I had a talk with a Vegas restaurant owner who will remain annonymous, his food is simple bar food, burgers and tacos, sandwiches, hot wings etc. With this past week's market turmoil and since the demise a few years ago, his confidence in continuing to be in business flactuates to say the least, and if you had to draw a line down a piece of paper, the left positive and the right negative, this owner says he pulls more towards the negative, only because he looks at life in a real kind of way.
"This is the hardest business to be involved in, food service. I don't really know what will happen in the near future, here in Vegas I can honestly say my customers are close to 95% visitors. Now if the planes aren't full coming here, I'll lose my ass. I still have loans to pay investors to pay off, this is a hard business to be in."
Looking around, the decor is attractive the prices are good, 2 for 1 tacos. Specials on burgers and beers, this is a really nice place to hang out and people watch and to stay out of the 100 + degrees in the summer time. Because this is out of the way for local Veganites, and more conducive towards the visitor market, I understand how he feels. The place is kind of empty it is lunch time, time usually people are in having a burger or taco and cooling off. Yeah if I owned this joint I'd be scared too.
"Down the road a club closed down, used to be popular with visitors it was really attractive to that crowd you know but times change. People are watching their pockets, I don't blame them, I'd watch my pockets too. There's only so much us restaurant owners can do such as dropping our prices to get business. We are doing this to bring people in. I can't count how many days I've missed my sales goal to break even, it's a numbers game, and quite frankly I'm in the loss column more than in the plus, I see more red ink than black ink. Oh well that's the life and game I chose to play and all I can do is to stay in this as best I can and keep my employees working I hate to lay anyone off these people have rents, and cars to pay... it's hard for me to let people go and to cut hours, but I have to be real and honest with them, if I can't handle the overhead, I have to do what I need to. I don't want to but if I have to they understand that bossman will have cut hours or lay them off, I hate it. I came from a working class family, my parents just struggled to get by, I understand that fully now. Shame we Americans who want to do good have setbacks, well it is what it is."
A young couple comes in, I approach them, come to find out they are honeymooning from Detroit where the economy sucks big time. The husband says it is their first time to Vegas, and they are loving it. "We are really enjoying ourselves, got married a few days ago in Michigan, then flew here, we are actually staying on the Strip but had to see the famous Fremont Street, it's hot but what the hell we're loving this place."
I sat on a table next to them and conversed a little, I didn't want to bother them 100%. The wife is a school teacher, so being out of school is great, she goes back soon to get her class set up, she teaches grade school math, her hubby works for a computer store where he's an assistant manager, he sells PCs, too bad if he sold Macs I'd try and get a discount on a Mac Book Pro or an iPad. "We're going to go ziplining after we eat looks like fun," he says. "I'm afraid of heights but I'll be daring," she responds.
The waitress takes their order, both of them go for the burger and beer special, and it's a really good deal. As the waitress reiterates what a great deal it was, the owner himself is just happy to have them in and for sure he isn't in the black ink with this honeymooners, buy if I was him I'd be happy to have a chance at just breaking even or close to it.
I said my good byes and goodluck to the couple, told them to visit Maui if they have the chance but to bring more money for food because Maui won't have these tacos and burger deals, well maybe they might see a joint doing it, but on the whole they got away with murder for the food, I hung out just long enough to see the portions and it was huge ass burgers, and very tall beers so this couple did make out on the food. And the ziplining was like 15 bucks each, what a deal.
I shook hands with the owner and told him good luck in the future. "I'll need it man, I'll need it, all I can do is hope for the better. Really my prayers go out to the rest of the country hoping people get back to work, and hope that credit can be restored to people so they can travel to Vegas... and eat tacos and burgers at my place here." He smiles, we shake hands, I also invited him to come to Maui with his family, he responded by saying fat chance, it'll be a while before he can take a trip.
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