Advice needed - How to save a failing Restaurant

[james t kirk]

So here's the deal.

I'm in a smaller City in Quebec right now with my client. There's a restaurant in town that is his favourite place, only it's slowly going broke for lack of business.

Here's the strange part......

The food is Farking fantastic. I love trying good restaurants all over. I've been to some of the best ones in Toronto, Montreal, and Quebec City.

This restaurant is on par or better than all of them. The food is simply amazing. The menu changes by the day, it's clean, funky, and yet it's failing.

I've had dinner at this restaurant probably 5 times and it's consistently fantastic. It would rival Suser. The chef / owner is truly an artist with food.

My client is convinced that it is failing because the owner doesn't really socialize with the people, the wait staff is so so to miserable at best. The owner's GF is one of 2 servers and she hates her job. She just works there to help him out. I didn't see it tonight, but he claims he can tell.

The question is how to bring people into this place, how to market it. I'm not in the restaurant biz, so I don't really know the secrets.

I'm sure that there are Terbites out there in the biz who could help.

Personally, if this chef were to open a restaurant in Toronto, people would be smashing the door down to get in. But out here in eastern Quebec, they'd rather go to Normandin, than this place.

 

[ig-88]

advertising helps

employees with low morale don't

 

[james t kirk]

Pros:

Absolutely amazing food.
Funky atmosphere
Clean
European dining experience


Cons

Smallish city in Eastern Quebec
It's downtown, but on a less travelled street.
Locals consider it expensive (2 can dine for 80 bucks, to 100 bucks)
He's only open Wed, Thurs, Friday, and Saturday, closed Sunday, Monday, Tuesday


I don't think people even know it's there.

 

[ig-88]

advertising: you can get a website for free

ensure that the restaurant shows up on a google search

you can help with this

as for the expensive prices, offering coupons may help to bring the customers in

 

[Damondean]

Invite Stephan Dion to dine there + write a review in his blog. )

 

[maurice93]

The answer is easy... its a small city. A person from a larger city will never understand this.

There is just not enough people looking to satisfy there "status" by paying what they think is a ridiculous amount for food. In a small city, there is ridiculous elasticity in demand once you get into a higher price level, that might seem fairly decent by big city standards.

People have More time in smaller cities, more home cooked meals. If they go out they want good food, at a good value. Paying a premium for a funky setting or "European" experience, most just laugh at that... thats for big city folk or when they decide to travel.

 

[Captain Fantastic]

A few ideas off the top of my head:

• Increase standard marketing and promotion as much as possible - market to the audiences' sensibilities; talk about the unique aspects and strengths of the restaurant.
• Website - clean and clear.
• Guerilla marketing - free or cheap to attract attention.
• "Shill" reviews - more like promotional "advertorials" - in local and online places. (It's not a shill if it's true, right?)
• A "re-launch", inviting the media to dine for free (with the inference being that they write a review.)
• Reduce the prices to match the market (hate to say it, but if the locals can't afford it or won't pay the prices, that is a huge part of the repeat customer base that simply won't dine there.)

 

[m91us]

• Slash the price.

• Offer take-out and delivery. Add catering for parties.

• Re-locate to another location where the people are willing to spend
  $80 to $100 for dinner (I suspect people are very price sensititive in that location).

 

[james t kirk]

I'd love it if he located to Toronto, believe me when I say he'd be the talk of the town.

Slashing the price isn't an option because he's not serving crap food. It's top of the line faire. His appetizers are 11 to 13 each, mains are all about 20, desserts are all 10. To me, that's a bargoon for this kind of gourmet food.

I was thinking that if he delivered fliers to offices in the city where there are professionals giving them 10 percent off cupons for lunch, or 2 for 1 appetizers.

Also, there are a lot of tourists in summer. Get the advertising to the hotels in the area.

 

[bob_sapp]

This man will help you.

 

[3Tees]

I'm not in the biz but from my observation, it's service and location as much as food that make a restaurant popular. I'm thinking of one restaurant by me where the food is mediocre at best, but because of the location and the service it does quite well.

It's the only restaurant of it's kind in the community and the owner still serves everyone there, and makes a point of knowing everyone by name - often throwing in free coffee (and the occasional dessert) on a whim. He even, unprompted, bought me a gift for a special occasion.

There's also a show, "Restaurant Makeover" - don't know if it goes to Quebec City, but I've been to at least two Toronto restaurants that have been on the show and they continue to do well. At least it's free publicity.

 

[LateComer]

I think you answered your own question. The food can be the best but it it's served by miserable staff it detracts from the whole experience. At that price point in a small city the staff should be friendly if they hope to get repeat business.

 

[bob_sapp]

Also if he can move the restaurant to a province less filled with assholes it might improve things.

 

[crystalpalace]

Also if he can move the restaurant to a province less filled with assholes it might improve things.

