You go out for dinner to your favorite place -What's your go to meal to order.

Chicken Fried Steak with Mashed Potatoes & Gravy with Biscuit or a Roll...

Steak.

Sweet & Sour chicken, mashed potatoes, veggie, tossed salad.

Chicken Fried Steak with Mashed Potatoes & Gravy with Biscuit or a Roll...

damn that sounds good :D

damn that sounds good :DMakes me want to go to Furr's for lunch and I'm still full from breakfast...;)

Roasted Prime Rib- Medium Rare

Filet Mignon, very rare....

dfergie (and Ice!) beat me to it - makes me want to head to Perkins or Eat 'n' Park right away! This is one dish I have tried to duplicate at home and never been successful.

That said, I have many "favorite" restaurants of all types and prices, and a favorite meal at each one.

Some others:
veal parmagiana w/ spags + lotsa garlic bread
shrimp & scallops scampi
blackened steak (R or MR) w/mushrooms, peppers and onions, taters of any kind
Hong sue guy (or yok) with "fly lice"
anything cooked the teppanyaki way...

Ribeye Steak - Medium Rare

rare "sushi grade" tuna steak.

Keep them coming,
I am opening a restaurant in an old historic building( former opera house) in downtown Commerce GA. First owner was medium scale Italian, last owner was burgers and wings. My goal is for casual quality. A mixture of British Pub food, Italian mixed with cajun specials including Crabcakes, Shepards Pie, Jambalaya, margahrita pizza, hand cut steaks and crafted burgers.

Any ideas or suggestions from other owners would be appreciated. BE CRITICAL PLEASE. Let me know things you dislike most in a Restaurant or like too.

Keep them coming,
I am opening a restaurant in an old historic building( former opera house) in downtown Commerce GA. First owner was medium scale Italian, last owner was burgers and wings. My goal is for casual quality. A mixture of British Pub food, Italian mixed with cajun specials including Crabcakes, Shepards Pie, Jambalaya, margahrita pizza hand, cut steaks and crafted burgers.

Any ideas or suggestions from other owners would be appreciated. BE CRITICAL PLEASE. Let me know things you dislike most in a Restaurant or like too.

Great to hear of your restaurant endeavor! I want to eventually open a place of my own too....

Anyways, from my experience of working and dining in restaurants, from a dining standpoint, never underestimate the need for good service. You will need waiters/waitresses with a smile that are willing to never forget about the customer. Good servers can make up for less than impressive food, but good food can almost always be forgotten if you have a bad server who can ultimately ruin your entire dining experience.

As for the menu. British Pub Food is probably a safe bet. (Fresh cut fries and beer battered fish will be your mainstay). Stick with that theme throughout your menu. Keep it simple. Where you can get creative is your specials. Soups, Jambalaya's and other foods native to your region. But find a way for the food to stand out compared to the other eateries in the area. That's the tricky part. Give your customers a reason to choose your place over the others. Once you got a few happy returning customers, word of mouth will be your best marketing tool.

From experience - if you can't get a lunch crowd seated, served, and outta there in 45 mins then don't count on having a lunch crowd. A good buddy of mine failed in his restaurant venture for that exact reason. Due to his location in a college town he was much more likely to see a business crowd for the noon meal and that was what he needed to survive. He was focused to unusual and somewhat expensive meals. The students couldn't afford that fare, and the business class had only an hour max. for lunch, so he was missing both groups.

Another example of missing the needs of the customers - we had a local brew pub that failed to recognize its customers and went under quickly. They were located along the main drag in this same college town environment and the only parking was along the street, which meant that at peak times there was no parking. To a large extent, students don't drink craft beers that tend to be more expensive, and the food offered was not to students' taste. Those of us that do enjoy the beer and pub environment/fare need parking. Another brew pub located outside the student area that has its own lot is doing fine.

Bottom line - figure out from the get go how to differentiate yourself from the competition and focus on that. Make sure you have a steady market for what you intend to serve. And top notch service is critical regardless of what you serve!

Good luck with your venture !! I think most of us who enjoy good food and cooking have wanted to open a venue to share our best and profit from it. Few ever have the opportunity or are willing to take the risk. I hope it all goes well for you.

I had a favorite Pizza place that I only went to on Tuesdays for lunch as they had Mexican Buffet on that day (had other themes daily as well as Pizza) they sold out and retired, the new owners spent 2 months remodeling (really didn't need it) opened up with new name and menu and lasted about 2 months, I heard one of the former owners isn't enjoying retirement as much as they thought and is thinking of re-opening it...(I hope so) This place had a devoted customer base, (same people every Tuesday)Tuesdays still feel empty to me...

