Sommelier Secrets: What Restaurants DON’T Want You to Know

Statistically speaking, there’s approximately two restaurants that close for every new opening and yet, would-be restaurateurs can’t dive into the biz fast enough.

You know the old adage about how a “fool and his money are soon parted”? It’s doubly true for folks foolish enough to open restaurants with little to no experience in the field.

I have experience in restaurants – close to sixteen years of it – and you couldn’t pay me money to open my own establishment. It’s a tough biz, one that exacts a toll on family and personal health in a way that few other industries do.

With the recession has come a new era for restaurants. Since “dining out” frequently tops the list of discretionary (and therefore reducible) family expenses, restaurants need to hustle more than ever to earn your dining dollar. There are a few things to keep in mind when you do go out to eat:

Food isn’t the biggest expense (or the biggest earner)

Traditionally, costs like insurance, rent, labor and linen far outweigh the actual costs of food and beverage when running a restaurant. What’s a crafty restaurateur to do in order to maximize revenue? The answer is always vodka, followed perhaps by wine.

Mark-ups on alcohol are one of the surest ways to generate revenue; how many dine-in restaurants can you name that don’t offer alcohol? Even fast-food franchises are trying to up their sales by adding in some booze; several Burger Kings, Sonic and Pizza Hut locations will begin selling alcohol in 2012 in test markets and even Starbucks has announced plans to offer wine at select Seattle area locations. (The Starbucks model sounds safer than the Whoppers, Budweiser and cars idea.)

Read more at Lot18.