~ Can the owners of every closed restaurant ...

 - Can the owners of every closed restaurant ... be right ???
 - Why does the press let every single restaurant owner get away with citing a declining economy, or some such thing in news reports about them closing for business ???
 - You read this trash everyday. 
  - Today, I read one (with the owner using the aforementioned hoo-hah) ... meanwhile there is usually a place across the street that is overflowing.
 

I notice this in my area too. I had been to several of the places that recently closed and and found them to be terrible. In one case a friend and I went for lunch, we were the only people there. They stated that they were out of their signature side dish (they can't make more? It's the thing you brag about) that comes with every entree but offered no substitutions so my friend got 2 skimpy portions and nothing else on the plate and I got a sandwich that I took 2 bites from and stopped because the meat tasted bad. No apologies, no excuses, no inquiry if we were happy with our meals but they charged us full price. If you want to be in business.......  care about your customers and don't just blame the economy. If you keep putting out bad food and don't care, people won't come.

Everything in the last post is very on point. Not everyone is cut out to be in the restaurant business. Here in Austin you cannot swing a dead cat that you don't hit an establishment that either just opened or just closed. Some people open a place and have no idea what their business model is or should be. Yet some places just seem to take off. Case in point. Man Bites Dog used to be out of a truck but his product was so good he had to abandon the truck in favor of a building. Same is true of Franklin's BBQ. But conversely, there are places that can't suck enough yet they reain in business. Go figure.

You really never know. We've had places go under that have been in business anywhere from 2 months to 10 years.  Recently my favorite pizza place went under October 1st. Popular spot always full but a small place maybe 6-8 tables. Really odd because the tourist season starts here in Florida soon and where this place was located they would get a great tourist trade.
I think places that open and close quickly are generally under-capitalized and can't sustain themselves if they don't hit a homerun in the first couple of months.
Then of course you can't discount the possibility of having terrible food, Lord knows we've got our share and more of those around here. Of course that doesn't seem to effect McDonalds and BK.

Dearfolk,
   We just recently lost a long-established BBQ place here in Athens... Jot 'Em Down BBQ. From what I was told, food quality went way downhill: so far down there wasn't any climbing up to do.
   That's what you get when you fire your best cook to save money (while the place is doing well, mind you). Words fail me.
   I've been eating at Harry's Pig Shop in Homewood Shopping Center (2425 Jefferson Road) for awhile, and I know that no matter what I order, it's gonna be good.
      Wholeheartedly, Ort.

In a tight economy, people tend to pull in their expendatures for eating out and are more discriminate about how and where they spend their money. Places that were marginal at best in good times tend to disappear when money's tight. Places that are well managed, have good food at fair prices generally survive.
People are more reluctant to try new places in tight times so it's harder for a new place to make it.
We never paid attention to coupons. In the last year or so, we don't eat anywhere that doesn't offer coupons. 
You can hardly go anywhere anymore for just a light meal, or just appetizers without spending at least $30 to 50 bucks for 2 people.
Not too long ago I could get a nice Breakfast for $5-6 Bucks with Tax & Tip. That same Breakfast today is $9-10 Bucks. I don't eat out that much for Breakfast anymore.

gonna sound old to some but i remember when breakfast was the cheapest meal to eat out.now i find lunch to be the cheapest for me.

I was thinking the same thing, starfire-breakfast used to be so cheap-and still should be considering the cost of most ingredients in a basic breakfast( eggs, bacon or sausage, potatoes and bread) is about a dollar.And that is retail, not wholesale.I understand mark ups, overhead, etc.But 8.99 at some places?

Around here you very seldom read about why a place has closed. Maybe if you were a regular you would hear something about the upcoming closing.
Every once and a while if the place has been around a long time there will be something.
Recently a long time Italian bakery closed and they placed a sign in the window saying "watch for our new location" and about two months later they took over the bakery at a newer Italian grocery. Glad to see them make it but since the Italian grocery already had a bakery the net result for us is one less bakery.

