This just kind of fell into my lap

Added: It seem popular in the local area for folks to stop and have brunch on the way home from Sunday morning services.

Other than the food and incidentals about 4-5 hundred per month. Utilities covered under the rent and they pay the state license, at least until next year.

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Flaming Xtian
I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ.
Mahatma Gandhi


Libertarindependent

I always said if I had a restaurant I would serve killer fried chicken, do the sides right (biscuits, mashed potatoes, gravy, mac & cheese, and greens,) and 40's of domestic beer on red checkered table cloths.

Just like Gus's Fried Chicken in Memphis! (I hope to also have a mechanical bull, but I dont know how well that would go over with your clientele!)

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Rachel Haiku Heritage City Farm

We have 2 mom & pop places that serve breakfast all day. Almost everyone I know goes there when they are craving breakfast. Pancakes are way easy to make & offer an omlet where you pick the toppings, maybe a dish with eggs & toast w your choice of meat. These are easy things to make and fairly cheap.

Also a daily special is great. If you are open 7 days a wk then pick 7 dishes that you LOVE and serve them each only 1 day a wk. People will find there favorite and get in line on those days for the "daily special".

A few of the specials I can think of
Chicken & dumplings
Fish & chips
Chilli
Baked potatoes -- with lots of topping choices
BBQ
Roast Beef - open faced
Indian Tacos (only one place around serves these I LOVE them!!!)

Good Luck on your new adventure!

I was in England in 1965. They serve their fish and chips wrapped in newspapers. Actualy the newspaper help to draw off some of the oil. Man that was good.

Had a niece who owned a bar in Milwaukee. I suggested to her she serve Port Washington smoked fish when available. She actually checked into it but doing so would change her permit from a bar to a restaurant.

Consistency. Whatever you decide on for your menu, make sure it tastes the same every time. Nothing's more disappointing than having a delicious meal one time and going back the next time and it doesn't taste as good.

Congratulations on this opportunity. I hope it turns out exactly how you hope it will.

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~Carla~

I wish we were that lucky. We're offering as many locally produced items that we can get. We're two weeks away from opening so it's gonna be busy and I work full time. A lot of late nights coming up. We just found out that our "Labor and Industry" or "Workmans Comp" as it's sometimes called is $.40 on every $1.00. I told my wife we just may become a family run business if our customer base isn't large enough. That way we don't have to pay it. If you can find a good food service rep they can be a lifesaver in being able to tell you want items are the best selling in your area. Our's recommends if you can find it cheaper somewhere else buy or check with him to see if he can match the price.

I haven't read all the posts, but make sure that you give yourself at least one day a week of not being open or having someone else man it.

Good Luck.

Bob

I just got done working in a new restaurant which lasted less than a month. Here is my input for what it's worth:

Get a general idea of what a meal costs to produce then set your price accordingly. If something is too expensive, ditch it for something else or raise the price on something that is cheaper to produce to make up the difference. One example was a Chick-Fil-A I worked in. They made almost nothing on their chicken sandwich, but most people also bought fries and a drink, which were very cheap for the restaurant.

Watch your portions and make sure everyone serves the same portions. When it gets buy this will be difficult, but if someone gets a 1/2 pound burger one day and a 1/4 burger the next, they will not be happy. We served several kinds of salad and everybody made them differently. I watched the owner make a side salad, which was inexpensive, as big as a meal-type salad that was pricier. We formed our own burgers and again everyone did it differently size-wise.

Bulk is not always best if there is waste at the end. We had small bag of chips to go with sandwiches. We could do two plates with one bag, but the owner thought they were too expensive. He switched to large bags, but these were a pile of crumbs by the time we got to the bottom. We didn't have anything we could use the crumbs for.

If something has only caught on with a few people, it will rarely be profitable to keep on the menu. We served a bacon potato cream soup that was good even though it was frozen. Unfortunately it came in bags that serve maybe five, so it would sit all day in a pot or crock pot and the quality would go down. We could maybe stretch it two days, but usually ended up throwing it out or having an employee take it home. Salads were not popular so many of those ingredients would rot before we could use them (see above buying in bulk).

If you are planning on serving breakfast all day, there better be plenty of space in the kitchen. We tired this and it was a nightmare to switch from eggs to burgers then back again. Not to mention we just didn't have the space for eggs, bacon, sausage, pancakes, sandwiches, burgers, fries, toast, fruit, salads, etc., etc.

Staffing is always difficult. When it was slow, there is only so much cleaning and preparing you can do. It drove the owner nuts watching people stand around when nobody was coming in between breakfast and lunch and lunch and dinner. So, he would send them home only to have a sudden, unexpected rush or just to have the remaining employees disgruntled knowing they would have to work harder and longer to get everything done by closing (all for usually just over minimum wage). He worked it out with some who would work split shifts, but be available in case they were suddenly needed. If someone is willing to do this, fine, but to expect it is unfair. It is essentially keeping someone on the hook without paying them.

The owner had a 50% off deal with employees who were off duty, and a free meal when working an eight hour or longer shift. This was generous, but he had to have been losing money on the deal. He even applied it to employee's spouses and children when they would come in for a meal. Also, some people would work half a shift and take the free meal. There was nothing that was off limits, so if someone developed a taste for the most expensive item, so be it.

The owner hired an experienced and trained cook but then wouldn't listen to his advice. It drove the cook nuts. If you have someone more experienced than you, don't hesitate to swallow your pride and listen to what they have to say.

Well, that's it off the top of my head.

Sounds about right to me.

I would also add there may be regional favorites that could be the best sellers...I couldn't imagine a small place down here that didn't have a red beans & rice day (typically Monday) or that didn't serve a good gumbo.

Lastly, a word about the catering...one can make very good money catering, but people expect a step up in food for some affairs and they expect service for their money. I recently dropped $3500 for my daughter's wedding, but it was worth every penny. I hired the best guy around and people complimented me on the food for weeks afterward...

The place I worked in used eggs in a carton for scrambled eggs, omelets, and French toast. I thought that was strange.

Please put a note on your 2010 calander to give us an update say six months after you open.

Congrats! Sounds like a great opportunity. I would go for the home cooked thing as much as possible, but KISS. Pie is awsome, but cobbler is much easier and just as yummy to most. I actually like cobbler better. Get some cheap meats and put on the crock pots. Pulled pork, pot roast, chicken w/ tomatoes & mushrooms all can be made pretty much hands off in a crock pot.

Good luck to you both.

Peace-cathryn

I have worked in 2 different local restaurants for the past 22 years..... I have been thru 6 different employers during this time. Good food and good service will keep the customers and common sense and $ will keep the owners!! Homemade soup is a great seller and generally one of your most profitable items. I am a waitress but I do make all the soups and also some baked goods that are profitable also such as pineapple upside down cake/dream cakes/ho ho cake/rice pudding and bread pudding. Homemade pies cost wise just have never worked out for us, low profit especially if you don't sell every piece of the pie. Being it is a VFW you are probally talking alot of guys for customers....they want good guy food [ and stuff the wife won't let 'em eat hehe]. Some of our best selling guy sandwich specials are hot sausage/steak n cheese/pepper jack burger/italian sausage/kraut or chili dogs/and reubens. Our overall best selling special is creamed chicken over biscuits followed by turkey dinner, stuffed pork chops or chicken breasts. Best selling soups are Broccoli and cheese and ham n bean. Anything I can help you out with just let me know.