Bacon Bar is gone...

Just drove through J-town and the Bacon Bar has a For Lease sign on it...

[Robin Garr]

Thanks for posting, though, Michele.

Always sorry to see a business close, but it seemed as if the restaurant ended up not being quite what was promised in the pre-opening PR.

Tried it once with a party of about eight. All agreed it was pretty bad.

Bad idea to build your business on a fad. See also: cupcake shops.

Bad idea to build your business on a fad. See also: cupcake shops.

I certainly see where you're coming from Jeff but is Bacon really a fad? Cupcake shops certainly are/were but bacon has been around and loved by most people for a long time. I think that possibly the problems with the Bacon Bar are little deeper than that. I love bacon and would enjoy it for a meal at least once a day if I could but on our one visit to this restaurant I wasn't impressed. The food was okay but I didn't really think it highlighted bacon and the menu itself was somewhat poorly thought out in my opinion. Service, at least when we were there was also far from stellar.

Bad idea to build your business on a fad. See also: cupcake shops.

I certainly see where you're coming from Jeff but is Bacon really a fad? Cupcake shops certainly are/were but bacon has been around and loved by most people for a long time.

People have loved cupcakes for a very long time as well, but I think that both of these items have been the subject of strong trends in the past 10 years that have pushed them, perhaps awkwardly, to the forefront. Bacon isn't exactly a showpiece, so building an entire restaurant around it would be extremely difficult to pull off. Sort of like opening a restaurant called The Crouton Corral.

I'm surprised it lasted that long, to be honest. Concept would work great as a convenience store, though. "Come get a fill up, grab some smoked, a redbull, and some brake fluid.... Oh, and while you're at it, would you care for a BLT? House cured pork belly with a black garlic aioli on ciabatta".

Makes way more sense, though I am sorry the owner(s) closed the door on a dream.

Yeah, Ronnie's right. Bacon is great but not enough to build a whole concept around. Something like the Blink Pig used to be is a better example: Meat-centric, particularly pork, and a wide variety of bacons and sausages available in all kinds of dishes and combinations. It's the difference between featuring a popular ingredient prominently and making the whole menu a kitschy joke of bacon-ness.

Bad idea to build your business on a fad. See also: cupcake shops.

I certainly see where you're coming from Jeff but is Bacon really a fad? Cupcake shops certainly are/were but bacon has been around and loved by most people for a long time. I think that possibly the problems with the Bacon Bar are little deeper than that. I love bacon and would enjoy it for a meal at least once a day if I could but on our one visit to this restaurant I wasn't impressed. The food was okay but I didn't really think it highlighted bacon and the menu itself was somewhat poorly thought out in my opinion. Service, at least when we were there was also far from stellar.

I have heard that this situation did go a little deeper, possibly sealed the deal. Something with an employee stealing a large amount of money. Sad this sort of thing happens to small businesses. It happened to me 3 times last week. This woman was very trusted in our restaurant also. She's MIA now, and hopefully will be caught before she can do it again to someone else.

[Robin Garr]

I have heard that this situation did go a little deeper, possibly sealed the deal. Something with an employee stealing a large amount of money. Sad this sort of thing happens to small businesses. It happened to me 3 times last week. This woman was very trusted in our restaurant also. She's MIA now, and hopefully will be caught before she can do it again to someone else.

Maggie, can you tell us any more about this situation? I understand that it might not be prudent to name names, but this sounds like information we ought to post separately so other restaurant owners will know about it. Would you be willing to post, or alternatively send me a private message so we can figure out a way to do that?

Thanks for providing that information Maggie. Something like that could certainly hurt a small business quite a bit. Hope that you are able to catch up with the employee that did it to you and prosecute them appropriately

I have heard that this situation did go a little deeper, possibly sealed the deal. Something with an employee stealing a large amount of money. Sad this sort of thing happens to small businesses. It happened to me 3 times last week. This woman was very trusted in our restaurant also. She's MIA now, and hopefully will be caught before she can do it again to someone else.

Maggie, can you tell us any more about this situation? I understand that it might not be prudent to name names, but this sounds like information we ought to post separately so other restaurant owners will know about it. Would you be willing to post, or alternatively send me a private message so we can figure out a way to do that?

Yes of course Robin, I'll message you. I debated making a post about it, but wasn't sure where to put it.

[Robin Garr]

Yes of course Robin, I'll message you. I debated making a post about it, but wasn't sure where to put it.

Thanks, Maggie! I'm fine with you posting ... I was just offering advice if you wanted it.

I'd say to post a new post in this forum, and then I will probably put a copy of it in the Restaurant Jobs forum, too.