Yes, we have raw, baked, and steamed. Are they good? I don't eat oysters, but everyone tells us that ours are great. We get them from Appalachacola (spelling?). As far as size, they are usually medium to large but sometimes they come rather small - in that case we give a few more than 12 for compensation. We don't wash them, most say washing disturbs the salty taste, but if you prefer yours washed just let us know - we'll be glad to rinse them off for you.

In any event, should you ever come in and find that we are 'out' of oysters - rest assured that it is because we would never serve any that we felt weren't suitable to serve.

Are you saying that Waffle House doesn't have "atmosphere?"

Their menu is about as good as any other and they serve a great breakfast! Real cheap too.

If you mean making over you when you arrive and giving you the seat you want, I think that costs. Listening to your gibberish also costs.

Aren't restaurants to eat in, not drink in?

Waffle House is a great place, good coffee too. I am sure your significant other, if you have one, really enjoys a night out at the WH after an arduous week of listening to you moan & groan about what everything costs. Might I suggest the "hash browns du jour" or maybe some home fries at home, that shouldn't cost you much and look on the bright side, it leaves one more chair available for those of us with a life.
"If it ain't one thing it's another"

Waffle has the freshest food in the world!
They sell so many eggs, ham and hash browns that it has to be delivered every day!

I don't know why you think the food in a restaurant manned by untrained food handlers and incompetent kitchen help and food purchasers, could possibly be fresher!

You want to impress by spending.

Actually, our 'food handlers' have completed courses in safe food handling and have the certificates to show for it - just ask to see them. Also, you can look up any restaurant's health inspection on the internet - feel free. And, if you ever care to know the origin of any of our seafood or beef - we will be glad to provide that information as well. Thank You.

BTW: I like my hashbrowns scattered and covered.

We stopped at this restaurant once and it happened to be they served no lunch that day.

I think consistent hours are very important. No one can remember several different open patterns!

I actually saw this list of open hours once at another restaurant:

Mon-Tues only dinner 5-10 PM
Wed. lunch & dinner 11:30 A.M.-10PM
Thur. closed
Fri. lunch and dinner 11:00 A.M - 12 P.M.
Sat. Brunch only - 10:00- 2:00
Sun. Winter-time only Brunch
Summer-time only Brunch & dinner with a choir for dinner!
We close on 16 Sundays per year--look for sign!

We do not take checks, or American Express or Discover. Picture I.D. required.
There is a two drink minimum or a $15 cover charge, or both on busy days.
We reserve the right to turn away anyone at the door.

Some who open a restaurant are good cooks but are worse than General Motors in management or people or customer skills.

In order for a "no-name" (Long Horn) restaurant to survive, two years worth of serious cash input is usually necessary, along with proper advertising and good quality--even at the necessity of losing money for a couple of years. Even Emeril has had to close a few!

And boy, are those lease bills usually high every month no matter how many meals you have served. Electricity, water, trash, and maintenance are also high regardless.

The cheapest thing you pay for is labor and food!

Top of the debit list for any restaurant is food - PFG Milton, Buckhead Beef, Southside Seafood, Georgia Crown, National, LaGrange Grocery, United Distributors, General Wholesale, .....just to name a few - are the GREATEST expense.

Next is labor. To keep good cooks - those who are mature, responsible, reliable, drug-free, and give a damn about the product they produce - a good living wage is generally necessary.

Then there is the lease, utilities, maintenance fees, workman's comp. taxes, alcohol taxes, alcohol license, P.O.S. system, and a myriad of other expenses.

So, If you need two cooks, a dishwasher, and at least two servers to staff a lunch shift and the lunch revenue is only say $400 - $600. Does it make sense to open for lunch during the week - only to incur a loss? Like I've said before, the lunch business was going great until the gas hikes last summer. Then most people had to, in order to keep gas in their vehicles, brown bag lunch. When many of the lunch customers are laborers and blue collar.

You are right that 'serious cash input' is necessary for a business, any business, to survive the first critical years and most small businesses will fail within the first three years - that statistic is even higher for food service businesses (approx. 1/3 will fail within the first year). Most corporate restaurants like Longhorn did not open amidst a looming depression. When the economic climate is so gloomy and the forecast not looking any better, it's hard to determine just how much cash flow should be put into saving a business. And let us not forget the credit crunch we are in at the moment.

