Forecasters say restaurant revenues will reach record levels in 2012 – jumping 3.5 percent over last year – while the industry’s employment numbers return to what they were before the recession.

It’s a fry cry from the blues local restaurateurs were singing a few years ago at the peak of the downturn, when their revenues plummeted as low as 40 percent and Bay Area eateries were closing at nearly twice the national average. But experts here say San Francisco is now on target to meet the national sales numbers – and maybe even beat them.

Continue reading . . .

Texas restaurants are slowly recovering from the recession, but difficult conditions remain because of rising food and utility prices and consumer spending caution, industry officials say.

“It’s still really tough out there,” said Wendy Saari, vice president for marketing with the Texas Restaurant Association.

However, Texas is doing better than some states, with sales projected to grow this year.

Whether they specialize in chicken-fried steaks, Tex-Mex dishes or fine French cuisine, many Texas restaurant owners are trying to find ways to regain the customer base they had before the 2008 economic meltdown.

Continue reading . . .

Increases in food and fuel prices have dished out some difficult times for local restaurant owners.

Teo Estrada, a co-owner of nine Mi Rancho Mexican restaurants, said the stagnant economy is dealing his businesses a tough blow.

“It doesn’t seem like it’s going to get any better quickly. We’re struggling,” Estrada said. “We’re catching hell with the bills. We’re not making money like the way we used to, just basically paying the bills. Everything has gone up, and we can’t really go up (in prices) because of the people … no jobs. It’s bad.”

Continue reading . . .

Rick Putney was looking forward to celebrating his wife Susan’s birthday with a special dinner at one of their favorite restaurants. But the locked door and shuttered windows at Anita’s Restaurant told them what many of the establishment’s regular clientele already knew: The restaurant, which opened in November, had recently closed.

Restaurant owner Anita Bosworth said business had fallen off to the point where she could no longer absorb the financial losses. Although her investors were willing to hang on, Bosworth conceded that perhaps Spring Hill wasn’t ready to embrace her dining concept, which included stylish decor, an inviting atmosphere and a health-conscious menu.

Anita’s isn’t the only Hernando County restaurant that has fallen victim to tough economic times.

Continue reading . . .

High prices for gasoline and food and the lingering effects of the Great Recession aren’t good news for restaurant chains, but two KeyBanc analysts say there’s good news, too.

In a note to clients Tuesday morning, analysts Brad Ludington and John Dravenstott noted that their stock index of 39 restaurants is up 12.5 percent since the beginning of the year, versus 5.8 percent for the S&P 500.

While the jobless rate isn’t as low as anyone would like it to be, it does bring one benefit to restaurants: lower employee turnover. Also, restaurants have done a good job of handling rising commodities costs, the analysts said, and even a small drop in gas prices can encourage people to spend money on eating out.

Continue reading . . .

The restaurant industry appears on the road to recovery, but it will remain a slow, bumpy ride, according to the NPD Group, which expects restaurants will continue to offer deals to lure customers.

Traffic to restaurants was basically flat last year, NPD said, but visits to restaurants fell from 62 billion in 2007, the year the Great Recession began, to 59 billion in 2010.

“We bottomed out last year,” NPD industry analyst Bonnie Riggs said, noting the latest recession was the worst since NPD began tracking the industry in 1976. “Never before have we seen weakness of this magnitude for this prolonged period of time. Through 2010, the rate of decline slowed. It was still negative, but not as weak. But in the fourth quarter, the decline stopped.”

Continue reading . . .

The National Restaurant Association praised the U.S. House for voting overwhelmingly late yesterday to pass the bipartisan tax agreement and send it to President Obama for his signature. The Association supported the compromise as a positive and effective package to strengthen our economy.

“The National Restaurant Association believes this tax agreement is vital to economic recovery, and we commend the White House and bipartisan Congressional leaders for moving this compromise package,” said Scott DeFife, Executive Vice-President for Policy and Government Affairs. “The bill will provide certainty for the next couple of years that both encourages business investment and allows consumers to keep more of their income, which will help spur more economic activity.”

