August 6, 2008 | Link This | Email this | Comments (5)

"The stars at night are big and bright, deep in the heart of Texas."

That's all of the home-state song verse that I will subject you to, but I couldn't resist. Texas Roadhouse, with CEO G.J. Hart, released their second quarter earnings, and held a conference call to discuss their results last week. Don't make me point out the connection to the song. Suffice it to say that Texas Roadhouse had a solid quarter in a tough environment, and continues to make life tough for neighboring concepts in the casual...Read More

August 4, 2008 | Link This | Email this | Comments (1)

Chili's founder Larry Lavine asked me a few years ago where I was traveling to that week. San Francisco, I told him. He asked if I had been to The Slanted Door. I told him that I hadn't, and Larry gave me a short talk on how disappointed he was with me not keeping up with the hotter concepts in the country. This Vietnamese concept, he said, was one of his favorite concepts at the time. He told me to go, and then call him when I got back in town so that he could relive the experience. Of course I went, and it quickly became one of my favorite restaurants. The Slanted Door has a way of making people passionate about it.
 
I have been back to The Slanted Door many times o...Read More

July 31, 2008 | Link This | Email this | Comments (7)

Sailboats need wind to fill their sails so that they can move across the water.  Restaurants need customers to fill their seats so that their sales can move them toward profitability. I believe, even on a calm day, the sailboats are doing a little better than the restaurants right now. We don't have enough growth in customer traffic to get any momentum going. 

It looked like we got a little sales bump in May as a result of the tax rebate checks.  No one knows the exact number, but it seems that a 1.5% improvement in the industry same store sales trend is most often quoted.  As gas prices increased in June, and consumer sentiment decreased, we gave most of that rebate-fueled sales lift back. We are still...Read More

July 30, 2008 | Link This | Email this | Comments (16)

S & A Restaurant Corp. died on July 29 after a long illness. Known by family and friends as Steak and Ale and Bennigan's, S & A's strong genes could not protect it from an extended period of abuse and neglect. Death was sudden, but not unexpected. There was no living will.

It is survived by its father, Norman Brinker, and family members too numerous to name. The older members of the family remember days of pride and glory. The younger have only known ownership that starved them of the ability to compete. Both have lost something special.

The circumstances of the death of Steak and Ale and corporate Bennigan's, while sad, will not diminish the importance of their beginning. The industry is in a much s...Read More

July 28, 2008 | Link This | Email this | Comments (5)

One of the more visual scenes of the 1939 movie The Wizard of Oz was after Dorothy and her companions had reached the Emerald City. The Wicked Witch of the West used her broom to skywrite this warning to the citizens of the town. Understandably alarmed, the townspeople and Dorothy went to seek the help of the great Wizard, and were turned away. 

Fast forward almost 70 years, and you have a modern day example of this warning being played out in Washington as unions skywrite their goal, "Surrender Voting," to the workers of this country. It looks like the workers could be turned away by their elected officials. Without intervention, the comically-named ...Read More