I operated a mid-size chinese buffet and I want to find more ways to attract more customer to come to my restaurant. I have 5 stations, 2 cold bars for fruits desserts, salads etc and 3 hot bars that features over 50 items. I don't charge that much lunch is 5.95 and dinner is 8.95 including snow crab legs!I would say is a good deal, I want to improve my business, please give me some good advices. Thanks. What make you come back more and what drive you away?(beside bad food and bad service of course) Do you like a restaurant that serve alcohol beverage more? How often do you frequent a buffet?
For my business I have a busy lunch crowds but at dinner time we slow down a lot and my restaurant is fairly new. Only open for 5 months, and is tricky to run a buffet because the less people to come the harder is it to operate because we have to throw out so much food after they've been sitting at the bar for some time, and we want to keep the food as fresh as possible.
2007-06-29 20:28:49 · 7 answers · asked by Rest.ownerbee 1 in Dining Out ➔ Other - Dining Out
i agree with the guy that says u should offer single meals for dinner. there this chinese place in my town that does that and theyre fairly successful, just keep the portions of the meals fairly large, it takes a lot of chinese food to fill a person up. offer coloring books to the children. play some traditional chinese music (no vocals, 12 girls band should work nice) if you have a sound system for the store. if you cant get some chinese music, just play a popular radio station. another thing u should try is to build some kind of relationship with the people who come often. theres this chinese woman who works at that restaurant i mentioned and its always a fun experience when i eat there because she's very friendly and always has some interesting stories about the people and culture from china and teaches us chinese. ur customers arent just mindless americans, theyre actual people like you, go talk to them, they might give you some feedback on your restaurant, and itll really boost ur confidence when it comes to speaking english, which is always a plus, i hate going to chinese restaurants and the people who work there cant understand me when i say "I need a table for two for the buffet." I dont agree with the people who say the food needs to be healthy. sure it has to look and taste good and cant be nasty with grease, but who would choose to eat at a chinese buffet in which most of the food is deep fried when theyre looking for some health food? your decor has to be nice, but dont over do it, just a couple dragon statues, some nice photos, paintings, and materials for tabletops and counters is all you need. for an added touch you can put some miniature bhuddas around the place if u want. just keep it simple, keep it clean, and make sure your staff knows how to speak some basic english. good luck!
2007-06-30 00:15:55 · answer #1 · answered by c3r3al_killr 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
A lot depends on your location.
I would consider dropping the buffet for the dinner hours and instead serve quality single meals. Keep a salad bar with some hot food that keeps over time, like soup. You could charge more if the food is good and you would spend less on food cost. People are willing to pay for good hot meals make with good ingredients, so don't undersell yourself. You could still use the buffet for lunch, when the rush is usually in and out within a couple of hours.
2007-06-29 21:05:15 · answer #2 · answered by Monkey Reason 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The last time I went to a Chinese buffet, the food looked and tasted like it had been sitting on the buffet for a long time. It wasn't fresh. I'm not saying you do this, it was just an experience I had that made me not go back to that restaurant. Your prices sound very reasonable so I wouldn't think that is a problem. Do you deliver? I live near a college and I know they order from a nearby Chinese restaurant a lot.
2007-06-30 00:17:35 · answer #3 · answered by daria d 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Do you offer healthy options? Many people avoid buffets because the food is not healthy.
Do you offer kid friendly food? Do you charge for kids? You might want to offer a Kids Eat Free day since they won't eat that much.
2007-06-29 20:58:13 · answer #4 · answered by jellybean 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Is your place clean? If it's not kept up that's a turn-off. Otherwise, advertise. And have the help stir and flip the food into new pans on a regular basis. When I owned a restaurant my favorite saying was "Needs to be stirred". I still go into supermarkets and critique the deli saying "Needs to be stirred" in my mind.
2007-06-30 06:31:35 · answer #5 · answered by chefgrille 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Dont serve specially alcohol beverage and pig meat. keep good and healthy things and also keep free delivery to home.Give discount those who come frequently. Make posters and give anyone to spread this in the market. Be honest, dont cheat people.Keep entertaintment for children. Thats it.
2007-06-29 23:45:12 · answer #6 · answered by MOHAMMAD 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
1) the decor : pleasing, flower/potted plants...create mood...there are so many buffet around!
2) no oily greasy glass, utensils.
3) a VARIETIES of hot and cold food. ...get so boring eating the same stuff over with such small selection.
2007-06-29 20:59:56 · answer #7 · answered by thuy 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