Feb14
Here is a comment from the restaurant open thread that I thought should have its own Post:
I am a home grown former Lancaster resident and LHS alum, and over the past ten years plus I have had the opportunity to work all over the US in the hospitality field, managing several restaurants and hotels as a food & beverage director and hotel general manager. I have been working on a unique authentic restaurant concept for the past several years. My family is now growing and I am on the verge of leaving behind the remote resort living conditions and trading it in for the family-friendly Midwest that I left behind years ago. It would give me great satisfaction to bring truly good food to Lancaster in a family-friendly environment that is still elegant enough to enjoy on a date with your significant other. My per-person average check would hover somewhere around $21 including beverages and dessert. Think Applebee's, Texas Road House, ect with soul and FRESH authentic food that doesn't come from a frozen box. I remember the first time in my life that I had great food, and unfortunately it was not in Lancaster. I am still in the process of registering my entity and in the research and development phase, but as part of that I would like to know how you feel this concept would be received in Lancaster. I am about 12-15 months out from a grand opening, but as time goes on, I will share more about my concept with you and take in your feedback regarding what you would like to see in a neighborhood restaurant. If all of this sounds like a refreshing change of pace to you, please let me know. I have two potential leasing sites in mind at the moment, but let me know if you have any suggestions. Thank you for your feedback - I look forward to sharing more with you in the future!
It’s kind of hard to comment on a concept where we don’t know what it is.
A restaurant in this town is a very difficult venture. Probably the majority of the population think Olive Garden is fine dining.
Crabby, that’s totally fair. I promise to share more in the coming months. Your comment offers some perspective and you are right. At one point in my life, I thought Olive Garden was fine dining! It would be great to hear your take on what would be successful in Lancaster. What would you like to see? What made a place like, say, Billy Crickets successful?
I would love to see a local restaurant with a focus on fresh, local food. I grew up in the area and have returned after spending the past few years in Clintonville. Sadly, like Crabby says, most of the area still loves chain restaurants. But things are slowly changing, as the focus on this has been moving out from the the city. Harvest Moon in Canal and Rockmill Brewery are a couple of new concepts that are doing well.
Thanks for the comment, enigmama. Do you feel that residents truly prefer chains, or that they simply have not been exposed to many quality alternatives? Any thoughts on the check average I mentioned? Why do you feel that Harvest Moon and Rockmill Brewery have been successful, and what are they offering that others aren’t?
New:
I think fast food and chains generally work in the town because a.) sadly a lot of folks haven’t been exposed to great food as you mentioned and b.) generally great food comes at a cost and quite frankly a lot of families believe that “going out” is taking their kids to McDonald’s.
I don’t live in town anymore but still always favor the local flavor… whether it is (or was) Billy Cricket’s, Pink Cricket, Mediterranean, Castaway’s or basically *name your local Lancaster restaurant here* over any chain. If you opened one, my parents would certainly attend and I would once and then when I’m around.
Honestly the one place that I think could work (sadly) is like Gold Star Chili. It’s fairly unique and it’s a cheap chain. I think Lancaster would go gaga over it. I don’t mean to insult your food intelligence because you seem to have a liking for good food… just saying that it would probably be successful.
At 21 bucks a head, it won’t be much of a family-friendly environment.
New:
Your restaurant will last longer in Pickerington or Dublin. I don’t think it will survive long here.
only commenting on the per person average, i disagree with wirenut – graciously.
Applebee’s, Texas Roadhouse, Max & Erma’s, etc — Appetizer, entree/meal, refreshment and desert would all come in around $21 in my experience. My wife & I don’t often order an appetizer & we typically share a desert if we’re inclined on that particular outing so our per head charge would come in quite a bit lower — probably $16 or so. Looking around the restaurant though, we’re not the average customer.
To add another angle — for us, aside from the quality/taste of the food, service is the key. Poor service will keep us away from an establishment on the same level … maybe even more.
just did a quick google search — found three local establishments menus + prices (Bob Evans, Texas Roadhouse, Max & Ermas). After some quick math, adding up the prices of a typical meal I would order & the average of the three came up just shy of $23 for myself (i halved the price of the appetizer since they are most times shared).
