Monday, August 11, 2008
Dallas’ Restaurant Week: Beneficial or beastly?
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For a certain set of diners (hint: they pinch their pennies), Dallas’ annual Restaurant Week is the pinnacle of the year.
Restaurant Week info
- Restaurant Week 2008 -- 1 week participants
- Restaurant Week 2008 -- 2 week participants
- Restaurant Week 2008 - 3 week participants
- Free iPhone app includes feature that shows nearest Restaurant Week participants to your current location
At this annual charity eat-a-thon, which begins on August 11, diners get a three-course meal – appetizer, entrée, and dessert – for $35, with proceeds benefiting the North Texas Food Bank.
Demand has grown sufficiently over the years that the initial "Restaurant Week" has expanded to three weeks, plus an additional preview weekend that started on August 8. Participating restaurants – approximately 120 this year – are deluged with reservations and their dining rooms quickly fill. It all seems "win-win."
What restaurants won’t come out and say on the record is that many of them secretly loathe the whole thing. To grouse publicly is to appear uncharitable; but for many participants, it's become a necessary evil, despite the toll it takes on staff and the bottom line.
"The way I see it, we dread it every year," says Anthony Alvarez, owner of Hattie’s in Bishop Arts, laughing as he says it. "Once we get into it, I think it's great, I do like the cause. It's spending money on something we really do believe in. But anything out of the norm, it’s 'Oh God, here we go again.' We just want to make sure our regular guests who are not participating are able to get in and enjoy their evening."
Service staffers especially grit their teeth through meals for diners who often come with high expectations and low tips.
"I’ve worked at several different restaurants including III Forks and Cool River Café, and at those places, you don't get a big return," says Leon Davis, currently manager at Kenny's Wood Fired Grill. "A lot of the people who come during that week are people that aren't typically going to put that restaurant into their rotation because of the price point. I’ve seen it from the waiter perspective; the staff in general at a place like that doesn't look forward to it. It’s different for us at Kenny’s because the price point is pretty much our average price anyway, so we just pull things off our menu."
Kenny's is typical of the kind of restaurant that reaps the biggest rewards. These usually fall into two categories: mid-priced restaurants and places trying to carve out a name for themselves such as Bolla, the Italian restaurant at the recently remodeled Stoneleigh Hotel.
"For a new restaurant, it helps bring people in," says F&B manager Audrey Petross. "After the list was announced, we saw a spike in reservations and we’re sold out the first week."
In an environment in which restaurants have been dropping like flies, it can be intoxicating to see lots of reservations on the books. Capital Grille at Crescent Court already has 189 reservations for tonight -- unheard of for a Monday night. Go Fish in Addison, which holds 65 total, has 50 guaranteed seats every night this week. Grill on the Alley had reservations for 220 last Saturday vs. its usual 150. Trece in Travis Walk already has 186 down for Saturday, a 40% increase over a regular Saturday night. Even Grand Met at the DFW Airport, which usually welcomes more drop-ins than reservations, has at least 20 on the books every night this week.
Who does not benefit are high-end places with an already-established customer base -- inevitably the places Restaurant Week diners want to try, says Brian Smith, a bartender-manager at Popolos Café.
"Restaurant Week doesn’t hurt us [at Popolos] because the average price for a 3-course meal here is $35 anyway,” he says. "It’s a different thing for someplace like Abacus, where they have to do a whole entire separate Restaurant Week menu. I have friends who work at places like that, and they HATE it. For them, it’s a loss of money."
But for a certain caliber restaurant, to not-participate puts them at risk of receiving negative publicity. This year, for example, the Rosewood Mansion on Turtle Creek came on board July 28, two weeks after the list was initially announced.
The thing to keep in mind is that restaurants at that level are being hit on for freebies every day, says Jeff Bradford, a manager at Steve Fields' Steak in Plano.
"You look at Bob's, they're not doing it," he says. "They get five to six requests a day -- every day, it's, 'Can we get a $100 gift certificate?' 'We'd like a giveaway for our fund-raiser.' It's hard not to feel that, if you don't do it, you're missing the boat."
It's also hard to say no when you know that dining rooms can often be dead in the heat of summer.
"August is one of the slowest months," says restaurateur Rick Stein, who was forced to shutter his namesake steakhouse in July. "Something like Restaurant Week may not be hugely profitable but it’s enough to keep you afloat."
