Pattaya Beer Garden – Growing Pains

[PattayaPete 527]

I have posted about delays in getting the food out at the Beer Garden a few times now. It really has been our major problem since we started and we really hit a bit of a wall this past fortnight. In my previous posts about this problem I have outlined actions taken to improve the situation and yet it continues to be a problem.

 

You could be forgiven for thinking that previous solutions have failed. While that would appear to be the case the reality is that the restaurant side of the Beer Garden has grown phenomenally in the past few months and the solutions applied have all worked but been too little, too late.

 

The real problem has been a lack of management in the kitchen. Although I would consider myself an experienced manager, the kitchen side of the business scares me. I am the world’s worst cook and what I know about organizing a kitchen would take about two seconds to tell. Given my lack of expertise I made a point of hiring a very experienced Executive Chef and gave her full power to run things as she saw fit.

 

Well, Pin is a great Chef and generally the quality of the food we have been putting out has been excellent. Sadly though, it has dawned on me that she is a crap manager. In August we were doing about 100 meals a day. In September we hit 150 and things started to slow down again. In October, Mikey, an experienced western Chef spent a week with the staff working on their western food skills. At his suggestion we added a new super sized grill, extra burners and a salamander. In October we hit 200 meals a day.

 

On Loy Kratong night in November the kitchen did 450 meals. Not surprisingly the delays that night were looooong. It concerned me but it was a special night and a one off or so I thought. Last Monday we hit 400 meals again and once more delays in getting the food out at peak times hit one hour or more. This was exacerbated as one of our evening cooks had to attend to a dieing grandmother, so we were one cook down that night.

 

I’ve been keeping out of the kitchen as I felt I was just getting in the way. A visit to see the problem close up on Monday revealed utter chaos. Food orders were streaming off the printer and falling on the floor. One of the service staff had been seconded into preparing vegetables to free up the cooks time for cooking and the two cooks on duty were running around like blue arsed flies. Not a good look.

 

That night after the rush had died down I had a meeting with Pin to discuss what we were going to do about the problem. The discussion was somewhat fruitless. One of the things that bug me about Thai staff is that they generally don’t see the big problem as they concentrate on the small details. Pin’s suggestions were all detail issues which would help a little but would not solve the overall problem. I decided then and there that I would have to get involved more directly or things would only get worse.

 

Monday night I sat down and wrote out all possible solutions. These included increasing the price to dampen demand, building a second kitchen, hiring more staff, finding a good kitchen manager or reducing the number of items on the Menu.

 

It seemed to me that price rises or limiting the menu were counter-productive. Any business that tries to limit demand must be doing something wrong. That left management, staff and a second kitchen as possibilities. A second kitchen is do-able as we do have the space. However other restaurateurs around town have told me they envy our kitchen for its size and equipment. It seems unlikely that more equipment was going to fix things.

 

That left management and staff. On the evening shift when we have the longest delays we have three cooks and two kitchen hands working. Of course they have holidays and sick grandmothers and days off so more often than not one or more of them is away. I decided to add one more kitchen hand to work from midday to 8 pm with the sole purpose of doing prep work. Then two more cooks to cover 3 pm to 11 pm which are our busiest food times. This would increase the staff at busy times by almost double.

 

I had another meeting with Pin early Tuesday and pointed out that she is a great Chef and a nice lady but as a Manager she was doing poorly and so I’d decided to get more involved. Hopefully with my management experience and her cooking experience we could get it sorted. I was a bit worried about her reaction but I am pleased to say she agreed with me and was well aware of her own limitations. I think I took a big load off her shoulders and she has been really happy this week.

 

My first “management” decision was to set goals for the kitchen. I wanted an average order time of ten minutes and no more than twenty minutes when very busy. I nominated Pope, our trainee bar manager as special kitchen liaison and gave him the responsibility to prioritize and organize food orders coming off the printer and getting the service staff to inform customers if the delay was going to be more than 20 minutes. Pin was given the job of finding the new staff asap.

 

That was Tuesday and since then we have continued to do over 400 meals a day. We have one extra cook already at work and another starting on 1 December. Still looking for the prep person but finding him/her is a priority. Delays at the busiest times are down to 40 minutes. That is still unacceptable but getting better daily. The kitchen now seems to flow rather than lurch from crisis to crisis.

