Should New Orleans restaurants just close for the summer — not take a vacation for a week or two, but shutter for the season? It’s a question more restaurant people are having to consider with growing urgency.
Many restaurants simply don't see enough business in the summer to cover their costs, and so lose money by staying open. This has long been the case, and restaurants have managed the same way their tipped staff always have - by building up cash reserves in the busy times to counter the loss in the slow time.
But that’s grown harder in the face of rising costs industrywide and local issues, like the skyrocketing price of Louisiana's unabated insurance crisis.
Temporarily closing could shield restaurants from such punishing losses. But that would leave their staff in the lurch. And, if seasonal restaurant closings become commonplace, it would make New Orleans less attractive for the visitors who do come in summer and more barren for the locals who stick around. It’s not a pretty picture.
However, some are testing other answers, combining hustle, collaboration and a different seasonal mindset.
There are annual summer dining promotions that help big time for those that take part, like Restaurant Week, coming in mid-June, and Coolinary, all through August.
And some restaurants adopt a summer business model, cutting hours, and some positions, to reduce overhead and losses. This helps.
But it’s not all about cutting back. More restaurants are making their own small scale in house events. They’re collaborating on special dinners with visiting chefs from around the country, who, yes, still want to visit in summer. They’re rolling out specials, and getting creative.
It can draw more interest during the doldrums, but just giving us locals another reason to go out and discover, perhaps anew, the cultural riches of our dining scene, which may be a little easier to see when it’s not quite so busy.
