Food

One problem that I’ve run into before (and more so lately) is that certain local friends approach me and want to partner up and do a Western restaurant.

Sure I’ve had a good amount of experience in restaurants back home prior to my professional career, even on up to the management level despite being a college student at the time. I have no doubt that I could create a decent menu at non-gouge prices (hell I have even gotten pretty efficient at doing it in a home kitchen now, even without economies of scale). The problem I see is that there just isn’t a large enough market in Nanjing to make it worth while. You could probably get past the break even point and even make a little (very little) cash as well as having a place of your own to entertain friends while feeling like a big shot, but I’ve been there and done that, and it’s not as great as it seems, as nearly every night, some “friend” wants to hang out, etc. Plus, calling it a real smart use of capital would be a stretch IMHO, not to mention the HUGE amount of work it takes to make a restaurant function on a daily basis (in addition to your “real job”).

I’ve tried most halfway decent “Western” restaurants in Nanjing at least once or twice, and with a few exceptions, I’ve never been enticed to return to an establishment based on their offerings alone (it’s usually a lack of alternative choices, or just happening to be in the area).  But knowing that not everyone shares my tastes, this isn’t a huge factor in deciding not to enter the fray, what is a huge factor is that I never see these restaurants too busy. Add to that that even when we are one of the few tables in the place, it seems somewhat unorganized, which leads me to believe that they have never been that busy on a regular basis, or they would have worked out the kinks so that when I am there on what would then appear to be one of their slower nights, it would be a breeze for them. There also seems to be little correlation between what I think is a somewhat decent restaurant and their level of business, meaning that often what I think is a horrible restaurant will have more customers than a decent restaurant. Case in point, why does Tacos regularly have more customers than someplace like Les 5 Sens or My Place? Sure, their locations may be better, and they have a bit more name recognition, being in Nanjing for 6-7 years, with multiple locations. But seriously, can anyone honestly say that Tacos is better, realistically it is more likely that they are more accessible to locals. The menu is packed with some old “favorites” of Chinese Western restaurants, Spaghetti Bolognese, Pizza, Fries etc

It is the same as the US, in more gentrified areas, generic “Western” Chinese food is more popular that the authentic stuff. It would be pretty difficult to directly transfer a popular Nanjing Chinese restaurants to a mid-tier US city and expect to be successful. It’s just not what the clientele want. Fortunately they do want Sweet & Sour Chicken, Egg Rolls, etc. I just don’t think that there is a equivalent “Chinese” style of Western food that Chinese will like to that extent (And in a city with as few foreigners as Nanjing, the local clientele would be crucial to long term sustainability). Even though a place like Tacos has more business, I wouldn’t say it’s packing them in like the moderately successful Chinese food restaurants (Or even local Korean, Thai and Japanese restaurants for that matter).

Anybody have an opinion? Is it a lost cause for decent Western food in Nanjing, or am I just a pessimist (No wait, I am definitely a pessimist, but is it justified in this situation?)?

Note: If any of the above is unclear, blame my coauthor, Jack Daniels.