opening a bar/ restaurant without knowing the basics?

[Crazy chef 1]

i recently visited a newly opened restaurant/ bar in our town.pretty nice place,clean and it looked like the owner invested some bucks.when i got the menu i became a little bit confused.not too many choices(what is a good sign) but completely not understandable.the english menu didn't made any sense the german description weird( and i am native) and no Thai translation nor Thai dishes at all.later the owner(or financer) came by and we had a chat.he seems to be a nice fellow (swiss by the way)and want to get things right and praised the cooking skills of his lady.when the food arived the proportion of meat,sauce and side dish seemed to be odd but nothing against the quality- good taste.my recommendation to all of you wannabe restaurant owners is: save some money for professional advise( if you don't come frome the business)! let somebody who have the knowledge create/ design your menu,train your staff,recommend equipment you need and stay in contact for a while for further advise/ guidance- best investment you ever made!!too many things need to be considered for a sucessful business what you can't know as an outsider.popularity of dishes,shelf live,mise en place,costing,suppliers and HYGIENE basics.too many new restaurant have failed due of the wrong saved buck.

you also wouldn't open a bakery without knowing to bake,isn'it? and before the english spelling and grammar police is catching up:as stated before i am not native english.

ps.junglechef- wait for your opinion...

[hanno]

I have seen that everywhere: running a bar/restaurant is easy, after all I have been and eaten and drunk in many establishments. And the bucks in the till in the evening are pure profit, my mates come over every night and eat and drink for free, I do not know that there is a painfully low season, I do not know how to cost a menu item, and on and on.

These restaurants and bars have a habit of disappearing very quickly.

Oh, and I have been working in the hospitality business for 30 years and still wouldn't open a restaurant (except as a hobby when I retire), I much rather have a guaranteed salary in my pocket at the end of every month.

[Crazy chef 1]

have to agree with your last sentence but even as an retirement "hobby" it could bring quiet a decent profit if properly done and you'r not relying/ dependandt on it.

[h90]

I know of several German menus which are so terrible that I can't believe it......Last time I was laughing till tears came out reading a menu.

What I don't understand: First Google is everyones friend.

Than you have your customer, when you see the next German students in your restaurant, you ask them for help....offer free food and drinks for reviewing it.

Make it 2-3 times to check if the results are the same. Minimal costs and everything will be right.

Or send it for a translation service: 2000 Baht?

Or copy it from your competitor.

[Crazy chef 1]

in this case even the German menu made no sense.either messed up at the printing company or written fully hammered.

BTW some english food idioms are fairly hard to understand for Germans: kalbsbries= sweet bread?blutwurst= black sausage pudding?tafelspitz= rump cap....and vice versa

[stoneyboy]

It's hard to get excited about German food per se.

[Crazy chef 1]

It's hard to get excited about German food per se.

i won't comment on this.... because of the old speach: never argue with a f.....

[marko kok prong]

I had a very good Lampburger recently in Koh Chang accompanied with french fleas.

[hanno]

I know of several German menus which are so terrible that I can't believe it......Last time I was laughing till tears came out reading a menu.

What I don't understand: First Google is everyones friend.

Than you have your customer, when you see the next German students in your restaurant, you ask them for help....offer free food and drinks for reviewing it.

Make it 2-3 times to check if the results are the same. Minimal costs and everything will be right.

Or send it for a translation service: 2000 Baht?

Or copy it from your competitor.

My pet peeve, and something I see all over Asia. Get a native speaker, pay the a couple of beer and it is alldone.

About the German food comment: you obviously never had good German food, there is a lot more to it than Schnitzel and Bratwurst.

[marko kok prong]

I know of several German menus which are so terrible that I can't believe it......Last time I was laughing till tears came out reading a menu.

What I don't understand: First Google is everyones friend.

Than you have your customer, when you see the next German students in your restaurant, you ask them for help....offer free food and drinks for reviewing it.

Make it 2-3 times to check if the results are the same. Minimal costs and everything will be right.

Or send it for a translation service: 2000 Baht?

Or copy it from your competitor.

My pet peeve, and something I see all over Asia. Get a native speaker, pay the a couple of beer and it is alldone.

About the German food comment: you obviously never had good German food, there is a lot more to it than Schnitzel and Bratwurst.

Like sourkraut,heard it was very popular in june 1966.

[Crazy chef 1]

sorry guys this toppic is not about different preferences of food it is about: read the head line!!!and may the OP.

