The Collective

[fromdust]

I predict this will be a business killer. I wonder which proprietors in the area won't be able to handle the new competition and close within the year?

[Quicker]

I predict this will be a business killer. I wonder which proprietors in the area won't be able to handle the new competition and close within the year?

Interesting thought... You think Midtown is already saturated? What’s your prediction?

[aDark]

Interesting thought... You think Midtown is already saturated? What’s your prediction?

I think this pulls a fair share of dollars away from Bleu Garten when the weather is nice. However, after waiting over 1.5 hours for a table at Halls Pizza on a Friday night I do believe there's enough to go around in Midtown.

[Pete]

There is always a market for a good concept and operator.

And the marginal places will continue to struggle or get pushed over the edge.

It's the circle of life in the restaurant and bar game.

[soonerguru]

There is always a market for a good concept and operator.

And the marginal places will continue to struggle or get pushed over the edge.

It's the circle of life in the restaurant and bar game.

One group that gets hurt by this is servers specifically. A friend recently posted to FB, "Please stop opening new restaurants." She is in Tulsa but there are so many concepts opening at once that it is great for diners but tough for servers to make a living.

Another friend, who I believe may be one of the top servers in the city if not the state, recently departed from a well-known Midttown restaurant because she wasn't making enough to pay her rent.

So, the more choices we have the harder it is on service staff.

[hoya]

One group that gets hurt by this is servers specifically. A friend recently posted to FB, "Please stop opening new restaurants." She is in Tulsa but there are so many concepts opening at once that it is great for diners but tough for servers to make a living.

Another friend, who I believe may be one of the top servers in the city if not the state, recently departed from a well-known Midttown restaurant because she wasn't making enough to pay her rent.

So, the more choices we have the harder it is on service staff.

Maybe if they’re not very good. The servers I know have plenty of opportunities, and go where the successful restaurants are.

[HangryHippo]

Maybe if they’re not very good. The servers I know have plenty of opportunities, and go where the successful restaurants are.

This.

[Richard at Remax]

I'm not discounting his plights, but maybe they should direct their beef to their employers to make them pay them a better hourly wage and not rely on the public to make 95% of their take home pay

[Pete]

From the restaurant side, plenty of operators will tell you that servers are quick to quit and run to the new hot spot.

So, it works both ways.

[OKC Guy]

One group that gets hurt by this is servers specifically. A friend recently posted to FB, "Please stop opening new restaurants." She is in Tulsa but there are so many concepts opening at once that it is great for diners but tough for servers to make a living.

Another friend, who I believe may be one of the top servers in the city if not the state, recently departed from a well-known Midttown restaurant because she wasn't making enough to pay her rent.

So, the more choices we have the harder it is on service staff.

This makes no sense to me, maybe I’m reading it wrong?

If you have 2 eating places versus 10, and if each one employs 10 servers - then there are 20 jobs vs 100. So if there are 100 jobs thats better than 20. If you can’t keep employees wouldn’t that mean to keep them you raise wages? So free enterprise is good and the market will weed out bad operators.

If you only have 2 places thats 20 jobs. So 80 workers make $0 dollars due to lack of jobs. Its a good thing to have more jobs in my opinion and it forces existing ones to do better.

[PhiAlpha]

This makes no sense to me, maybe I’m reading it wrong?

If you have 2 eating places versus 10, and if each one employs 10 servers - then there are 20 jobs vs 100. So if there are 100 jobs thats better than 20. If you can’t keep employees wouldn’t that mean to keep them you raise wages? So free enterprise is good and the market will weed out bad operators.

If you only have 2 places thats 20 jobs. So 80 workers make $0 dollars due to lack of jobs. Its a good thing to have more jobs in my opinion and it forces existing ones to do better.

I was going to say...wouldn’t having more restaurants with more server positions available than people to fill them work to the servers’ advantage? That’s simple supply and demand. I figure good servers have a lot of opportunity to go to the best spot that will make them the most money.

I really don’t understand how having more opportunities for employment could in anyway work to the disadvantage of the pool of server talent. It’s the restaurants that are in a bind.

[OkiePoke]

Maybe the server isn't at a popular restaurant?

[TheTravellers]

...