“The industry has been hard hit by the downturn in the economy,” said DeFife. “Restaurant operators large and small need the measure of certainty this package will bring and could ill afford the tax increase failure to pass this agreement would have caused. President Obama and Congressional leaders in both parties deserve great credit for working together to enact this effective tax compromise to strengthen our economy.”

The Association is pleased with the following provisions included in the in the new law:

• Allow businesses to fully expense capital investments in 2011
• Extension for 2010 and 2011 of many expiring tax provisions, including 15-year depreciation for restaurant property
• Extension through 2011 of the Work Opportunity Tax Credit (WOTC)
• Extension through 2012 of the individual rates for all taxpayers
• Estate tax treatment for 2011 and 2012 at a 35 percent rate with a $5 million exemption
• Reduction in the Social Security payroll tax for individuals from 6.2 percent to 4.2 percent in 2011

The Association will continue to work for action on important items not included in the package, specifically repeal of the onerous 1099 reporting requirement enacted as part of the new healthcare law.

Founded in 1919, the National Restaurant Association is the leading business association for the restaurant industry, which comprises 945,000 restaurant and foodservice outlets and a workforce of nearly 13 million employees. Together with the National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation, the Association works to lead America’s restaurant industry into a new era of prosperity, prominence, and participation, enhancing the quality of life for all we serve. For more information, visit our Web site at www.restaurant.org.

Contact:

Mike Donohue
(202) 331-5902

Maureen Keith
(202) 331-5939

Hiring in the restaurant industry is picking up steam, experts say, and has been a major contributor to the economic recovery across the nation and in the Miami Valley.

Since the beginning of the year, U.S. bars and restaurants have added 143,000 jobs, growing at four times the rate of the rest of the economy, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Restaurant jobs historically have been seen as a bellwether of the economy. When the local economy suffers — the Dayton area lost an estimated 37,000 jobs from 2005 to 2009, according to the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services — so too do local restaurants, as budget-conscious consumers cut back on eating out.

Continue reading . . .

Romeo Rendon decided to open a restaurant during one of the worst economic times America has seen.

“I poured my heart and soul into that restaurant,” he said.

He has now closed it and sold the space to another local restaurant looking to expand.

Although closing his own restaurant was sad, Rendon said the expansion of another local business is a sign of hope that things are getting better for the industry.

Continue reading . . .

Walk into any restaurant along a busy street in downtown Baltimore and you might be pleasantly surprised by the hustle and bustle of diners and wait staff. Sure, we’re in a recession, but people gotta eat.

On the other hand, you could walk into a restaurant that’s eerily quiet. Remember, we’re in a recession. People are eating at home.

Ask any restaurateur these days for a status report on the health of the restaurant business in Maryland and you’ll get guarded optimism mixed with a little worry. Most agree that life for restaurants is better than it was a year ago. But many will say it’s still a mixed bag of bad months and good months — and no consistent trend of things looking up.

So, with the fear of the unknown come new marketing strategies, including lots of social media and some creative pricing packages. Restaurants are also learning the value of truly connecting to the community they call home and making sure their new and regular customers are given top-notch food, delivered with a smile.

Continue reading . . .

While consumers quickly cut their expenditures on eating out when the economy turned bad, there are now signs they’re slowly easing away from such austerities. Recent research shows the movement is anything but robust, though. As restaurant marketers try to lure diners back and to wean them from a single-minded focus on price, they’ll look to trends like a boom in snacking to give business a boost. 

Given the breadth of consumers’ tendency to cut back on eating out as the economy soured, it has to count as good news when there’s a slowing in the rate of decline in restaurant traffic and revenues “compared to steeper declines in previous quarters.” That’s what a report this month from The NPD Group noted for the first quarter of 2010. At commercial restaurants (i.e., excluding food service at schools, hospitals, lodging and so on), traffic was down 2 percent and consumer spending down 0.3 percent from year-earlier levels. At fast-food restaurants, the 2 percent decline in traffic was just half as bad as the 4 percent slide seen as recently as last year’s third quarter.