We don’t eat out a lot, but these establishments are all very well populated when we are in them so i’d describe them as ‘family friendly’ and well within the reach of the residents of Lancaster.
My wife and I eat out most the time. We have 4 kids and once a month or so take them along with their better halves out to eat, I have never spent over 20 bucks a head anyplace, including Shaw’s. I will admit that we don’t typically order appetizers or deserts, that would be too much to eat at one sitting.
I really appreciate all of the comments and feedback. Check “average” is just that – some guests will come in for a quick bite on a Tuesday night simply to get out of the house, while some guests will visit with their date and have two-three courses with a couple of drinks. At the end of the day, $21 is very competitive with the plethora of chain restaurants that are already in town, as someone pointed out.
I am looking forward to feedback and comments to this next question. If had your choice of the following cuisines to come to Lancaster, which would you choose:
– Italian (Pizzas, Pasta, Calzones)
– Japanese (Sushi, Sashimi, Tempura)
– American (Steaks, Burgers, BBQ)
– Creole (Gumbo, Jambalaya, Po-Boys)
– Greek (Gyros, Moussaka, Souvlaki)
Which do you feel would be the most successful? Why?
Thanks!
I would vote Creole simply because the others are already represented here.
Creole and BBQ would be a compatible combination if you wanted to hedge your bet.
Love the handle, EFG. One up!
So you answered which one you feel would be most successful – is that also what you would prefer regardless of what is already being offered in town?
The closest thing to Family food Lancaster has is in Logan at the Old Dutch Restaurant. I think that if someone offered the Old dutch menu type stuff, but lost the buffet, went back to sit down individual meal service and got the Quality back to where it was years ago at a reasonable price, you would be a huge success in Lancaster. It would be easy enough to throw in a few Steaks and some BBQ specials with that set up.
Location is definitely the key and unfortunately, Lancaster is not the best locale for most family owned restaurants that charge the chain prices. My husband and I owned two here plus catering. Our cafe and catering concept worked out extremely well but when we decided to expand to full service, bar, steaks, seafood, etc at that price point is when we hit our downfall. I think that Canal Winchester, Pickerington, Short North, Easton, Hilliard, Dublin could ensure success. As a matter of fact there is a vacant restaurant that was Ruby Tuesday and most recently Marlin and Ray’s (owned by same company) available on Hilliard Rome Rd. in a PRIME location that became available last week.
If you are still set on Lancaster, choose your location carefully. Seems like anything new only survives near the mall/Ety Rd area. I would stay away from pizza….there are TOO many. There are two Mediterranean restaurants. American (like we were) has Applebees and Texas Road House to compete with. Already have a Japanese place. Creole may go well and there are no Indian restaurants.
As some of the comments state, people do not like to spend alot on meals. Country or Southern style like Todd’s and Old Dutch stay in business in this area.
Wishing you the best of luck on your new venture.
New Restaurant stated in their letter that they were looking at a Family type environment. I think that anyone who offers Family oriented meals of good Quality, in a pleasing environment and throws in good servers will make it. Of course they must also has a Talent for Customer service when a family’s dinner experience doesn’t go so well.
The comments and feedback are great and are a big aid in confirming that I am moving in the right direction. Thank you!
Have any of you ever experienced the Presto tablet menu/ordering experience in a restaurant? If so, what are your personal feelings about it: guest-friendly experience enhancement, or impersonal mechanism to simply cut payroll?
For those who may not know what I am referring to, check this out:
http://elacarte.com/tablet/
Curious to hear what your thoughts are.
been reading along…. I think every good cook or backyard chef has had dreams of their own restaurant. In most cases it is only a dream ! !
Now lets get down to the brass tacks…. Do you have enough capital to open and run the place for a year without making a dime or go into the hole.now if you can say yes to this then you might be better off playing the horse’s or playing the stock market as a day trader. Opening a eatery is expensive and stressful.