 

My apologies to any customers who have experienced unacceptable delays. We are now getting on top of the problem and I hope to meet our time goals by 1 December. For now things are definitely better than they were and set to improve further over the next ten days or so.

 

I think I know how to manage a bar and the bar at The Beer Garden runs very smoothly. We are seeing a similar growth in the bar business but that bar staff have coped admirably. The kitchen has been a huge learning curve for me but really it is just another management problem and I’m not so scared of it now. As I pointed out to the staff this week having problems dealing with quite meteoric growth is a lot more fun than dealing with the opposite problem.

 

I hope to see you soon at the PBG for a cold beer or a hot freelancer or a speedily delivered meal

 

Pete

[BigDUSA 71]

I hope to see you soon at the PBG for a cold beer or a hot freelancer or a speedily delivered meal

 

Pete

 

I'm in town later this week and look forward to having a cold beer, hot meal and a good looking FL sitting next to me.

[FatherMojo 2]

450 meals in a day. Wow.

 

Thanks for the update.

 

 

FatherMojo

[SPRING 1]

Damm Pete,

 

Your business is really taking off now it seems

I will see for myself on the about the 4th or 5th as I stated before, It was just confirmed by my boss a short while ago

I sure hope you guys can find room for me

 

all the best,

 

"barcardi" spring

[PattayaPete 527]

Your special chair is reserved just for you Spring.

[chrisbrewer 0]

Hi Pete

 

Four of us were in the beer garden late on Loy Krathong for a meal. As you say there was a looong wait for food, but this was explained to us in great detail by Pin after we'd placed our order.

 

The girls enjoyed spending the time drinking your cocktails.

 

 

No problem for us, we had a great time watching the mayhem along Beach Road.

 

Better for you to have this problem than the problem of no customers, which I saw a lot during the last fortnight at many bars in Pattaya.

 

We used the Beer Garden many times during the last two weeks and the wait time for food was acceptable.

 

Keep up the good work mate, the Beer Garden is a credit to you and your staff.

[bigmick 840]

Rome wasnt built in a day , 400 meals a day!!!!!!!!!!! thats more than most restaurants are doing now and im sure would be envious of your achievments, keep it going , youll get there, a friend of mine who works for michell and butler in the uk has said to me the food is good but the kitchen dont flow, but im sure you can get there

[MeGoDanceNow 4,281]

Hi Pete,

 

I'm really pleased to hear your place getting so popular. Thanks for keeping us in the loop, it keeps us from thinking you're just taking the piss

 

400 meals a day is pretty sweet considering the food was originally a sideline! I'm sure you'll get the bugs out of the system. I personally am a big fan of the fish and chips.

[bizzjet 0]

First thing I would do is hire a couple (no BG's) of hostesses to walk around and chat with the waiting customers. Maybe offer the disgruntled ones a free drink for their patience. You don't want to loose them, you want to appease them. Even a starving pissed off customer will lighten his mood if someone acknowledges his plight. And not have a bad taste for the place and therefore return.

 

Nothing crazy but a small draft beer or something cheap. Or have a cheap appetizers available to drop on a table when the see a customer closing in on his breaking point.

 

Then I would watch for where the logjam starts and work on it until it shifts to a different step in the process. Not knowing your kitchen methods it wouldn't be fair to offer a suggestion.

 

But keep the solution simple, identify the problem areas first. You don't want customers to not return is the #1 point.

Edited November 23, 2008 by bizzjet

[mykl 72]

You're certainly doing something right or you wouldn't be having these kinds of problems. I suspect Pim was aware of her own short coming in management but, due to face, couldn't admit it.

[BobsBBQ 0]

Great job Pete, as you know I can sympathise with your restaurant issues. We certaintly don't serve that many meals but my kitchen is very small and I know what problems with staff are like. Actually me and the wife were on our way there yesterday but could not find any place to park close and were not in the mood for a long walk so we missed it. We will try again soon. I have not seen your place or kitchen but would welcome a tour and I'm sure with your management skills and some general guidance from fellow restauranteurs you will prevail in the long run. Keep up the good work.

 

Bob

[sick buffalo 15]

Was a frequent visitor during 12th to 20th November, Pete. Took many girls over to the Beer Garden. Never a long wait be it for breakfast or meals. The only wait was outside your doors for you guys to open. Could not believe you acutally open at 10 AM...