Make the customer feel like they are getting value......big portions, no-charge to "upgrade" sides, "free" bread with dinner, "free" pretzels at the bar.

If the customer feels like they are getting a big bang for their $$$, you will likely build goodwill quickly.

I've never worked in the restaurant industry, so I'm not sure what their profit margins are, but the suggestions above don't seem to be too costly....

In other words: don't be too greedy. :)

Ribeye Steak - Medium Rare

Mmmmm.

On Friday, I'm planning on cooking Ribeye's on the grill. Can't wait! :hungry:

Well it's now official. New place is going to be called Harmony Grove Grille
The City of Commerce GA use to be called Harmony Grove back in the 1800's. we are going to be in part was an old Opera House.

Our prices point is between 7.95 and 16.95 with some specials running a bit higher
Some of the possible menu items so far are
Shepards Pie,
Sea food Pot pie
Shrimp and Grits
Flat Iron Steak
Crab Cakes
Mushroom Rissotto
Chargrilled Burgers on Bruschetta
margherita pizza
Jumbalaya
Cuban Sandwich
Hand cut frenchfries
fresh made potato chips with crumbled blue Cheese and Chives

First, may I say you've likely picked a great name, one that will appeal to long time residents. And I like the basic menu. Not too large, and some items allow for a good profit margin.

"British Pub Food" is a double edged sword. If people think "fish 'n chips" and maybe "sandwich" you'll be ok. But if they think REAL British food - well, the British never learned to cook. Thank god for Indian Food when I visit. I once bit into a British hamburger and WATER poured out! Rightly or wrongly, British food does not appeal to most folks due to their reputation.

If I drive the 566 miles to get there, that Cuban sandwich had better be GOOD! ;)

It will be so you can come Groove at the Grove..

Let us know when you're open.

Now I want to go to the Black-eyed Pea for dinner. :D

I had a favorite Pizza place that I only went to on Tuesdays for lunch as they had Mexican Buffet on that day (had other themes daily as well as Pizza) they sold out and retired, the new owners spent 2 months remodeling (really didn't need it) opened up with new name and menu and lasted about 2 months, I heard one of the former owners isn't enjoying retirement as much as they thought and is thinking of re-opening it...(I hope so) This place had a devoted customer base, (same people every Tuesday)Tuesdays still feel empty to me...

One thing about buying an existing restaurant. If it works don't fix it. The reason for buying an operating profitable restaurant is the goodwill that comes with the name.

One thing about buying an existing restaurant. If it works don't fix it. The reason for buying an operating profitable restaurant is the goodwill that comes with the name.

Exactly. :up

Were open tak a look at our website
Welcome to Harmony Grove Grille (http://www.harmonygrovegrille.com) for a look at our menu. Ignore the pics. They are placeholders until I get real ones

Were open tak a look at our website
Welcome to Harmony Grove Grille (http://www.harmonygrovegrille.com) for a look at our menu. Ignore the pics. They are placeholders until I get real ones

Awesome menu and good drink offerings. Good luck in the food business.

I dont really care about the dinner, as I will eat anything. But what I look forward to when going out is the appetizer and my favorite is buffalo wings. :D

This is actually looks good but where are the prices?

I dont really care about the dinner, as I will eat anything. But what I look forward to when going out is the appetizer and my favorite is buffalo wings. :D

You would love it here in GA. Most restaurants are either Wings joints or BBQ.

Here is the newest menu with prices.

I really like the menu, and the site. The photos section idea is great- seeing pics of the food.

I'm traveling across to Ole Miss soon, but won't be able to drop down to visit you. This time. But I'm determined to make it some day. And after 9 or 10 hours on the road, I should be thirsty!

Best of luck to you, especially in these economic times.

-

Hmmm- just noticed. No Cuban - or did I miss it?



One thing, on edit: When I bookmarked it, it defaulted to "Welcome to Harmony Grille." Might I suggest you drop the "Welcome to" part. That way, it will go into the bookmarks properly, alphabetically, without my needing to edit it. Minor point, I grant.

Decent prices also... to bad you are so far away...

Here's a suggestion to help the poor souls like myself who have a shellfish allergy:

Cook your crabcakes and shrimp on a dedicated portion of the griddle/grill far away from where you cook the other items. Last time I was in NC, I went to a bar and had a hamburger cooked on the same griddle as a shrimpburger. Words cannot express the world of hurt I was in later that night.