Frequently owners cook their own goose, so to speak, by getting into tax problems, both withholding, and sales, many that serve alcohol, drink the profits, steal their money meant for product, to fuel a drug addiction...A large percentage of closings has nothing to do with the food per se, it's Management that goes south!

At the risk of steering this back on topic, my gripe/point is that no matter which of the above situations are the case, why is it they owners or these defunct places always get away with citing the economy? 
For once I'd like to see a reporter ask one, "What would you say to the many people who say your food has been on a backslide for months?" or "If the economy is the cause, how do you explain the place next door always having a line out the door?"

So how do these reporters ask such a question? normally when a place closes around here it's open one day and closed the next. I do believe the economy is the overwhelming issue. My lack of income due to the economy has caused my wife and I to cut back on dining out probably 75-80%.
But please give us your idea's as I get the feeling you don't agree with the economy being the reason.

I'm siding with Chewy here. Over the weekend we ate out 3 times and every place we went was busy. There are a lot of restaurants, both independent and chains, in this area and as we drive around I see full parking lots. The places that have closed have closed for some of the reasons Chewy mentions. I know of one where the owner kept making fraudulent insurance claims so he could finance a second location. He got caught and is in jail and has no locations now. Others haven't been as public or dramatic but I'm agreeing with poor management. 

Ort. Carlton.


Dearfolk,
  We just recently lost a long-established BBQ place here in Athens... Jot 'Em Down BBQ. From what I was told, food quality went way downhill: so far down there wasn't any climbing up to do.
  That's what you get when you fire your best cook to save money (while the place is doing well, mind you). Words fail me.
  I've been eating at Harry's Pig Shop in Homewood Shopping Center (2425 Jefferson Road) for awhile, and I know that no matter what I order, it's gonna be good.
     Wholeheartedly, Ort.

Yes, indeed, Harry's Pig Shop has some FINE Q!

Having already commented and upon reading the recent contributions I can still only speak for myself. I have asked some of my fellow co-workers about their dining out habits of late and the same theme seems to reaccur. There is not that much dicretionary income that folks can afford to eat out. There is still a lot of fear about the economy. Our government isn't doing much to calm peoples fears outside of printing more money. I find myself going out less often for many reasons including the fact that  the cost of dinner for me and my wife now hovers at around a hundred bucks, and that's at Logan's roadhouse, I can take that money and pay a bill.

Greater Miami is a very active restaurant area.  Restaurants are constantly opening and closing, in good times as well as bad.  I think what Gregg was saying is true.  When they close in good times, it's incompetence or competition.  When they close in bad times, everybody gets to blame "the economy" instead of themselves.

It is much easier to say"I was losing business because of the economy."
than to say "I just don't know how to run a restaurant."

Many of the once "good" restaurants that have closed around here are restaurants that let their quality slip and at the same time raised their prices.  Then, there are those that have been in business for decades, know their customers' expectations,  and have kept their standards high and are still going strong and haven't monkeyed around with their menus. 
 
Granted, because of the economy we don't eat out as much as we used to and when we do we don't want to spend money on a sub-par meal - we stick with the places that have kept their quality up.
 
I watch "Kitchen Nightmares", and it's clear why many restaurants close.  In many cases the owners didn't know what they were getting into and had no idea how to run a restaurant so they wound up cutting corners re their food and their chefs which all resulted in a "nightmare".   

Ever watch Resaurant Impossible with Robert Irvine? Aside from the hokey drama and his constant screeching and bellowing, you can detect a grain of truth as to why these places are failing. After that it's just schtick.

AndreaB


Many of the once "good" restaurants that have closed around here are restaurants that let their quality slip and at the same time raised their prices.  Then, there are those that have been in business for decades, know their customers' expectations,  and have kept their standards high and are still going strong and haven't monkeyed around with their menus. 

