Restaurant Economics

Was reading an article in Insider Louisville on demise of Mozz. The owner issued a press release that said they were averaging 122 "covers" a day when they opened, which was above the 100 needed to break even, but declined to 50 a day when more places on Market Street opened.

Excuse my ignorance, but is a "cover" one diner or a table, and do those numbers seem realistic? I guess it would depend on size of space, hours, overhead, size of average check, etc., but it would seem to me you would need a lot more diners than that to keep a place open unless you had real high prices and high margins.

Interested to hear anyone give perspective on more high-end dining as opposed to local McDs or other fast food.

[Robin Garr]

Ron, I'll get things started: A "cover" means one diner, so a four-top with three people sitting there accounts for three covers. On a busy night, the number of covers may significantly exceed the number of chairs, assuming the restaurant "turns" some of the tables - cleans up after early diners and welcomes another party to the same space.

I'm amazed that those putting Mozz under the microscope haven't mentioned hand-blown glass salt spoons and the *economic* impact they might have on a restaurant. I haven't forgotten that little ditty.

I'm amazed that those putting Mozz under the microscope haven't mentioned hand-blown glass salt spoons and the *economic* impact they might have on a restaurant. I haven't forgotten that little ditty.

I remembered on the first read of the InsiderLouisville piece, but I didn't want to be that guy. So thanks for going there!

I'm amazed that those putting Mozz under the microscope haven't mentioned hand-blown glass salt spoons and the *economic* impact they might have on a restaurant. I haven't forgotten that little ditty.

I remembered on the first read of the InsiderLouisville piece, but I didn't want to be that guy. So thanks for going there!

Someone coined it "Spoongate". Classic in the greatest sense of the word.

Your turn next time .

I'm amazed that those putting Mozz under the microscope haven't mentioned hand-blown glass salt spoons and the *economic* impact they might have on a restaurant. I haven't forgotten that little ditty.

I remembered on the first read of the InsiderLouisville piece, but I didn't want to be that guy. So thanks for going there!

I had exactly the same thought. The whole thing was amazingly bizarre..

100 covers does not seem enough to keep Mozz economic- but maybe they regularly had higher checks than I paid.

Deb

I'm amazed that those putting Mozz under the microscope haven't mentioned hand-blown glass salt spoons and the *economic* impact they might have on a restaurant. I haven't forgotten that little ditty.

I remembered on the first read of the InsiderLouisville piece, but I didn't want to be that guy. So thanks for going there!

I had exactly the same thought. The whole thing was amazingly bizarre..

100 covers does not seem enough to keep Mozz economic- but maybe they regularly had higher checks than I paid.

Deb

I think it depends on a lot of factors. 122 covers x $30 PP = $3660 per night. If that's the average, that's not bad, depending on overhead. Even if average guest check $25, that's still $3150 average per night. $1000 on Mondays, $5000 - $7000 on Fridays - not out of the norm for a lot of successful places with average overhead. It just depends on SO many things. And of course there are windfalls from blowout events when your average guest rises to $50-$100 PP.

50 average covers is cause for alarm at place of that size, for sure.

Making $3660 in a night sounds good, but what was their overhead?

Were they paying food vendors? Were they stocked at the bar? Were employees getting paid?

Remember fine dining means higher inputs. Can't sell a $5 steak for $25 bucks no matter how white the table cloth.

We do about 100 to 120 covers at the Shady Lane Cafe. And still have a hard time making a decent living. We make it, but just barely. All depends on the rent, (ours is low) check average, and profit margin. Without significant alcohol sales, the profit margin on food is low. With the corn crisis, beef is rising like crazy. We have low overhead, Three employees, so I don't see how Mozz could make it with 100 covers a day, much less 50 which is a killer. Their rent was probably three times what we pay, but thier check average was probably three times ours as well. Many factors and chances to abuse, misuse, misconstrue, mis-calculate those factors at every turn.