Charleston Restaurant Report JULY 2021
ON THE MENU
1. Local Restaurant Scene -- CHARLESTON AREA RESTAURANT SCENE COMES ROARING BACK TO LIFE
2. Restaurant Openings, Closings + Coming Soon Lists!
3. National Restaurant Scene – 2020 COVID-19 PANDEMIC LED TO THE YEAR OF THE DRIVE-THRU
4. CORONAVIRUS: MEASURING THE DAMAGE -- RESTAURANT JOBS ARE RETURNING BUT STILL HAVE A WAYS TO GO
LOCAL RESTAURANT SCENE
CHARLESTON AREA RESTAURANT SCENE COMES ROARING BACK TO LIFE
I regularly update a running list of new restaurant projects that are slated for development throughout the Charleston area. I was surprised this week to count that list and tallied 75 announced projects on the way! The repeating message that I'm hearing from local operators is that sales are way up and they're having big staffing issues. The biggest challenge that operators face is finding and retaining quality staff members. So the first question that comes to mind is --- Who is going to staff all of these new restaurants? If the current restaurants in the area cannot find quality staff, how are the new ones going to compete in this tight labor market while trying to get open and establish a name for themselves? The staffing shortage is not going away and there is no easy solution.
RESTAURANT OPENINGS, CLOSINGS + COMING SOON!
Openings + Closings list reflects 2nd Quarter 2021 market activity (April - June):
OPENINGS --
167 Raw Sushi Bar (Downtown)
Bahama Breeze (North Charleston)
Beech (James Island)
Berkeley's (Downtown -- former INeedASicilian)
Brew (Hanahan)
Chef Racks Garlic Crabs (North Charleston)
Coastal Crust (Isle of Palms)
Danny's Philly Steak & Seafood (Downtown -- former Domino's)
Lenoir (Downtown -- former Wentworth Grill)
Little Palm (Downtown)
New Realm Brewing Co. (Daniel Island -- former Dockery's)
Owlbear Cafe (Mount Pleasant)
Pane e Vino (Hollywood -- former Firehouse)
Patois (West Ashley -- former Spanglish)
Popeye's Louisiana Kitchen (Moncks Corner)
Rudy Royale (Downtown -- former Sipango)
Stones Throw Tavern (North Charleston)
Thai Zapp (Downtown -- former Maui Tacos)
The Pass (Downtown -- former Poke San)
Uncle Percy's Village Market (McClellanville)
CLOSINGS --
A1 China Super Buffet (West Ashley)
Community Pizza House (North Charleston)
Corner House Cafe (Summerville)
Dockery's (Daniel Island)
Fat Hen (Johns Island)
House of Brews (Mount Pleasant)
Kickin Chicken (James Island)
Tu (Downtown)
Workshop (Downtown)
COMING SOON --
As I said earlier, the tracking list of "coming soon" restaurants that have been announced and expected to open in the coming months, as of late June, has risen to 75+ restaurants. On-site dining demand is back, weekly sales are up, tourists are pouring through the airport, reservations are booked and new qualified staffers are in very short supply. New restaurants may be hampered by soaring construction costs and delays, but staffing issues could cause even larger problems if they don't have the hands to operate.
NATIONAL RESTAURANT SCENE
2020 COVID-19 PANDEMIC LED TO THE YEAR OF THE DRIVE-THRU
Who didn't spend time sitting in a restaurant drive-thru lane in the last year? Restaurant drive-thrus have been especially busy over the last 15 months. The Year of the Pandemic was also the Year of the Drive-Thru. If your restaurant had a drive-thru lane, you probably did OK during the Covid pandemic. Restaurant operators were forced to "mobile-ize" last year and adapt to indoor dining shutdowns by ramping up their away game strategies with the help of technology. Mobile apps, online ordering + payment systems, third-party delivery systems, and social media presence became vital ingredients for a restaurant's survival.
While casual dining menu prices stayed relatively flat last year, prices in the fast food + quick serve categories rose much more quickly as demand grew and wages increased to pay those employees to meet the demand. Before Covid, drive-thru window service technology hadn't changed much in the last two decades. Increased demand for convenience and faster speed-of-service will most likely stick around long after Covid subsides. The drive-thru lane of yesterday will look much different in the years to come. The larger restaurant chains are designing flexible prototypes now to handle larger traffic volumes in the drive-thru lane. Read more about it here in Restaurant Business Online.
CORONAVIRUS: MEASURING THE DAMAGE
RESTAURANT JOBS ARE RETURNING BUT STILL HAVE A WAYS TO GO
According to data recently published in USA Today,186,000 restaurant + bar positions were filled in May 2021. That's good news, however, the National Restaurant Association says the F&B industry as a whole is still down about 1.5 million jobs or 12% below its March 2020 level. Some industry observers think the $300 weekly federal unemployment benefit may be hampering F&B industry hiring efforts by incentivizing lower-wage workers to stay on the sidelines. The state of South Carolina ended participation in all pandemic-related unemployment assistance programs as of June 30th. Time will tell if that state-level policy decision will lead to more local F&B-related job openings getting filled over the coming weeks.
Check out the USA Today article....
Dig in to more NRA industry stats....