The Great Recession has hurt the restaurant industry on all levels — from hamburger chains to casual dining establishments to upscale, high-priced restaurants.
We’ve also seen the “casualization” of fine dining, with many upscale casual restaurants doing away with white tablecloths in order to present a less pricey look, says Kim McLynn of the NPD Group in New York, which studies the industry.
But while restaurant traffic and sales are still falling, NPD says, declines are becoming less steep. Here’s a look at how three metro Atlanta restaurant companies are doing:
Goldberg’s Bagel Company & Deli (casual quick-service); Wayne Saxe, owner/chef
“We’ve had a 10 percent increase in our business across the board [since 2008]. We are getting people who were in the higher price points coming to us, so we are gaining. The secret is we have created an environment that any price point can come here and feel at home. You can come here and your clients will still feel like you are taking them out. We are multi-purpose.”
Ray’s Restaurants (Ray’s on the River, Sandy Springs; Ray’s Killer Creek, Alpharetta; Ray’s in the City, Atlanta); Raymond Schoenbaum, owner
“It’s picking up, especially at Ray’s at Killer Creek in Alpharetta, where we had a big fall off and middle-class, white-collar people up there cut back on upper-end dining. ... My check average for lunch is $18 and $55 for dinner. But we still felt it. A lot of people in Alpharetta got hit hard and are scared. We’re down probably 10-12 percent from our high in 2008 at Ray’s on the River, and we’re seeing the same to more customers, but our average check is down 6 or 7 percent.”
Buckhead Life Restaurant Group (includes Chops, Chops Lobster Bar, 103 West and Atlanta Fish Market); Paul Baldasaro, chief operating officer
“In 2008 we saw a significant decline in guest counts at Chops Lobster Bar that could be attributed to people making significant adjustments to their disposable dining dollars. 2009 saw only a minimal decline in guest counts over the prior year; the second half of 2010 saw great guest count growth. What we have seen that hasn’t changed since 2008 is the reduction in overall per person check average. People are typically still ordering bottles of wine, but maybe not as big of a price tag as in the past.”
About the Author
Keep Reading
The Latest
Featured
