A Local Restaurant

Image by Shutterbug75 from Pixabay

Several years ago, a local Asian restaurant waiter told us when we were having lunch there that Valentine’s day doesn’t generate good business in his restaurant. The best day of business is the Mother’s day weekend, Christmas week being the second, and around Thanksgiving being the third, followed by Lunar New Year etc. I guessed that they could have improved their ambience or added romantic decorations to attract more patrons.

This waiter–let’s just say his name is W–works in this very popular local restaurant for a decade, at least to my knowledge. Then the owner wanted to sell the restaurant since he’s getting old. That was in 2016 I think. The restaurant is not just a business, but also the property itself, the parking lot. In addition, the owner also owns two small houses adjacent to the restaurant for which he rented out to two other small businesses. This being on Route 27 in the heart of Edison, New Jersey. It’s a nice place. However, since it cost a pretty penny, there were not many buyers. Along the way, some people, who pretended to be buyers, would come in to order a big banquet, sampling all the main dishes. The owner would give them a hefty discount since he’s eager to do business with them, but only to see these little swindlers disappear into the thin air. After being disappointed again and again, the owner finally contrived a plan and he brought this plan to a serious buyer, who was willing to buy but didn’t have enough money. He would divide the whole property into two–the two adjacent houses being one part; the restaurant being the other part. This way the restaurant buyer could be allowed to buy only the restaurant. Also he asked the waiter–about six of them–to become partial owner too, which to my surprise they agreed. They each contributed money into the pool to be the minority owner of the restaurant.

The restaurant finally changed hands and this was in early 2019. The restaurant continued to thrive for a year until COVID hit. And we all felt sorry for the new buyer and all the waiters. What originally looked like a good investment became a bad one in an instant. Now two years into the pandemic, I wonder how they are doing. I haven’t been there even once since the place was designed in such a way that the windows cannot be opened and I’ve never felt the ventilation is adequate. Still, I wish that they can do good business and recuperate their investment.