The Resturant formally known as Perkins...

[chuckster]

Originally posted by jeneisen

I have a feeling this was a plan and it won't be long now before the other one is closed. Perkins was starting to lose business when they stopped being open 24 hours on weekends and it just went down from there.

5. Wrong again. Customer counts were going down before they closed the 24 hour operation. Besides having to pay extra to get employees to work that shift, they also had to hire a security officer to keep the place from being destroyed. This was an additional $20 to $30 per hour just to have an off-duty sheriff be there. The people who were out drinking would come in and punch holes in walls, cut booth and chair seats, carve their names in the tables, start fights, walk-out on checks and give the employees a hard time. I think they made the right decission when they closed the 24 hour operation.
The first weekend night that the Leonardtown store was open, there was a big fight, about 50 people from the Loveville Tavern, broke out. Perkins shut down that shift right away.

 

[Tonio]

Originally posted by chuckster
Next was the smoking issue that cut customer counts by 10% or better.

Could you explain the smoking issue?

 

[jeneisen]

Chuckster,
Just out of curiosity are you the same one that used to run the Perkins? For someone who talks to people, you sure know a lot from the inside, plus I know the managers name was Chuck. Just curious.

 

[chuckster]

That was when the boys in Annapolis decided that people should not have the right to decide if they want to smoke or not while at a restaurant. Restaurants had to have a special area just for the smokers that was closed in and had a separate HVAC unit for that room. Being that the owners were not smokers or restaurnat people, they decided not to do this. Customers walked out as soon as they found out there was no smoking in the restaurant.
When the owners realized that they should have built a room for this, it was too late. But they added a closed in room for smokers later at a big expence. I remember Chris Brughmann talking about htis on his radio show. He remarked about all the people he saw walking out of the restaurant because there was no smoking in the restaurant.

 

[bknarw]

Originally posted by fuzzyng
*sniffles* I make a good idea about cyber cafe and Rose laughs at it because of a typo... *sniffles*

I'm amazed you haven't been banned!

 

[RoseRed]

Originally posted by bknarw
I'm amazed you haven't been banned!

Who...me????

 

[Tonio]

Originally posted by jeneisen
Chuckster,
Just out of curiosity are you the same one that used to run the Perkins? For someone who talks to people, you sure know a lot from the inside, plus I know the managers name was Chuck. Just curious.

That's what I was thinking too.

A question for all the smokers here--did you stopped eating at restaurants entirely when the smoking ban was in place? Although I'm not a smoker, I believe the ban that chuckster described was not well thought out. At the same time, I don't understand why it would be hard to do without a cigarette for the hour or so that one is in a restaurant.

 

[vraiblonde]

As a smoker, I'll tell you that I rarely eat at non-smoking restaurants. And I NEVER eat at restaurants that only have those horrible little poorly vented enclosed smoking sections - guh!

During the smoking ban, you could still smoke in restaurants that had bars and served alcohol - I can't remember the exact rule. There were still plenty of places where you could smoke and have dinner. Those were the restaurants I went to.

It's not hard to do without a cigarette for an hour or so but that's not the point. If eating at a restaurant were only about getting fed, they'd all have drive-in windows and no seats. Diners usually want to sit and relax, have a beer or a cup of coffee and chill out for a bit. For smokers, that means they'll want to smoke, too.

 

[Tonio]

I've always believed that restaurants should have smoking and non-smoking sections, both well ventilated. Although both my parents smoked, I lost my tolerance for cigarette smoke about a week after I left for college. And now that I'm a parent, I'm grateful for non-smoking sections so my daughter doesn't have to breate in the smoke.

Having said that, I think Maryland handled the restaurant smoking issue extremely poorly. From reading Chuck's posts, it sounds like he and other restaurant owners felt abused.

How would I have handled it differently? Maybe tax credits or low-interest loans to help the existing restaurants with the cost of creating separate sections. HVAC units are not cheap.

 

[pilot]

Originally posted by chuckster
I had a conversation with on of the General Managers of one of the new restaurants today. He said that his biggest problem with this area is the lack of employees and those that are here for the most part don't want to work. This problem also grew into the management area. Trying to find responsible people to manage these units was tough to say the least. Yes service began to slip, and as more restaurants came to the county the worse it got.

I think it's got to be a little more complicated than that. I'm always impressed by the service at the IHOP. It's always mobbed with people, but we've always been impressed with how efficient the service is there. They have this way of getting people in and out, without making them feel rushed.

 

[chuckster]

Originally posted by pilot


I think it's got to be a little more complicated than that.

No it is not more complicated than that. How many posts have you read in these forums that have complained about poor service, rude sales people, and management that just doesn't seem to care? There is a shortage of good, hard working quality people who want to work in the "service" industry, be it a restaurant or department store. Yes there will always be exceptions but they are few and far between.

As far as the smoking ban, it is still in effect, just not enforced the way it once was. The smoking sections at some places has been reduced to the bar only and not the tables. This was one of these laws to get Gov Paris some press. Yes it did/has cost the restaurant/bar industry a ton of money in lost sales because it does matter to some people if they can smoke.

Watch for the next target of our government. The word "Tax" is flying around with some who want to control WHAT we eat now. Look for a new tax on fast food in the near future. The tax money will be used, like the cig tax, to educate people about how bad that Big Mac is for you.

 

[pilot]

Originally posted by chuckster

Yes there will always be exceptions but they are few and far between.

Well, we go to eat at IHOP every single weekend, and we've noticed that the service is consistently good.

So, tell me, what is IHOP doing right?

 

[chuckster]

That's great. I am happy that you get that I IHOP. But as you can see in the next forum, What is the Best, People have different opinions about different restaurants and other service related businesses.

 

[bluecrab]

The plain truth of the matter is that Perkins/Alice's and IHOP were/are filthy!! I could get past the bad service, what I couldn't get past was the absolute filth. Even the walls were covered with spooge! : We were going to go to IHOP a few weeks ago and didn't get any further than the front entrance. If these very public areas are that bad can you image what the kitchens look like? : I do miss having a late night place that serves breakfast 24/7. A nice clean, well lit Denny's would be nice.

Has anyone else heard this rumor? I heard that Hooter's was considering one of the Alice's sites. (I thought they said Leonardtown)

 

[RoseRed]

Originally posted by bluecrab
The plain truth of the matter is that Perkins/Alice's and IHOP were/are filthy!! I could get past the bad service, what I couldn't get past was the absolute filth. Even the walls were covered with spooge! : We were going to go to IHOP a few weeks ago and didn't get any further than the front entrance. If these very public areas are that bad can you image what the kitchens look like? : I do miss having a late night place that serves breakfast 24/7. A nice clean, well lit Denny's would be nice.

I went into the Wendy's at Wal-Mart one day and walked out. There were flies EVERYWHERE I wanted to And then to see the other people stand there ordering while swatting away flies. Ewwww.....