Continue reading . . .

The lingering effects of the recession are still persuading a lot of people to eat at home, but that has not stopped three chains from setting up shop within a quarter-mile of each other in Temecula in the past 10 weeks.

The most recent is the Tilted Kilt, a sports bar and midpriced restaurant that combines a Celtic theme with huge television screens and waitresses in provocative costumes. The eatery, located on an Ynez Road pad outside The Promenade mall in Temecula, was scheduled to open Saturday. Lazy Dog Café, a casual sit-down restaurant headquartered in Huntington Beach, opened at The Promenade in April, and a month before that the Spicy Pickle sandwich shop opened at the Temecula mall under local franchise ownership.

The new dining choices come despite an economy that has shown signs of improving this year but still doesn’t scream “disposable income” for much of the Inland area.

Continue reading . . .

At David Burke Townhouse, the average bottle of red wine has crept back up over $100. At Delmonico’s, diners ordered nearly twice as many white truffles compared to last year’s season. And at Aldea, the new lobster gazpacho appetizer is selling briskly at $16 a pop.

New York City’s restaurant industry is showing signs of recovery, digging itself out of an economic downturn that forced the business to dial back the luxury and amp up the discounts.

Some white-tablecloth restaurants have seen sales rise around 10% this year, and restaurateurs are expressing renewed, albeit cautious, optimism.

“A lot of my higher-priced items on the menu are selling without hesitation,” said George Mendes, partner/chef at Aldea. “I put a lobster gazpacho on the menu last week for $16, and it’s selling. That gives us hope. Things might not be completely recovered, but I think I can safely say that we’re on the road to recovery.”

Continue reading . . .

If the recession has been like a long cold winter blanketing the restaurant industry, think of table linens and meat grinders as tulips.

Green shoots are popping up across the $390 billion restaurant industry, often in the form of accessories and equipment that were more often catalog pictures than purchased goods during the downturn.

  Orders are up at several North Texas companies that sell restaurant furniture, equipment and other nonfood items. That’s led to cautious optimism as they head to Chicago this weekend for the annual restaurant trade show sponsored by the National Restaurant Association.

Continue reading . . .

Oscar Melara wanted to open a Cuban restaurant, and when space became available at the Berry Town Center in Davenport, he jumped at the opportunity. There was only one problem: his timing.

“We opened in May of last year,” he said of his 3 Nena’s Bakery & Deli. At the time, the nation’s economy appeared to be in free fall and the country was shedding upward of 700,000 jobs per month. Central Florida’s economy was being rocked by the crash of the housing market, a skyrocketing home foreclosure rate, and one of the nation’s highest unemployment rates.

A lot of Melara’s friends thought it was the worst possible time to open a restaurant.

“Everyone told me it was crazy to do it,” he said. “But we decided we wanted to do it on our own.”

Continue reading . . .

It took more than a year, but American diners are coming out of hiding, starting to splurge on everything from tea to tacos and tacking on dessert.

The meals aren’t fancy — and business is far from what it was before the recession sent the nation spiraling — but restaurateurs big and small say they are breathing a tentative sigh of relief as tables fill up.

Grand Rapids restaurateur Greg Gilmore said he is not certain what is driving the change in West Michigan, but sales are up at his restaurants, which include The B.O.B., Rose’s on Reeds Lake, Blue Water Grill and Kirby Grill.

“I don’t know if it’s because things are loosening up or because the weather has been awesome,” he said. “But our revenues are trending 10 percent above last year.”

The apparent industry thaw is heartening to many operators who saw sales plunge and many places close their doors during what was widely considered a dismal 2009.

Continue reading . . .

After a chilly two years, diners are warming up to eating at restaurants again.

Business has not returned to prerecession levels, but some restaurateurs said they are encouraged as tables fill up.

