Compared to casual dining, the fast-food and the fine dining business are both more straight-forward operations, even though they represent the two opposite extremes on the restaurant-business spectrum. This perception becomes apparent when realizing that casual dining is found SOMEWHERE in between, having to balance the food taste and dining experience. Fast-food and fine dining, in a nut shell, are about doing one thing and doing it well, and that's what makes their business practice simple and easy to handle. If you run a fast-food outlet, you don't attract customers with a restaurant theme, or concept, or perception--things along the so-called guest-experience line; you lure them in with your best cooked food. On the other hand, if you run a fine dining house, you don't have to face the difficulty of choosing one over the other; you take both of them--make the most delicate food and the most classy experience. But, when you run a casual dining place, often you find yourself stuck in the middle of the road, not quite sure which way to go, because customers may be pulling you from both directions.
Let's perform a little anatomy with a sharp kitchen knife.
If I were to open a burger (or sandwich, or burrito) shop, I wouldn't just make what I serve look like burgers, I would want them to taste like burgers. Too many foods have only the look, not the flavor. Burgers served by the bigger chains only LOOK better, and that has been really one untold problem. Doing only one thing in no way brings forward the success, the doing-it-well part does. Folks from Chipotle have simply made their burritos taste like burritos, without having to ring the "Bell," and the Texans at Schlotzsky's have also simply made their sandwiches taste like sandwiches, without having to follow the "Sub Way." If you ask about their ever-growing businesses, Chipotle people would probably tell you that they serve only the "Food With Integrity," wanting the best possible ingredients, and the words from the Schlotzsky's Texans would be "we don't just bake it--we MADE it," giving their most fresh-tasting buns.
To keep hungry customers from ever becoming angry, feed them with the best tasting, real food, not stuff them with mass-produced food "substitute." McDonald's nowadays makes most of its money from overseas markets where it relys on its image, not necessarily the food, and conmercials from many other competitors are also nothing, but impressively about images. Who still focuses on food? Those small, stand-alone shops--they remain in the basics, the oringinal way--what got all the major chains started in the first place. We'll have to see how far they can deviate before it streches too thin and break.
With all due respect, I think I could also open a fine dining establishment, as long as I follow this one and only doctrine--get the best of the best for everything, the best chef, staff, decoration, and whatever else might be needed, provided I had the enough capital. It would be a guaranteed success.
But when it comes to how to better run a casual dining business, I'm lacking a clearer idea, and my impression is that a lot of people in the industry don't have much a clue either. Should it be more about the food or the experience and what's really the selling point? Casual dining is inherently faced with making that choice to position itself so to align with the wishes of that particular group of diners. What may make sense is that there should be never too much about striving for better food quality. But with casual dining, nothing has to be intricate and elaborate like in fine dining--being simple and tasty will do it. What may also make sense is that there can be too much about boasting for guest experience, because it takes away scarce resource and may not pays back to the bottom line. It's amazing that people in the food business after a while can care less about what they bring onto the tables, but more about what they build around the tables. Guest experience plays out on itself over time. Hardly any memorable dining experience stops short of having the yummy food. The eating part must be impressive to begin with, then a management self-imagined theme, perception, or concept may also sell, in that it resonates with or connects to guests in the process. Decorating a trendy dining enviornment, but along with cooking the craved food.
Another malfunctioning in the casual dining business is their endless craving for expansion to build and franchise more and more stores, in the good name of growing their business--but what a wasteful way, with quick capital spending, and slow cash generating. Again this is image-driven, not substance-focused. To grow solidly is not to look out, but look in. If existing stores are not filled, more stores will only mean more empty spaces. Maybe the food is too "Chili" to have driven customers away; if you keep adding more "Chili's," it only keeps them stay away. "Chili's" can only be felt in the stomach, not on the eye. At the end of the day, all restaurants are in the business of selling food. Always make sure the cooking pan is not dry and well-flavored.
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