and putting in a kitchen and fixtures, it would be worse. But you're talking brick and mortar, AND the inside build out, AND running a restaurant. If it fails you don't just have a lease to pay (or walk away from) - you have a mortgage. |
#29
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OT - Anyone here own a restaurant?
Ahhh.... sounds like you've been there!
"John T" wrote in message ... "babes" at LNR??? OK...I'm assuming there's supposed to be a smiley face somewhere! |
#30
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OT - Anyone here own a restaurant?
On 10 Jan 2006 14:59:44 -0800, "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. If you are going to depend on the pilot community - be careful what you deem a fly-in restaurant. When I think fly-in food, places that are across the street or down the street, do not jump to mind. -Nathan |
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