To keep costs down, restaurants: limit the number of seats dedicated to Restaurant Week; serve smaller portions – a 6-ounce chop instead of an 8-ounce; or substitute a less expensive cut. Some such as The Grape ditch the regular menu altogether; by focusing on a special Restaurant Week menu, they can simplify operations.
"We're definitely going to have a full week," says manager Benjamin Burt. "We're even renting tables to add additional seating."
On the flip side is a place like Chamberlain's Steak, where chef Richard Chamberlain uses the week as an excuse to experiment with dishes like Kobe beef with spicy tomato jam.
"With restaurants closing this year and the sagging economy, it's hard to deal with the decline you see in the summer, especially for steakhouses," says Chamberlain's manager John Richardson. "A big steak with a heavy red wine when it's 110 degrees outside is not the right combination. August is busy mainly because of Restaurant Week."
And secretly, everyone hopes against hope that it'll all be worth it -- that the Restaurant Week diner won't be a one-time customer.
"We try to think of it as an advertisement, a promotion for people who couldn’t check us out otherwise, and hope they return for a special occasion," says John Sarvarian, manager at St. Martin's Wine Bistro. "Sometimes they do."
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Comments
margie Anonymous
Well, the people at North Texas Food Bank must see it as beneficial. It's a very generous donation from the cost of each meal. Surely, no one has any complaints about that.
3 months, 3 weeks ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )
DC Anonymous
We tried a few restaurant week places in the last two years; Oceanaire, Al Biernat's, etc.
I'd say the food and service at those times compared to the rest of the year could easily be described as ghastly. This year - pass.
3 months, 3 weeks ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )
xdavidwattsx Anonymous
Excellent article, TGub. It's good info. I did Lavendou for preview weekend on Saturday. I have Craft, Kenny's, Abacus, Hibiscus and Stephan Pyle's lined up over the coming weeks.
Certainly, I am not their normal clientele as I could not normally afford to eat at these places. However, they need to look at it like it's an opportunity to recruit me for later. There may be future times where I have guests in town or want to celebrate a birthday that I might opt for one of these places if I have a good experience there. Then I would be willing to dine from the normal menu.
If I have a bad experience or feel treated like second class there's a good chance I'll never go back or recommend it to someone.
So while they may not be operating at typical profit margins, it's seems like a good opportunity for future growth. Plus, it's for a good cause.
3 months, 3 weeks ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )
David Gouldin Staff
Eh, I think I'll stick to my passbook coupons where they don't know you're a 2nd class diner until the check comes. :)
3 months, 3 weeks ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )
xdavidwattsx Anonymous
Yeah, but I think those are only good at Bennigans and they closed.
3 months, 3 weeks ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )
David Gouldin Staff
(shrug) Got me a free entree at Lavendou.
3 months, 3 weeks ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )
Donna Chen Verified
The other problem is that the "one time" customers walk in with too high of expectations. In the past, people have complained about Abacus' 2-hour limit on RW seating policy. Abacus is trying to get in as many reservations as possible and raise more money for the food bank. However, it seems that the RW diners are offended by this "rushed" meal. So the real question is, are the diners going to RW because they want to do something good for charity (in which case I would imagine they could overlook the seating situation at Abacus), or are they just trying to get a good deal?
3 months, 3 weeks ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )
chrisdanger Anonymous
My whole thing with restaurant week is it needs to be done twice a year with separate restaurants during each go round. Once in July/Aug. and again in Feb/March,both focusing their energies on that time of years cuisines and the eateries that specialize in those. Also, gratuity needs to be attached to the purchase as well, I have friends who've worked it for a few years and they loathe both the rush and the cheapskates who take advantage of it.
3 months, 3 weeks ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )
david denney Verified
I'm with DC.
Even with the 2-hour limit, Abacus will do almost 4 full seatings - that is a helluva lot of work when the check avg is cut in half.
I'm surprised TG didn't mention Central Market's annual free 4th Course certificates. Those are always nice to have handy.
3 months, 3 weeks ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )
xdavidwattsx Anonymous
Unfortunately I wasted 2 CM coupons at Lavendous the other night. They were good for pate. Ick.
Oh, and the 2 hour thing doesn't really bother me. Unless you're a REALLY SLOOOOOW eater, 2 hours should be more than enough time to gorge yourself on a 4 course meal.
