Last month I addressed specific financial fixes for casual dining. This month, I’ll dig deeper into three areas of concern: dealing with problem stores, leases and senior debt. There are always underperforming stores, both…
Trying to obtain bank financing, equipment leasing or even vendor financing for a restaurant is one of the biggest challenges in the business world. Each week I hear from local restaurateurs who have either…
Obviously, the casual dining world has its ups and downs. Right now we are in a down period, with some major players struggling the last few years. There seems to be a light at…
The team behind Hola Arepa has switched gears and opened a South-Asian restaurant in the up-and-becoming trendy Northeast Minneapolis. Hai Hai is in a fairly underdeveloped area at 21st and University, which would normally…
I am always intrigued by “polished fast-casual” concepts— restaurants with counter service but a little more personal service and also higher price points that can attract customers with the ability to generate higher check…
One of the biggest winners under the new tax law is real estate, particularly restaurant real estate. Purchasing sites, making improvements, entering into sale-leasebacks, making renovations and remodels are all constant themes in our…
The third time wasn’t the charm, so now we have what amounts to the fifth try at the Calhoun Square restaurant space in Uptown. Figlio, a Parasole restaurant, had a 20-plus-year run in this…
The tax reform legislation is teeming with new rules, but I’d like to focus on how the new law affects the restaurant industry and how operators should respond to the changes. Along the way,…
In the February issue of Minnesota Real Estate Journal, Jeff Shea and Pat Weller consider the impact of the new tax reform bill on commercial real estate industry. The article discusses expensing increases under Section…
