It is the best of times, it is the worst of times

Reading the headlines about restaurant openings and closings these days can give you whiplash. One moment we are lamenting all of the closures that happened over the past year, and the next we are cheering the opening of dozens of new eateries. Despite the multitude of stories about the challenges restaurants face, from soaring energy and food costs to ongoing labor shortages, chefs and entrepreneurs continue to line up to start new businesses.

Part of this seeming contradiction can be explained by the changing shape of the restaurant industry. The old school business model, which generally offered only a slim profit margin even in boom times, won’t cut it today. Owners and chefs are inventing new ways to run their businesses, which range from harnessing technology to stripping down the restaurant experience. Marketplace recently ran a story about how some eateries are printing menus with no prices listed which allows them to use “dynamic pricing”, charging different amounts for the same dishes depending on a number of conditions. You’re probably familiar with the concept because it’s how ride sharing services, airlines, and even utility companies have operated for years. Now the concept is being extended to restaurants, which can bump the price of wings during a football game, for example, or lower the price during traditional downtimes to attract more diners in off-peak hours.

Another restaurant trend involves going back to basics: streamlining and simplifying menus and having fewer seats (both of which require less staff). Specializing in one type of food is another way to cut overhead costs that seems to be gaining traction, as is test-driving menu concepts via food trucks. And of course, we can’t rule out old-fashioned starry-eyed optimism as the reason people continue to bet on themselves by opening restaurants. But if you see a new space that looks promising, you might want to try it out sooner rather than later, because many of today’s startups will be on the farewell list by the year’s end. The problem with this – other than the fact that you might lose your new favorite spot – is that it doesn’t bode well for cookbook offerings by chefs. Usually a place has to be well-established before a cookbook deal is in the works. Perhaps one of the trends will be publishing a cookbook to solidify the restaurant’s presence. Let’s all work on manifesting this for 2024, okay?