3 months, 3 weeks ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )
DC Anonymous
If I were to have based any of my future dining choices on restaurant week experiences, I'd never have gone back. The prime rib and tilapia dealers must have a field day around this time.
3 months, 3 weeks ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )
Alex Bentley Staff
Regarding gratuity, how is one supposed to know the "proper" gratuity on a meal they're being charged $35 for? I always tip at least 20%, so is my server going to be ticked at me for giving him "only" $7?
3 months, 3 weeks ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )
sassathon Anonymous
I hate hearing places complain about participating in RW. If you don't like it, pass on the opportunity.
Personally, I think it does benefit places. I had never even heard of Lavendou until I saw them on the RW list, as I never go anywhere near North Dallas. I went for dinner on Saturday night and had a fantastic meal. I'm still daydreaming about the lavender creme brulee, so I can guarantee I will return there in the future. I can't imagine I'm in the vast majority here.
3 months, 3 weeks ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )
dystopian Anonymous
I agree with sassathon with regard to restaurants complaining about RW. I signed my restaurant up for a few years and disliked the experience (as did my staff), so we don't participate any longer.
My restaurant's price point and cuisine attract a thin sliver of the dining market and RW works like a shotgun, bringing you all types and many, many who are totally out of their element. I would never try to market my place to an audience that isn't geared to what we are doing, but that is exactly what RW does (at least in my case). BTW, my regulars are also happy about us not participating in RW as they don't have to avoid us during most of August.
3 months, 3 weeks ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )
xdavidwattsx Anonymous
Good for you. If you're not going to go all in and try to please all guests then one shouldn't bother doing it at all. I'd never judge a place for not doing it, but I'd judge one for doing it half assed.
That said, half the point of RW (besides charity) does seem to be to allow people who normally wouldn't be able to afford a place to eat at a place. I'm not sure why people should feel bad about that.
Alex, I'm the kind of guest that will go beyond and order wine and espresso so my bill is usually above the $35 so with two people and a $100 tab there still a $20 tip. I'm not sure what kind of server complains about a $20 tip when he's working several tables in 1 1/2 hours. That's not exactly peanuts. If they do complain then they can suck it.
3 months, 3 weeks ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )
cookingfresh Anonymous
Some things to consider.First and foremost it benefits 2 very worthy charities. The North Texas Food Bank and the Lena Pope home. Secondly, before RW these were some of the slowest weeks in the biz, now a least everyone in the restaurant gets to work their full shifts and make money to pay their bills and finally it prepares the restaurants for the upcoming party season. Hopefully lets you work the kinks out. Also has anyone noticed how many places are closing these days? A small profit is better than no job. Take a look at how unbusy all the places that don't participate in RW are. It's kinda like Community Service, you may not want to do it but you should feel good about it. Just my thoughts....
3 months, 3 weeks ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )
DC Anonymous
I don't think anyone questions the causes, but even at $35, after you add a drink or two, it's almost a C note night. I'm sure there are hundreds of awesome restaurants that are totally awesome to the awesomest degree. However, I don't really condone spending a hundred bucks to get seated outside of a lavatory only to eat buffet food while getting treated like a nuisance.
The tipping thing only further irritates the situation. I've felt like I'm at Medieval Times when it comes to the tips during restaurant week.
So, this year it's work, a donation to operation kindness and refining my ramen base.
3 months, 3 weeks ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )
Emmieb Anonymous
We look at restaurant week as both an opportunity to donate to charity and try out a new restaurant. We work higher-end restaurants into our going out budget, which means we're not "out of our element" and I don't notice the second-class treatment.
What does bother me is that this years posted menu seem to focus primarily on steak and/or salmon. I can make that at home. If you're trying to entice me to your restaurant this is the perfect time to highlight a specialty of the house. Chamberlains has the right idea.
This is supposed to be a fun week. If the restaurant can't enjoy itself, then perhaps it should make a donation based on profits off of regular, full-priced meals and opt-out of the rest of restaurant week.
3 months, 3 weeks ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )
margie Anonymous
I kind of think we can't expect any restaurant to spend the extra bucks on ingredients when they're charging so little. I was at the Mansion last night and didn't get out of there for less than $200. But, I ordered what I wanted and had a terrific experience. Part of the fun is seeing what a great chef can do with a piece of pork loin or salmon. You've piqued my interest about Chamberlain's though!
