I've had many conversations with many people on this topic. I've also seen it on Robert Irvine's Restaurant Impossible. So it must be important, right?
Here's the story: A locals' favorite, which we'll call the Fish Flop (totally made up, I promise), has been around since 1979. During that decade of excess - the 1980s - it was flamboyant - ostentatious, even. You knew the menu - chicken/broccoli deluxe with some sort of cheesy-creamy sauce was on it. The big shrimp cocktail was still around. Something was blackened. Something had been jerked. Curry was very "in." There was probably a quiche or two. And if you had room for dessert, there was mud pie.
Fast-forward into the 1990s. Times were tight and the Fish Flop (which I just noticed didn't serve much fish, unless it was blackened or jerked, but that's okay) was desperate to hold onto its customers. It offered an early-bird special, with a salad, a main and a dessert for two, for around $15.00. They still had most of the 1980s menu, too, sans the blackened dish, because blackening is a smelly, smoky pain. They decided not to buy an espresso machine because their loyal locals said that they would never pay $2.50 for a cup of fancy coffee when the house brew was 99 cents with unlimited refills.
Come the new millennium, the Fish Flop felt optimistic. They decided to freshen up their look - out with the pink tablecloths and the brass (it was a pain to clean anyway) and in with some shabby chic/Victorian stuff. The loyal locals weren't too keen on it. The wicker chairs were uncomfortable. One of the LLs said it "looked like my grandmother's last rummage sale." But they kept coming.
Fast-forward again to today. The Flop's LLs are aging. Their kids and grandkids bring them there to celebrate birthdays and anniversaries. They turn up faithfully for Sunday brunch to order the salmon benedict and home fries. They come for lunch to order the $5.00 chowder and the $4.99 house salad (iceberg lettuce, corporate tomato, prepared Italian dressing and a red onion ring on top), with iced tea.
Now the Flop's got a problem. If they change up the menu, they're going to alienate those LLs, who've been with them through thick and thin. But they've noticed that there are few, if any, young couples coming in. Even though the town's got great summer tourist traffic, they're not getting much of it. They go on Yelp to figure out why and the reviews are dismal: "The 80s called; they want their food back." "Nice people, but the decor's drab and the food is just okay - nothing interesting."
The restaurants I've seen survive this schism split the difference. They keep their most popular old-time dishes - and by "popular," I mean what those LLs really order, not what outspoken Lucretia Beasley has the two times a year she comes in, or what Grandpa Ed has when he visits once a year from Sacramento. Then they offer specials and add them to the menu if they catch on. They listen with great care to the LLs, but they don't do something if it doesn't make sense, economically. And they survive.
What are your thoughts? What dish would you miss if your favorite eatery took it off the menu? What do you see as the balance between satisfying the LLs and bringing in a new crowd?
