Family Restaurant

Three friends and I have dinner once a month. Our main purpose for these get-togethers is to talk to one another. We visit a different family restaurant every time we meet. We evaluate the restaurants we visit, and I post the results on social media. We have visited over seventy restaurants.

The highest scorer is Bonne Odeur’s main shop. The lowest scorer is the Loyal Host Gokiso shop.

In front of Bonne Odeur, a sign says, “This is the main shop,” but I know they don’t have any other shops. I heard they once tried to have a franchise, but they gave up. On the other hand, Loyal Host is one of the biggest nationwide chains of family restaurants, with two hundred twenty-three branches in Japan.

I believe this might be the key difference. Bonne Odeur has just one shop. The restaurant’s owner and workers might be acquaintances. The owner’s passion and directions are easily understood by the workers.

However, at the Loyal Host restaurant, most of the workers have never met the owner. Of course, I know there might be good workers at Loyal Host, but it might be difficult for the owner to recognize who these good workers are. So there might be variation in the quality of the workers.

All chain operations might have the same problem. Chain operations have big advantages. A chain group can buy foodstuffs at cheaper prices, and it is easy for the group to raise brand awareness. However, it is difficult to maintain each worker’s motivation.

There is a Japanese saying: “The taste of tempura might change when it is brought to the customer.” A restaurant needs good workers for each section. I guess Bonne Odeur gave up their chain operations because they wanted to serve delicious food to their customers.

It is possible for someone to think that big businesses and small businesses are the same. Sometimes I would be disappointed by a big business. Sometimes a small business would be better than I expected. Still, at least I can say the owner of Loyal Host is richer than the owner of Bonne Odeur.

 

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