Hey there, my Thai wife of 20 years and I are considering opening a western style restaurant in Roi Et. Can any of you locals offer up any advice on the feasability? Is the market saturated? Cost of leasing shop etc.

Better to ask in the local forum.

 

Moved.

Sorry. Thought Issarn Forum was specific enough. Can you direct me to the proper forum?

This is now in the Isaan forum, it was moved here from the General forum where you first posted it.

I think more importantly than if the market is saturated ( everywhere people are, people need to eat. It is up to you how good you are and how to capture the people ) and what lease costs are etc is if you and / or your wife have experience running a restaurant. If you've successfully run a restaurant before then you should be just fine. However, if youve never run a restaurant, but enjoy cooking etc, dont think it will be as easy or fun as cooking for yourself and family at home. But still go ahead and do it, but keep it small and dont expect big returns if any.

At the moment there really aren't many western restaurants in Roi Et and I think if done right, you could operate a successful one as there are quite a few expats in the area. 

 

What exactly did you have in mind for the restaurant (any food specialty, pool table, etc) and have you already found a location?  There are a few things you could do that might provide a winner.

Since you didn't respond to my question perhaps you have already given up on the idea.  If you are in doubt, don't do it as you need both a good game plan and a desire to make it work to succeed.

On 3/10/2019 at 1:34 PM, jimgilly said:

At the moment there really aren't many western restaurants in Roi Et and I think if done right, you could operate a successful one as there are quite a few expats in the area. 

 

What exactly did you have in mind for the restaurant (any food specialty, pool table, etc) and have you already found a location?  There are a few things you could do that might provide a winner.

In my opinion Roi et needs a place with a good western style breakfast. We live about 30 km from the center of Roi et.  Would love to have a place that I could go to on immigration days and when coming into the city center on shopping days.

@Longcut

 

It has! 

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g1152723-d13793437-Reviews-Riverside_Bar-Roi_Et_Roi_Et_Province.html

23 hours ago, Madgee said:

@Longcut

 

It has! 

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g1152723-d13793437-Reviews-Riverside_Bar-Roi_Et_Roi_Et_Province.html

I was there for 6 days New Year holiday and was told the Riverside on that link closed maybe 4 years ago.

 

However, I did notice a few groups of foreigners sitting in restaurants next to the park lake. Can any Roi Et locals advise me if these locations sell western food or do the western customers only meet for a beer?

 

Any further comments from the OP?

 

 

After deciding the menu, have you investigated the market place for buying needed equipment...grill, deep fat fryer, woks. Locating the best ham burger buns, beef patties, sausages.

 

If you have previous cash business experience then you know you'll have to be hands on every hour you're open. First person in, last person out.

19 minutes ago, yosib157 said:

I was there for 6 days New Year holiday and was told the Riverside on that link closed maybe 4 years ago.

 

However, I did notice a few groups of foreigners sitting in restaurants next to the park lake. Can any Roi Et locals advise me if these locations sell western food or do the western customers only meet for a beer?

 

Any further comments from the OP?

 

Errrr .............. Look at the review dates and you will find it is alive and kicking. I pass by the place regularly and on Wednesday nights the place is still very busy. 

The places by the lake are still in business and have a western menu.

6 minutes ago, Madgee said:

Errrr .............. Look at the review dates and you will find it is alive and kicking. I pass by the place regularly and on Wednesday nights the place is still very busy. 

The places by the lake are still in business and have a western menu.

 

I'm glad you proved me wrong as we'll be staying near there again in 2 weeks so will check it out.

Don't understand as the place I found was a total wreck of a place (which I took to be the Riverside) and was on the canal and behind the Hop Inn. However, 2 locals told me about the Wednesday Fish & Chip nights so I guess they are close to each other. Do you know anything about the restaurants near the park lake?

Riverside changed ownership about 18 months ago. The 'wreck' was previous to that! 

Take a tour around the lake and you'll find many good eating places, Thai and western. Many westerners frequent two places next to each other, both have a comprehensive western menu.

Lakeview and Pizza101

50 minutes ago, Madgee said:

Riverside changed ownership about 18 months ago. The 'wreck' was previous to that! 

Take a tour around the lake and you'll find many good eating places, Thai and western. Many westerners frequent two places next to each other, both have a comprehensive western menu.

Lakeview and Pizza101

Thanks for the info; wonder if the op is reading it? I'll still need to check out the other place to confirm my sanity. It was actually middle of November not the new year trip when I checked some places out. That day I was quite sick and spent rest of the day in the Bangkok Hospital.

On 3/12/2019 at 1:02 PM, Madgee said:

@Longcut

 

It has! 

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g1152723-d13793437-Reviews-Riverside_Bar-Roi_Et_Roi_Et_Province.html

Thank you.

Thais like Western food also.....keep the prices right, a small menu that offers Thai dishes also, shouldn't go far wrong. Maybe even have a small outlet of Foreign goods, bacon, sausage etc which you can get direct from various suppliers.