1. Kinds and Characteristics of Restaurants and Their Owners
Chapter 2
Kinds and Characteristics of Restaurants and Their Owners

2. Objectives
After reading and studying this chapter, you should be able to:
List and describe the various kinds and characteristics of restaurants
Compare and contrast chain, franchised, and independent restaurant operations
Describe the advantages and disadvantages of chef-owned restaurants
Identify several well-known celebrity chefs
Define centralized home delivery restaurants

3. Kinds and Characteristics of Restaurants
Segments:
Chain or independent (indy), and franchise restaurants
Quick-service (QSR), sandwich
Fast/quick casual
Family
Casual
Fine dining
Other

4. Chain or Independent Chain restaurants
Some advantages and disadvantages over independent restaurants
Advantages include:
Recognition in the marketplace
Greater advertising clout
Sophisticated systems development
Discounted purchasing

5. Chain or Independent (cont’d.)
Independent restaurant advantages:
Relatively easy to open
Restaurateurs can “do their own thing”
Concept development, menus, décor, etc.
Potential for growth
Some will grow into small chains while larger companies will buy them out

6. Franchised Restaurants
Involves fewer risks:
Restaurant format has been tested in the marketplace
Less likely to go belly-up
Training is provided
Marketing and management supports are available
Several requirements:
Franchising and royalty fees, advertising royalty, and substantial personal net worth

7. Franchised Restaurants (cont’d.)
Franchisors:
Help with site selection and review
Assist with design and building preparation
Help with preparation for opening
Train managers and staff
Plan and implement pre-opening marketing strategies
Conduct unit visits and provide on-going operating advice

8. Sandwich Shops Characteristics: Examples: Simple to open and operate
Little or no cooking required
Hot and cold sandwiches, soups, and beverages
Limited kitchen equipment needed
Examples:
Jimmy John’s gourmet sandwich shop
The Sandwich Shop in San Francisco
Subway

9. Quick-Service 1870s: Plate House Characteristics:
First known quick-service restaurant
Served a quick lunch in about 10 minutes
Characteristics:
Many precook or partially cook food
Goal is to serve maximum number of customers in a minimum amount of time
Food is paid for before service
Limited menus

10. Quick Casual Restaurants
Defining traits:
Use of high-quality ingredients
Fresh made-to-order menu items
Healthy options
Limited or self-serving formats
Upscale décor
Carry-out meals
Inclusion of bakery-cafés

11. Family Restaurants Characteristics:
Grew out of coffee shop-style restaurant
Frequently located within easy reach of suburbs
Informal
Simple menu
Service designed to appeal to families
Some offer wine and beer
Most offer no alcoholic beverages

12. Casual Restaurants Characteristics: Examples:
Fits societal trend of a relaxed lifestyle
Signature food items
Creative bar menus or enhanced wine service
Comfortable, homey décor
Examples:
Applebee’s, Outback, Chili’s, etc.

13. Fine-Dining Restaurants
Characteristics:
Expensive and leisurely
Average check of $60 or more
Very low table turnover
Can be less than one and evening
Customers: special occasions and business
Restaurants are small
Usually less than 100 seats
Proprietor- or partner-owned
Rent can be high

14. Steakhouses Characteristics:
Limited menu caters to a well-identified market (i.e. steak eaters)
Service ranges from walk-up to high-end
High food costs (as high as 50%)
Low labor costs (as low as 12%)
Majority of customers are men

15. Lore of Steak Steaks vary Types include:
Tenderloin: most tender and runs along backbone
T-bone: cut from the small end of loin
Porterhouse: T-bone and tenderloin
New York Strip: compact, dense, and boneless
Delmonico: small, often boned steak, taken from the front section of the short loin
Sirloin: comes from just in front of the round, between the rump and shank

16. Seafood Restaurants Colonial America Characteristics:
Seafood was a staple food in the taverns
Characteristics:
Many are independently operated
Red Lobster is the largest chain
682 restaurants
Farm-bred fish
Changing the cost and kinds available

17. Ethnic Restaurants Mexican restaurant characteristics:
Menu is often built around tortillas, ground beef, cilantro, chilies, rice, and beans
Relatively inexpensive
Labor costs are also low
Menus, décor, and music are often colorful and exciting
Menus may include tasty seafood items and spicy sauces

18. Italian Restaurants Characteristics:
Hold largest number of U.S. ethnic restaurants
Offer an array of opportunities
Owe their origins largely to poor immigrants from southern Italy
Pizza is native to Naples
Many American soldiers, during World War II, learned to enjoy it
Chain operators are spreading the pasta concept (e.g., Olive Garden)

19. Chinese Restaurants Characteristics:
Small percentage of restaurants in America
Historically owned by hardworking, ethnically Chinese families
Cooking revolves around the wok
China is divided into culinary districts:
Szechuan, Hunan, Cantonese, and the northern style centered in Beijing

20. Theme Restaurants Characteristics:
Built around emphasizing fun and fantasy
Glamorize sports, travel, or eras in time
Celebrities are central to many
Comparatively short life cycle
Do well outside major tourist attractions
Locals tire of hype when food is poor
Most profits come from merchandise
Costs are high
Capital costs and operations

21. Theme Restaurants (cont’d.)
Martin M. Pegler: Theme Restaurant Design
Theme restaurant categories:
Hollywood and the movies
Sports and sporting events
Time: the good old days
Records, radio, and television
Travel: trains, planes, and steamships
Ecology and the world around us

22. Coffee Shops Characteristics: Long part of our culture and history
Originally created based on Italian bars
Modified to include wider variety of beverages
Meet the tastes of consumers
Chain or independent
Requirements:
Good name and location, permits, coffee and espresso machine, limited kitchen equipment, tables, chairs, and some decorations

23. Chef-Owned Restaurants
Characteristics:
Part of American tradition of family restaurants
Papa is the chef and mama is the hostess
Publicity is key in gaining attention
One of the best-known husband-and-wife culinary teams is Wolfgang Puck and Barbara Lazaroff
Chef-owner should have a good backup person
Share in management, food preparation, and marketing
Husband-and-wife teams are subject to divorce

24. Women Chefs as Restaurant Owners
Characteristics:
Numerous examples
Typical restaurant manager of the future may be a woman
Those with stamina and ambition may be better suited than men with similar backgrounds
It is agreed that female restaurant owners are more concerned with details, sanitation, and appearance
Female restaurant owners are more likely to be sensitive and empathetic toward customers

25. Celebrity Chefs Bigger today than ever before Emeril Lagasse
Rachael Ray
Suzanne Goin
Alice Waters
Marc Vetri
Barbara Lynch

26. Centralized Home Delivery Restaurants
Characteristics:
Reduce costs of order-taking, food preparation, and accounting
Marketing costs may not decrease
Home delivery centers verify and process credit card information
Computers used to perform accounting
Can be done at any location connected to the Internet, locally or internationally

27. The End