Marla's Restaurant Blog

Up, down.

Coming off a stunning couple of weeks to be hit in the face with a slow one.  It never gets easy.

The truth about Scout Mob

A few months ago, I posted a note about how Groupon wouldn't work for Babette's, but now we are signed up for Scout Mob.  What's the difference?  Well, almost 25%.  Unlike Groupon, with Scout Mob, the customer comes into the restaurant and pays their 50% directly to the restaurant.  If the customer brings in a text or a printed coupon with the same text number, the restaurant is charged $.50 (that's 50 cents folks) by Scout Mob.  Those codes are only available on the one day the restaurant is featured by Scout Mob.  After that, the discount is available on Android phones through the Scout Mob App.  When the Scout Mob App is used at the restaurant, the restaurant is charged $3.00. 

If the discount is $25.00 Scout Mob takes either $.50 or $3.00.  For the same discount, Groupon takes $12.50.  That's it folks.  That difference of $9.50 is enough to cover food cost, labor, linen and to even to put some money in the bank.  The difference is just easier to swallow in principle as well, Groupon making just as much as the restaurant from the customer?  One restauranteur only made money from Groupon because so many who had purchased the coupon did not use it.

I've spoken with other restaurant owners.  Most are happy with Scout Mob, some are not.  We have been very happy.  We did not raise our prices to cover some of the discount.  (I love my regulars.)  We are not charging a split plate charge. (We never do.)  We scheduled this promotion to run during the summer months, which are our slowest and when I can hire some part time students for the summer and be able to let them go before school starts.  We staffed up. Production and purchasing has been the greatest challenge.  We upped our pars for food and liquor, ordered more linen, glassware and china.

We've seen customers back that haven't been in for a while.  We're seeing new people who haven't tried us before.  So far so good.

It hasn't gone off without a hitch.  On the first weekend, one table printed the feature page without grabbing the discount so they didn't have the "code".  I didn't honor it and probably should have.  Last night someone forgot their printed code.  I asked them to call us back at the end of the night from home with the code and I would credit their charge card $25.00 after verifying it in our book.  I don't know if they called.  We've been so busy, a ticket was missed in the kitchen with a birthday note, so a dessert went out without the proper fanfare.  Customer was not happy.  A few tickets are running a little long in the kitchen, but customers have been very understanding on that issue.  I think.

It's hard.  Babette's is closed on Mondays and both my Front of House Manager and my Sous Chef came in to finish their ordering then when they had a moment of quiet.  Mondays have been my only day off. A fellow restauranteur whose spot is open seven days a week is thinking of closing some Mondays just so he can get caught up on production. The cooks are getting a workout.  The servers are soaking their feet at the end of the shift.  And we're all hungry.  I'll have to buy some Stouffer's lasagna for the staff meal this weekend.

I recently received an email from a representative from Groupon who after reading my post, told me they had restructured their promotions.  Each deal program works differently for the various kinds of businesses.  To business owners, look at the details and know your cost of sales.  For customers, go for it, there are some great deals out there.

 

Staff Vacations

Covered for my Sous Chef last week, covering for my manager this week.  Liquor orders, prep lists, recipe tweaking, costing updates. 

Waiting patiently for a new version of my recipe costing software to be sent to me.  My old version was so old, the data had to be converted and loaded on the new disk and mailed to me.  I am something about old programs.

Recently had an issue with a Word Perfect 5.0.  Published in 1994.  When I tried to reinstall the program after a computer glitch, the installation disk was corrupted, had to get a new version for that too.  Yes, Word Perfect.  Blows microsoft word out of the water.  The new version is harder to use though, but getting used to it.  Still using the 1994 version on another computer.  You can teach an old dog new tricks, but it's not easy and certainly not welcome. 

Hell, I swore I would never use a point of sale system, just manual checks.  Someone reminded me of that not too long ago. Ok, I got over that.  Now I pay several thousand dollars a year on maintenance and sonic walls and data scanning services to make sure the credit card info is not compromised.  It's a huge endeavor.  

When I started cooking we didn't even have Cuisinarts or other food processors, just this big old round thing called a Buffalo Chopper with a rotating bowl and a huge blade which could chop up your arm for sausage in a matter of seconds.

I still don't have a slicer in the kitchen.

An undate.

Business is pretty good, still a struggle.

Two new kitchen employees, kids really, who are young enough to think I'm cool and brilliant.

New Menus.  It's taken me 17 years to find just exactly what I want but I did.

Good publicity from Google and Atlanta Magazine.

New customers who can't believe they've never been in before.

The city wanted to clear out the homeless from the park, so they cut away all the underbrush in the woods next to us.  Good for me, not so good for the homeless. 

Fine tuning the menu and purchasing to bring costs in line.

Finishing all the books for the year for the accountant.

