eating out in Oz
 

Hiya all,
We are going over to Brisbane early next year to buy a restaurant/ cafe and i was wondering if anyone could tell me if the Aussies are willing to pay ok prices for food.
Ive read that its cheap to eat out over there which is great for the customer harder work for the owner!!!.
Are they going to expect good food for dirt cheap prices???
ANY input on this would be much appreciated
kismet

Eating out in Australia is much, much cheaper than in Europe. I have no idea how the economics of the restaurant business in Australia work, but you should definitely investigate this in some detail before committing to buying a restaurant business. If you offer a price based on UK levels of turnover and UK margins, you will probably be offering way too much.

My suggestion, if you can manage it, is that when you get to Brisbane you should spend a while working as a manager in a restaurant to give you a better understanding of the business in Australia. Then you can take an informed decision about whether to invest in a restaurant.

Hopefully this will be useful info. A good rest in Bris may charge up to $30.00 for a main course, but a BYO (unlicensed), but allowed to bring in wine, could charge as little as $12.00 main course. Up in Noosa you could easily pay more but the rents would be main reason for exorbitant prices. Allow $15.00 hour for wages for waiters cooks.

I would totally agree to work in restaurant first. Obviously in most countries, restaurants are often set up and go broke due to the fairly easy skills required to open one. The ones that survive have done very good research into areas, food types, overheads etc. Many pop up and some make it, many dont and that is no different here. Lots of competition from Take outs here, like Pizzas for $5.95 etc and of course dining is expensive for the average aussie family so may not be as popular as you might think. Just do the research first. Good Luck

Re: eating out in Oz
 

Kismet,

Please feel able to mail me directly if you want an intro to my joint venture accountant colleagues in Brisbane, who I am sure will be pleased to have an initial freebie chat about your plans, when they can also give you some advice and pointers as to the way forward.

Hope this is of interest and best regards.