Then Ontario is definitely out of question.

 

[m91us]

I'd love it if he located to Toronto, believe me when I say he'd be the talk of the town.

Slashing the price isn't an option because he's not serving crap food. It's top of the line faire. His appetizers are 11 to 13 each, mains are all about 20, desserts are all 10. To me, that's a bargoon for this kind of gourmet food.

I was thinking that if he delivered fliers to offices in the city where there are professionals giving them 10 percent off cupons for lunch, or 2 for 1 appetizers.

Also, there are a lot of tourists in summer. Get the advertising to the hotels in the area.

1) How do you know he cannot take a price cut? You eye-balled the sheet he used to cost his meals? IF he is paying CASH for his meat, then he's in the driver's seat in getting rock bottom prices from meat wholesalers.

2) 10% discounts is too small an incentive to wet an undecided buyer's appetite. When I'm downtown, I always eat out at a particular chinese restaurant because the food is excellent in my opinion. I don't care about a 10% discount.

3) I wouldn't count on tourists' money to be his bread and butter income. He needs repeat business from the local people living in that area. If his food is as good as you described it, he needs to find buyers who are WILLING to spend that kind of money for dinner. Target the yuppies (Young Urban Professionals). Yuppies with no dependents will have a lot of disposable income for luxury dinners.

Someone on this thread mention the overall experience of the meal. This is very important. You can have the best tasting food. However, if the staff treats the buyers' poorly, local buyers will not be coming back to his restaurant. Fire the girlfriend and hire someone who really wants to work in the restaurant. Tell him to look for someone in their 40's with no education and would be glad to have a job. Pay the staff slightly more than minimum wage say $10 to $12.

 

[alexmst]

Tell him to relocate to York region - Richmond Hill or Thornhill - the number of good restaurants here is low, the number of bad ones is high. Even the bad ones charge his prices or more - if he is as good as you say, he will be packed every night. I'd love a local good French restaurant nearby to eat at without having to drive downtown.

If he wants to stay where he is, advertise in the nearest big city as a "destination restaurant". If he opens a little luxury Inn next door it will assist this romantic getaway idea if the drive from a city like Montreal or Quebec City is 2 hours or less.

Also, friendly serving staff have a significant impact on repeat business. I grabbed a take away pizza from Il Fornello tonight and I went in and the bartender greeted me by name with a smile, took my order right away, offered me tea or soda while I waited, checked on the status of my order every few mintes, and brought the boxed pizza to me with a smile and handshake 12 minutes after I got there. Now it is comfort food and certainly not gourmet, but my point is the service I get is why I go back. If the service I got was crap I wouldn't go there. I put up with slightly poorer service at places if the food is fantastic, but if the servers have attitude I wouldn't frequent a place no matter how good the food as it would give me indigestion.

 

[Plan B]

James, What I would do is blitz the tourist info centres, I would get to know the staff there very well, put up flyers there, and get this... I would give that staff deep deep discounts on food. Once they know about the restaurant, you can bet they will recommend it to passing travellers. But you have to give the staff discounts or free food, so they can try it out. They will think the owner is a cool guy and they'll send people his way. Trust me on this one.

Secondly, blitz the hotels, and do the same thing. I guarantee business will be up.

Lastly...your friend needs "cheerful staff"

 

[Uzo]

Tell him to relocate to York region - Richmond Hill or Thornhill - the number of good restaurants here is low, the number of bad ones is high. Even the bad ones charge his prices or more - if he is as good as you say, he will be packed every night. I'd love a local good French restaurant nearby to eat at without having to drive downtown.

the OP is in Quebec.



I agree, do a re-launch and invite local business people and the local mayor (if its truly a small town they will come) and any other locals that might influence word of mouth advertising.

Traditional advertising in a small town might not work to its full extent because of smaller readership and people in larger cities having options outside their front door when it comes to food.

Your client must have known that he had amazing food and potential but f'd up by locating in a small town.

 

[Boyscout352]

Describe when you wrote the restaurant has a 'funky atmosphere'?

Since you mentioned it was a small town, judging from the people you see in the town, what's the demographic like? Bedroom community? Small suburban town? Retirement community...As others said, you got the tourists who go there to eat during high season, but you also need the locals who eat there during the off-season.

It also depends on the town population. For example, if the town comprises of mostly people who are retired, and the restaurant is hip and trendy geared for the 20-30 something crowd, then of course the people will not go there. Just like bars for example. You got bars catered to the college crowd, and you got bars/pub for the older crowd.

If the food on the menu is too fancy or exotic, it will also turn people off.

 

[eldoguy]

All you can eat Sunday Brunch, makes for good advertising, brings in the families and church goers. The owner can walk around in his chefs hat. Hopefully he is a large looking person, because no one trusts skinny chefs, have a local newspaper do a revue.