Starting, Owning and Marketing A Restaurant Blog|Starting and Owning a Restaurant - Construction, Planning, Marketing, Opening and Managing a New Restaurant

This past week or more has been a whirlwind of progress (finally). Here is a list of achievements;

• With the exception of the fan on the roof, the hood is in. It passed inspection and the fireproof duct work is completed.
• The fireproof tenant separation ceiling is up, taped and “mudded”. Waiting for inspection tomorrow, Monday, December 8, 2008.
• The electrical circuits are run and passed the rough-in inspection. The wall electrical inspection, which allows us to close all walls, should be inspected Monday.
• All walls are drywalled on one side and waiting for the electrical inspection to cover other side.
• As of last night a crew was completing some floor tile work in customer visible areas.

The items above may not seem like a big move forward, but you must consider we are dealing with 1800 square feet of space. That means when the restaurant contractors put the ceilings, tile and electrical into the location, the contractors are covering front to back.

This week should complete 90% of the rough-in construction. We have a schedule that looks like this:

• Monday - get electrical inspection. Begin covering rest of walls. Starting ceiling grid for drop-in ceiling tiles. Get final inspection on fireproofed ceiling separation. Order and construction of all counter tops.
• Tuesday - Complete wall covering and drywall mudding and taping after screw inspection. Complete drop-in ceiling. Install data wiring for POS system, phone and cable.
• Wednesday - Finish office space to begin putting up shelving, work space and computer locations. Start kitchen and bathroom floor tile. Grid system for ceiling complete for electrician to begin installing lighting.
• Thursday - Complete office and storeroom. Finish all flooring. Finish all electrical. Do wall finishing with primer and “knockdown” coat. Install FRP in kitchen. Plumber to starting final connections including gas piping. Wi-fi system in office.
• Friday - Paint walls final teal color and install wood beadboard. Start scheduling delivery of restaurant booths and equipment for following week.
• Saturday - Install baseboard. All counters installed. Office completed and operating with filing shelving and accounting computer. Start decorative shelving and finish work for interior.
• Sunday - Have restaurant cleaning crew come in and do complete cleaning before booths and equipment start arriving following week. Install video security system.

While all of the above work deals primarily with construction, during the coming week we will also;

• Order all remaining restaurant equipment to be purchased by Wednesday. Remember we have already purchased a lot of the kitchen equipment as we found bargains.
• Place a smallwares order for delivery early the following week.
• Purchase stainless shelving and install Friday or Saturday in kitchen.
• Schedule delivery and setup of POS system, beverage machines and cleaning system installation.
• Complete menu and testing. Start working on inventory initial order.
• Start interviewing potential employees late in the week. Process to continue until open.
• Complete forms and all filing and background office system.

If we have any chance to open before year end, next week will be the determining factor.

After spending the last few days trying to figure out the county’s interpretation of the referenced building codes in their 44 changes they wanted on the building plans, we narrowed the problems down to three. The rest we made changes, corrections and additions we think will satisfy an over zealous plan reviewer.

Two of the three problem areas deal with plumbing issues. We need clarification on those. The third is a matter of interpretation dealing with the double swing kitchen doors we had drawn in as 48″. The county says we need 30 inches on each side for a total opening of 60 inches. The code does not appear to say that.

The architect met with the plan reviewer. We must meet again with the plumbing contractor to solve the plumbing issue and accept the reviewer’s interpretation of the door issue to prevent further delays. The plans need re-submitted in a day or two to get final approval.

In the interim we are finding ways to cut time when we get into full construction. The electrician continues to do a few things that deal with existing wiring and we have decided to tile the floors now to avoid delays.

Existing walls are being sanded and smoothed for coating, we found all shelving for the walk-in cooler/freezer, found potential outdoor furniture for seating at a much lower rate and have begun accumulating smallwares when seen in restaurant supply ware houses at reduced prices.

The other restaurants are not being ignored. Sales are holding up well under the economic citcumstances and restaurant food prices seemed to have leveled off. In fact, some items like dairy and egg products have come back down from their highs in July. Keeping watch on pricing impacts the new restaurant from the perspective of pricing and final determination of menu items.