Granted, because of the economy we don't eat out as much as we used to and when we do we don't want to spend money on a sub-par meal - we stick with the places that have kept their quality up.

 

Actually quite the opposite. In several cases, the quality at the restaurants are better than ever but they are being criticized for NOT updating their menus or their decor and offering more trendy fare
 by a new generation that no longer appreciates solid traditional food, however oddly enough it's only happenning in selected pockets of the country. 

I'm not talking about updating the decor or adding trendy new menu offerings, I'm talking about letting the food quality slip whilst raising the prices.  It's happened enough in my general area, including LEX, be they traditional restaurants or new trendy restaurants that got off to a good start but then let their food standards go. 

AndreaB


I'm not talking about updating the decor or adding trendy new menu offerings, I'm talking about letting the food quality slip whilst raising the prices.  It's happened enough in my general area, including LEX, be they traditional restaurants or new trendy restaurants that got off to a good start but then let their food standards go. 

I will quote this portion of your previous comment.
 " Then, there are those that have been in business for decades, know their customers' expectations,  and have kept their standards high and are still going strong and haven't monkeyed around with their menus. "
 
This is what I was referring too, many restaurants in certain pockets of the country are being ignored and are failing just for this reason- althought they may have pleased several generations in the past the current generation could care less and wants something different
 

Again, I'm not talking about keeping a never-changing menu - I talking about monkeying with the quality of the food.  A good example is the Chinese restaurants that were known for quality food and always packed and suddenly turned into buffets and then went out of business.  Even the "current generation" saw the low quality.  And, I'm in my 40's so I'm not an "old fogey" type who has to have everything just the same as it's always been - but I do notice when the quality of the food starts slipping.

AndreaB


Again, I'm not talking about keeping a never-changing menu - I talking about monkeying with the quality of the food.  A good example is the Chinese restaurants that were known for quality food and always packed and suddenly turned into buffets and then went out of business.  Even the "current generation" saw the low quality.  And, I'm in my 40's so I'm not an "old fogey" type who has to have everything just the same as it's always been - but I do notice when the quality of the food starts slipping.

Yes, I understand what you're saying.
However sometimes there are certain restaurants where the quality hasn't changed ie. Hollyhock Hill in Indy, The very few remaining Kosher Deli's in NYC , Durgin Park in Boson, The local Amish Restaurants in PA that locals love to hate because they offer a dated menu/decor  and they'll blame it on the food quality even though the food quality hasn't changed in decades or in some cases over a century.
 
 

WJ, it's a lot easier for me to believe it's the bad economy than to believe it's  something I did, or didn't do right. This is the hardest business to succeed in, it's a lot of blood sweat and tears. The restaurants who succeed and thrive through the turbulent times deserve to succeed.
  There is  a new restaurant that just opened near my house. They have been working on the place for months. The last owners lasted about two months. I haven't seen a car at the place yet, and this is the 5th day of the Grand Opening. The best day of your life is when you open your business, you would never think the worst day would soon follow just a few short weeks later...................The best thing is to be honest and understand that everything I do isn't going to work. listen to your customers, see whats selling and focus on improving what you do daily.
pnwc
 
 

We just had a local place close where the owner stated he was not blaming the economy but just lack of business. The restaurant is located in an outdoor lifestyle Mall where everything is spread out. There are 15 restaurants in this Mall of various degrees of price and content. Big Fish Grille was a fairly high priced seafood oriented restaurant with a somewhat limited menu. We only went once, the food was not worth the money and the service was poor. There are many other places in this Mall that we enjoy eating at including the dreaded Red Lobster which is always busy.
 
http://www.kcchronicle.co...eneva-commons/aadq3xq/

I guess it depends where they are located. We have two new restaurants opening within 1/4 mile of me and both are across the street from existing restaurants. I have not noticed the wait to be any shorter at any of the eateries I dine at.
 
Now, if they are in Sturgis, SD I would probably agree.

