Buffet Restaurants: It’s not Always About Feeding You More – Sometimes it’s About Reducing Labor Costs and Challenges
Taverna Banfi’s is an upscale restaurant located in Ithaca, New York. Here is how the restaurant’s website describes its service offerings (see http://www.tavernabanfi.com/):
“Delightful and idyllic, Taverna Banfi is an enchanting Italian trattoria specializing in tantalizing Tuscan cuisine. Situated on the second floor of The Statler Hotel, with captivating views of the Cornell University campus, this warm, welcoming gathering place is renowned among the best Ithaca restaurants by hotel guests and locals alike. Savor an enticing menu featuring the freshest ingredients from nearby Finger Lakes region farms. Enjoy friendly, enthusiastic service, provided by our Hotel School students. Fun and flavorful, with a dash of sophistication, our signature Ithaca restaurant welcomes you for breakfast, lunch, and dinner — as well as the city’s best Sunday brunch.”
When visiting the restaurant for lunch, the guests are escorted by the welcoming staff to their table. On the way to the table, the host stops in front of a spectacular display of buffet items which includs salads, warm entrées, soup and desserts. After being comfortably seated, a server appears, takes beverage orders and then asks if the guests would like to help themselves to the buffet or would like to order from the menu (see lunch menu here: http://www.tavernabanfi.com/food/documents/7.08.09LunchMenu.pdf).
The full buffet is served for $17, soup and salad buffet (excluding hot entrées) costs $13. Both buffet options also include the guests’ choice of beverages. The prices for individual items of menu vary quite a bit: soups and salads cost $5 – $14; sandwiches cost $11 – $14; and Luncheon entrées cost $9 – $16. The guests also have to order beverages and any desserts separately.
Taverna Banfi’s is not unique in offering both buffet and menu ordering options to its guests. Many sit-down restaurants offer similar alternatives to its customers. From the customers’ point of view, buffet may offer much better value compared to similar items ordered from the menu individually. However the customers do have to self-serve, be willing to spend a higher amount for lunch, and be very hungry! At the same time, the customers do not have to wait to get their food as it has already been prepared in advance. Ordering from menu, on the other hand, allows guests to customize their order according to their individual needs, tastes and budget. However, the customers do have to wait for their food to be prepared.
Questions:
1. What are the labor and material costs associated with the two (buffet vs. ordering from menu) options?
2. What are the operational tradeoffs associated with Buffet (or made-to-stock production) and order-from-menu (made to order)? (Chapter 4: Process Design and Analysis)
3. While the items on the menu are decided a-priori but prepared on demand, the restaurant needs to decide what items to offer on its menu? How do they make this decision? (Chapter 3: New Product Development)
4. Is one option always more profitable for the restaurant? Or are there situations when one option will be better than the other? Why?
5. What are the capacity planning and labor scheduling implications associated with each of the two options? (Chapter 10)
6. Do you know of any all buffet restaurants? How about restaurants where the buffet is actually cheaper than ordering off the menu? How does this alter the scheduling of workers, production etc.
