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It’s not a big secret that the restaurant industry is full of sudden closures from new and cornerstone establishments. According to the NPD Group “853 restaurants closed their doors between 2012 and 2013, the majority of which were independent establishments.” So it begs the question – why do some restaurants fail while others succeed? How can new foodservice operators and even existing foodservice operators ensure their establishment doesn’t go under as well? We take a look at some of the reasons why failure occurs as heard through this Reddit discussion in the hopes we can help others avoid similar issues.

“…by far the biggest reason for failure is poor staff management. A lot of chefs, especially, have a bit of a penchant for poor interpersonal skills. That makes your line a revolving door, lessens food quality, and increases personnel costs due to training time and onboarding procedures.

Basically, it's super important to be able to keep your employees paid and happy. Seems obvious, but at some places it's the first thing to go after the fun of a being a new restaurant fades away.”

- WitOfTheIrish

“A big problem is that not all good chefs do not have the skill set to be good restaurateurs.

Chefs go to school to learn how to cook. So much more goes into running a restaurant.

HR skills: how to hire and train a team. Comply with myriad laws to avoid lawsuits. Delegate management tasks. Set pay scales and job descriptions. When to fire an employee. Finance: how to make a realistic budget and business plan. What gross margin do I need given fixed costs like rent & utilities. Taxes and how and when do I pay them (FICA, unemployment, sales), credit card providers are like used car salesmen, how to get a decent deal, How much working capital do I need? IT: what system to buy, how to keep it running. Buying: how to buy supplies, how much of X to have on hand so that we don't run out, but pretty much always have it in stock, but perishables don't perish.”*

- Wilawah

* Note: Another Reddit user made a good point that any culinary school worth its salt teaches all of the above business skills required to run a restaurant. What I’d argue is that a lot of chefs who become restaurateurs aren’t necessarily culinary school graduates. A lot of Chefs work their way up from dishwasher / busboy with a love and passion for cooking and are not always fortunate enough to have a great mentor to guide them in the business aspects of running a restaurant. Another large number just want to open a restaurant because they think it’ll be a good business venture.

“Poor staff management is rampant. I don't work in a restaurant but almost my whole family does, and it's always horror stories of incompetent people, people who steal, are lazy, rude, etc. whoever does the hiring there seems to drop the ball half the time.”

- Zoklar

“It has been proven through numerous studies that a "revolving-door" staff will lead to more errors, lower performance, and poorer service. This applies to all fields including healthcare, restaurants, and hospitality.”

- newtothelyte

“Success? I've only worked in a couple restaurants, but as a lover of food and the dining experience, this is my take.

*#1 You have to get people in the door. The biggest part of this is word of mouth. It used to be newspaper reviews, but these days it has to be social media. Issue coupons, have specials, hang a sign bigger than Jesus, just get people in the door. Location can be a drawback here. Half the restaurants people tell me that went out of business prompt me to say "What? I didn't know there was a restaurant there." If that's your restaurant, you were doomed to fail.

*#2 Once people are in the door, you have to give provide them with a good experience. Food is only a part of this! Seating should be prompt. Staff should be friendly but not chatty. Even if the food is mind-blowingly great, it should provide a value to the customer. People like to experience a restaurant. Don't be boring. Don't be annoying. Don't be dirty. Don't suck. The restaurant is the golden platter that the food lays upon. Try to make it special.

*#3 The staff. Management has to have a serious head on its shoulders. Kitchens are hotbeds of human drama. When I worked in a kitchen, the staff was having sex with the staff. The waitresses were doing coke in the bathroom. The dishwasher was selling weed out the back door. It's chaos. The management has to have the reins of that rodeo. They have to reward the good and trim the bad. It has to be harsh but fair. Not many people fit the mold of a restaurant manager. Things can go south very, very quickly.

*#4 The food. I've put up with restaurants which failed on points 1 through 3 simply because I love their food. You have a restaurant. You are allowed to try to amaze me with food. You are not allowed to serve cold, unseasoned, dirty, nasty, average bullshit. And be honest. If a menu item sucks, cut it. I hate restaurants where the menu is too big. No cook or chef can do everything well. Make it narrow, but special. Don't try to be everything to everyone. If the people love it, listen to them and move in that direction. Do what you do, and do it well.

