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Cnsper

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I am considering opening a restaurant in my home town. Now this is not a large town, less than 1500. Lots of traffic through the town and it is the county seat.

Now we have two restaurants that serve breakfast and one that serves what they call breakfast but it all from frozen including the eggs. Not looking to do breakfast with the exception of Sunday brunch because the other two sit down places are closed. And there is only one of me.

The place has a flat top griddle, a deep fryer and a pizza oven. Not going to get rich but it was there for years until the guy retired.

With that, I am going to have is burgers, chicken, pizza and subs. Oh and all kinds of grilled cheese.

What I was needing suggestions on was the breakfasts. I have found things like a grilled cheese sandwich with sausage and an egg then drizzled with maple syrup. I have also found some good recipes for breakfast pizzas.

I will do this along with the traditional breakfasts.

Here is one breakfast pizza recipe
https://thecrumbykitchen.com/supreme-breakfast-pizza/

What do you think and what do you look for when you go out to eat? Any other ideas or suggestions are welcome.
 
I look for good quality food (like I would cook at home) and friendly service (like at chic fil a). I don't like going out, taking a bite, and realizing that mine at home would taste better.
We have a small place that's open for lunch only in our village, and they do a great grilled cheese I like to order. It has good bread, a lot of good cheese (not the non cheese product), a large slice of ripe tomato, and a lot of cooked green chili. I also like that you can pick your own side to go with it: chips, potato salad, or fruit cup. Simple food, but it tastes great.
Good luck to you, Cnsper, sounds exciting!
 
Amish Heart said:
I look for good quality food (like I would cook at home) and friendly service (like at chic fil a). I don't like going out, taking a bite, and realizing that mine at home would taste better.
We have a small place that's open for lunch only in our village, and they do a great grilled cheese I like to order. It has good bread, a lot of good cheese (not the non cheese product), a large slice of ripe tomato, and a lot of cooked green chili. I also like that you can pick your own side to go with it: chips, potato salad, or fruit cup. Simple food, but it tastes great.
Good luck to you, Cnsper, sounds exciting!
Click to expand...
Thank you.

I am going to do things with fries too. I have already perfected a ranch fry and going to look at vinegar and salt fries. Kinda like they do with chips. It is unique and different.

I make an awesome fry sauce with liquid smoke. That sauce on a chicken sandwich is out of this world.

There is so much you can do with a few main ingredients and different sauces.

Take chicken for example.

Chicken sandwich plain and simple. Add fry sauce and you have a smoke flavor chicken sandwich. Ham and swiss cheese you have a Cordon Bleu sandwich. Bacon and ranch you now have Chicken Bacon Ranch sandwich. Then there are the ever popular Buffalo and BBQ Chicken sandwiches.

From one main ingredient you now have 6 sandwiches by adding what you already have on hand.
 
Aside from your menu, you had said that it's just you...but will you be able to prep in the morning, take orders, cook, bus tables, clean the kitchen 1-2 times a day, order supplies, etc., all by yourself? You will likely need some help, and who you hire can make or break a business (particularly a small one like yours).

Do you have any previous restaurant or business experience? Understanding what your costs are (rent/mortgage for the building, utilities, employees' salaries, upkeep/repair costs, property taxes, income taxes, etc.) and setting your menu prices to cover those cost and make a profit (without setting the price point so high that you drive customers away) is critical.

Do you have sufficient capital to get established? Most business takes several years to turn a profit, and I have seen many restaurants fold within 5-6 months because they thought they would be turning a profit within a couple months. Can you fund your restaurant for that long?

Have you any experience in formally setting up a company (company charter, mission state, board, procedures for changes in policy/board members, a formal business plan, etc.)? This might seem ridiculous for a small restaurant, but you ought to establish a definitive line between your business and your personal life/finances. Setting up an LLC is easy, but if your restaurant closes, just being an LLC won't protect your personal finances if you don't do the required legwork/paperwork to make it a real business instead of appearing as an extension of your personal life.

I apologize in advance since my response isn't answering the questions you were asking, but I hope you find it useful nevertheless.
 
