You Want Fries Wit' Dat?

New Orleans restaurants are having to make adjustments to their business plans to aclimate to changes in the hospitility environment. But according to this article in City Business, local eateries are making due just fine. Cutting corners on expenses and instituting a more efficient operation, restaurant owners and managers have been able to more than offset the loss of customers.

If these new business plans continue, and business picks up over time, restaurants in New Orleans may be able to be model for doing business in the area. With increased profitability and a shortage of labor, we could see, in fact we are seeing, wages for restaurant employees increase while the quality and portions of local dishes remain high and the price remains low.

Kenny LaCour, owner of Restaurant Cuveé at 322 Magazine St. sums it up nicely:

"We’re looking at a business downturn in revenue, however, in our case, perhaps the profitability based on revenue is a little more sound than maybe it would have been a year ago," LaCour said. "The labor is more streamlined."

People have often said that Hurricane Katrina put a halt to the steady decline of New Orleans. What is unknown at this point is if Katrina will speed up that decline or reverse it. Let's hope that the restaurants of New Orleans are harbingers of things to come.