Opening a restaurant shortly

Slimbo

Hi all,

Myself and partners are just a couple of weeks away from opening a 120 seater restaurant in Dublin and I would appreciate any info or advice anyone out there can give me......apart from we are crazy in this current climate!!!

The plan is to open at 7am for coffee/teas/sanwiches/snacks etc,then through to lunch and finally to evening dinner service.

I would like to know if there is anyone has done this and what the pitfalls, pros/cons etc are.
I would like tokow what to expect from the start and if there are any upcoming shocks in store that i may have overlooked.

Any input would be great, thanks,

Slimbo

fatal

One thing that I have noticed recently in alot of eateries has been the shortage of staff.While you should be trying to save money wherever you can,when it comes to hiring staff,I think its one area where you can't try to cut back on too much.For example,there should always be someone at the till.He/she should not have to run around preparing food while also having to take money from customers.Yet, I see this happening so much lately.
Another thing is the menu.Simple is best,Don't complicate dishes.If you do the the simple things right, you will get alot of return business
Seriously,I wish you and your partner luck in this venture.The restaurant business is a very tough business these days.

jdivision

service, service, service and strict supervision of food quality.

fatal

jdivision wrote: »

service, service, service and strict supervision of food quality.

+1

chahop

Take your time and train your staff before you open, start off simple, and prepare to be flat out busy for a month or so.
Then the work realy begins.
What positions are you and your partners taking ?
Best of luck

dudara

Where will you be located?

If you're going to be open that early in the morning, then I think that it's important that the restaurant looks inviting and warm at that hour.

WindSock

Make sure your staff know how to make a decent coffee...

Also, late breakfast on weekends are good. There aren't enough of these places.

olaola

A handy breakfast is what I'd like to get in town. Not everyone wants a fry up! Things like porridge and toast. Even a decent bagel with decent cream cheese (option of low fat too) with a choice of toppings. Smoked rashers being my favourite (not the streaky kind… and not hanging around for ages either!) Bagel to be toasted - NOT put into a bleedin panini yoke. And please please please… DON'T deep fry your sausages! Option for grilled saussies & rashers too would be great.

I find it hard to get mixy-matchy brekkies in town. Usually it's a full on affair, and all I'd like is some hot toast and marmalade

I suppose, I've just described what goes on in my kitchen of a morning. I think there is a percentage of people who HAVE to get a breakfast in town, so it's not a treat. And all they want is something homely and healthy.

AARRRGH

My advice is to do it properly! There are so many crap cafes and restaurants out there.

Serve quality fresh food, with good service, in a nice atmosphere, and it'll work out for you. Examples of this are Chez Max, The Bald Barista, and Gruel.

Best of luck!

antoniosicily

Quality food and "chez max" or "gruel" can't stay in the same sentence, I'm sorry.

It depends if you want make money or not, if you care about money you shouldn't care so much about your food quality, the facts that you're using prime cuts or not or using selected ingredients; most of the people don't understand this, and most of the people have the majority of buying power (and money). You should just create a menu that meets the majority of everyone's tastes and be consistent. It doesn't matter if it's only burgers, steaks and things like these.

If you're doing this because you like cooking and good food, be careful about ingredients and choose a good chef, if you're consistent I think that in the long run you will be rewarded.

Be careful about where you open the restaurant, offer a lunch menu and find a place where there are lot of office, so you can catch these people. Anyway, please let us know when and where you open, because Dublin is missing new and good restaurants.

Cheers

mildews

Apart from the food aspect, make 100% sure that you get the HR end of things boxed off. Make sure that all your staff have clearly defined terms of employment and don't leave yourself open to problems down the road. Have everything in writing and never assume!!!

Mr. Presentable

No free meals for friends or friends of partners or you'll find them in every day eating your profits

JackieO

The best advice I can give you when starting your own business is that you (or one of the other owners) needs to be there ALL THE TIME. Staff will not behave the same when the boss is not around, there is generally lots of messing goes on and lots of things over-looked.

If I was to pick one thing that generally separates sucessful business for those that are less sucessful then this would be it.

The very best of luck with it. And please tell us where it is. It sounds like a great spot.

AARRRGH

JackieO wrote: »

The best advice I can give you when starting your own business is that you (or one of the other owners) needs to be there ALL THE TIME. Staff will not behave the same when the boss is not around, there is generally lots of messing goes on and lots of things over-looked.

Good advice.

Mark200

Good luck!

Zascar

Watch all of Gordon Ramsays Kitchen Nightmares.
He may be a pr!ck but he know's what he's doing

Diceicle

Marketing. Passing trade will get you so much but the more people aware of your restaurant the wider your potential customer base. For low cost solutions google up 'guerilla marketing' ...........get yourself onto menupages.ie as well. As someone who uses restaurants as often as possible I'll forgive a passable meal quicker than I forgive bad/rude service. Well trained staff are a must.

muckety

+1 re staff -set high standards and make sure they are adhered to. As owners, be SEEN to be very hands on - staff won't feel like working hard if they perceive that the owners are just 'supervising' (I say from bitter experience).

Mark200

muckety wrote: »

+1 re staff -set high standards and make sure they are adhered to. As owners, be SEEN to be very hands on - staff won't feel like working hard if they perceive that the owners are just 'supervising' (I say from bitter experience).

Yeah they'll learn from example too

YellowSheep

Hi Anon
Just let me know what questions and help you need.

Regards Oliver

eVeNtInE

This post has been deleted.

shels4ever

How did this go for you ?

Climate Expert

Zascar wrote: »

Watch all of Gordon Ramsays Kitchen Nightmares.
He may be a pr!ck but he know's what he's doing

I would say this as well particularly the UK ones. Watch his early show Boiling Point.
For a TV show its excellent at showing real case studies of businesses failing and the reasons for it.
1. Location has to be right.
2. Style and price of restaurant has to be right for the location.

Once those are out of the way then its just the business of good quality food and service.
Get good quality staff in be ready to let staff go if they are not up to the standard. If you've a passion for food and hosting then let that passion come accross. People will pick up on this and will always come back.