Sunday brunch sounds like a lot of work for just 1 person.
If you are looking to keep breakfast simple and easy then go with breakfast sandwiches. Can you make biscuits in the place? If so make your own and add whatever you want to them. If you have biscuits then you can have gravy.
The things I look for when we go out. The place must be clean or nothing else matters. After that is the food then the service. If the food or service isn't good I will look elsewhere. We have 4 choices in town to eat. Fast food, Mexican food, Chinese food and 2 regular American places with a heavy Mexican influence. None of them are really great.
The restaurant business is tough, long hours and low pay. But I'm guessing you already know that.
Good luck.
 
I have no idea what part of the country you live in, and I would think that would make a difference in menu items. I wonder if you were to eat at other restaurants in your area, not just your town, and see what is on the menu and what other people eat. But maybe local places are kind of boring and some newer ideas would also be a draw for you. Also, maybe having something that is notable that would cause people to drive from a neighboring community to eat.

I agree with others, that if you have good food and a clean place, you will be as busy as you can handle it. Having someone who can help would be important as well. Sundays seem to be the busiest time for people to eat breakfast out. In my hometown, there are restaurants that have to close at certain times because they cannot get help. One of my cousins moved back to work in a local restaurant.

I don't eat out much. I haven't gone out to breakfast in a while. My classic breakfast out is huevos rancheros (ranch eggs) , if it is on the menu. There are lots of recipes out there. I prefer my huevos rancheros with green chili, the Colorado state food, and black beans. The thing about huevo rancheros would be prep--the chile, the beans (black and refried pintos), the potatoes. When an order comes in, the eggs and assembly would be needed. This might be too much for a very small place to have on the menu.

I saw that someone on some cooking video had deep fried French toast. To much of the world, that might be too much frying, but that was my childhood experience of French toast. When I started having French toast other places, blah! The rest of the world has missed the boat. When I was going through cookbooks to glean what recipes I wanted so I could get rid of my dozens of cookbooks, I found a recipe from a cookbook from my hometown. Evidently, my hometown was a place where others ate deep fried and battered French toast. Since you have a deep fryer, it might be a signature dish for your restaurant. Make up a large pot of homemade maple flavored syrup in advance and serve it warm.

French Toast
1 egg
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup milk
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
flour

Mix the egg, salt, milk and baking powder together. Add in flour until the batter is like a cake batter. Using sliced Texas toast, dip into batter and deep fat fry until golden brown.
*********************************************
The above recipe would take about 1/4 cup flour.
The above recipe makes 2 or 3 slices of french toast
This recipe is easily doubled or tripled.
You can add cinnamon or nutmeg to the recipe. Also, add some vanilla.
 
Your customers are going to give you the best feedback you can get, Listen to them.
There are three things wrong with the restaurant business:
1. everyone wants to eat at the same time.
2. everyone wants something different.
3. for all but six hours of the day your place is empty.

You are going to need help. You can't wait tables, cook the food, buss the tables, do the dishes and talk to your customers during a two hour period while serving 200 meals. You will end up spending time with your customers while the wait staff and cook is working fast and hard. You need to be the customers advocate. It is hard work made more difficult because of miscommunications and accidents. Figuring out the cost of each serving and what you need to charge to pay the help is the biggest job you have and you need to stay on top of it if you don't want to go broke.
 
Small eateries around here have very limited hours and days, posted in the window. Even closed on Sunday.
One extremely popular place is only open for dinner Wednesday thru Saturday. They feature Louisiana food. The place is a hole in the wall, definitely nothing fancy but the food is excellent.
Menus are limited in these small places, but they've perfected their offerings. When there are too many things on the menu I can't choose quickly.
Talk to other restaurant owners, not nearby.
I used to watch that guy, Guy Fieri on Food Network's "Diners, Drive-ins, & Dives." Great ideas, small places, in cities, seaside towns, anywhere, always looked like great food. Plus he's hilarious.
Subs...philly cheese steak. Meatball. Chicken salad.
Pizza. Cheese galore. Peppers & onions. Sausage & Pepperoni.
Burgers. You've got this one. In n Out burgers uses a thousand island type dressing on theirs. Sounds gross but it's good.
Find a signature touch, you'll do great!
 
