As the weather warms up and the economy tightens, people are heading to familiar venues when it comes to dining out – their local pub, tavern or club. With an array of classic dishes on offer, these sorts of nostalgic venues are a great choice for families and couples seeing value and quality.
Chef, restaurateur and food consultant Mitch Davis of catering company Great Eats says that he believes all people love going out for a meal or two, even in tough times.
“Humans enjoy going out and having a feed, whether that’s to a restaurant with three dollar signs or two dollar signs,” he explains. “It’s still a natural human tendency to want to go out. Even when money is tight, people like to enjoy themselves, but they might opt for places where they can drop down a little in price.”
This is where pubs and clubs come into their own, he says. Pubs and clubs throughout Australia and New Zealand are experiencing a rise in demand. Some statistics have these sorts of eateries accounting for nearly half (48%) of all dining bookings in Australia, while pubs, taverns and bars in New Zealand saw a 6% increase in new establishments opening in the last five years.
Successful pubs, taverns, and clubs understand the attraction of good food, says Davis, and encourage regulars. “You want people to dine
with you – especially regular diners – perhaps two to three times a week,” he says.
According to Davis, the key attraction for these types of venues is that they’re family-friendly.
“You work on the assumption that if parents feel comfortable to take the kids there you can increase the numbers. Price the kids’ meal right and the parents will have a main meal at full price.”
One key factor in the offering is a fast turnaround on meals, he adds.
“With pubs and clubs, most of the time you don’t have to book, you can just walk in with the kids. Generally, there are short-order cooks working so they’re pumping the food out. When I was an executive chef with big pub groups, we’d work on 25-minute wait times. We felt that in 25 minutes, families could sit down, relax, and have a conversation. Once you head into 40-minute wait times you’ve got lots of variables and the kids start to get antsy.”
When it comes to the menu, Davis says that he always offers customers a good steak, great white fish, a top-class burger, and perhaps some pork ribs. “I’m all about a good steak,” he says. “You can’t really serve bad meat these days. People know the difference.”
He also advises putting together a well-curated specials board. “In my opinion, people are moving away from the ‘parmies’ and stuff like that. If they are out west or up the coast, they may not see some of the stuff that people are eating in the city, but when they see a specials board that someone’s put a bit of love into, a lot of people will order off the boards, especially regulars.”
