worthwhile to dip into savings for beer/wine

[GrayGhost03]

worth while to dip into savings for restaurant beer/wine license??

wife and i own a latin bistro restaurant downtown with no alcohol sales that is just staying afloat. if we get a beer and wine only license what kind of growth can be expected by alcohol sales? i have no experience in this and cant find much on revenue aspect of alcohol on goggle. trying to figure out if its worth to dip into savings for the license. what are the risk? pros and cons? any advice or suggestions is appreciated

 

[Uncle Meat]

What kind of competition in the way of alcohol sales do you have in the local vicinity?

U.M.

 

[5spd07gt]

the title is a little misleading haha

 

[Franchi]

There is so many variables with this. Competition, type of normal clientele, location, all will play a huge factor.

 

[kevinatfms]

why is the bistro on its last leg? i would not try to mask the issue by adding liquor but actually finding out what needs to change in order to draw more business into the restaurant. once you get a better customer base introduce the beer/wine as a new thing to pair with certain meals you offer.

i worked for a guy who owned a small french restaurant. it went up and down and he found that a certain chef would make food differently than the others which certain regulars commented on. the owner ended up making him a head chef, promoted the small restaurant with this chef and now has opened 3 more in the d.c. area. i still to this day go and get these french bread rolls they make with a roast chicken and pasta dish. its making me hungry just thinking about it....

good luck, hope you figure out what you need and i hope everything prospers!

 

[youngone]

Call Gordon!

 

[CobraBob]

We need more info about your bistro, such as size, menu, what beverages you offer, and whether there are other bistros or small restaurants nearby that may or may not offer beer/wine. There is less profit to be made with beer/wine than with other alcoholic drinks, but serving wine (primarily) can be important to those who prefer it with their meals. But more important than that, as noted above, is why your bistro is not making more profit. There are a number of key areas you need to look at, such as.....
* How your bistro looks from the outside to the customer
* How your customers are welcomed/treated once they enter
* What is the quality of the service you and your staff provide
* What is the quality of the food served
* Do you get a lot of repeat business
* How nice is the area you're located in
* Is the area popular as far as eateries
* How good is your chef
* How varied is your menu
* What is the size of your portions
* What is the inside ambiance

Serving wine (beer, not so much) in a bistro is common, and if you do choose to serve wine you will want to offer both inexpensive and expensive wines. Find the right blend of menu, quality, ambiance, service and uniqueness and you should be on track to improve your profit. JMO.

 

[canibus]

I would expect wine to be a no brainer in a bistro setting.

 

[SID297]

The profit margin on booze is pretty sweet.

 

[GrayGhost03]

great view points and suggestions, some info about the place

the rent is high $3800
the place is small 55 ppl max seating
food is good, popular dishes from latin countries
lots of repeat customers but mostly day workers from downtown offices during the week and residents of downtown lofts
inside is dimmly lit with latin american music in background
outside could use a facelift, just a restaurant front with big windows, outside music and neon open sign. other places close by have neons advertising alcohol and sectioned outside seating, valet parking offered at some
cant keep a consistent wait staff, small to begin with so when someone calls in or stops showing up it throws a kink in things. some of the reason is staff hates paying 6,7 or 8 dollar parking
more clubs than places to eat and most if not all have full bars in close vicinity

my gut feeling is to have the restaurant generate the funds to get a beer/wine license. my wife wants it to succede not only bcuz its the main goal but to return our investment. at what point do you say enough is enough...let it swim or sink. guess it comes down to how bad we want it to stay open and how deep our pockets are (not very deep).

i have some things to talk about with the wife over the next few days

 

[CobraBob]

What is the cost of the beer/wine license?

 

[HEMIHUNTER]

Have you considered doing breakfast/lunch only? Maintaing the latin flair of course.
If you do that you might generate more income. The reason I say that is everyone goes home at the end of the business day. How busy is downtown after 5 p.m.? Are the surrounding restaurants slow in the evening as well?
Maybe you're missing your "window" so to speak.

