What Do Restaurant Customers Want in 2024?
Savings, Convenience, and Connection. In a dynamic where everything costs more, the value of experience can’t be understated. As lagging traffic across much of the industry suggests, inflation and uncomic uncertainty have begun to affect restaurant visits. TouchBistro, in its 2024 American Diner Trends Report, said results from this past year—more than 1,500 consumers surveyed—show a clear contrast to 2022, when most guests appeared willing to absorb higher costs. Many are dining out less and when they do, they’re proving more sensitive to price hikes. They’re also seeking ways to save, from direct ordering to basket managing. Yet despite sensitivity, TouchBistro found, Americans still want to visit restaurants, and namely, tap full-service experiences to reconnect. Value for money, convivence, and quality of food are playing lead roles in deciding when and where to eat. Meanwhile, online reviews, social media presence, and cachet are less significant considerations than a year ago for consumers fueled more by spending concerns. There has also been a clear shift in the perception of tech. Customers embrace the idea, especially if it makes visiting or ordering faster and easier, but they’re pushing back against the removal of the human element. That, too, is likely a reflection of reframing value when everything feels more expensive, from what you stream on TV to the water bill. It’s emphasized the “worth” of experience beyond price. Put differently, if dining out costs more everywhere, did I actually get what I paid for? Overall, diners are making fewer trips to restaurants than they did in 2022. TouchBistro found 39 percent of Americans dine out weekly. That figure was 48 percent the prior year.
Restaurants Lost Customers and Sales at the End of Last Year
Same-store sales slowed markedly in the second half of 2023. Restaurant industry same-store sales slowed markedly in the second half of 2023, as high inflation both on the menu and in the economy kept people from dining out. Same-store sales among publicly traded restaurant chains increased 1.7% in the fourth calendar quarter of last year. That was a notable slowdown from the 2.8% increase in the third quarter and the 6%-plus numbers the industry enjoyed in the first half of last year. For all the concern about fast-food prices, and whether some casual-dining chains have caught up to quick-service brands like McDonald’s, it was those full-service chains that struggled the most. Thirteen of the 21 casual-dining chains that are part of publicly traded companies reported same-store sales of 1% or less and 11 of them reported absolute declines. That includes notable stalwarts like Olive Garden, which admitted that it was losing lower-income consumers. Yet higher-end brands didn’t exactly thrive, either. The typical fine-dining chain reported a 2.3% decline on average last quarter. Some of that may be a simple reversion to the mean, as higher-end chains like STK enjoyed a remarkable 2022, benefiting from a consumer that eagerly celebrated the end of the pandemic. Fast-casual chains once again led the industry in overall same-store sales last quarter among publicly traded chains, while fine dining concepts came back to earth. But all sectors were weaker.
Bielat Santore & Company – Restaurant Industry Alert
NEW LISTING – MONMOUTH COUNTY BAR-RESTAURANT FOR SALE
Photo used to illustrate “Sports Bar/Restaurant” only and not actual representation.
Established Monmouth County restaurant/bar; super sports bar setup; highly visible highway location; 90 seats + 95 at bar; outdoor seating for 30; turn-key operation with sweeping area exposure; financing available to qualified.
Contact Richard Santore 732.531.4200 for additional information.
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Debt-Free Fine Dining
The top priority is to make sure you’re bringing in more money than you are spending. Blake Aguillard, Drew Delaughter, and Trey Smith started with $30,000 and no outside investors when they opened Saint-Germain in New Orleans’ Bywater neighborhood in 2018. The team transformed a dilapidated cottage themselves entirely by hand into an intimate 12-seat restaurant that has received numerous accolades. They have been recognized by the New York Times, Wine Enthusiast, Southern Living, and were named Eater NOLA’s 2019 “Restaurant of the Year.” The co-owners were listed among Food and Wine’s “Best New Chefs” (2021) and they have garnered multiple James Beard Foundation Award nominations for “Best Chef: South.” Along the journey, they utilized a debt-free model to survive the pandemic and do not even use credit cards to run day-to-day operations. The restaurant’s limited seat count allows them to purchase smaller amounts of quality ingredients such as Japanese Wagyu and white truffles, as well as harder-to-source wild game like pheasant, while their DIY approach helps them execute on techniques like ember cooking on a custom-welded barrel on their back patio that would otherwise be prohibitively expensive and specialized. Aguillard, Delaughter, and Smith are also passionate about lifting up the next generation of chefs and have mentored successful chefs including Serigne Mbaye (Dakar) and Tom Branighan (MaMou) as they set out to open their own restaurants. To learn more about operations at Saint-Germain, Modern Restaurant Management (MRM) magazine reached out to Smith. The top priority is to make sure you’re bringing in more money than you are spending. The second priority is paying off debt, and the third is savings. Move forward in that order to the best of your ability. Pay yourself what you have to in order to survive, but ultimately work towards having a stable business that pays you and your team as much as possible without risking your company’s survival.