Now for a location and then be prepared to spend a bunch on advertising your new place….you will not have the national advertisement that some of the chains do….Example Bob Evans….and so on……
In this day and age most of the population do not have the money for entertainment and eating out unless it is off the dollar menu at a fast food place. If I were you I would keep my money in my pocket and invest it in sure things…..
Sorry for being so negative… but I have seen so many places open and close… they get in so deep that they have to try to work their way out but by that time it is to late…..so keep yer money and buy a lottery ticket… you would have a better chance of making money there than in the food service business.
I think a true Italian restaurant would fare well. Around here, Olive Garden is considered real Italian. We have lots of Pisa places, but no wood-fired pizza, that the oven could be a centerpiece and the pizza not being the star of the show. Something along the lines of our favorite Italian restaurant, Iaria’s in Indianapolis.
In response to the Presto tablet ordering…. I think that if you were wanting to do a burger/wing place with a bar (like rooster’s or bw3) then I would be all for it. Very convenient, no wait to order.
Now if you are thinking of one of the concepts you mentioned that would need some description on menu items or questions on substitutions, etc. then I would not think it’s a good idea.
Here are the reasons I think of….
For- Going out for a very casual nite with significant other or friends….go in, order at your leisure, not bothered by staff.
Against- Looking for a “date nite” or even family nite at a concept restaurant with unfamiliar menu items. I would like attention and my questions answered. I would want the total service and would like to feel comfortable and have one person attending my table.
A question about this system….who would you tip? Or would you? It to me would feel like when you are at a buffet. You help yourself and the only time a “server” comes over is to bus your table or refill a drink.
So I guess it would depend on your concept as to whether you use this system or not.
And I do believe New stated a family-oriented concept with many culturally different themes….not Old Dutch buffet style.
New you should check out the Lancaster Forum (I believe there’s a link on here for that). I have seen many posts about the lack of Indian food and other concepts there. You can get more feedback there as well.
tammi; I don’t think anyone has suggested a Buffet, if that’s what you’re looking for then Golden Coral is already here.
My wife and I have visited several restaurants that offer tablet ordering. In every case we were seated, our drink orders were taken and the tablet offered. It was left to us what way to go. If you have kids with you and you know what you want, then use the tablet, otherwise stay with the server.
Maybe another example of fine Family style dining would be Miller’s in Newark.
I work for one of the restaurants in town, but I won’t say any more to protect my job. However, I wanted to comment that I do enjoy many mom ‘n pop places sometimes more than chains.
My favorite haunt in town is Tiepai 101. I enjoy Chinese/Asian cuisine, but sadly I am selective where I eat in town. I used to like the China Buffet by Big Lots until I got food poisoning back in 2009. Now I avoid that place like the plague.
I found out about Tiepai in 2011 and have eaten there ever since. The food is fresh and delicious and I have established a good rapport with the owners. IMHO chains are not as close to their customers to some extent due to the sheer business of handling a higher volume of traffic and to the nature of being part of a large corporation.
Anqi,
I totally agree about Taipei 101. Love them! =)
Anqi: I concur. We’ve had this discussion before. Actually, I cannot think of a SINGLE example of how I was ever wowed from a chain restaurant experience. Generally it goes slightly higher than “blah” to just “blah”. As a matter of fact it’s funny. With chains, I could go to a Mexican or Italian or American chain and come out of each of them feeling like I ate the same food despite the menus being drastically different.
My personal vote would be for BBQ. I drive to Zanesville now for it.
If you want to make money and survive in Lancaster with a dining facility, you need to stay away from specializing on one type of food. So everybody who is wanting specific ethnic based places to eat, that is fine but you wn’t last and make money in the city the size of Lancaster. It will get old after a while.
New Restaurant needs to study the “mom & pop” places that have survived in Lancaster for many years— IE: Castaways, Todd’s, Pink Cricket, Roots. Just see what they’re doing and look at their menus and you will see why they have lasted. Also take note of their prices, you won’t find anyhting on their menus that “average” $21.00.
New Restaurant: Not trying to be mean or aything but if you are 12-15 months out and are still deciding on what type of food you want to serve, then your already in trouble.