Our hours are pretty simple, though. Closed Monday (now that we are open on Sunday). Tuesday - Saturday kitchen is open from 4:00 - 9:00 (peak hours). Sunday - open from 11:30 - 8:00.

I would like to maintain some diplomacy here and invite you to come see us. I just ask that you withhold judgment about things of which you know nothing.

I was in the retail business 15 years--started from scratch. Also spent 30 years as a manager in industry, plus four in the military in Korean war.

You are open basically five hours per day!

How are you to cram enough people into the restaurant in that period to pay the bills? Especially if you sell reasonably priced food.

How many seats do you have (at 60% full usually due to varying quantities together).

How many times are you likely to turn those tables in five hours?
Twice if you are lucky. Do the math!

As I said before, if the bar doesn't do well, you will never draw a salary! Menu serving is more expensive than big old pans of a hundred items.

Bonkers, forgive me for offending you, I do have a sharp tongue at times especially when stressed. Let me first thank you for your service in our military. I extend my deepest gratitude. I do appreciate the advice that you're offering and completely understand the questions you're asking.

With that same respect, I have to say that the retail industry and the restaurant industry are two completely different beasts. Purchasing is not an exact science particularly when unforeseen variables like the economy come into play. In the retail business, if you over purchase then you can at least mark down the items to move that stock. Larger corporations can sell off overstock items to a liquidation firm like Big Lots or Marshall's to recoup some of that initial investment. In the food service industry, stock is perishable and any meat that is even questionable will not be served and is thrown in the garbage - initial investment gone.

I agree, it seems ridiculous to expect a great return from 5 hours per day. However, we thought it ridiculous to take a loss for lunch just so we could say that we're open all day. If the dinner revenue has to cover the lunch loss, does it make sense? You are right, our bar is currently carrying over 60% of our revenue right now. This has become a problem with the city of Fayetteville who says that our alcohol sales can not exceed 25% of our total sales. In other words, you can not have a "bar" in the city of Fayetteville, that's why all the bars are in PTC. The problem is not that alcohol sales are up but that food sales, those coming in to dine, are down. If we can't somehow correct this problem, the city will pull the alcohol license for 30 days - and that would be the end. So, we are enacting a kids eat free night (Thursdays), hoping to draw in more family dining. Let's hope that this works.

Again, I do appreciate your input on this matter and am not above taking whatever advice we can get. I would like to invite you to come in to see us and I will personally pay for your meal. Just ask for me and I'll make sure you're taken care of and will accept any constructive criticism you offer.

I'm kind of "glass half empty", but you even out do me.

They had to stop serving lunch because not enough of us went out for lunch.

They have great food. Check it out for dinner.

Labor is not the cheapest thing, if you are running a restaurant with fresh food. When you prepare the food fresh you need at least 3 or 4 prep cooks, and 3 or 4 on the line actually doing the cooking. That is why the food tastes better in a place like this, compared to a chain restaurant where the food all tastes like frozen plastic. You have to pay health benefits for all of those employees.

Come on, go give it a try I think it will even make you smile.

I explain something in great detail and then your answers ignore the details that you don't like!

I said that a restaurant might take as long as two years to gain a clientele big enough to support lunch and dinner. Breakfast is a totally different thing---requires a menu that fits the lunch-dinner menu. Hard to serve gravy biscuits and crab legs in same day!

Do you know how long it took the fellow who setup the McDonald's menu to be successful? Kentucky Fried Chicken?

As far as I know, the burgers at McDonalds still are not over 20 minutes old. I know chicken is cooked every few minutes.

If they need six in the kitchen for lunch and dinner--something is wrong. Need equipment or methods that are better. As to food waste---must keep up with quantities on computer in order to buy correctly!

The $50 dollar restaurants don't worry about any of that except a dark place and a very good bar!

Bars are where the money is if run well.

All they have to do is add up expenses and depreciation for two months, add up how many customers for two months and see what it costs per customer! What are you taking in per customer?

It doesn't matter however if you can drag in several alcoholics a day at the bar---you can feed them for free!

A $25 wholesale bottle sells for over $125!

