Lane Cardwell

Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous

I have spent my entire restaurant career on the chain side of the business. I have always enjoyed the challenges of trying to leverage a brand idea into multiple locations. But once a year I find myself enamored with the thought that there is a lot going on with the independent restaurants in our industry. That once a year is usually marked by the arrival of the Restaurants & Institutions issue containing the Top 100 Independents in the U.S. For me it is the restaurant version of the Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous.

The bar continues to be raised. The minimum ante to be on the Top 100 list this year is sales of $11 million (Daniel Boulud Brasserie in Las Vegas at #100).  As a group the Top 100 log sales of $1.5 billion, essentially flat with last year. To put these sales into perspective they are about equal to the sales of Golden Corral, Carl’s Jr. or Cheesecake Factory. A further perspective is that a sizeable number of Cheesecake Factory locations would qualify on the Top 100 independent list if they weren’t a chain.

And what exactly qualifies as an independent vs. chain restaurant? On the R & I list a brand can have up to five locations and still be considered an independent. This is how Rich Melman’s Lettuce Entertain You can occupy the #9 and #10 spots with Joe’s Seafood, Prime Steak and Stone Crab in Chicago and Las Vegas ($20 million each). The original Joe’s in Miami Beach is #3, giving the Joe’s brand three slots in the top 10.

Rich Melman also scores big with the Mon Ami Gabi concept (five units), 24^th on the list with the Las Vegas location at the base of the Eiffel Tower at Paris. In a move toward symmetry, Rich also has the #92 spot with Eiffel, at the top of the Eiffel Tower at Paris.

One thing that hasn’t changed is the dominance of New York City and Las Vegas locations on the list. They account for over half of the Top 100.  New York City accounts for 9 of the top 25 and Las Vegas accounts for 7 of the Top 25. However, the #1 position has been held by Tao Las Vegas at the Venetian for three years now. They logged sales this year of $68 million, twice the volume of the #2 slot of Tavern on the Green (New York) at $34 million. Tao New York also managed to be #5 with a miserly $24 million.

I have had the good fortune to have dined at a large number of the Top 100 over the years. One of the things that many of them have in common is that they are big, really big.  Tao Las Vegas is 62,000 feet with 500 seats. Tavern on the Green has 1,500 seats in 27,000 feet. The most normal-sized restaurant in the top 10 is Gibson’s Bar Steakhouse in Chicago with 230 seats and 8,700 feet. They manage to pump out almost $21 million in sales for the #8 position on the list.

There was a notable newcomer to the list this year. DeVito South Miami Beach joined the list at #19 with sales of almost $18 million. Danny DeVito should be very pleased with his new career in the restaurant industry. Jimmy Buffet’s Margaritaville is not on the Top 100 list due to having too many locations, but would have been #2 with sales of $43 million in Las Vegas. Celebrity does have its privileges.

Some of my favorites, in the order that they appear on the Top 100 list are:

·         Joe’s Stone Crab (Miami and Chicago)

·         Tao (New York)

·         Gibson’s (Chicago)

·         Mon Ami Gabi (Las Vegas)

·         The Slanted Door (San Francisco)

·         Balthazar (New York)

·         Spice Market (New York)

·         Chops Lobster Bar (Atlanta)

·         Carmine’s (New York-44^th St.)

·         China Grill (New York)

Several of these are “normal” in size and the quality of the operations speaks to their having oversized volumes year after year.

It is a very competitive industry that we operate in. I am always in awe of those operators who can handle the wear and tear of some of these high volumes over time. In our business they are living the Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous.

Posted by Lane Cardwell on April 12, 2009 | Comments (2)