Look at the Ray Kroc formula for success, very limited menu served with consistent quality.
Signature dishes as specials rotated daily, (stuffed and batter deep fried French Toast comes to mind... signature biscuits and real sausage red-eye gravy). Keep It Simple!

Good luck.

---tort--
 
In my business classes I was taught that a restaurant was the hardest business to make work. Good luck. This will be quite an adventure.

I used to live in a town that I said had 17 restaurants and one menu. First of all there weren't 17 restaurants but with one or two exceptions the menu was the same wherever you went. Find something to make yourself stand out. Everyday there was a special. On Friday it was always Lemon Rice Soup, that my wife loved so she was especially interested on lunch there on Friday. Whatever you settle on for a menu have something that others don't. People love burgers but if there are already 17 places with burgers you are going to have a hard time taking away loyal customers.

They tried to sell me a restaurant once that only opened for lunch on weekdays. It had a great atmosphere, customers got their own flatware and water and mostly bussed their own tables. There were still 3 or 4 people working. Customers loved the owners and the menu.

I'v seen restaurants that closed one or two days a week. Some of them were on a weekday but people learned that on Tuesday that you didn't go to that restaurant. Assess your clientele. Working people and Sunday church goers? Perhaps you are closed Saturday, and or Friday. Your brunch can be either a Buffett or to order.

With all the food that you will be tossing out I'd consider getting a pig.
 
Caribou said:
...
With all the food that you will be tossing out I'd consider getting a pig.
Click to expand...
This is an excellent post! I cropped most of it out for brevity because that last bit is really important. You can only prep so much food, and it will only keep for so long before the quality goes down and, eventually, not safe to eat. You will lose money in the food you have to throw out, but (regularly) making too little means customers won't trust menu availability. It's a fine balance that will take time to learn and will likely be one of the big money sinks early on.

Best of luck if you decide to pursue this...we're all rooting for you! :)
 
For sandwiches or toast your selection of bread will be important. Sourdough was my choice when I still ate bread.
 
Yes I have the experience and help. A friend is going to help me kick it off along with his daughter. When I said it was me I meant I would be the main one there all the time until I get busy enough to have help all the time.

Fries will be fresh potatoes. Menu will be minimal to begin with. I will add as time goes on.

Basically it will be burgers, sandwiches, pizza and a few Mexican dishes. Maybe 4. It's not like I will have to stock much more, the pizza ingredients covers most of it. It is more making use of what you already have on hand.

As for prepping, there are several hours in the day where there are no customers. It is a very small town (1200) and the other restaurants are the same way as most people work 30 miles from here.

I am aware that it will be a lot of work but I will also not be open 18 hours a day either. I have not worked a 40 hour week in my life so that is nothing new.

Also not going to be quite a full service place. Order at the counter, get your own drinks and we bring the food to you. Most will be served in a basket and not on a plate.
 
what about a breakfast smorgie on sundays? eggs can be cooked per preference with the exception of a scrambled egg bin. Source local milk, eggs and butter and feature a few las vegas style breakfast smorgie delights..
I went to a breakfast smorgie in vegas and they had this awesome crape ? I think.. filled with something like a bulverian cream cheeze stuffing that was evil..oh and lightly dusted with powederd sugar too..omg! no watching calories that week..
Ive got a coconut peach buttermilk waffle receipt if you want it..or anyone..its awesome..
 
Breakfast

Country Omelette
Eggs into your pan, break the yolks
top with browned onions, browned diced potatoes, crisp diced bacon or ham, or sausage, top with shredded (or other) shredded cheese.
Cover and cook till done.

Basic Hotcakes
1C sugar (4 C)
8C flour (32 C)
4 Tbsp baking soda
8 Tbsp baking powder
4 Tbsp salt. (1 oz)
8 C buttermilk (8 Qt)
8 eggs (3 pints)
8 Tbsp. oil (1 C)

Norwegian Sour Cream Hotcakes

1 1/2C flour
3 Tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cardamon or ginger
3 eggs beaten
1 pint sour cream

Combine dry ingredients, beat eggs and sour cream, combine all and beat till smooth.