[marko kok prong]

sorry guys this toppic is not about different preferences of food it is about: read the head line!!!and may the OP.

But surely we can drift a little old chap?

[chrisinth]

Where a lot of people starting out go wrong is by not correctly identifying their target customers. If the owner is say, German and the chef can do German food, great, go for it.

But you have to look further, how many Germans are in the area, how many people would like to try German food and how reliable is that base. You need alternate items on the menu, at least some Thai dishes.

And, as has been said, the biggest mistake of all is not having your menu proof read, with a translation in English (not German unless you are sure of your base) and Thai as a minimum.

(Only using German as an example, same applies for all countries)

[krisb]

Hmm, interesting.

[marko kok prong]

A friend of mine opened a kazakh resturant a month ago,still waiting for Borat to show up,would be the first customer,he is from Cardiff by the way.

[sdanielmcev]

Same could be said for any business. Knowing the customer base is a good idea. You don't say what town, so can't say if proper German would be important.

[Lucifer]

I suspect this has very little to do with the Swiss man wanting a restaurant. His love-of-his-life, one day said I vant lesta-lant.

Love can even open Swiss bank vaults

Edited May 29, 2014 by Lucifer

[Crazy chef 1]

...and empty them even faster.

[choochoo]

Weiner-schneiter please....lol.

[GaryB1263]

I love brats. mmmmmmmm.

[ttthailand]

If starting out with no experience why not just get a few menus from other restaurants and copy the spelling and perhaps the food selection. The land of copy

[jaideeguy]

Restaurants in LOS are like Pattaya 'entertainment' girls.................they come and they go.

We're the fools with the fantasy that our [restaurants and girls] are not the same as others [that are mostly doomed to fail].

[susan d]

Interesting...

[GinBoy2]

Making a restaurant profitable is tough anywhere in the world, yet for some reason so many people come to Thailand with no restaurant experience, sink their life savings into it, then are amazed when it fails. Margins on food are wafer thin, generally restaurants (in the US at least) make a good percentage of profit from the drinks they serve with the food. I'm not saying it can't be done, but without any previous experience it's a tough business at best

Edited May 31, 2014 by GinBoy2

[Loles]

A nice old story.

Long time ago I made a boat-trip on Nile in Egypt. The tour-leader gave to every-one menu and "how to use the boat-equipments" instruction in their own language. He was very proud of him-self he had many translations.

He asked me about my nationality. Answered, and the man was very happy, and started to push me to make an Argentine language translation to him. He was so pushy and disturbed me, cause I went for relax not for work free to an Arab pushy man.

I tried to explain him he had Spanish already. But my buddy was so pushy, pushy and more pushy, so I made it, something like that:

menu:

- marinated tail of mouse

- cat-eye steak

- camel tongue ice-cream

- fly urine beer

- monkey fingers with nails

- horseshoe soup with boiled dragon egg

- A/4 size sheet in basil-bed

how to use the boat:

- don't sleep in toilet

- please return the boat-key when you leave

- to marry in board it's absolutely forbidden

- kids are not allowed on board

- you keep your dog in your pocket

- we have a boat driving course for you, free of any charge

- you have to smoke in engine-house

So be careful with the helpful helpers, especially with the google translator.

Edited May 31, 2014 by Loles

[hellohello123]

Making a restaurant profitable is tough anywhere in the world, yet for some reason so many people come to Thailand with no restaurant experience, sink their life savings into it, then are amazed when it fails. Margins on food are wafer thin, generally restaurants (in the US at least) make a good percentage of profit from the drinks they serve with the food. I'm not saying it can't be done, but without any previous experience it's a tough business at best

its because they think the women are considered easy, its a 3rd world country, so hard hard must it be to start a restaurant when uneducatd thais are running them apparently succesfully, when an educated farang could do far better

[Mudcrab]

Hmm, interesting.

or for those of a certain vintage ...(cue the palm tree) very interesting......but stupid.

Those who know will know what I mean.

[ggt]

Don't forget to factor in the normal extortion money...so your business does not get ransacked or burned to the ground...

[starky]

Very old but very true joke best way to earn a small fortune in Thailand is start with a big one particularly in the bar/restaurant business especially if you don't know what your doing. Good luck however I wish you well, probably not the wisest idea though

[Eagleizer]

Took this picture of a menu at Koh Larn during Songkran this year.

Wonder how it`s served...