At Roxy’s Cafe across from the state Capitol, crowds are growing by the day.

“I think it’s going the right way. The market is up a little bit. The last two months have been beautiful months,” owner Richard Hanna said.

Business at Spice in Harrisburg has jumped by 15 percent during the last year, owner Eric Desrosiers said.

“Overall, [consumers'] confidence is up. They are hearing the good stuff. The stock market is up, and they are starting to spend,” he said.

Continue reading . . .

David Hulme, owner of The Pine Club, said he can measure his customers’ growing optimism by what’s going on in his Dayton restaurant’s dining room.

The traditionally slow early week business — those Monday and Tuesday night diners who typically make a spur-of-the-moment decision to go out to eat — is up, which Hulme described as “an important sign.” The average amount of diners’ checks is rising, meaning customers are ordering more expensive steaks and better wines. And Hulme said he is seeing his regular customers more often.

“After being in the restaurant business in Dayton for 35 years, all of these indicators taken as a whole tell me that there is growing confidence in our community — and the Dayton restaurant industry is beginning to feel that confidence,” Hulme said.

It’s a resurgence being felt nationwide. The National Restaurant Association’s Restaurant Performance Index (RPI) — a monthly barometer that tracks the health of and outlook for the country’s restaurant industry — jumped 1.4 percent from February, rising above 100 for the first time in 29 months, a level that signifies expansion in the index of key industry indicators.

Continue reading . . .

On many weeknights last year, in the depths of the recession, Tursi’s Latin King restaurant in Des Moines closed one of its three dining rooms and pared its kitchen to a skeleton crew.

Now, all three rooms are open on most nights, and the kitchen is busy again.

“These last couple of months are a lot better than they were last year,” said Robert James Tursi, whose family owns the restaurant, an upscale establishment that specializes in steaks and Italian food. Food sales were about 10 percent higher in February and March than they were during the same months a year ago, he said.

Restaurants all over the country are beginning to see signs of a potential recovery after a dismal 2009. Sales at some restaurants have risen in the last few months, and the industry has hired thousands of additional workers.

“There’s no question about this,” said Harry Balzer, chief industry analyst at the NPD Group, a market research firm that tracks sales at 47 restaurant chains with a total of 103,000 outlets. “There’s a recovery going on.”

Continue reading . . .

The restaurant industry, with expenses that can skyrocket with the price of gas and revenue that can tank because of bad weather, is certainly not immune to the weak economy.

But some restaurants aren’t taking the punch on the nose or just trying to outlast the downturn; rather, they’re diversifying diners’ options by opening new venues with more frugal menu choices and offering a different type of dining experience with more value and smaller checks.

“The beauty of restaurants is that they can think of things today and implement them tonight,” said Paul Hartgen, president and CEO of the Restaurant Association of Maryland, an industry advocacy group.

And this creativity has created a line between restaurants that are adapting to the economy and ones that are suffering from it, he said.

Continue reading . . .

Restaurants in Orange County are enjoying some good times lately. But many operators wonder if it’s a temporary boon driven by big promotions or a sign that diners are finally ready to spend money again.

“The overall trend is that people are ready, even eager to dine out more,” said Erin Deviny, sales manager at the Rusty Pelicanin Newport Beach.

Thad Foret, managing partner at Antonello Ristorante in Orange County, said some evenings are unexpectedly packed, which gives him a “feels like old times” sense of security.

But, like other restaurateurs, he knows that’s not reality.

Two big dining events over the past two months – Orange County Restaurant Week and Valentine’s Day – have triggered much of the dining out frenzy among local foodies.

Restaurant week drew hundreds of diners to 100 O.C. restaurants that provided discounted gourmet meals ranging from $10 to $40 per person. Over the weeklong event, reservations were up 20 percent compared with last year’s inaugural event – an indicator that consumers are being less thrifty about dining out, said Pamela Waitt, president of the OC Restaurant Association.

Continue reading . . .

