The most blatant I saw was Judy’s, a rip-off of Wendys. Same menu, same square burgers, even the same signage, except the little girl was a brunette. We had like 4 or 5 of them before they vanished. Even as teens, we all were saying “C’mon, they can’t think they’ll get away with this.”
There was a Japanese place near our house that had an owner/waitress who was a snotty, evil bitch, a real tengu. We went in one evening, were seated, ordered drinks… waited a good twenty minutes, finally had an order taken by the younger male waitron. Waited twenty more minutes, finally got drinks. Another fifteen minutes, got the little salad thingy. All the while the tengu-lady smoldered at us and occasionally let fly a string of abuse (in Japanese) at the waiter.
Now, we’d been there a number of times, never had an issue, and we were a clean, neat, polite family of five. I finally threw a small bill on the table and we left. I found out from reviews that this was a common thing: if tengu-lady decided you were unworthy, you may as well just up and leave, because you weren’t going to get served.
I did spend some time trying to find some butyl mercaptan to dribble on their sidewalk, but finally just let it go. I can’t figure out how restaurants can get away with this kind of behavior and stay in business, especially indies without a chain to hold them up.
Interesting - thanks.
The same thing happened to some local KFC/Taco Bell franchises a few yrs ago. They closed, then promplty reopened under a different name with the exact same menu (same food, but some of items had generic names).
The last time that I was ever at an Apple Bee’s, my cousin was with me and her food was messed up on twice! 
God bless you and her always!!! 
Holly
No sushi for you! Sounds like the Japanese version of the “Soup Nazi”!
A small sandwich shop / lunch place opened on my block last year…emphasis on SMALL.
I was glad to see them as the area is short on restuarants but as soon as I saw the menu I thought “too bad, they won’t be here long”.
The owner hadn’t really given any thought to shopping and what food he would need to stock when he came up with the menu. Almost every sandwich featured a different kind of cheese, they needed to keep 10 different varietys in stock. And they had pulled pork and pulled chicken and pulled beef – all 3 , every day.And these sandwiches weren’t enough, they also offered hot food options ( roast meats, several kinds of fried seafood and side dishes, every day).
And a small storefront shop like this probably isn’t going to find it profitable to offer a falafel burger in addition to the standard burgers, especially when it requires a type of bun and sauces not used in any other dish on the menu.
While I think feta cheese and watermelon salad is a great invention, if nothing else in your shop requires feta cheese or watermelon, maybe you should leave it off the menu.
Then on top of all this they had a juice/smoothie bar…which required them to stock a huge variety of fresh fruits.
They were out of business in 6 months.
[QUOTE=Most non-chain restaurants are run by people with a lot of knowledge of food and insufficient knowledge of business. Far too often the owners don’t seem to think carefully enough about the menu to realize that the type of restaurant they want to run doesn’t fit with the neighborhood or will only do well for a few months before the neighborhood regulars move on to the new thing.[/QUOTE]
I am owner of a independently owned Pizza /Italian food casual restaurant that seats 50. We have great reviews, a keen eye for details and excellent customer service. We have a line out the door on the weekends. We have been in business for 1.5 years. The problem I am finding is no matter how great and attentive you are the customers have no clue what it takes to operate a restaurant. Lots of them have no idea that when they camp out they effect the restaurants ability to make money to cover the overall expenses. We never rush anyone, however staying 20 minutes longer effects my ability to make ends meet. Our price point is moderate for the quality of food. Others do not want to wait 30 minutes to dine but will drive another 10 minutes to wait 15 somewhere else. I work so hard and am blessed so far but its the customer’s lack of restaurant knowledge that makes or breaks a place and at times it has nothing to do with service, food, or location- mainly, I believe its our growing flippant culture that is effecting great business all over. The instant satisfaction population that wants healthy fresh food but prefers chain establishments and the lesser quality to save a few minutes of there day. My best customers are those that have worked or had family in the restaurant business, other business owners, and families that want to support another hard working family business. I wish restaurateurs would address this growing problem that good small restaurant owners face.
I missed this post before. It reminds me of the story about the abandoned supermarket in Fort Worth, Texas. The owners were having business problems so they just locked the front door one day and walked away from it. The power was turned off and all of the food inside spoiled. But because the owners had disappeared it took three months before local authorities could get the go-ahead to break into the store and clear it out. They had to send hazmat teams in to clean the place.
Zoid, you are at the bottom range of Food Costs, and Stranger, you are at the upper end. A cheap place like Denny’s can run a 15-20% food cost off an $8 plate average because they have thousands of stores and huge contracts with food purveyors. They makes pennies of profit on each plate, but sell hundreds of thousands of plates each day. An upper end fine dining place can afford a 40-50% food cost because they price the entrees much higher.
I am a kitchen manager of a successful, independent restaurant, which opened 5 years ago in a horrible economy. When we were new, the owners worked almost everyday and didn’t take a salary. They negotiated with purveyors, chatted with customers, kept employees on task, and kept smiles on their worried faces. Now, they only show up once or twice a week, usually for a meeting, or to bring in pay roll, and they are making tons of money. I call bull shit on the myth that it is hard to make a profit in the restaurant business or that they run on a hairline budget and could close at any moment. It takes hard work, and you have to watch every penny, but it is a lucrative business if you know what you are doing. The restaurant owners that fail don’t manage their costs. They get in over their heads and don’t know what to do.
It doesn’t matter if the place is popular, or if there is always a line out the door, or the food and service are excellent. If your costs are greater than your revenue, you will not succeed.
@QueenJack – that’s a very interesting point. Sometimes I’ll stay to chat after a meal is finished, and I never really equated that with costing the restaurant money. I’m pretty sure if I saw a line of people waiting for my table, I’d be encouraged to leave, but I might not really pay attention. Of course, when I’m the one waiting in line, I silently curse the dawdlers slowing sipping their coffee.
I wonder if there might be some way to incentivize people into leaving promptly? Dave & Busters has a game room, and McDonalds has that terrible smell, but those might not work for finer dining. Maybe cattle prods?
Has anyone noticed a pattern of quick closings involving particular chains? The one I am thinking of is Togo’s - I have seen a number of them close within six months of opening, and these have been in various places in northern California over at least a 10-year period. I don’t think it’s just a franchising problem, as the stores quickly became something else - and, in a number of cases, something not food related.
I have noticed that a number of restaurants in particular areas tend to close quickly. I work near a University of Phoenix, and there was an Applebee’s and a Quizno’s in the connected shopping area (we share a rather large parking lot), but both of them closed after about a year. (The Quizno’s became a local cafe; the Applebee’s is still empty.)
(Speaking of restaurants, I need to get around more - I recently discovered two restaurants on my “I have to consider going there one of these days” lists are not only closed, but have been closed since the end of 2012.)
I know that feel. There was a New-York style Jewish deli that opened in my town in 2011. I kept meaning to go there but put it off (mainly because they were a cash-only business and I rarely carry cash), and then, one weekend when I finally meant to go there, I read in the paper that they’d closed.
Oh, weird! I saw the thread title and was going to mention that exact same (assuming your location is up to date) Jewish deli. I went once and it was delicious but I was almost never downtown with time to eat. Then boom, they were closed.