Mitigate Employment Related Liabilities
For your hospitality business. Understanding your employees’ rights is paramount to protecting your business. From discrimination to wrongful termination, employment practice claims can carry a heavy price tag when businesses fail to have the right risk management procedures and insurance coverage in place. It’s impossible to prevent all lawsuits. However, you can take mitigating steps to reduce your business’ risk and high cost associated with employment related lawsuits through the following best practices: The first step and most important step is to create and implement concrete policies and procedures. Make sure that there are specific ways and means to address common on-the-job issues that could lead to a lawsuit. For instance, policies addressing hiring, promotions, evaluations, changes in status, training, harassment, and termination should all be considered. It is not about eliminating all employee questions, but instead about making sure that the employer and employee expectations meet reality. The best way to institute formal policies and procedures is to work with a seasoned employment law attorney to ensure that you’ve covered all your bases as an employer. For many employees, the employer/employee relationship is an at-will one, meaning it can be terminated with or without cause by either the employee or their employer. The employee handbook will become the closest thing that the employer and employee have to a contract, which is why it is so vital. An employee handbook is the best way to identify and outline the rights and policies.
What Restaurants Need to Know About Recalls
The FDA has already issued more than 50 food recalls in 2024. After restaurants complained to MF Meats about a chemical taste in their products, the company recalled more than 93,000 pounds of meats that may have been contaminated with non-food grade mineral seal oil. Around the same time, M&P Production LTD recalled raw lamb and beef samsa products due to misbranding and an undeclared allergen. Other recent recalls have included charcuterie meats, applesauce, tahini, and more. During a recall, the biggest challenge for restaurants is getting complete, accurate information from their suppliers and passing it along to all their locations. Restaurants’ biggest worry is protecting their brand reputation due to something that likely wasn’t their fault. As food recalls continue, it’s wise for restaurants to review their recall protocols. Use these best practice tips to protect your food, guests, employees, and brand. It’s essential to prepare for a recall before it actually happens, so: Buy from reputable suppliers. Ensure that your suppliers prioritize food safety and consistently follow best practice safety protocols. Only buy from approved suppliers and maintain accurate and up-to-date product records (by lot identifier and production date). Make a recall plan. A recall could happen at any time, so have a plan in place before you need it. This should include clear roles and responsibilities, outlining what needs to happen and who will manage each activity (e.g., who will manage communications to different stakeholders, who will notify supply chain partners, etc.).
Why Are Restaurants Filling Up With Fake Flowers?
They’re popping up all over the dining world. Marigolds don’t generally thrive in 30-degree weather. Yet on a cool March afternoon, they bloomed in golden bunches outside Bungalow, a new Indian restaurant in the East Village. The petals appeared perky and thriving, as did the man, Carlos Franqui, expertly twisting them into a colorful archway that crawled around the entrance. How had Mr. Franqui so deftly defied nature? The question seemed to vex the many passers-by who stopped to gape. Then one woman bent down to take a sniff, and discovered the flowers’ secret: They were fake. So were most of the plants and elaborate flower arrangements throughout the restaurant. The camellia leaves framing the entrance? Polyester. The ficus in the vestibule? Plastic. The bright-pink roses on the tables? Real — and wilting. Mr. Franqui, sporting thick-rimmed glasses and slicked-back hair, pointed an accusing, gold-painted fingernail at the roses. “Mine don’t droop,” he said. Sprawling, towering, flamboyant installations of faux flowers and leaves are fast becoming a new hallmark of restaurant design, the florid successor to past fixations like open kitchens, Mason jars and those cordless tabletop lamps. In the last few years they’ve sprung up across the United States and in cities like London, Paris, Toronto and Lagos, Nigeria. They form soaring arches, climb up dining room walls and send their tendrils deep into social media, where they brighten many a weekend-brunch post.
Did You Know?
Restaurants in Monmouth & Ocean Open on Easter Sunday. These restaurants in Monmouth & Ocean Counties are serving Breakfast, Brunch or Dinner on Easter Sunday. That is a lifesaver when you don’t either have time to cook or don’t feel like cooking for a massive gathering. For me, 12 or more is too much. I normally like to cook for a crowd depending on the occasion. There are times when my schedule is so overloaded that I get overwhelmed. In times like these, I look for alternatives. I could cater for the gathering, or I could make reservations. It’s so much easier to pick up the phone and say, “I’d like to make a reservation for 12, please.”
Employee Tip
With the tip credit falling, full-service D.C. restaurants cut 3,700 jobs. Full-service restaurants in Washington, D.C., have cut 3,700 jobs—about 12% of their workforce—since the jurisdiction began rolling back its tip credit in May 2023, according to data newly released by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The federal agency did not draw a correlation between the drop in jobs and the reduction in the credit, which fell in May and then again in July of last year. Restaurants there have also been affected by a slow return of government workers and employees of companies that interact with the government to their downtown offices. Operators say traffic has also been dampened by fears about rising nighttime crime.