I think it was the “all you can eat crab legs” deals that put them under. That and most of the patronage are unlike canoes. They don’t tip.
I’ve seen families of four or five come in and order two AYCE meals, then feed the entire family. Not once was anyone called out for doing that.
Yes Boo Boo its them
Restaurants make all their money on drinks. Especially alcoholic drinks. The food is a break even at best.
I worked in a restaurant/bar in the 1980s. It was busy on the weekends. Closed on Mondays. Tuesday was the slowest night.
We decided to do a drink special just on Tuesdays. From 8-10 you paid $2 to get in. All vodka drinks were FREE for the first two hours. Then from 9-10 they went to $1. From 10-11 $2. The back to full price at 11. Which was about $4.50. Remember this was 1982.
It went from our slowest night to our busiest night in a couple weeks. Once the word spread. People could not believe we were doing this. We had to be losing money. No, it was hugely profitable. We bought Popov vodka in 1.75 liter bottles for about $4/bottle. We mostly served it with ice tea. Which we premixed in 5 gallon pails ahead of time.
A drink was poured in a 8 oz plastic cup. We kept track of exactly how much vodka we poured. We had two bartenders. A bouncer and I checked IDs at the door. Drinking age back then was 18 in NYS.
It costs us $.06 to pour each vodka drink including the cup.
They place was so crowded that at most you might get four drinks in the first two hours when drinks were “free” under the $2 cover charge. So, even they first two hours we were making money. Our profits increased as the night went on.
Tuesdays went from the slowest night of the week to the busiest night during that summer.
We got the ideal because there was another bar in Buffalo that did the same thing on Wednesday nights. Except they did it with all mixed drinks. Except, they used GENERIC Booze.
No Tito’s, No high end bourbons or Scotch.
Their alcohol bottles came in cases with white labels that just said VODKA, GIN, RUM, TEQUILA.