Es-Ca in Dongan Hills sees the economy’s wear and tear on its business.

“Customers who used to eat out a few times a month are coming out only once a month,” explains Michael Calore, Es-Ca co-owner. Therefore the restaurant implemented a few new strategies to kick up the sales. Drop prices. Offer discounts. Make the menu more appealing to families with more affordable items like pizza and sandwiches.

“Through April starting this week, we’re doing a customer appreciation night,” says Calore. “It’s 15 percent off on the check with parties of eight guests or fewer. If it’s successful, we’ll continue it on Tuesdays in the future.”

Going forward, a Wednesday Es-Ca tradition — two-for-one entrees printed on a separate menu — continues. This discounted program highlights 20 entree and appetizer combinations. Thursdays will feature wine bottles that are half price. Starting tomorrow, customers can BYOB. And there is no corkage for the weekly courtesy.

Continue reading . . .

The $566 billion restaurant industry is unforgiving; it’ll leave a naïve entrepreneur broke and out of business within a year – in a good economy.

In this economy, even a savvy restaurateur is capable of losing everything – but there are local entrepreneurs taking risks opening restaurants and hoping for the best.

Of the notable openings, Trevor Sacco and a team of investors in October opened Bice, an Italian fine dining restaurant with roots in Milan.

Brian Malarkey – a local who competed on Bravo’s “Top Chef” – and EnDev LLC’s James Brennan are building buzz for Searsucker, a new restaurant they plan to open at Fifth Avenue and Market Street in the Gaslamp Quarter in July.

Local restaurant heavyweight David Cohn’s Cohn Restaurant Group opened two restaurants and relocated one in the last year.

And barbecue honcho Fred Glick, owner of Phil’s BBQ, is planning to open a second San Diego location this year, too.

Continue reading . . .

The most important meal of the day has become the hottest area of competition for the foodservice industry. Mintel, a leading market intelligence firm, reports that restaurants added more than 460 new breakfast items to their menus in 2009, more than in 2007 or 2008, respectively.

The problem? Half of consumers surveyed by Mintel in November 2009 said they’re spending less on restaurant breakfasts compared to 2008. Only one in 10 are spending more. Furthermore, nearly half of survey respondents said they don’t eat breakfast out during the week (47%) or weekend (45%).

“We see an increasingly competitive market for restaurant breakfast, even though sales have declined,” comments Eric Giandelone, director of research, Mintel Foodservice. “Restaurants are refreshing their breakfast menus, but I believe reduced consumer spending, as well as relatively high unemployment, will limit sales growth over the next year.”

Restaurant breakfast and brunch sales fell 3.4% from 2007 to 2009, according to Mintel. The category is expected to grow only modestly through 2011 before picking up speed. All told, Mintel forecasts the breakfast foodservice market will expand by 13% from 2009 to 2014.

“To overcome contracting sales, restaurant operators need to be keenly aware of what drives people into restaurants for breakfast,” states Eric Giandelone. For example, Mintel found people are mostly looking for low prices and convenience on weekdays, while food quality and menu variety are more important to weekend breakfast diners.

“Restaurant operators can also perk up sales by realizing that many diners crave breakfast outside traditional breakfast hours,” says Eric Giandelone. The top thing breakfast diners told Mintel they’d like to see more of at restaurants was “all-day breakfast” (36% weekday, 38% weekend). More value meals were also desired (32%).

About Mintel

Mintel is a leading global supplier of consumer, product and media intelligence. For more than 38 years, Mintel has provided insight into key worldwide trends, offering exclusive data and analysis that directly impacts client success. With offices in Chicago, New York, London, Sydney, Shanghai and Tokyo, Mintel has forged a unique reputation as a world-renowned business brand. For more information on Mintel, please visit www.mintel.com. Follow Mintel on Twitter: http://twitter.com/mintelnews

Amid signs of thawing consumer spending, U.S. restaurants are starting to walk a fine line between turning diners on with new lower-calorie dishes and tapas-style small plates and turning them off with creeping price increases.