Filling a front of house position.  Part time.  New person starts this weekend.

Spending more time in the kitchen to train, train, train.

Getting ready for Valentine's Weekend.

Floors cleaned and polished professionally.

Teaching my daughter to drive.

Julia Child Week update

I came in at 8:30 on Monday, a day when we're closed, to prep for Julia week.

I came in at 9:00 on Tuesday to finish prep and pull everything together.  Went home for a hour to shower, eat a slice of frozen pizza and go back to work the floor on the "opening night".

In 4 hours, we sold just about all of the food I worked two days prepping.

Couldn't wind down last night so found myself cleaning the bathrooms at home at 10:30pm.

It's now Wednesday, 8:22 in the morning and I'm back at it, coffee is brewing, ovens are heating.  This is going to be a very long week.

They survived.

Checked in at the restaurant tonight even though I wasn't due back until tomorrow.  All is well.  Only slight problem was that my saute cook and my manager got together and thought the freezer was broken because the fan wasn't working and ice was dripping.  They started  to pull all the food out and stash it in our ice cream freezer before calling me.....I suggested that it was just in it's regular defrost cycle....Which it was.  Came back on in 20 minutes.....they put everything back.  Live and learn.

Taking a Vacation.

I just returned from a wonderful week at St. Simon's Island with friends and family.  We rented a house.  Had a pool, walked to the beach.  Ate great shrimp and crab.  We had cocktails on the porch and played lots of cards. 

In the back of my mind was a dull worry about the restaurant.  Usually I don't think about it, but this time I was curious and a little nervous.  It has been a slower July.  Tax Free days hit on the second weekend sending customers to the malls.  Downtown Atlanta restaurants are running special priced menus this week.  Did I get all the bills paid that I was supposed to?  Were there any equipment problems?  Was anyone out sick?  Did anyone make a stupid mistake at a table?  Was the kitchen watching the purchasing carefully?

It's a tough time.  I hate July.

Summer blues....

Ok, I'll admit it, business is slow.  Part of it is summer.  July is slow.  People are at the beach.  People are visiting family.  Happens every year.  The economy has dropped our business about 15 percent for most of this year, though both May and June were busier than last year.  Amazing.  But we're back in a slump.  Week night business is fine.  And Sunday brunches are crazy, but Friday and Saturday nights are off.  So we are careful about our food and liquor purchases.  We cut back on linen orders.  And we let the busser have some extra nights off, since he works two jobs. 

We adjust the menu so we offer more small plates for smaller appetites and budgets.  We watch how many loads of dishes are being run through the dishwasher half empty.  (We are charged by the load).  We clean.  We really clean.  We strip the coolers and scrub the walls, racks and compressor coils.  We reorganize our storage areas.  We polish the copper.  We pressure wash the deck. (that's me of course).  We update recipe costing.  We send people home. (Volunteers are usually ready.)  We retrain.

I've been through ups and downs over the years and I think we're doing a lot better than many restaurants.  Our overhead is low.  We're a small shop with a small crew.  We can adjust.  And thank goodness for our many regulars.  They may not be coming in as often, but they are coming in and supporting us and encouraging us.  We're still here.

The week improved....

Ok,  I'm feeling better.  We had two private parties this week and I nailed them.  I went home Friday evening, bragging to my husband about what a good job I had done (because when you're the boss, no one else does this) and he reminded me of what I had said on Wednesday...see previous post.  Yes, yes...but I'm beginning to realize that I just really hate Wednesdays because my sous chef is off.  Oh and the never ending list of crap that needs to be fixed and attended to?...  I just wrote it all down and handed it to Greg, my repair guy.  I just can't do it myself anymore.

Bad Reviews.....

  You know what they say about opinions.  Opinions are like %@#)%, everybody's got one.  I recently received a not too flattering review on Yelp. Guy came in for brunch and said the server got everything mixed up at the table and the food was uninspired.  This is right after another not so glowing review also on Yelp.  Who are these people?

   Just so you know, most of the chefs I know take this thing very very personally, at least for an hour or so, I know I do.  I want to pull the covers over my head and never go back to work.  I kick myself in the ass for not being everything to everyone at all times.  It doesn't matter that my back was breaking or that I had just called an ambulance for a customer having seizures in the dining room while trying to keep the driveway from being blocked by the fire truck so the 100 people or so in the dining room at the time could leave for the Va Highlands Festival on time and the party of 25 on the back deck could get in.

  Just how inspired does someone want a Sausage and Pepper Omelette to be for $8.75?

  But I don't take light of the restaurant saying that you're only as good as your last meal.  I liked Saturday night's crowd better.  The guys who said it's the best meal they have ever had and the couple who said I have the "perfect" restaurant.  Too bad the Sunday guy ruined my weekend.