MovieChat Forums > Kitchen Nightmares (2007) Discussion > What do you think happens to a once succ...

What do you think happens to a once successful restaurant?

posted 10 years ago by GraceFromSoCal
5 replies | jump to latest

Re-watching "Classic American" today reminded me of something I've wondered about before, which is WHAT happens to a once successful restaurant that makes it go down the toilet?

Classic American had been open for many years, owned by its current owners for ten years. It had been successful, and then it tanked.

Anna Vincenzo's was successful at first, then tanked.

Nino's Italian Restaurant had been in business for some 55 years, under the same ownership. But it was in the toilet when Ramsay came to help.

Greek at the Harbor was very successful for a long time before it went downhill.

Capri had been in business since 1963 and went down the tubes after the hapless twins bought it. But why? If they had stuck with the food that had made the place successful all those years--and maybe figured out that a restaurant has to be CLEANED occasionally--it wouldn't have suffered.

I'm not considering restaurants that sucked from the start, like Mama Rita's. It was packed during its first few weeks--but only until the public realized what awful [freezer burned, old] food they were serving there!

So what do you think happens at places that were successful--for many years--that explains why they fell into despair? Especially the family owned places, like Nino's, where ownership never changed. How do they go from having great, or at least good, food to serving awful crap? What happens that makes them stop doing basic things like cleaning?

--

Nature photography on jigsaw puzzles:
http://tinyurl.com/ocxtgct

[–] SVU14_1 10 years ago

There are a lot of reasons.

On the show, a lot places such as "Greak At The Harbor" have family dramas that bleed into the restaurant. If I remember the episode correctly, there were issues between the father and the son.

Other reasons are:

- Owners who refuse to change their food items causing their food to become dated (example: "Mama Maria's").

- Arrogant owners who believe their own hype. Sure, they had success but they think they have the Midas touch, which they don't (example: "Chappy's")

- Opening restaurants that don't fit the market. This happened to "Lela's", one of the restaurants in the first season. It opened as a "fine dining" establishment in a part of town that was frankly blue-collar.

- Owners who are more concerned with profits and costs than quality (this happened to "Zeke's", that restaurant in Louisiana).

- Inexperienced or apathetic owners who either open a restaurant without knowing or understanding how to run or the restaurant is given to them, making it a responsibility they don't want (example of the second one is "Michon's").

[–] falconefans 10 years ago

I wondered this myself. The best example is Grasshopper. (I think that's the name of it.) The one with the dad "Chief" and his daughter and son in law Mitch.

I think they said at the beginning that it had been open and successful for like 12 years and then over the course of two years went way downhill.

Chief had 40 years restuarant experience. But they didnt say if he was running the place and then the daughter and son in law took over? I just found it hard to believe that Chief was right there every night and couldn't figure out what was wrong with the restaurant like cleanliness, food handling, recipes, etc.

He even tasted the food at one point, thought it was bad, but sent it out anyway.

The other one was J Willie's BBQ. The couple that co owned it had another successful restaurant and had another guy running this one. They lived far away and couldn't be there day to day to run it or oversee anything. Why on earth buy a restaurant that is too far for you to get to? And when they did eventually come in to run the place, they couldn't figure out what was wrong? How did their other place survive?

Fraaaank. FRANK! Get my jean bin. Susie wants my jeans.
No she doesnt.

[–] SkiesAreBlue 9 years ago

Customers are very finicky and loyal as the next good cooked food. If people are not coming as much as they used to it will first be the food, then the service. Menus get out dated, the neighbourhood changes and management doesn't move with the times. What worked 20 years ago doesn't mean it wil still work now. Very few restaurants are still an icon being able to do that and it all comes down to management.

SkiesAreBlue

[–] GraceFromSoCal 9 years ago

Customers are very finicky and loyal as the next good cooked food. If people are not coming as much as they used to it will first be the food, then the service. Menus get out dated, the neighbourhood changes and management doesn't move with the times. What worked 20 years ago doesn't mean it wil still work now. Very few restaurants are still an icon being able to do that and it all comes down to management.

These are very good points, SkiesAreBlue. 

I just want to throw something out, though: there ARE restaurants that have been in business for decades, that are still thriving--and are doing so by staying true to their original menus, style of service, ambiance, etc. One that comes immediately to mind is Musso & Frank Grill in Hollywood, http://www.mussoandfrank.com, which will celebrate its 100th anniversary three years from now! Some of their staff members have been there for decades--longer than I've been alive.  One reason it's still going strong is that customers know exactly what to expect, because it's been the same forever. So it can go either way.

--

http://www.CaliforniaDreamsPhotography.com

[–] falconefans 9 years ago

We have a place like that near me and i have gone many times over the years. I probably order the same thing every time.

The decor dates back to the 50s (or before). It's old fashioned, but it's very clean.

The menu is just as old. They probably have to reprint it occasionally to update prices in line with inflation. But the food and recipes haven't changed.

And the place is always packed.

Fraaaank. FRANK! Get my jean bin. Susie wants my jeans.
No she doesnt.