City Lighting, Renovations or Closed?

anonymous

City Lighting has a sign up that says Closed for Renovatons. Why would you renovate a place that is no new. Looks closed to me.

dailyheights

Not looking good for City Lighting... see update at www.dailyheights.com.

anonymous

Subject: Closed

Closed - Heard from my housemate who's friends with their bartenders. They weren't making enough money. Sad.

anonymous

that is too bad. i was rooting for them. but CL didn't seem to cut it as either a bar or a restaurant. it didn't have enough of a bar ambience to it and the food was pretty bad. for instance, i repeatedly got a dry- tasting bacon cheeseburger there. how is that possible? i had formerly held the view that anything with bacon on it can not taste that bad.

carnivore

I have independent confirmation of City Lighting's new incarnation as a Mexican restaurant (I forgot who posted the original tip from the locksmith across the street).

Today, you can catch a sneak peak of the new interior- (tons of tin ceiling-type metal panels everywhere)- as the whole front is open while they work on the place. I asked the guys working and they confirmed that it will be a Mexican restaurant.

11238

Excellent!

anonymous

more mexican food? but i can already rattle off a dozen mexican joints....within a 10 block radius

11238

Subject: AYE CARUMBA!

Where?

I dont consider Fresh Tortilla or Yummy Taco Mexican. I am hoping for a place like Mezcal or Rancho Alegre. I am assuming this new place will be along those lines....

anonymous

on fifth ave...calexico, los politos, the new one on lincoln, the one between dean and pacific, mezcal, uhm shall i continue...la tarrazza... all in 10 blk. radius of ole city lighting.
i agree...yummy taco is not really mexican, it's chinese tacos.

it just doesn't seem like a mexican joint will do well there...it is such a huge and expensive space to rent and to survive there has to be something extra special...(like a mechanical bull) and they need to be extra busy. not likely with other inexpensive and delicious joints steps away.

anonymous

La Tarazza closed a few months ago.

carnivore

Anonymous wrote: it just doesn't seem like a mexican joint will do well there...it is such a huge and expensive space to rent and to survive there has to be something extra special...(like a mechanical bull) and they need to be extra busy. not likely with other inexpensive and delicious joints steps away.

If you saw the space, you would realize that they're trying to do something different. While there are a bunch of places in Park Slope, I don't think PH has anything like what this is going to be. If they play their cards right, I think this could be a very profitable business. I hate to restart another controversy with the dreaded "B" word, but they would make a killing if they were open for brunch on the weekends. Huevos rancheros has a high profit margin. Plus, I think that they could do well with the bar.

anonymous

if you know anything about running a restaurant...brunch is not where you make your money...unless you mark up...say 90%. normally owners like to keep their margin at 30-35%, that is at the end of the day, 30% of their food sales should cover the cost of food. so that's a 70% markup.
eggs, bread, and potatos, and beans...very cheap...which means they need to markup significantly to make a killing.

this is how prices are set at restaurant...quality of food also plays into it.

isa

I have managed as well as worked in several restaurants and brunch was indeed where we made our money. I think it willl be easy to be profitable in that location, City Lighting had to try very hard to fail.

stacey

Tavern on Dean has a great brunch menu (fix price too) and they fill the place up on the weekend.

anonymous

Isa wrote: I have managed as well as worked in several restaurants and brunch was indeed where we made our money. I think it willl be easy to be profitable in that location, City Lighting had to try very hard to fail.

but as manager did you sit with your chef and do food costs, or your accountant and do payroll, electricity (A/C), etc? i think any owner would understand. even many waitstaff dislike brunch...the money maker at a restaurant is alcohol...brunch is light on its consumption. barring a few exceptional people!!

city lighting was poorly managed, had mediocre food and were facing a significant lawsuit. it is a fantastic location...but very large...electricity alone during the summer will be above $2000...that's alot of huevos and burritos.

carnivore

I expect that they would sell quite a few margueritas, bloody marys and tequila sunrises with brunch on the weekends. I agree that alcohol has the highest profit margin, and the properly-positioned Mexican restaurants make a killing on it. If they can position the place right (make it a place where people will go for a few drinks even if they aren't eating), they're going to do very well.

anonymous

Oh yes, alchohol definitely has the highest profit margin. And yes, I did do food costs, etc. But everywhere I have worked in whatever position I was in (I've waitressed and been a chef as well) brunch was the money maker and the draw to the restaurant in the first place. I'm not saying that a business model that banked on the bar would not be succesful, just that some places live and die by their brunch. And when I was a waitress I hated brunch, people tend to tip like shit.

