Madam, - The cost of eating out in Ireland is currently the subject of much debate, if one could call it such, in the media. It is unfortunate that the quality of the debate is generally undermined by shallow analysis.
Will Priestley's letter of June 18th suggests that restaurateurs abroad are in the business of charity, while those of us in Ireland are ripping our customers off. As a restaurant owner of 19 year's standing I must suggest that his analysis of what he has paid abroad is naïve in the extreme.
There is, of course, no such thing as a free lunch. No restaurant provides anything free - we are in business to make a living, after all. The fact that an item is not separately charged for does not mean that you have not been charged - the cost has simply been incorporated in those other items that you have been billed for.
It is simplistic to compare prices between Ireland and abroad without allowing for the effects of our high rates of VAT and our punitive excise duties on alcohol. Comparing supermarket prices with restaurant prices is like comparing the price of sleeping at a campsite with the price of a suite in a four-star hotel: same end product, different packaging.
The restaurant business in Ireland has grown enormously in the past 10 to 15 years, as has the frequency with which we all eat out. Undoubtedly there are many restaurants that have thrived in recent years despite prices that have raised eyebrows even among fellow restaurateurs. However, such has been the demand that the customer has perhaps bought into the buzz while suspending critical judgment. There is a new and more critical consumer sentiment evident nowadays and my fear is that inadequate analysis is leading to every operation being tarred with the same critical brush.
The restaurant business is no easy ride. By its nature the hours are anti-social, and the costs of simply being in business have spiralled. A few examples: for one location in 2000 I paid €3,900 a year for waste removal; this year I will pay over €13,000. Over the same period our Dublin city rates bill has increased by 23 per cent and I am now paying a substantial additional sum to Dublin City Council for placing tables on the pavement. More significantly, wages have risen enormously and have been a very large component of the limited price increases we have passed on in recent times. In three years I have seen my wage cost increase 47 per cent in just one restaurant. My staff are well paid, but perhaps not much better off. They too suffer from the high cost of living in Dublin.
Notwithstanding the above I make profits in my two restaurants. That's the name of the game; and I would find an alternative (and probably less stressful) profession if I was not making those profits. Many of us in the restaurant business can stand over what we charge and are proud of the product we sell. Restaurants which are not providing quality at whatever price level may well need to sharpen up their act. - Yours, etc.,
DAVID BARRY, The Gotham Cafe and The Independent Pizza Company, South Anne Street, Dublin 2.