Restaurant owners, come in.

Hi, so I've been contemplating to open up my own place for years now and I finally decided to pull the trigger. I found a nice ~2000sqft place for lease near my house. There used to be a coffee shop similar to a Starbucks before so a lot has been done already, but it didn't have a kitchen so I essentially need to build one. It's going to be a chill French style Bistro, something that the area has a complete lack of.

Since it will be my first Restaurant I have done a lot of research, talked to a bunch of friends who own Restaurants/Bars but I still feel like I need to know more before I sign the contract. Any advice from folks here who own one? Anything to avoid? I know I'm going to make a lot of mistakes so I like to avoid making them as much as possible. Any advice would be helpful. Oh and when it's up and running, special discounts to E46Fanatics who live in the area Thanks.

Wheres it at? Is there parking? These are some of the most important things.

Chicago, yeah there is parking, it's in a strip mall.

I have worked in restaurants most of my life, ran them most of my adult life, and now run a large group of French bistros and restaurants in Manhattan (will be opening my own place by fall of next year.) I can help you with any specifics you need, but cant give just general tips since it's way too broad.

My question is, what do you know? Have you ever worked, cooked, ran, done P&L, staff training, service, marketing, etc in a restaurant? What is your experience?

If you want a general tip, here it comes. First of all, I'm sure you know the failure rate of restaurants, and there is a reason for it. It is one of the most difficult businesses (especially in a major city) to get right. Why do you want to open a restaurant? Making a ton of mistakes is unfortunately a death sentence for a restaurant, especially a new one. With restaurants, you don't get second chances, especially with the help of the internet, and sites like yelp that can bury you. You have to be honest with yourself, answer my questions honestly, and see if this business is for you (not saying it isn't.) I can't tell you how many people I know that lost their shirts opening restaurants because they thought a) they know good food, b) they think it will make them filthy rich, c) their friends said they would be good at it, d) it's just makes "sense" to them, etc. Also, are you getting a loan? Partners? Is there a commercial gas line there already? Do you have all the certifications ie certificate of occupancy, fire dept. certificate for the hood, is there a hood system/extraction, etc? What are you looking to put in financially? If it was a coffee shop and nothing else, you are looking about probably close to 100K in just equipment and permits.

Knowing you, this "restaurant" is probably a cover for a child prostitution ring

^What this guy said. Thats a pretty broad question. To outline some basic things to expect from owning AND running a restaurant:

-It can't be a "side" thing. You gotta dedicate ALL your time to it.
-Cleanliness is extremely important, and its alot of work.
-If you're in the kitchen and trying to manage the place, get ready for hell. Its very difficult to work a busy kitchen and oversee everything else.
-Who you hire and how they are managed is essential to success. etc etc

Its not worth making a post with everything you should know. You said you've been talking to owners but there still things you want to know. What do you wanna know?

Originally Posted by Hopz

^What this guy said. Thats a pretty broad question. To outline some basic things to expect from owning AND running a restaurant:

-It can't be a "side" thing. You gotta dedicate ALL your time to it.
-Cleanliness is extremely important, and its alot of work.
-If you're in the kitchen and trying to manage the place, get ready for hell. Its very difficult to work a busy kitchen and oversee everything else.
-Who you hire and how they are managed is essential to success. etc etc

Its not worth making a post with everything you should know. You said you've been talking to owners but there still things you want to know. What do you wanna know?

To be honest with the OP, if you are looking to open a place, you should have learned from someone else's mistakes by working in a restaurant for a few years. It *sounds* to me like you may be getting in WAY over your head, but again, I only have your first post to judge.

