Favourite Restaurant Closed Down

[Glammanana]

We like to go out for lunch at least once a week and try different places but as usual you tend to find a favourite don't you and return just that more often than others,we where shocked to find our favourite place The Viking in West Kirby run by Simon Rimmer of Sunday Brunch fame has closed its doors after just 3 years.
This is following on from 3 x other restaurants in the areas we tend to go that have closed this year along with Jamie's in Liverpool.
I feel so sorry for the staff just on Christmas and for the people and Companies who will have to find other venues for their Christmas parties etc.
So sad for all concerned.

[Gemini]

Such a shame Glamma, for customers and staff alike.

[Nanto2girls]

More jobs lost. Such a shame.

[Oma]

One of ours burned down last year , Well the kitchens and the dining part the bar was saved , right on Christmas , luckily the surrounding ones chipped in and saved peoples parties and took on several of the staff that was there at the time . They have worked all year re building and open again on the 9th December ,
Staff have moved on so it will be all new members .

Lots of places are going to the dogs they say its because people are not eating out as often .

[Daisy]

Oh, Glamm - what a shame for everyone involved. You will miss your old haunt, but hopefully you will find a new favourite soon.

There are so many places to eat now these days, from cafes, pubs, restaurants and high-flying Michelin starred places that I think the market has become overloaded with them. They're expensive places to set up and run and for some reason some really good places just don't 'catch on'. there's a lovely old pub not far from us with lots of passing traffic and it seems to change hands every year, yet each time we got the food is good, the service friendly and professional, and yet it's always half-empty even in the summer when there are plenty of holidaymakers around.

[Shemadee]

The market has been saturated unfortunately and the public want a good atmosphere which is not easy to create. People also rely on online feedback which my family discovered can be totally manipulated.

We used some voucher codes codes in one of the Birmingham eateries and the staff seemed quite sniffy about it. The whole point of them is to encourage return visits not put customers off.

[Shemadee]

Item on tv earlier saying that the increase in business rates and wages have led to a number of businesses closing.

[Daisy]

Shem - I think a lot of places are a bit sniffy about vouchers - but surely they were happy enough to sell them in the first place! You certainly wouldn't want to go back somewhere like that.

I always think staffing a restaurant or cafe must be a night mare if you don't know how many meals you're going to serve that day.

[Shemadee]

Always tricky dealing with the public. We were rushed off our feet one Christmas and were incredibly busy. Decided to put on extra staff the next Christmas and hardly any patients turned up. Hard for restaurant to know how many staff are needed, how much food etc etc. Makes my head just thinking about it.

[Daisy]

Shem - at least the staff weren't rushed off their feet just before Christmas. My DS2 and DIL always get to Christmas Eve worn out with being so busy in the run up to Christmas, and then coping with the customers who come in at the very last minute.