Why do so many restaurants drop in quality?

[mb23100]

See this all the time. A restaurant opens to great reviews, has great food, seems to be doing well. Then all of a suddenly you can tell the quality of the food has dropped like they don't buy the same quality ingredients they used to. Most recently my favorite taco joint has done this which makes me sad. Do owners get greedy or are they just not profitable even though they are busy?

 

[Zebra Cheeks]

See this all the time. A restaurant opens to great reviews, has great food, seems to be doing well. Then all of a suddenly you can tell the quality of the food has dropped like they don't buy the same quality ingredients they used to. Most recently my favorite taco joint has done this which makes me sad. Do owners get greedy or are they just not profitable even though they are busy?

A lot of times with restaurants a few key staff changes can really mix things up. Also with out a very disciplined back of house staff upkeep becomes a problem. It takes a lot of work and dedication from everyone to keep all of the equipment properly maintained and cleaned.

 

[drstrangelov]

I assume cost cutting is a big part of it. In most cases, id rather pay a little more for the same quality product, rather than have the price stay the same and quality decline. Two of my go tos, one oyster bar and one barbecue joint in Boston basically pushed themselves out of my rotation by reducing portion size and overall quality on a few main items. Living in a city with a lot of competition for my business, it was an easy choice to start going somewhere else.

 

[Brom Bones]

I think it has to do with after that initial burst of business from the "let's check out the new joint" crowd, thing will level out. It takes a lot to start up a restaurant, like equipment costs, etc. To make back that investment post haste, they have to cut back somewhere and the easiest ones are labor and food costs.

But what the fuck do I know, I'm no expert. Ask a true expert like Johny Hendricks. He probably has some free time to discuss running a restaurant or cutting weight.

 

[HARRISON_3]

But what the fuck do I know, I'm no expert. Ask a true expert like Johny Hendricks. He probably has some free time to discuss running a restaurant or cutting weight.

View attachment 409275 View attachment 409277

 

[Orgasmo]

It's really simple.

1. Cost increase (staff wages, bills for utilities, rent, food)
2. Owner tries to cheap out on food or service to keep cost low, which impacts customer satisfaction.
3. Customers base is reduced, further reducing profit.
4. Turns into vicious cycle until the business folds.

Restaurants are a low margin profit business. For majority of eateries out there, you need to have a steady stream of customers to maintain profitability. That means resisting the urge to cut back on quality when you take a loss. If you open a restaurant, don't expect to make any profit for at least two years. At least 2/3 of new places go out of business, so jump in with caution.

 

[SFMMA]

Scenario A:

Very often a chef who opens a restaurant is not the actual owner. Outside investors see that chef getting great reviews and bringing in lots of business and then entice the chef to come open a new restaurant for more money and more creative freedom on the menu. The chef then brings along key staff like his sous chef, chef de cuisine, or workhorse line cooks to the new restaurant and the old staff at the old restaurant are left without a leader and a menu they can't cook as well as those who left.

Scenario B:

Even though a restaurant opens to rave reviews, the owner(s)/investor(s) realize the margins on their food aren't that great and bills are piling up. So the owner(s)/investor(s) cut costs in terms of the origin and quality of the food in order to stay profitable and the product suffers.

Scenario C:

Complacency, i.e., "Hey, we're making money, so why change what works?" Other restaurants open with new, fresh, and/or trendy ideas that patrons want and the audience moves on.

 

[bandicoot]

 

[Fatt Hughes]

It's really simple.

1. Cost increase (staff wages, bills for utilities, rent, food)
2. Owner tries to cheap out on food or service to keep cost low, which impacts customer satisfaction.
3. Customers base is reduced, further reducing profit.
4. Turns into vicious cycle until the business folds.

Restaurants are a low margin profit business. For majority of eateries out there, you need to have a steady stream of customers to maintain profitability. That means resisting the urge to cut back on quality when you take a loss. If you open a restaurant, don't expect to make any profit for at least two years. At least 2/3 of new places go out of business, so jump in with caution.

Above pretty much nailed it. Also, when a restaurant starts, they pretty much have an ace chef, cooks, or preparers. As time goes on, they move on, leaving the inexperienced staff at the helm using the recipes, but without the other necessary skills needed for prep. By then, they already hooked their loyal customers and built a rep so they can cut back on food quality.

 

[ThunderL1ps]

Delusional management. Bad management in general.

 

[puppybird]

because business