 

[SVTullio]

great view points and suggestions, some info about the place

the rent is high $3800
the place is small 55 ppl max seating
food is good, popular dishes from latin countries
lots of repeat customers but mostly day workers from downtown offices during the week and residents of downtown lofts
inside is dimmly lit with latin american music in background
outside could use a facelift, just a restaurant front with big windows, outside music and neon open sign. other places close by have neons advertising alcohol and sectioned outside seating, valet parking offered at some
cant keep a consistent wait staff, small to begin with so when someone calls in or stops showing up it throws a kink in things. some of the reason is staff hates paying 6,7 or 8 dollar parking
more clubs than places to eat and most if not all have full bars in close vicinity

my gut feeling is to have the restaurant generate the funds to get a beer/wine license. my wife wants it to succede not only bcuz its the main goal but to return our investment. at what point do you say enough is enough...let it swim or sink. guess it comes down to how bad we want it to stay open and how deep our pockets are (not very deep).

i have some things to talk about with the wife over the next few days

Being in the restaurant business, I can give you some advice.

First of all, if you are having trouble paying a $3800 rent, you might have bigger worries than "should I get beer/wine." I'm paying close to that just in NNN for a 3000 sq/ft space, probably not much bigger than your place. Total rent about $13,000. Rent for the vegas location is around $25,000 a month and that space is 2500 sq/ft.

Rent should be around 25% of monthly net sales. So you should be making, at a minimum $16,000 a month to stay afloat. Probably hovering around 25-30% in food cost and another 25-30% in labor. Take out misc bills and you have a couple bucks left over. I hope you are at this break even point.

You don't need alcohol to get more customers through the door, but it does increase the average check total.

By what I am reading you need to focus first on a competent wait staff. If they don't want to pay for parking, they don't want the job. Hire people who WANT to be there, bc they will provide a better experience to the customer, who we all know, is king in our industry. Service, service, service.

Honestly, how is your food? It's a question to ask yourself, you don't have to answer it here. With all these food shows on tv now a days, the average customer is turning more and more into a "foodie." So many people have travelled around the world, they can recognize and will return to places offering REAL authentic, culturally diverse food.

Are you utilizing social media? Not a day goes by that I don't see people snapping pics of food with their cell phone camera. This pics go on fb, twitter, YELP (which is huge.) advertise on groupon, get peoples emails and send them discounts on bdays, anniversaries, make a Facebook for the store and on certain nights fb friends get X% off.

If you are running a good operation, then take the next step into beer/wine. If you want beer on tap, make sure you have room to store and refrigerate kegs. Gonna have a bar? You will NEED an awesome bar tender who can sell. Also servers need to know how to open wine bottles (sounds stupid but you would be surprised), checking ID.

All pretty general advice. Hope it helps.


...god what I could do with a $3800 rent!!

 

[canibus]

great view points and suggestions, some info about the place

the rent is high $3800
the place is small 55 ppl max seating
food is good, popular dishes from latin countries
lots of repeat customers but mostly day workers from downtown offices during the week and residents of downtown lofts
inside is dimmly lit with latin american music in background
outside could use a facelift, just a restaurant front with big windows, outside music and neon open sign. other places close by have neons advertising alcohol and sectioned outside seating, valet parking offered at some
cant keep a consistent wait staff, small to begin with so when someone calls in or stops showing up it throws a kink in things. some of the reason is staff hates paying 6,7 or 8 dollar parking
more clubs than places to eat and most if not all have full bars in close vicinity

my gut feeling is to have the restaurant generate the funds to get a beer/wine license. my wife wants it to succede not only bcuz its the main goal but to return our investment. at what point do you say enough is enough...let it swim or sink. guess it comes down to how bad we want it to stay open and how deep our pockets are (not very deep).

i have some things to talk about with the wife over the next few days

Alcohol will always boost your sales, but if most of your customers are during the day, then perhaps you don't need it. No one in their right mind is going to drink during lunch break. If you have a healthy amount of customers at night, it's worth considering.

As far as the parking issue, I'd look into a solution. I'd hate to make minimum wage and come into work already in the negative. Look into some type of fix.

 

[UnorthodoxCreat]

Alcohol will always boost your sales, but if most of your customers are during the day, then perhaps you don't need it. No one in their right mind is going to drink during lunch break. If you have a healthy amount of customers at night, it's worth considering.

As far as the parking issue, I'd look into a solution. I'd hate to make minimum wage and come into work already in the negative. Look into some type of fix.

Maybe it's me being used to more rural/small town living but I'd be ticked to have to pay to park to come to work. Can you work out a deal with one of the local parking lots where you will pay for all the parking but at a discounted rate? That lot gets some guaranteed business and your employees are happier. Nothing like starting off the work day ticked off.

 

[Double"O"]

Alcohol will always boost your sales, but if most of your customers are during the day, then perhaps you don't need it. No one in their right mind is going to drink during lunch break.

i had a beer with my lunch today!

