new hespiria western wood grill buffet rpt

[link01]

"About six months ago a new restaurant opened up by us called the "Wood Grill Buffet".

 

I've always wanted to go try it out, but every time the line was out the door so I never had the patience to try it.

 

Well tonight we decided to go for it and man oh MAN I haven't eaten so good in a long time.

 

This place is sort of like a "Hometown Buffet" except the food tastes good and you don't get diarrhea afterwords.

 

Tonight I ate the following:

• three steaks (prob. like 6oz each) smothered in grilled mushrooms that melted in my mouth

• About 20 jumbo shrimp (the BEST shrimp i've had in awhile..these aren't "buffet" shrimp, these are like, "red lobster" shrimp.

• A couple chicken strips just to try them (also fantastic)

• "cheezy potato casserole" also delicious

• to top it off, a slice of cheesecake.

 

I know I'm going to have a heart attack at 29, lay off!

 

In addition to all the above, they also had pot-roast, chicken, cooked just about every which way you can imagine, a taco bar with real carnitas, I mean, this place was FANTASTIC! none of it tasted like "buffet" food. Everything was completely fresh and of the utmost quality.

 

The people there were also higher-class, I was surprised. Not to disparage the "Hometown Buffet" goers, but I get the feeling there are a lot of nascar fans around me when I'm eating with my grandparents there. But this place seems to be the kind of place you take a date or your family when it's somebody's birthday...about the caliber of Red Lobster, I'd say. Collar not required, but you might feel more comfortable wearing one.

 

I found this juxtaposition of "buffet" and "Nice dining" (won't go so far as to call it "fine" dining, but it is higher-end) to be fascinating. We actually stood out in the cold for 30 minutes to wait for our table to open up, and we weren't sorry for a minute that we did.

 

This place is either going to A) spread like wildfire and be the best thing since sliced bread or B) go bankrupt because they spend so much on high-quality ingredients and preparations. I sure hope it's option A. By the judge of the line out the door every night, I think it will be something to keep your eye open for. Remember you heard it here first.

 

Right now there are only four franchises open in the US, and my little town of Hesperia happens to be one of them.

 

Oh i forgot to mention pricing. it's $12.95 per person including drink. For the food you get, it's worth every penny. Actually it's worth quite a bit more."

 

http://www.euphoricarythmia.com/showthread.php?t=24457

 

anaecdotal, but nice to see none the less. i wonder how quickly these new restaurants gain traction on the bottom line?

 

 

 

[Parsad]

Thanks for the update Linkmont!  I would like to try one, as well as a Steak'n Shake.  Cheers!

[link01]

i'm curious to try them out too but they dont have them in my neck of the woods.

 

interestingly, per wests 2006 10k the wood grill buffet JV opened on dec 6, 2006 & showed a loss of $321,805 after just 1 month of operation. the 2 new wood grills in CA will also have been operational for about a month in 2008. i wonder if we can extrapolate an approximate $321,805 x 2 or 640k loss on the 2 new ones for the 4th qtr of 08? regardless, if these are any where near as successful as the harrisburg VA one they will shine in 09.

[ragu]

i'm curious to try them out too but they dont have them in my neck of the woods.

 

interestingly, per wests 2006 10k the wood grill buffet JV opened on dec 6, 2006 & showed a loss of $321,805 after just 1 month of operation. the 2 new wood grills in CA will also have been operational for about a month in 2008. i wonder if we can extrapolate an approximate $321,805 x 2 or 640k loss on the 2 new ones for the 4th qtr of 08? regardless, if these are any where near as successful as the harrisburg VA one they will shine in 09.

 

link,

 

Thanks for the write-up. Much appreciated. Re. the 2 new Wood Grill Buffet restaurants that became operational in the 4th quarter of 08, they are franchised. Consistent with what Sardar has said will be the way forward i.e. growth through franchising as far as restaurant operations are concerned.

 

Best,

Ragu

 

[link01]

you're welcome, ragu.

it looks like the wood grill buffett concept is our best bet for growth, tho we must excercise caution in extrapulating from just a few months of sales trends. even the western sizzlin express restuarant came out of the gate on fire but petered out in less than 6 months.