Restaurants Shake Economy, Serve Up Decent Year
THE LIST
By JENNIFER BELLANTONIO
Despite a sluggish economy, the 15 busiest restaurants in Orange County cooked up a 7% gain in meals served last year.
The top restaurants served 5.4 million meals, according to this year’s Business Journal list, which ranks restaurants by the number of meals served. While growth in the restaurant industry is expected to slow statewide this year, OC restaurants should post better-than-average growth, industry watchers say.
As it has for the last seven years, the Newport Beach Cheesecake Factory was the favorite eatery, preparing 750,000 meals, unchanged from a year earlier.
Operators say business is now back to normal after slumping post-Sept. 11.
“We had a rough month in September and October,” said George Poston, executive chef at No. 5 Maggiano’s Southern Italian restaurant in Costa Mesa. “But toward the end of October our business came back strong and we had a record December, which is our busiest month of the year. We feel like we’re pretty much past it.”
But the effects of the terrorist attacks aren’t completely behind the restaurant business, industry watchers say.
While restaurant sales in California are coming back to pre-Sept. 11 levels,a 4.9% increase in sales to $40.7 billion is predicted for 2002, according to the California Restaurant Association,employment is falling.
The state’s restaurant industry lost about 10,000 jobs after the terrorist attacks, says Mark Martin, deputy communications manager for the Sacramento-based trade group. He added that restaurants hired back some of those workers as the economy improved this year, but that the numbers are still down.
Staffing at the largest restaurants in the county was relatively stable. Overall employment was flat, with 10 of the 15 restaurants reporting no change in staff size, three showing a decline and two reporting increases.
No. 8 Irvine-based Bistango had the highest jump, reporting a 16% increase in workers to 110. The restaurant, which moved from No. 11 last year, made server, bartender and other staff additions because of higher demand, according to general manager Ray Sanii. Bistango saw its number of meals served jump 20% to about 337,000.
The outlook for the remainder of this year is positive for restaurants here and elsewhere, according to Martin.
He said industry observers are expecting the restaurant industry to benefit from an increase in U.S. travel,versus international,this year, as cautious travelers stick closer to home.
“Spring and summer will give us a good idea,” Martin said. “I think there’s some great optimism for travel projections.”
But he said restaurants aren’t hiring as many servers and staff for spring and summer as in years past. One reason: minimum wage hit $6.75 in January after two consecutive years of 50-cent increases. Plus, Martin said there’s also been a jump in workman’s comp premiums for restaurant owners (see story, page 3).
“Some of these increases in overhead costs aren’t allowing restaurant owners to bring on staff as they normally would this time of year,” Martin said.
No. 2 Rainforest Caf & #233; in Costa Mesa saw a 17% increase in meals served to 613,000, even though the restaurant may have seen some of its tourist clientele drive up the freeway to a sister restaurant that opened in Downtown Disney early last year. The new Rainforest restaurant is popular among the family set and is jammed on weekends with wait lines out the door.
Yard House in Costa Mesa bumped up two slots to No. 3 this year, with a 6% increase in meals served to 493,000. The restaurant trimmed its staff by 11% to 133 workers.
Other restaurants to show growth included: No. 5 Maggiano’s, which reported a 10% jump in meals served to 451,000; No. 7 McCormick & Schmick’s Seafood in Irvine, which counted an 8% jump in meals served to 350,000; and No. 11 Costa Mesa-based Birraporetti’s Restaurant, which saw its meals served inch up 3% to 244,000.
David Sadler, general manager at Birraporetti’s, said the restaurant was trying to build sales prior to Sept. 11, and several initiatives helped it weather a tough time.
“That kept me a little bit bulletproof from what other people went through,” he said.
For instance, Birraporetti’s is offering $2 drinks (martinis, draft beers and wines) on Tuesday nights and a pizza for $2.99 on Thursday nights for people sitting on the patio. The restaurant also started entertainment five nights a week and a take-out delivery service.
Plus, Sadler said he has also reduced staff turnover and size. The restaurant trimmed back its staff by 10% to 96.
“When you get people that know their job I can put five servers on the floor whereas I needed eight before,” he said.
No. 13 Bluewater Grill Seafood Restaurant and Oyster Bar in Newport Beach saw a nominal 1% increase in meals served to 230,000. Owner Jim Ulcickas said the restaurant’s shopping center on Lido Island has seen more attention with the recent re-opening of the Cannery Restaurant, which has undergone some changes.
Five restaurants on the list reported no change in meals served, including The Clubhouse in Costa Mesa, Il Fornaio in Irvine and Las Brisas in Laguna Beach. Two restaurants reported decreases: Joe’s Crab Shack in Newport Beach, which saw a 17% dip in meals served to 250,000 and The Five Crowns in Corona Del Mar, which is new to the list. The restaurant served about 134,000 meals in 2001,down 6% from 2000.
The lineup also includes a second Cheesecake Factory at No. 4 in Irvine and No. 13 Back Bay Rowing & Running Club Restaurant in Costa Mesa.