I think most pay wait staff about 2-3 dollars per hour, plus free tips, no benefits, or for dishwashers.

There's only one problem here Bonk ol' buddy, I never weighed in once on this thread, have you been bonging again? Now if you want to comment on that gang thingy again I'll be glad to hear it, or are you still talking around that foot in your mouth?

I yam what I yam....Popeye

You argued about which generation was responsible for gangs!
Do I have to write you personallY?

Let me correct a slight misrepresentation of the facts, you were the one arguing which generation was responsible for gangs not me. You said my parents generation was responsible for the gangs not your generation and I just pointed out your generation is my parents generation. The arteries getting a little hard on you Bonk?

I yam what I yam....Popeye

You keep going and he might revert back into $.
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Caution - The Surgeon General has determined that constant blogging is an addiction that can cause a sedentary life style.

If I was trying to be 4 or 5 people I would get confused too.

I yam what I yam....Popeye

That's it bonk, play dumb, it works for you.

I yam what I yam....Popeye

Yes babe its me. I figure i gotta do my part no matter how small it may be. Figure getting on here causing a little drama will get the people aware of the name.. haha Besides its free

You don't need to cause drama. Our restaurant has the merit to speak for itself, we're just fighting a really tough economy right now. Whether we make it or not - you're a good friend and a great boss - I love you and the whole Black family.

This conversation is nice and may be a little beneficial for us. Just remember that most of the bloggers here aren't going to want to be constantly bombarded with "advertisement". Maybe we could contact the Citizen about advertising on this site - like New Hope does or Harbin Agency. I don't know what the cost would be, but I'll check into it on Monday.

Keep your head up, boss, we'll be O.K. and we'll always be friends.

I hear ya on the ADVERTISING thing. Just a one time comment that i wanted to get out there. Wasn't aware that one comment would get so much attention from other people but i am actually quite proud of it. Everytime the name is said might get some new and even old customers back in to try us again. I think it costs like 50 bucks or so on here? Not sure just gotta get the "TWO OLD GUYS" to do it. ha see you soon

Well, $50 is pretty cheap compared to other forms of advertising - you wouldn't believe how much radio spots go for and even the Savvy Shopper was in the neighborhood of $1500 a month. If it's only $50 to advertise here, I'll pay for it myself.

I once checked into Better Homes and Gardens to advertise my mural business - a 1/4 page full color ad (needed for any artist) was more than my mortgage. Wow!!! As it turned out my friend and I won the Street of Dreams (kid's room category) in Tyrone that year and got free coverage in that same magazine. I have the article framed in my studio/garage. It was my 15 minutes.

I will also contact Fayette Samaritans this week. We need to go ahead with the idea of 10% of Sunday sales donated to Fayette Samaritans. 50 of the 67 churches in this county support that charity, this may appeal to those who did not want alcohol on Sunday. Not to mention, I feel very strongly that small businesses need to give back to their community. It's not only the right thing to do, but also will bring the community back to you.

Hey, is that you? Psst, it's me, Shannon. I liked your ad and I'm glad you finally logged on in here. Good night. I'll see you Monday.

They nixed my favorite meal there - the Cobb Salad... took it completely off the menu and replaced it with some hideous concoction of raisins and nuts over greens with a little bit of diced chicken mixed in. Also, they changed the recipe for the mustard based BBQ sauce and now it tastes like cheap yellow mustard with some corn syrup added. The prices went up and the portions got smaller. After our last visit there, which was in June, we never went back and started cooking at home more and only going out to dinner in Atlanta. We did go to The Hill restaurant in Serenbe recently for our daughter's birthday and it was great, but very expensive. We will definitely be trying Latitude soon.

Smokey Bones would do well to bring order size and price more in line. Feels like a rip off.

Thank you, main, I really appreciate your support. If you do come in, please ask for me (Shannon). I look forward to meeting you and I'll have a greyhound waiting.

What's a crap leg anyway? I had a bum leg once from skiing too much.

Actually, this place sounds like a new destination spot for us, since we've lost our desire for the Smokey Bones restaurant.

Crap Legs are a cross between chicken fingers and buffalo wings, boiled to perfection and followed by three shots of tequila.........
"If it ain't one thing it's another"