One Yuengling Lager and a Cheese Steak

i do it every friday

also sure the normal person dosnt do that but he may have a fair number of people who are not at work the would like a tasty beer for lunch
then again i don't know anything about what his metrics look like sooooo

 

[GrayGhost03]

beer/wine is right at 4000, full liqour is 7800. 3800 for rent might not sound like much but talking to the remax guy next door to us he says its a little high. houston downtown scene isnt great compared to other cities but landlords think it is, especially when city of houston started pumping money into it and revived it. they did a good job and people came to downtown for the night life and new places to eat but i think its losing its flavor. houston is considering allowing businesses to sell alcohol outside their doors and allow people to walk the streets with their drink. must be a reason for this, downtown isnt all the hype it used to be.

last month the local newsletter had 5 small places listed as closed and 2 months ago cabos a big 2 story hangout type club went under after years of operation.

we started opening 7 to 3 and 7 to 10 on friday and saturday but when labor cost were killing us we closed the evenings for lack of customers. we are open 7 to 3 seven days for breakfast and lunch now. a good weekend day will bring in 900 to 1100 bux but its not consistent. during the week 400 to 600 is the norm but just last monday with all the rain we did 300. the food is good, im saying this bcuz repeat customers and reviews on yelp and facebook. we do do thd social media thing and on board with groupon.

your right in saying get a competent wait staff but never thought about how they felt paying for parking before shift. hell, it pisses me off when i pay for it. going to take your advice and look into a solution.

the more i think about it and you guys pick my brain it sounds like the beer/wine may not be a solution, atleast not until we can work and change some things

 

[straightliner1]

A couple of pointers and keep in mind I have never worked in the restaurant business, but I have managed retail and other customer service-centric roles.

1. Mingle with the customers at lunchtime, ask them how the meal/visit was. Ask them briefly what could be done to make their experience more enjoyable. If you honestly listen to your customers, they'll help you fill in the blanks!

2. Offer your lunch clientele a discounted rate for their return patronage during dinner hours.
"10% off your choice of 2 menu items after 6:00PM" - something to that effect...

You would be surprised if you ask the customers for feedback. It's always worked for me.

 

[SVTullio]

beer/wine is right at 4000, full liqour is 7800. 3800 for rent might not sound like much but talking to the remax guy next door to us he says its a little high. houston downtown scene isnt great compared to other cities but landlords think it is, especially when city of houston started pumping money into it and revived it. they did a good job and people came to downtown for the night life and new places to eat but i think its losing its flavor. houston is considering allowing businesses to sell alcohol outside their doors and allow people to walk the streets with their drink. must be a reason for this, downtown isnt all the hype it used to be.

last month the local newsletter had 5 small places listed as closed and 2 months ago cabos a big 2 story hangout type club went under after years of operation.

we started opening 7 to 3 and 7 to 10 on friday and saturday but when labor cost were killing us we closed the evenings for lack of customers. we are open 7 to 3 seven days for breakfast and lunch now. a good weekend day will bring in 900 to 1100 bux but its not consistent. during the week 400 to 600 is the norm but just last monday with all the rain we did 300. the food is good, im saying this bcuz repeat customers and reviews on yelp and facebook. we do do thd social media thing and on board with groupon.

your right in saying get a competent wait staff but never thought about how they felt paying for parking before shift. hell, it pisses me off when i pay for it. going to take your advice and look into a solution.

the more i think about it and you guys pick my brain it sounds like the beer/wine may not be a solution, atleast not until we can work and change some things

Sounds like the area is not too great, but there are always a few restaurants that thrive even in not so great areas.

I think the first thing that needs to be done is to be open for dinner. As far keeping labor costs down, are you and your wife there 7 days a week? If not, that needs to be done to keep costs down. Let go of the manager and take over his duties. If the night looks slow, send a server or 2 home.

If you do make the step to open for dinner, make a different menu or expand the lunch menu.

Hopefully this will bring some dinner business and a steady stream of clients. Once you get that, bring on the booze!

Its good you realize that beer/wine is a good idea, just not the one that will solve the current problems. People can buy a beer or a glass of wine at any restaurant that serves alcohol, but they pick a certain place for the food.

Its a tough business. Good luck!

 

[N2DAMYSTIC]

Are you able to promote BYOB? Lots of local restaurants do this. Its attractive to those which allow people to save the money on the booze and get an incredible price for a night out. With the sound of your menu I would not want to go there and not be able to order a beer or glass of wine.

If you knew the price of a Liquor license in NJ you would be very thankful!