MA: Restaurant famous for traditional fare, surly staff, closing (victim of min. wage hike)

[mountaineer]

Restaurant famous for traditional fare, surly staff, closing
By Associated Press
UPDATED: January 4, 2019 at 12:05 pm


BOSTON  — A nearly 200-year-old Boston restaurant famous for its traditional Yankee fare and surly wait staff has announced that it is shutting down.

Managers at Durgin-Park, in Faneuil Hall Marketplace, say they will close on Jan. 12.

Michael Weinstein, CEO of Ark Restaurant Group, which owns and operates Durgin-Park, says fewer customers are coming through the doors and costs have gone up.

Manager Kenneth Thimothee says the state’s new higher minimum hourly wage is partially to blame for the higher costs. ...  Full story at Boston Herald

[mountaineer]

... An estimated 662,000 Massachusetts workers will get a pay raise in the new year as the state takes the first step toward an eventual $15 minimum wage.

The hourly minimum wage increases from $11 to $12 an hour. It will continue to go up in 75-cent annual increments until it reaches $15 in 2023.

The sub-minimum wage for tipped workers, such as restaurant servers, goes up from $3.75 to $4.35 an hour, eventually reaching $6.75 by 2023.  ...

The $12 minimum wage in 2019 matches that of California and Washington as the highest among U.S. states.  ... More

[Wingnut]

Rat run municipalities always know what is best for everyone and will run everyone out of biddnes to prove it.

[mountaineer]

Rat run municipalities always know what is best for everyone and will run everyone out of biddnes to prove it.

There will be hard times for Massachusetts restaurants, that's for sure.

[mirraflake]

Oh booo hoo...  So the current min wage is $11 an hour there.  That is chump change.

The real reason is competition from the large chains. Small restaurants do not have the buying power of a Red Lobster or Applebees  so their meals are $8-$10 more.   That is what killed the independents in  my area. We had a great steak house in our area but the owner said the cost of his steaks was more than what West Texas or Longhorn were selling theirs for.

That is why the folks are no longer coming in. 

[mirraflake]

My first job in 1978 paid  minimum wage $2.62 hr.. that is 10.57 today.  Today these ocmpanies only want to  pay 8-9.00 hour.  Screwing the worker and we wonder why Ocasio Cortez types are elected.

Race to the bottom.

[Wingnut]

Oh booo hoo...  So the current min wage is $11 an hour there.  That is chump change.

The real reason is competition from the large chains. Small restaurants do not have the buying power of a Red Lobster or Applebees  so their meals are $8-$10 more.   That is what killed the independents in  my area. We had a great steak house in our area but the owner said the cost of his steaks was more than what West Texas or Longhorn were selling theirs for.

That is why the folks are no longer coming in.

If you want to eat low grad dog meat by all means frequent those chitass chains. 

[rustynail]

Did they have an early-bird buffet?

[mountaineer]

I'm sure it didn't help Durgin Park that all of the reviews commented on the supposedly rude wait staff. 

Demise of Durgin-Park a symptom of challenges facing small restaurants
By Marie Szaniszlo | marie.szaniszlo@bostonherald.com | Boston Herald
PUBLISHED: January 5, 2019 at 12:52 am | UPDATED: January 5, 2019 at 6:26 am

The impending closing of the venerable Faneuil Hall institution Durgin-Park has shed a harsh light on a growing crisis Boston restaurants face under pressure from skyrocketing rents, rising costs and rampant competition.

Michael Weinstein, CEO of Ark Restaurant Group, which owns and operates Durgin-Park, this week said the restaurant will close on Jan. 12 because fewer customers are coming through the doors and costs have risen.

Manager Kenneth Thimothee said the state’s new minimum hourly wage, which rose from $3.75 to $4.35 for tipped workers and from $11 to $12 for other employees, is partially to blame. And Durgin-Park will not be the only high-profile restaurant that will close this year, said Bob Luz, president and CEO of the Massachusetts Restaurant Association.

“We’re going to have a number coming up in the not-too-distant future,” Luz said, although he declined to say which ones.

“It’s a confluence of a number of things creating an environment where it’s nearly impossible for restaurants to remain profitable,” he said. “Ninety-five cents of every dollar that comes in the door goes out to pay expenses. The rents are crazy, the cost of doing business is skyrocketing, and there’s more restaurant seats in the marketplace than ever before.” ...

Boston Herald

[andy58-in-nh]

I'm sure it didn't help Durgin Park that all of the reviews commented on the supposedly rude wait staff.  Boston Herald

Actually, a large part of Durgin Park's appeal to visitors has historically been the experience of being treated rudely by its waitstaff. The restaurant is located in Fanueil Hall marketplace, a big tourist Mecca. As a native, I always found the "rudeness" to be contrived, a put-on designed to meet tourist expectations. For its part, the food was always average at best.

[roamer_1]

Oh booo hoo...  So the current min wage is $11 an hour there.  That is chump change.

The real reason is competition from the large chains. Small restaurants do not have the buying power of a Red Lobster or Applebees  so their meals are $8-$10 more.   That is what killed the independents in  my area. We had a great steak house in our area but the owner said the cost of his steaks was more than what West Texas or Longhorn were selling theirs for.

That is why the folks are no longer coming in.

NO.
Restaurants operate on paper thin margins. Wherever they are on the food chain, they are always desperately close to the edge. Large chains my well be able to float better (though not franchises), but even so, an effective raise in labor cost is going to tip many restaurants over.

And, might I add, let's not forget that for every dollar in wage increase, there is effectively another dollar spent in taxes and insurances. the real cost is double the increase.

[mountaineer]

For all the many times Mr. M and I have visited Boston, we never made it to Durgin-Park. Oh well.