[step 0]

Hi Pete

Came in for somethig to eat a couple of times last month and the food was great. The only thing was as you have said a little slow coming. Do you think that if you did a daily special off the menu that it would help. I will be back in for a meal when i get back in march.

step

[bibzo 7]

Pay bonuses to the staff to get the food out on time

 

(And then sit back and see them run)

[mykl 72]

Pay bonuses to the staff to get the food out on time

 

(And then sit back and see them run)

 

A cook or chef can only cook so many dishes in an hour. If they really are trying their best then the carrot and stick method of management is not the answer. That's a truism that holds in any business, not just restaurants.

[bigdelta 46]

Pete,I have a suggestion that may help a little.I'll stop by later and talk with you.PM & e-mail sent.

Edited November 23, 2008 by LTGTR

[frostfire 1,279]

Glad to know your on the ball Pete.

 

My GF and I were 2 of the ones that waited a bit over a hour on Loy Kratong, but once it arrived, the food was absolutly top rate.

 

I was a little irritated at the delay, but I figured that you were just totally overwealmed by the numbers that showed up that night... No harm, no foul.

 

See ya again soon,

 

 

Frosty

[LBJ 533]

I truly enjoyed every visit in October. I had some long waits for my food as well but whether it takes more space, more staff, or more preparation I'm sure it will get better.

[Bazle 1,448]

Pete

 

You've got a great business!! I ate there at least once a day for the two weeks I was in Patts recently. Your booming restaurant side proves, for me, that the market is saying to you what I strongly feel - your place is primarily a great restaurant, not the Patts version of the Bangkok beer garden.

 

And a word about your staff. They were all great, but the ones during the day more so. A special mention of Su here - she always came to say hello wherever I was sat and that helped give the place a really friendly and welcoming feel.

 

Best of luck

 

Baz

[mrbill2 6]

G'DAY PETER

 

The wife & myself visited your pattaya beer garden early in NOV about lunch time

 

we had a meal (fish & chips my favorite ) the meal was fabulous give it 10/10

 

 

but the real pluses to your establishment is your STAFF they were exquisit ,nothing was too

 

much trouble for them !!

 

congratulations .....................MRBILL2

[SPRING 1]

Well Pete,

 

As we all know I don't eat too much, but make up for it in Bacardi of course

I have worked the bar business before stateside and well aware of the many problems with a new business.

I guess its not a bad idea to check out the suggestions of other BM's, but you are the one footing the bill

 

all the best, see ya in December (4th ot 5th)

 

spring

[moby69 6]

Pete dear chap,

 

I'm so glad that you will have sorted out the problems before I arrive on Feb 1st

 

I look forward to seeing you again

 

regards

 

Moby69

 

Be nice

[ackademik1 0]

Pete, I have to say that I do like the restaurant there. My TGF loves it because she can actually get what she wants while I get what I want, can't beat that. I stopped in on Loy Krathong, after seeing the crowds, I ended up just heading back towards LK Metro.

Are you a bit concerned that the restaurant might start to overshadow the bar portion of the Beer Garden though? I mean if your going to be that busy all the time, then its great that you can put out that many meals, but with so many patrons for food, how does that effect the single guys coming in there for mongering?

 

Especially coming into high season, everyone getting off a baht bus on beach rd. and WS, will think of the PBG first if hungry, so I see more of a demand for the food then the ladies. My question is, do you see a balance between the 2 in the future, or is the PBG going to lean more towards one direction or another, and would you mind if it did?

[vidman 2]

If you look back at my original post to you Pete on practically the first day you opened, you will see that i could see that the restuarant side was gonna be a huge success!!!!!!!!

 

Unfortunately i know nothing about running a kitchen so i cant solve any of your problems.

 

You need to attack this problem by finding the busiest restuarant in Pattaya and seeing what system they use and compare it to yours. As in everything Pete...dont try to re-invent the wheel as its already invented. The answer is out there...you just need to find it.

 

Sorry cant be more help. I can only help with key lights,fill lights and split edits!!!!!

[Damon 0]

Hi Pete,

 

I'm really pleased to hear your place getting so popular. Thanks for keeping us in the loop, it keeps us from thinking you're just taking the piss

 

400 meals a day is pretty sweet considering the food was originally a sideline! I'm sure you'll get the bugs out of the system. I personally am a big fan of the fish and chips.

 

Agreed on all counts. Especially the fish and chips. It must be a Canadian thing!