Restaurant Life : Face the Facts

After reading , I couldn’t help noticing the negative comments many people submitted about the way things went down. As a life long restaurant rat (34 years and counting) let me educate you a little about the realities of  my  profession.

1. No-one likes going out of business, particularly the ownership.
2. There is a specific formula for closing a restaurant that nearly all companies ( at least the smart ones) adhere to.
3.  This formula has been developed over the last , I don’t know, 5000 or so years.

For those of you who don’t know, I spent 9 years working at various “Pics” including three years here in Tewksbury. During those years I have met some wonderful people that I still maintain friendships with. I have met Mr. Martin  and Mr. Klauke many times and they are both gentlemen. I have been through store closings (and openings ) when they owned the chain. I also went through closings with Anthony Athenas (Hawthorne, Lynn) Peter Dawson (Sea Gaels, Nahant) and my own restaurant (Fish Net, Peabody). They have all been very similar.

You see its not that these people don’t have compassion or feelings for their employees, believe me they do. But, vendors still need to be paid and obligations need to be met. How many people would stay on knowing that their fate was sealed?

How many people would pilfer and steal knowing they only had a couple of weeks left. The sad reality is anarchy and chaos would consume the facility. Angry employees  and angry guest do not make for a hospitable environment.

I am very sure that no-one will be denied their compensation benefits and that loyal people will be placed elsewhere if they choose to accept new positions. If you haven’t noticed times are tough out there. Sometimes you have to do what you have to do.

Personally, I will silently mourn the loss of the pub and be thankful for the friendships I have made and the people I have met, while  I was there. I wish them all the best in their future endeavors. And for those of you looking for a new haunt, well, there’s a really good joint right across the street at 1880 Main.