All that restaurant has to do to stay afloat is have good service and good food. It sounds obvious but it seems like so many places find that concept so difficult to grasp though.

steve austin

The City Lighting building was sold recently and I heard a rumor that the new owner of the building is also the owner of the new mexican restuarant so rent will not be an issue, but since the building was listed for around $3 million, the mortgage will be.

steve austin

By the way, what was the lawsuit that Isa is referring to?

isa

Oh, it wasn't me that was referring to a lawsuit, unless someone is suing me. Omigod is someone suing me?

anonymous

a customer fell down their drop-stairs. the trap door was left open and she busted her face up siginificantly. also i believe the former waitstaff are organizing a suit...tax evasion and illegal layoff procedure. no one who worked there was told the restaurant was closing. they showed up for work one day and the gates were locked tight.

ye ole city lighting owners also own buttermilk, great lakes, boat and the former roxy. i know they are in it to make a buck, not to appease people. i agree anything with this attitude is destined for failure.

carnivore

Anonymous wrote: normally owners like to keep their margin at 30-35%, that is at the end of the day, 30% of their food sales should cover the cost of food. so that's a 70% markup.

I'm not in the food industry, but if food costs are 30% of the total price, that's a 233% markup, no? excluding overhead, of course.

rhodamine

the space theyre renovating there looks really corny. lots of flashy chrome/metal and bold red enamel paint. i dunno, but doesnt sound like my kinda place. looks more like a "dramatics nyc" salon or osmething, heh.

anonymous

Subject: City Lighting inside

Yes,
Guest is right - they were facing a significant lawsuit, as described. I haven't heard about staff filing suit, but I do know that the labor board was contacted, as City Lighting stopped paying wages about 6 months after opening. Some staff never got checks at all, and the wage they paid (when they were paying it) was below the minimum by law. On top of that, they often fired staff that worked for them for a year with no reason behind it, just that business was poor & they thought maybe new people would make it better. Of course, business didn't improve at all.

The food got pretty bad after they fired their original chef and kitchen staff. inconsistant food & a constantly changing menu.

Not cool. Anyway, I just hope the new place they open is better run.

anonymous

Subject: boot

Yeah -

My friend, a bartender there, showed up to City Lighting for work one day & there was someone already working the shift. The owner was sitting there & looked confused - he then looked at my friend and said "oh, yeah.. we won't be needing you anymore". He didn't even call to tell her to not come in. The new bartender felt terrible too.

The people who worked there would routinely find out that people were about to get the boot because they would see a craigslist add for servers or barstaff at that location. Then everyone would wait around to see who got fired. it was really low. Strangely, they often fired their best people who had been there the longest. The waitstaff often had to act as managers because the owners were never around & they would never hire a decent manager. Then the owners would feel like the staff were too much in control & fire them.

Poor city lighting staff - my friend said that they would sometimes have to run out to buy fruit or bread at brunch because the kitchen would run out & noone had ordered properly. They even ran out of eggs one day!

anonymous

I was there the day they ran out of eggs! I was having lunch with my family who were in town visiting and we waited for at least an hour for our meals. The waitress explained that they were out of eggs and we saw the kitchen staff coming in carrying eggs they bought in the neighborhood. Well, no wonder, with such irresponsible ownership. Now, my Dad is convinced there are no good restaurants in Brooklyn. :oops:

anonymous

Carnivore wrote: [quote=Anonymous]it just doesn't seem like a mexican joint will do well there...it is such a huge and expensive space to rent and to survive there has to be something extra special...(like a mechanical bull) and they need to be extra busy. not likely with other inexpensive and delicious joints steps away.

If you saw the space, you would realize that they're trying to do something different. While there are a bunch of places in Park Slope, I don't think PH has anything like what this is going to be. If they play their cards right, I think this could be a very profitable business. I hate to restart another controversy with the dreaded "B" word, but they would make a killing if they were open for brunch on the weekends. Huevos rancheros has a high profit margin. Plus, I think that they could do well with the bar.

Are you a restaurant expert? You talk like you are.

carnivore

I'm not a restaurant expert at all, but I have worked in the food industry. I think I have a reasonable sense of what elements are necessary for a successful business.

carnivore

I was checking out the progress at City Lighting today and I asked the guys inside when they're planning to open.

4 WEEKS!!!

emily

Cool! I love the new windows they've put in and it looks like they're moving the entrance to the corner, which seems like a good idea.

anonymous

Subject: Hmm

Anonymous wrote: ye ole city lighting owners also own buttermilk, great lakes, boat and the former roxy. i know they are in it to make a buck, not to appease people. i agree anything with this attitude is destined for failure.

So is that why Great Lakes has gone to hell in the past three years or so? Well, that, and Ray's jukebox fleeing to Commonwealth?...