Swedish Hotcakes

combine
1 C flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp. sugar
add
4 eggs beaten
add last
1 C milk

Hot oiled pan, roll pan to make a thin pancake.

These can be rolled around a fruit or other filling and garnished with powdered sugar.


Sourdough Pancakes

1/2 C starter
1 C evaporated milk (undiluted)
1 C warm water
1 1/3 to 2 C flour
2 eggs. beaten
2 Tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp soda

Combine starter, milk, water, and flour and let sit overnight. Add remains ingredients and mix well but do not beat.



B. P. Biscuits

2#. flour
6 oz. shortening
3 T. salt
2 oz Baking Powder
26 oz buttermilk

That's enough for now I'll try to find some of my more involved recipes.
 
Our b&b bf menu
Fresh baked muffins - guest chooses variety
Variety of cold cereals
Yougurt with/without granola and berries
Scrambled eggs
Fried eggs
Pancakes
French Toast
Sausage or bacon
Variety of breads and bagels ... jams, cream cheese etc.
Breakfast bagel - toasted bagel with fried eggs,cheese
Country pie - hash brown crust filled with eggs, cream, cheese, peppers, onions and bacon bits
Variety of juices
Coffee tea

That simple menu keeps the the two of us hopping at bf time
 
Caribou said:
In my business classes I was taught that a restaurant was the hardest business to make work. Good luck. This will be quite an adventure.

I used to live in a town that I said had 17 restaurants and one menu. First of all there weren't 17 restaurants but with one or two exceptions the menu was the same wherever you went. Find something to make yourself stand out. Everyday there was a special. On Friday it was always Lemon Rice Soup, that my wife loved so she was especially interested on lunch there on Friday. Whatever you settle on for a menu have something that others don't. People love burgers but if there are already 17 places with burgers you are going to have a hard time taking away loyal customers.

They tried to sell me a restaurant once that only opened for lunch on weekdays. It had a great atmosphere, customers got their own flatware and water and mostly bussed their own tables. There were still 3 or 4 people working. Customers loved the owners and the menu.

I'v seen restaurants that closed one or two days a week. Some of them were on a weekday but people learned that on Tuesday that you didn't go to that restaurant. Assess your clientele. Working people and Sunday church goers? Perhaps you are closed Saturday, and or Friday. Your brunch can be either a Buffett or to order.

With all the food that you will be tossing out I'd consider getting a pig.
Click to expand...


@Casper I wish you luck

Caribou gave you sage advice… I would add a bit more…

1) Know your base… Me, I traveled internationally for 2 decades… the food I enjoy varies greatly.

2) I would recommend… don’t have 40 good omelets, hamburgers and pizzas on your menu. Have instead… 2 excellent pizza’s, 2 and only 2 excellent burgers… Maybe 3 excellent grilled cheese sandwiches… When I say excellent I mean far and above what you competitors produce.

The point I’m making… If you only have a few excellent items people will come back for them again and again…

If you try to provide what anyone would want you are going to be average at best and have to buy poor quality foods off the truck.

The best restaurant I go too has only 18 main dishes and all of them are not served daily. I go there for the quality of the ingredients and the quality of the preparation.

Instead… my advice… only have a few items on the menu and make sure they are of a quality far and above any of your competitors. Maybe have an Asian food day… an Italian food day etc...

Great food always sells, average food goes out of business in 10 months.

Another example... a Chicago pizza joint in my little town of 1200. I prefer NY style but I still go to the restaurant. Lunch special... a slice and a salad and drink for $8. He only serves 3 different slices.... but they are done really well, he's from Chicago and know's how to make a Chicago style pizza. (good salad bar, well prepped, everything chopped well, time taken...)
 
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I really miss going to a good pizza place and getting a slice for lunch. Northbrook Ill. had the best pizza place in all the Chicago area.
If there was a place that had good pizza by the slice and Philly cheese-steaks I would eat there several times a week.
Your place sounds like it has everything you need for those items. They would be easy to make and you could become famous for that.
Support your local high school and the kids will make your business grow. $5 lunch special for the kids. A slice and a drink.
 
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