Going Going Gone
Apr 14th, 2007 by Don Ray
I guess I need to post a final notice that The Republic of Texas Cafe has closed. This has to be the shortest restaurant life I have seen since I have lived in Panama.
I consider the whole thing pretty stupid. Any non-Panamanian that opens a restaurant and thinks he can do it ignoring the law to provide jubilado discounts, is guaranteeing himself failure. In this case, I think the discount was a minor thing.
I know the owner was given information about the law, because I had a copy delivered to him. A simple Excel model would have provided the correct pricing to compensate for any pricing adjustments. Since he knew of the required discount and chose to say “screw the law”, then he must not have wanted to really be in business anyway.
While I thought the food was reasonably good, especially for a new restaurant, it was not the best I have ever eaten. However losing the restaurant, isn’t what bothers me the most. It is the owner’s total lack of concern for creating expectations of work for several Panamanian employees and shutting the doors after a couple of weeks.
I don’t feel sorry for the owner. He has chosen to blame everyone but himself. A person that does this should look in the mirror to see who is to blame. Only after he closed did he appearantly talk to his accountant and said he was told that the discount was 15% and not 25%. I am not sure the accountant is correct and had the owner even glanced at the law he was given, he should have questioned his accountant to see if he had a good one. Normally it is 15% for fast food restaurants and 25% for other restaurants. I think there may be some leeway given for new restaurants because I also think there may be some revenue income criteria involved.
However, 15% of 25% makes no difference. The discount doesn’t apply to the entire bill. It is only given to eligible jubilados and pensionados. He was charging $2.00 for a margarita which could have easily been $2.50 or $3.00. He gave unlimited chips and hot sauce and could have charged for all after the first “gratus” chips. He had plenty of ways to compensate for the jubilado requirement and the prices, would have changed very little.
In my other recent post, I said that I think that we jubilados need to use a little judgment in always asking for the discount. However, there is never any fault of a person asking for something that he is entitled to. What is wrong, is asking for a discount and if told they aren’t giving one or being given a 5% discount, throwing a fit in the restaurant and making an ass out of yourself.
In my opinion, this is more wrong than the provider not giving the discount. Accept what you get and leave. If you truly want to do something, after making sure that the provider knows his responsibility, then just notify the proper authorities of the violation and let them deal with it. There is no need of ruining every other person in the restaurant’s eating experience. Besides look at yourself through the eyes of those at other tables.
I am disappointed to see this restaurant close after such a short time period. None the less I think there are lessons to be learned by everyone that possibly was involved in this.
dear don ray,
all i can say is some people do not have the sense or courtsey
we were born with!
i feel there must be more to this than meets the eye–paul harvey
comes to mind
we are human and we all make mistakes so take responsibility and
be civil if not kind. sometimes i am embarresed to be “norte
american”. enough said ellen
I know I make mistakes. Some times it take me longer than other to realize the root cause of the problem and to correct what needs to be corrected.
Usually when I go to a local restaurant which charges a buck or two for a plate lunch I will not ask for the discount. When I go to a more expensive place such as the buffet at Gran National Hotel then I ask for the discount.
Hi John. Thanks for leaving a comment. That sounds like a reasonable approach to me. I think everyone should feel comfortable in their own mine with what they do.
I have to agree with you Don. Does the owner think he’s punishing the patrons who asked for the discount? The real losers here are the Panamanians hired to work there that are now out of a job. I can’t believe that the owner was a seasoned busniess owner even though I heard he had 30 years resturant experince in the US. It seems to me someone’s ego got into the way of good sense.
I need to agree with you Don. The discount only applies to non discounted food, it does not cover alcohol, desserts and promotional items. It would seem logical that anyone even if they did not understand the law going in (difficult to believe) could adjust their menu to deal with the issues rather than complain about the law and shut their doors.
Not sure about your terminology of “promotional items”. When TGI Fridays has their weekday special it still includes the discount.
I agree that a small compensation would have accomplished the pricing difference. There must be more to the story that was told.