Q&A: How Do You Close a Restaurant the Right Way?
After an 89-year-run in the restaurant business, the Roth family closes its last operation.
By Kate Leahy, Senior Associate Editor -- Restaurants & Institutions, November 19, 2009
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| Don Roth's Blackhawk in Wheeling, Ill., is closing after 40 years of operation. |
Keeping a restaurant open for five years is a challenge; keeping a restaurant operating for 40 years is a legacy. That's why, when Don Roth’s Blackhawk (one of R&I's inaugural Ivy Award winners in 1971) in suburban Chicago closes for good on January 1, 2010, it's taking care to step out with its best face forward.
Although Don Roth's Blackhawk, known for steaks, spinning salad bowls and big-band memorabilia, has operated in Wheeling, a suburb north of Chicago, since 1969, the Chicago Blackhawk restaurant legacy stretches back to 1920, when Otto Roth opened a location downtown. The family-run company grew to a handful of restaurants under Otto's son, Don, before selling all but the Wheeling location to other operators (among them Chicago-based Levy Restaurants).
The family insists that the reason for closing the Blackhawk isn’t financial. Don Roth’s widow, Ann, is about to turn 90, and her children are established in other careers. Still, during a prolonged economic slump that has seen many restaurants to shutter their doors, not everyone is putting thought into how they call it quits.
That led R&I to ask Bob Vorachek, general manager of the Blackhawk since 1995:
Q. How do you close a restaurant the right way?
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| Bob Vorachek joined the company in 1986, then moved to the Wheeling restaurant as general manager in 1995 |
A. Mrs. Roth knows that there are thousands of people who will miss the restaurant. We didn't feel that there was any other way to do it than to let everyone know and to let them enjoy themselves and relive some of the memories they've had there.
This particular restaurant is its own little niche. We are a blast from the past—we haven't taken on some of the [traits of] a new steakhouse, like the wood-topped tables, the rolled-up silverware and the $8 baked potato. It’s a little more gracious, and we serve a complete meal. We're a little old-fashioned, but there has always been a loyal following.
For the next few weeks, we'll be buying dinners for regular customers. We'll send bottled dressings home with them, as well as our bittersweet chocolate sauce. We’re going to do our victory lap, have some fun and say goodbye.
But no matter how much you try to get the word out [that the restaurant is closing] there will always be someone who calls for a reservation the day after we close. So after the restaurant closes, I've been asked to stay on for two more months to wind down the operations and take care of equipment and purveyor needs. We will be available to customers and purveyors, but, besides me, there will be no full-time staff after Dec. 31.
We’re also going to assist [current employees] with putting together résumés—for back-of-the-house staff, management staff, whatever the case may be. One of my goals when I stay on will be to provide job references for employees and to talk to potential employers. The Roth family also has set up a bonus for employees who stay on through the end of the year [so they won’t feel pressured to quit before the closing date].
We get e-mails every day [from people who want to buy the restaurant]. But then it wouldn’t be a Don Roth’s Blackhawk restaurant. We’re grateful for the 89 years.
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