If you meet all those criteria, I may visit your restaurant more than once.”

- my_cat_joe

“I am almost convinced that restaurants don't fail, locations fail. I have been to plenty of restaurants that should be failing that are thriving because of their location and conversely plenty of restaurants that should thrive that do not because of the location. The location ties in to the demographic you will be serving, the rent or cost of ownership, the availability of goods and staffing, the amount of traffic and accessibility (ie. adequate parking, public transport, foot traffic), and very importantly what other establishments will be competing.

Sure everything else matters, a lot, but without a good or at least acceptable location any business especially the restaurant can be doomed from the get go.”

- shakedownshakin

“…Location makes a big difference.

-Even with good location, if your food is crap you can still fail. I've seen it happen many times in the BX food court area. It's not a guaranteed fail, but it definitely won't help things.

-Poor customer service can help contribute to a business failure. You can somewhat overcome that with excellent food. Usually if your customer service isn't up to par than your kitchen/food isn't either. Again there are exceptions, but those (from my experience) tend to be few and far between.

-Pricing can put people off as well. High prices in the wrong location will bring in fewer customers. Word of mouth can spread to bring people in. However it is harder to do.

-Fads can kill/severely hurt a place as well. You can open up a place when a fad hits. Then when everyone decides they're tired of it, you're stuck if you don't change. Which can be a difficult thing to do for some. Especially if it is a whole new concept.”

- Geawiel

“A lot of small businesses fail, its not just restaurants. Being able to cook tasty food is rarely the only thing that makes a restaurant succeed. At the end of the day, a restaurant is still a business and needs the fundamentals to succeed. Workflow, budgeting, marketing and so on. If you are not working on the restaurant as a business and working in the restaurant then more than likely it wont make it. (Work on your business not in your business).”

- clear831

Wedding colour trends are at the forefront of every mind related to the wedding industry. The foremost colour authorities choose the colour of the year, high fashion and home décor helps to set the trends and it bleeds into the wedding industry. What’s interesting to see is that everyone’s always interested in the trendiest colour of the season and not what’s been trendy across many different years and thus has staying power. A study like this is particularly important to vendors selling to the wedding industry such as party rental companies as it helps determine the colour choices they should be making investments in that will get them the biggest return on their investment and even better, the most rental turns possible.

I found this infographic that visually showcases the wedding colour trends over the past 15 years. It’s an illuminating graphic that also brings to light the fact that colour choices for brides are exploding now. There’s more colours to choose from than ever before. Check it out below:

 

For those not familiar with this dinnerware line, Pearl White Dinnerware is our budget friendly dinnerware collection for party rental companies, banquet halls and restaurants. It features straight lines, classic styling and offers the ability for any company in need of tabletop supplies to lower their operating expenses associated with their dishes.

Early this event season we had a customer completely wipe us out of a number of our pearl white dinnerware items by requiring thousands of pieces for an event. We placed another order almost immediately and I’m pleased to announce that our Pearl White dinnerware is now back in stock!

Now back in stock:

• Pearl White 6” Side Plate – $1.10
• Pearl White 7.5” Dessert Plate – $1.20
• Pearl White 9” Salad Plate – $1.50
• Pearl White 10.25” Dinner Plate – $2.50
• Pearl White 6” Bowl – $1.55
• Pearl White Soup Plate – $1.85
• Pearl White Rim Soup Plate – $1.85
• Pearl White Bell Cup & Saucer – $2.00
• Pearl White Can Cup & Saucer – $2.00

Reliable line cooks can be hard to find between the lazy and entitled line cooks out there. Finding a good cook that fits in with the team and has the work ethic and motivation to work in a restaurant are worth their weight in gold. But actually finding them is another story. Here’s some tips to use when weeding through the applicants as heard through this Reddit thread.

Look in-house for star performers

People in house more than likely already get along with the team and have an idea of how the back of house functions. Reddit user valicat has great advice “Check out the Dishwashers. They're trainable, they'll do anything you tell them, they already have a sense for how things work at your restaurant, and they probably are dying to not be dishwashers anymore.”

