re: Hypo: If you owned a restaurant what would you do to target the best clientele?

It has to be a one syllable name. That sorta describes what food you serve.
Flame
Wok
Fry
Stir
Dip

There's a bar that just opened near me and they play heavy metal and rock. Nowhere else around me plays heavy metal and I kind of figure that they want a certain type of crowd. Or maybe the owner just likes rock. Who the hell knows? Either way I stopped going so maybe it's working.

If you attract women, especially moms, you will win.

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The turnover on servers would be so low that you'd have lifetime servers

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I remember roughly twenty years ago the waitstaff at Galatoire's, (NOLA), went on strike. I think it was something about management letting the lease go on the staff parking lot. The only reason this sticks in my mind is that the newspaper article also mentioned that the most junior member of the staff had been there twenty four years.

I'm not trying to appeal to everyone.

I'd run a clean establishment with menu educated servers. A kitchen who follows established food safety and cleanliness. Nobody would walk in and say, "eww".

What I'm saying is that I want to establish a broad customer base. This reduces the likelihood of a niche restaurant, which is much more likely to fail.

I'd have a place that is inexpensive but not cheap. Want to come get a $10 meal, come on in. Want to be in and out in 30 min? I got you. Want to hang out and drink and eat for 2 hours or more? I got you.

It isn't hard to provide all of that. Limiting your clientele by overcharging is retarded. Which is something I've seen recommended here. You would fail as a restaurateur.

ETA: the "you" here is anyone who thinks overcharging is a good idea.

Location, location, location.

You can have the best business model on the planet but if you aren't in the right location chances are you'll still fail. You can also have a mediocre business plan and flourish in the right location.

It doesn't matter what you think. All that matters is what customers think.

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Provide me any proof that customers don't eat at restaurants where trashy people go.

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Ask any server.

When trashy clientele is kowtowed to, it encourages more trashy people to go there.

Which, frankly, turns off better customers.

I'm not talking about pinky out, nose in the air snobby people.

I'm just talking about not wanting your meal interrupted by a group of loud arse people who are gonna complain and send orders back after eating half of it and demand this and that, making service harder to get for others.

And then leave a shitty tip.

The ones too cheap to pay for a drink so they ask for a bowl of lemons and a ton of sugar to put in their water.

Ones who make a scene because they are too stupid to know the difference between boiled and grilled shrimp.

If you make it known that those sort of people are welcome in your restaurant, then better people will come.

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In Atlanta, make it look like a restoration hardware inside and do nothing showy or particularly trendy

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Yep. Gunshow and The Optimist are pretty good examples. Have you been to Scout yet? Former McGowan's pub in Oakhurst. Good clientele despite the usual kids. But I've noticed them being mostly good there.

Pretty small menu with high quality ingredients and no crazy twists but not boring fare.

Michelin