3 months, 3 weeks ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )
mitzi74 Anonymous
Yes, tell us more about Chamberlain's. I'm curious.
3 months, 3 weeks ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )
Billusa99 Anonymous
Like all things in life, RW has good points, but now it is not aging well.
Places we have been exposed to via RW and still frequent: Suze (always #1), Iris (closed), Hector's, Abacus, DragonFly, Arcodoro, Stephen Pyles, Mercury.
Losers: Nove
And, just like life everyday, it all depends how you walk through the door to begin with. Walk through the door expecting it to be the same as a Friday in March and you may be disappointed. Walk through the door expecting to get the same things they serve then too, you may be disappointed. Get on the tollway on Friday and expect it to sail at 60, you may be disappointed.
It's all how you approach it.
Then, it's how they approach it.
If they can't suck it up and present you with an experience that will bring you back, then no amount of "peer pressure" should make them do RW and feel forced to run their room that week in a way they do not want you to see it at every other time.
That's just plain stupid management. If they can't make that clear from top to bottom with their staff then that's stupid management. No amount of inside-scoop-complaints from RW-servers will change that. Period. Full stop.
3 months, 3 weeks ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )
Scott Doyle Verified
Why do you hate charities, Billy?
3 months, 3 weeks ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )
Scott Doyle Verified
Couldn't concur more, btw. If you approach it as a hindrance, customers will easily pick up on that and not bother returning at ordinary times/prices. L2restaurant
3 months, 3 weeks ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )
Erik Dickison Verified
In regards to whether RW is good for the restaurant and servers, everything in the article appears to be based on gut feelings, and nothing based on fact.
RW is a win/win/win for everyone involved. Here are the facts: since RW started, one restaurant participating has doubled their average daily sales, the total $ tips per server has increased 46%, and they have "auditioned" their restaurant to an average of 321 additional guests per day. Sure, everyone has to work a little harder, but it is all for a good cause, and the bottom line is:
EVERYONE WINS!
3 months, 2 weeks ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )
Mike Orren Staff
Hi Erik:
Thanks for the perspective. Can you give us a clue as to the restaurant who had such success?
3 months, 2 weeks ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )
xdavidwattsx Anonymous
How can nothing be based on fact when the author got quotes straight from restaurant owners? What is untrue?
3 months, 2 weeks ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )
cookingfresh Anonymous
It's kinda like ANYTHING else in this world, it boils down to YOU get what YOU put into it. If your positive and upbeat so goes your staff, so goes your sales, so goes your life.....
3 months, 2 weeks ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )
05091958 Anonymous
Restaurant Week, like most things in life, is what you make it. When I was the chef at Lola it was one of our highest revenue weeks. Food cost was a little high but for a crappy month like August we could take it. Cash flow is a good thing. RW is a great way to have potential new customers experience your restaurant. Treating them anything but fantastic is just dumb.
Never play down to the small percentage of people who will take advantage of the situation. If you don't want to participate in RW as an owner just write the Food Bank a check, get your tax write off, and save yourself a lot of trouble and bad word of mouth.
Here is something RW patrons may not realize. If you are in an establishment that is providing you a $50 value for $35 (the restaurant really gets $28 after the charitable donation), you shold tip on $50. If I go out to eat at a friends place and they decide to discount or comp me I leave a tip based on 25% of what I think the bill would have been! You just got a deal, don't get stingy with the waiter! Jamie Samford, http://www.winnmeat.com
.
3 months, 2 weeks ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )
DC Anonymous
Watch yourselves, the August Tip Fascists are starting to come out!
3 months, 2 weeks ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )
xdavidwattsx Anonymous
"Cash flow is a good thing. "
I don't think this can be overstated.
3 months, 2 weeks ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )
Teresa Gubbins Staff
how lovely to get feedback from working chefs like jamie sanford and cookingfresh. thanks for your input
3 months, 2 weeks ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )
Erik Dickison Verified
Unfortunately, I do not have permission to disclose the restaurant, as they are a client. I will say this however: this location is not alone. All of my local clients are showing similar gains so far.
When I mentioned the gut feelings above, I was referring to the quotes in the article, not the author's statements.
3 months, 2 weeks ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )
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