Another friend, who I believe may be one of the top servers in the city if not the state, recently departed from a well-known Midttown restaurant because she wasn't making enough to pay her rent.

...

Why? Did the restaurant hire more servers than it needs and therefore she's not getting enough shifts? That seems to be about the only reason such a fantastic server would not make enough to pay her rent. This just seems weird - why would someone who "may be one of the top servers in the city if not the state" not be at The Ranch, Vast, Red, Fait Maison, or one of the other prestigious, expensive top-of-the-line restaurants (and she may be, there are a few pretty nice places in Midtown, but we don't know that info)? And if she leaves the place where she's currently not making enough to pay her rent, why wouldn't one of those places be wanting to hire her?

And in a weird twist of fate, I agree with OKC Guy and PhiAlpha.

[Teo9969]

Having more jobs available doesn't really increase what a server can make because of the economic environment and principles at work in that market. Being at an established, busy, high-menu price restaurant is the ticket. Because you're paid $2.13 an hour, you need sales for tips. Sales can come via volume or menu prices, or both.

If you have 5 restaurants with 10 server positions each and those 5 restaurants generate $100,000 in revenue, that's $2,000 of sales per server. Diminishing margins end up coming into play because typically 1 extra restaurant neither doubles revenue nor halves the competition (other servers). If you increase that number to 10 restaurants with 8 servers each and those 10 restaurants generate $150,000 in revenue, that's $1,875 per server.

Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.

[BoulderSooner]

The “best servers” in this state make 6 figures a year

[Teo9969]

The “best servers” in this state make 6 figures a year

If by "best servers" you mean the servers who have built relationships with the richest clientele. Nothing substitutes a call-party that reliably spends big and tips big, and getting enough of those to reliably make over $100k requires, as much as anything, being in the game for a long time. You can be an objectively better server than those "best servers" and not have those call parties for a host of reasons that have nothing to do with your performance.

[HOT ROD]

ya, and we also don't know about her rent. ..

[soonerguru]

Maybe if they’re not very good. The servers I know have plenty of opportunities, and go where the successful restaurants are.

I should have predicted this stupid comment would occur. I assure you these are top shelf servers. The point is, which you could grasp by reading and considering the point I was trying to make, is that no matter how good servers are, if people stop coming to their restaurants, they won’t make as much money. Geez dude.

[soonerguru]

Having more jobs available doesn't really increase what a server can make because of the economic environment and principles at work in that market. Being at an established, busy, high-menu price restaurant is the ticket. Because you're paid $2.13 an hour, you need sales for tips. Sales can come via volume or menu prices, or both.

If you have 5 restaurants with 10 server positions each and those 5 restaurants generate $100,000 in revenue, that's $2,000 of sales per server. Diminishing margins end up coming into play because typically 1 extra restaurant neither doubles revenue nor halves the competition (other servers). If you increase that number to 10 restaurants with 8 servers each and those 10 restaurants generate $150,000 in revenue, that's $1,875 per server.

Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.

To answer your point, the server I referred to departed for one of the restaurants you mention above.

[soonerguru]

I was going to say...wouldn’t having more restaurants with more server positions available than people to fill them work to the servers’ advantage? That’s simple supply and demand. I figure good servers have a lot of opportunity to go to the best spot that will make them the most money.

I really don’t understand how having more opportunities for employment could in anyway work to the disadvantage of the pool of server talent. It’s the restaurants that are in a bind.

No.

[soonerguru]

And in closing, the restaurant I’m referring to is very good and well managed. Perhaps the owners suck at marketing though because the patronage of the place is up and down. Remember, in OKC, restaurateurs believe advertising is an admission of failure.

[Bits_Of_Real_Panther]

Has this place opened officially?

[shawnw]

https://www.reddit.com/r/okc/comment..._oh_baby_this/

this week apparently according to this reddit post from one of the places

[Jersey Boss]

And in closing, the restaurant I’m referring to is very good and well managed. Perhaps the owners suck at marketing though because the patronage of the place is up and down. Remember, in OKC, restaurateurs believe advertising is an admission of failure.

Good time to eliminate sub-minimum wage.

[mugofbeer]

Good time to eliminate sub-minimum wage.

In which case you will see reduced tips. It it worth the offset?