The course change comes as cost-cutting opportunities dwindle and restaurants try to wean still-skittish diners off discounts and special offers.

“2009 was strictly cost-reduction focused. … It seems like there’s a transition” afoot, said Adam Werner, a director in the food service practice at advisory firm AlixPartners.

“The conversations we have are focused now on ‘How do we grow same-store sales?’”

The special deals that helped lure diners into restaurants during the worst of the recession won’t disappear any time soon, but rock-bottom discounts that squeeze profits are becoming rarer as well-funded restaurant operators get smarter and more nimble with their value offerings.

Continue reading . . .

Only 3 per cent of restaurants survive, one of Australia’s leading restaurateurs says.

John Kilroy, who owns Char in Darwin and Cha Cha Cha in Brisbane, said getting the economics of the business right was tough.

“When you take out all the expenses, most restaurant owners don’t make any more than an average wage,” he said.

Mr Kilroy was speaking after another Territory restaurant — Lewinsky’s in Darwin city centre — closed.

Lewinsky’s, which was named after Bill Clinton’s love interest, opened in 2004 and was named the NT’s best restaurant in 2006. It was famous for its $100,000 self-serve wine cabinet.

The restaurant has been taken over by Honey Pot owners Graeme and Anne-Maree Oates, who have applied for a 4am liquor licence.

Mr Kilroy said many restaurateurs failed to do market research.

Continue reading . . .

Where the hell is this economy going? I think I speak for a lot of Las Vegas restaurant operators when I say I just want to throw up my hands in frustration.

Coming out of last year, a year that was a tough one for the casino food and beverage industry, we expected a very lackluster Christmas and New Years. We all were staffed down thinking that ho hum was going to have to be enough. I thought about the bare minimum staff I could run and that I probably wouldn’t need too much of the good stuff, like live fish, lobsters and abalone. We knew had some prominent players on the books, so we prepared for a modest pop.

But Christmas and New Years were massive! We were busy beyond belief; it was like the proverbial old days! We were so crushed I was running to 99 Ranch and International markets in my own car to keep us stocked up in the kitchen. So naturally, I thought OK, it is a new year; people have a renewed sense of hope. It’s a new beginning and only better things are coming. Looking ahead, we had Super Bowl smashed next to Valentine’s Day, smashed up to Chinese New Year, smashed up to the MAGIC tradeshow! We’re in the money!

But the windfall never fell.

Continue reading . . .

The sour economy is spoiling some people’s appetite for restaurant fare. Even so, restaurateurs are still launching new eateries in and around Chicago.

In fact, Chicago is seeing something of a food renaissance. Specialty groceries such as Pastoral, the French Market at Ogilvie Station and Green Grocer Chicago are providing organic and locally grown products to the city’s gourmet crowd. Local food-related Web sites such as Culinary Culture and Grub Street Chicago have become places to stay up-to-date on local restaurant news, trade recipes or chat about wine pairings.

Meanwhile, new eateries, from the Publican in West Town to Feast in the Gold Coast, keep springing up despite the worst economic downturn in decades.

The key to restaurant survival now, industry observers say, is delivering a well-prepared meal at the right price.

Continue reading . . .

They might not have hit the soup lines, but consumers suffering through the worst recession in decades certainly weren’t splurging on restaurant meals, either.

Through the end of December, the restaurant industry suffered through six straight quarters of traffic declines, according to the NPD Group.

It was the weakest and longest running downturn the research firm has seen since it began tracking the industry in the mid-1970s.

The good news is that the rate of decline is slowing.

In the quarter ending in December, year-over-year traffic fell 2.9%, better than the 4% drop in the three months ending in September. Improvements continue, analysts say.

“We’re hearing inklings of consumers spending a little bit more,” said Bonnie Riggs, NPD Group’s restaurant analyst. “We do have pent-up demand. And we do see life here and there.”

Continue reading . . .