Create a short quiz for reading comprehension among other things

Providing a brief 10 minute questionnaire and asking questions like “why use a water bath for dessert” – not only will this give you an idea of their knowledge levels for cooking but it can also give you an idea of their attitudes. Some cooks may think a test is beneath them and that’s what you’re looking to weed out. You want a line cook with a passion for cooking and who wants to be a sponge and learn everything they can get their hands on.

Reddit user Nonyabiness states (NSFW) “One of the places I worked at in the past had exactly this, except it was a 5 or so page written test. They were very competitive and one of the best places in town.

Asked questions about how to make the basic mother sauces, proper food storage, temps for different proteins, etc. Even a few questions like "It's a busy Friday night and "x" happens. What do you do?"

It was a pain in the ass to sit there for an hour and complete the test, but I'll tell you that every cook in that kitchen was spot fucking on. The test was a great way to weed out idiots, and the lazy people would see the test and just walk out the door.”

Do a test run

This will quickly weed out who can follow a recipe, keep their station organized and clean etc. It also helps show how logical they are, how they interact with other staff, and whether they can organize cooking times to ensure all aspects of a meal hit the plate at the same time. From Reddit user JacquesBo’s experience, a test run can definitely be of benefit to you. “We did a test run with a guy, couldn't follow a recipe, or the notes he wrote himself, or damn near anything else. Lasted 2 shifts!”

Qualities to look for:

Look for willingness to learn, passion for cooking, honesty, work ethic, and task comprehension. As Reddit user Che_FJ says “longevity - 2-3 years in a previous job is almost too good to ask for now, I look for someone who left their job for a better one (not necessarily a better paying job) and how they left the first job.” If you take the time to train someone who’s got a desire to learn you might end up with a line cook like Reddit user hudson27 “I went for an interview at 18, with a BS resume and only a few years kitchen experience (mostly dishwashing and prep). The chef asked me to go through the motions of julienning an onion. I had no idea what I was doing, and they immediately turned me down.

Next day, I went to another interview, and they asked me some other relatively basic kitchen question, and I just had to tell them that I had little experience or knowledge on the line. He asked me, "But you want to learn? And you want to cook? That and honesty is pretty rare in young kids today, you got the job."

Been working there 3 years now and am about to go for my culinary arts degree next fall. More importantly though, my chef loves me because he trained me to do everything his way, and I'm always asking him questions and learning more.”

Hopefully this article gave you a start for how to hire a good line cook to join your back of house!

We’ve written about Aluminum Chiavari Chairs in the past, and there is certainly a business case for a company buying aluminum chairs. But we also like to talk about the problems that can be associated with products – so that prospective buyers have a real idea of what they can expect in the product they’re buying. This time around we’re talking about the problems associated with aluminum chiavari chairs.

Seams may be spot welded instead of fully welded

This may just be in our experience, but the only reason we don’t stock aluminum Chiavari chairs is we haven’t managed - in the 10 years the current management has owned the business – to find a supplier that could weld the chair in a way that the chair looked good. More often than not the aluminum Chiavari’s we’ve seen show noticeable weld spots.

Because of the softness of the metal, seats tend to feature permanent cushions with fixed plywood base to avoid seat damage

While not a structural problem per-se, picky brides will definitely object to this kind of seat as it doesn’t match a traditional wood Chiavari design. Also, from a rental inventory point of view, there’s no easy way to clean the cushion if it gets red wine on it. And it’s going to get red wine on it. Let’s be honest!

Metal material shows scratches with bare metal

With resin Chiavari chairs, the chair is of a similar resin to the core of the chair – meaning if a resin gold chair is scratched it’s not as noticeable. With a gold aluminum Chiavari, if the chair is scratched, the grey aluminum is showing through.

Water can cause damage to finish

Metal is a material that when exposed to water for periods of time can cause rusting to occur. Wood chiavari’s would have a similar problem with water though instead of rusting, other damage would occur like warping, expansion etc.

Often, only 1 horizontal chair rail instead of the traditional 2 horizontal chair rails

It varies from seller to seller but the most common chair design seen in the aluminum Chiavari chair is one rail on the front and sides of the chair, instead of the more traditional Chiavari design of two rails on each side and front.

Hopefully this post helps you understand the problems associated with aluminum Chiavari chairs so you can make an informed purchasing decision.