Success Happy

How often do restaurants fail?

When im older i'd like to look into owning/getting my own restaurant. I here restaruants fail alot, how often exactly??? what are the keys to having a successful restaurant????? i can't think of another career that has to do with cooking other than a chef for a restaurant, but thats more of a job for a college student or just a little side job, u only get paid enough if ur cooking for a really well known famous restaruant. anyone help me out?

Public Comments

1. Everyday many open and many close in America. What counts is location, food, price and most of all SERVICE. You have to be there from a few hours before opening to a few hours after closing the first few years and after that, you have to be willing to keep on top of it. The best restaurants have owners that are hands on and don't leave their money and business up to others who could care less. In today's world you can get just about any food anywhere. What keeps you coming back is SERVICE, price, location and bang for your buck. If you want a fancy restaurant you have to set the SERVICE apart from all others and create an experience to go along with the food. And you have to find great help and pay them well enough to keep them there. And you will be doing the work while you go through the first hundred people for each position until you find the right persons for the jobs. If you are in a college town, you cater to the youth. You make affordable, filling, quick food with a fun atmostphere. If you are in a resort town, you either cater to the tourists and only open during tourist season or you make the regulars the town folk and open year round. These type fail the quickest because owners often fail to cater to local folk too and then they have no one to refer the tourists. After all, most travelers know to ask the locals where to eat. And they will speak up and warn against overpriced average food. I come from a family who has been on all sides of the Restaurant Business. Owning, working in, even catching the seafood. And the best running one was a local diner that catered to families and working men. It wasn't fancy. It wasn't expensive, and there was no bar or live music. But, the lines were out the door every day. People called in orders for over 100 everyday. It was good, honest homecooking and supported a great lifestyle for all concerned. And now that we sold it and someone else took over and changed the menu and lost that homespun appeal, it is on the verge of bankruptcy. And I can honestly say, by December it will be gone all together. We have lived through one burning down. And recessions. And people kept coming back for the food and family atmosphere. Heck, we even had holidays there and served the police and city workers on duty. Home cooking trumps fancy food any day. If you are not willing to work long hours and put the money back in for the first few (at least 10) years, you should dream another dream.
2. 80% of all resturaunts fail with in the first six months. The key to a successful resturaunt is knowing what you are doing. If you are still in high school, take all the culinary and business classes you can. Learn Spanish or Portugese. Hit the gym for weight lifting and aerobics, you'll need both. Get an after school job in a resturaunt. It's a really great career but nothing will prepare you for the reality like a job. It's a hot , dirty job, that takes place when your friends and family are out having fun but if you love it, there is no better job you can have!!