In theory, I can see the designer’s intent. It matches comments from one of those restaurant makeover shows.
You see, if there is a large number of people who work but don’t live in the area, and they are likely to eat lunch and maybe do happy hours but not hang out into the evening/late night, then that is a market segment to tap into.
Clearly the bar was failing. The owners were desperate. That means some changes are in order.
If the daily workers you want to tap are the standard office worker, then trying to make a “Dilbert themed” lunch bar seems like a good idea on paper. All the fun of a Dilbert cartoon, with alcoholic beverages.
One of the comments was to strip the menu from “a sprawling, multicultural affair” to a “trim, 12-item” menu. This fits with what that restaurant show said. Instead of trying to do everything, doing it mediocre, and having to fuss and fight with all the ingredients for each of those items, pare down the list to a few key things and then do them well.
Now theory runs into the cruel hand of reality. The “Dilbert theme” didn’t come off as a mockery of the workplace in a fun manner, it came off as more gloomy drudgery. The change in atmosphere was a huge step for the people who were working there. Honestly, if the owners wanted to give it a fair go, they were likely going to have to replace most of the staff, as it is unlikely the staff were going to be comfortable with that huge a change in style. That’s like taking your computer programming business from “programmer casual” to “business chic”. And if the owners were like many small businesses, they have a close connection and a sense of community if not family with their employees. Not the kind of distant attitude of the corporate world. So replacing the staff en masse is not practical or desired.
Ergo, the gigantic change in theme grated on the staff, grated on the owners, and the execution left the clientele unhappy.
Could it have worked if they actively pursued the new theme with a fun atmosphere, and pumped the makeover to draw the business crowd? Maybe. Hard to say.
The key for them is if there was any benefit from this makeover effort, or will the bar business take a mild upswing from the turmoil, then drop back to failing. Maybe they learned some management techniques and such to improve operations.
Now if they can open for lunch and try to make business execs feel it a fun escape from the workplace drudgery in the middle of their workday, maybe they can get something out of it while retaining the pirate theme and excitement. That might be a way to keep it from being a total loss.