Everybody's right on this one (at least partly right).
 
The economy is a factor.  It makes for a more Darwinian environment.  The bar for survival is raised.  Errors in judgement get the ultimate penalty.  In a better economy, a newcomer might have more time to get its footing.  A long-standing favorite might be forgiven if it stumbles and have a better chance of coming back.
 
The restaurant business ruthless.  It has the highest failure rate of any business (even in good times).  Those newspaper quotes make it sound like some people don't know that (or forgot it). 
 
A restaurant is not a means of personal self-expression.  Seems like a lot of people don't know that either.  They open their dream is to open their personal "dream restaurant," apparently to please themselves. 
 
McDonald's excels because they are consistent and because they excel at finding good locations.  It really is location, location, location. 
 
A new restaurant has to be tried.  There are a lot of restaurants near me.  I know they are there.  I've gone by them.  I've even heard good things.  Somehow I've never bothered to go in.  Introductory offers often only draw committed bargain hunters.  The trick is to create some kind of buzz. 
 
Neighborhood restaurants need repeat business.  Getting local people to keep coming back is the tough part.  There are some restaurants in my area that I tried and liked but somehow it doesn't become a place I go to regularly or even occasionally.  A restaurant needs to build a core of regular customers to sustain it through economic ups and downs. 

I would agree with the last poster. I have a favorite Italian restaurant that my wife and I drive 25 miles from Georgetown to dine there. Have been doing this for 16 years and will continue to do so. Sure the owner has had to cut some corners but the consistancy and quality remains. As do his loyal customers. Every time we (usually once a month) go we see the same faces. I loathe the chains, the Chuy's, the Applebees, the Chili's and would rather take an ass-whippin' than eat there and yet their parking lots are always full. Go figure? I guess we live in a Micky D world where most folks don't care what crap they stuff in their faces.

Just had another restaurant close iy's doors with a quote in the paper about the owner blaming the economy, CiCi's Pizza of all places! I think there is more to the story than people not wanting to pay $4.99 for their food when there are dozens of restaurants all around this area that are packed every day. Sometimes it just comes down to plan old bad food and a dirty location.

it happened again,in fall river,ma  at almacs diner.owner says bad economy.but i was there on 1/14 and was totally disgusted.my breakfast was so skimpy .used to order chourish and eggs and get a whole stick cut in half.now i got a half stick and it was quartered.wife had chourish western omelette sand and was runny.bathrooms were dirty ,vanity door was falling off.the dining area looked liked it wasnt sweept in a few days.i think everything caught up with them.not the economy.

So Starfire62.  I agree with everything that you mentioned about Almacs. But do you think new ownership can bring back a place like Almacs that is that far gone? Their menu was huge, and I think that presents a problem for a lot of small restaurants. You just can't do that many items real well. Suppose new owners came in and cleaned the place up, put in new bathrooms, and cut the menu down to just a few really good selling items. Breakfast and lunch only.
Think they could make it ?

thats a tough ?  bob.i would go back and give them 1 more shot and see how they do.i think fall river needs a 24 hr   food joint.here in buffalo we have many.i agree cut down on menu and do some nice dinner specials.people will pay good money for decent food and service.look at the liberal club its always packed.i think almacs lost their way.i can't remember if last time i ate there they were still cooking near the counter.do you remember the rockland diner?

A really great restaurant, where management knows what they're doing and cares about its customers, can sometimes entice its loyal followers to do some crazy things. Earlier this month, I drove a 700-mile round trip from Batesville ( southeastern Indiana ) to Bluff City TN just to have lunch at the Ridgewood, one of my favorite eateries on the planet. Left home at 5 AM EST, had a terrific lunch around 1:30, and got home after midnight. That's a lot of gas and driving for a meal, but that's how much I love the BBQ sandwiches there.  Wouldn't do it again, though ( at least not at almost $4.00 a gallon )...