Originally Posted by NFRs2000nyc

To be honest with the OP, if you are looking to open a place, you should have learned from someone else's mistakes by working in a restaurant for a few years. It *sounds* to me like you may be getting in WAY over your head, but again, I only have your first post to judge.

sounds like op is not very knowledgeable in the food industry

i dont have small business experience but from a large franchised restaurant business i can tell you a few things.

employees! they are your most valuable asset. invest in their training if you have the know how to actually train them. more efficient you make them the happier the customers will be with their pleasant service and more money in the bank with lower labor %

food cost is a biggie. search high and low near and far for a great product at a very low price

also marketing is big. street signage and location location location

remember for a restaurant or at least the one i work in the top 3 expenses are
1.labor
2.food cost
3.utilities

also have a few core products that are the best you have and are real sale's drivers as well as profitable.. definitely offer fountain drinks which drive penny profits

Originally Posted by Stankia

Chicago, yeah there is parking, it's in a strip mall.

Where abouts? I'd definitely swing by once it's done.

Originally Posted by Wes

Knowing you, this "restaurant" is probably a cover for a child prostitution ring

knowing you , you will be a regular customer at this "restaurant" .

Originally Posted by mistrzmiasta

knowing you , you will be a regular customer at this "restaurant" .

Buy stock in sirius.

I've owned pieces of various restaurants over the years, usually as a silent partner, with Associates, friends, and one particularly disastrous time with a brother-in-law. Never actually ran one myself. But I can tell you what kills restaurants quicker than anything:

-Inconsistent food
-Too broad a menu, or changing menu
-Even the smallest hint of arguing with a diner about anything, whether it's your fault or not
-Too many irritating rules (minimum charge on credit cards, not holding tables until the entire party shows up, or only serving what's on the menu without adhering to a diner's request, as examples)
And the number one tiger trap:
-Making the experience unpleasant in any way (i.e., unmanageable youngsters, not enough parking, valets or hostesses that don't care, attitude, poor lighting, noise, loud music, etc.)

You're not in the restaurant business... you're in the entertainment/pleasure business. No one goes out to eat when they're pissed at someone, they go out to celebrate, to enjoy someone's company, to relax, to try new things and to return to what they like. Forget that, and forget success with a restaurant.

"You can make a small fortune with a restaurant, but you have to start out with a large fortune." I've probably made more than I've lost over the years, but I would be afraid of looking into it with any great detail. It's been more of a hobby for me...

Having said all that: If you have a great concept, tasty recipes (that hopefully aren't duplicated elsewhere), solid financial backing, talented front and back of the house, compelling advertising, and location, location, location... go for it! Good luck!

get a partner who will be an owner/manager who has extensive knowledge of managing a restaurant already. unless you have the capital to learn on the job, you can spend a significant amount of time and money trying to get things right before making a profit and in that biz the failure rate is very high. better to start off on the right foot from the beginning.

Originally Posted by mistrzmiasta

knowing you , you will be a regular customer at this "restaurant" .

Wes and southpaw

I think a good theme for Chicago is restaurant with a bunch of salt licks - the kind used for livestock. People just come in, sit down at the bar and lick as much salt as they want.

I can see this appealing to both locals and tourists. People from out of town won't be able to tell the difference between that and most of the food served at higher end Chicago eateries.

Originally Posted by mistrzmiasta

knowing you , you will be a regular customer at this "restaurant" .

Originally Posted by sea6speed

I think a good theme for Chicago is restaurant with a bunch of salt licks - the kind used for livestock. People just come in, sit down at the bar and lick as much salt as they want.

I can see this appealing to both locals and tourists. People from out of town won't be able to tell the difference between that and most of the food served at higher end Chicago eateries.

Originally Posted by sea6speed

I think a good theme for Chicago is restaurant with a bunch of salt licks - the kind used for livestock. People just come in, sit down at the bar and lick as much salt as they want.

I can see this appealing to both locals and tourists. People from out of town won't be able to tell the difference between that and most of the food served at higher end Chicago eateries.

people in chicago are fat


have you eaten at Revel in Seattle? friend of mine owns it

I've watched quite a few episodes of Kitchen Nightmares so I think I'm fully qualified to give advice here.

1. Don't hire your friends
2. Monitoring Yelp will consume your life
3. The restaurant business is hard as hell