textile institute of pakistan | Comparison of Retail Restaurants (Roasters & Nandos) | Retail Management | | | 5/14/2014 |

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In the assignment of comparing two retail outlets, the retail sector that we selected was food. We decided to choose the most famous restaurants of Karachi, which are Roasters and Nandos. The Roasters branch that we visited was at Sindhi Muslim (SMCHS), the Nanados branch visited was the Clifton branch as the Sindhi Muslim branch was being renovated. We selected the food retail sector as a lot of times we visit restaurants and ignore some problems, this might be as we visit the restaurants frequently or we like the food or maybe the ambiance lightens up our mood. Therefore this time when we visited the restaurants we wanted to focus on the problems that we might ignore.

Starting with Roasters * Location: Roasters is located in Sindhi Muslim where several other food outlets are available such as Nandos, KFC, Royal, Bundoo Khan, Eaton etc. The restaurant is placed in the middle like seen in the image below. It is a two story restaurant with a simple signage of the restaurant name in red and then right on top they have their logo in brown.

* Interior: The interior of the store is very simple; on the ground floor they have dark brown wooden tables and chairs with white table clothes along with silver cutlery and white plates in the center and beige couched seating with tables on the right side. As you enter the store they have a bar table setup serving non alcoholic drinks right at the back of the restaurant. They have used blue lights to enhance the setup. On the ground floor they also had spotlights on the walls. On the first floor they had the same setup the only difference was that they had more couched seating available and that the first floor allows smoking. The lighting on the first floor was also different as they had shade lamps recessed from the ceiling above each table. They placed one colorful chandelier in the center which could be viewed from both floors. They had simple glass frames attached to the wall, in which they keep placing pictures, paintings, quotes or just leaving them empty.

* Menu: The menu is of a beige/ brown texture background with stencil drawings of food items available in the menu. The text was written in a darker tone. It was easily viewable along with the description given. The prices range from 200-400RS for the starters and desserts, main courses vary from 500-800Rs. They have a selection of drinks which range from 90-200Rs.

Service: We visited the restaurant on a week day and a little after lunch time. The ground floor was fully occupied and the waiter took us to the first floor. The first floor seemed to be occupied too except for one table next to the kitchen. Once we were seated we asked the waiter if any other place was going to be empty soon, as the kitchen door kept on slamming and a lot of people were passing by which made us a little uncomfortable. He acknowledged us that a group of friends were paying the bill and were about to leave, so after cleaning up we would be moved there. After a 15 minutes wait we were moved to the other table which had an outside view, which was pleasant. The table cloth on one side had remains of some sauce which did end up on one of our member’s hand, which showed that they did not change the table cloth. After placing the order, it took about 20 minutes for the appetizer to come out, and another 15 minutes for the main courses to come out. It seemed that they had a few waiters around two on the first floor, which made it very difficult to call one of the waiters if we needed anything as they were busy taking orders. So every time we needed anything we would have to wait around 5 – 10 minutes for them to come. The waiters also seemed to be very confused as one would come and inform us that he was sending the other one to take our order and vice versa. The waiters we dressed in white shirts with the logo placed on the right top side with black pants and black shoes along with a marronish brown half apron around them. We did notice one of the waiter’s shirts being quite dirty with a stain, which made us uncomfortable about hygiene issues. The air-conditioning was working fine and the place looked reasonably clean. They had some music playing in the background which was a little loud for our choice, but that was just our opinion.

* Food quality: As the appetizer platter was placed on our table, to be honest we did feel that it was a little expensive compared to the quantity given. The other issues that we had was that the fried calamari was over cooked leaving it hard in texture rather than crispy. The same issue was with the French fries of the chilli fries, they seemed to be very oily and extra fried leaving them hard. When we questioned them about the issue they said that this is the way it has to be served, which did leave us disappointed. The main course was tasty and had a lot of flavors, which made us ignore the fact that the quality of the appetizer was poor.

* Convenience: As mentioned above the restaurant is placed in the center of Sindhi Muslim which makes it very easy to visit. Usually it does get crowded and they are parking issues but this time we had no parking issues. We also did receive a 50% of on one of the main course meal as it was a lunch time offer. They did charge us around 300Rs of TAX SALES 1 and around 600Rs on 16% S.TAX, which did make us realize that we spent around 900 just on tax, which did feel expensive.

Nandos * Location: Nandos is located in main Clifton next to Pizza Hut. The restaurant contains three floors like seen in the image below. The third floor is out in the open, for those who enjoy sitting out. They have a name signage in red and green.

* Interior: The interior of the store is very simple yet modern. The ground floor has round wooden base tables with glass tops and wooden chairs. As you enter the store below the stairs they have a counter with the bill register. The kitchen is at the back with open front, so you can view all the grilling going on. They had standee banners with the discounts offered to some bank debit/credit card holders, also something special about their meals. They basically have used all wooden interior throughout the store. In the first and second floor they have a few wooden tables with chairs and a couple of couched seating in circular form, leaving the floor spacious. The only difference is that in the second floor you have a view of the outside through windows, whereas the first floor’s view is of the restaurant. The third floor is in the open air, they have placed the same glass top wooden tables like the ones on the ground floor. There is a beautiful view of the road with the cars and lights and can be very pleasant in winters. The ground floor has spot lights and wall lights. The rest of the floors use a subtle lighting by placing shaded lamps recessed from the ceiling. They had a few stencil drawings and illustrations of the food placed as frames. Also some quotes or information about their meals in an interesting manner placed on the walls.

* Menu: The menu is simple. They have a grey background, with a white base background with a little doodling. The text is written in maroon and black so that it is clearly visible. The menu does not contain any complicated dishes as their main focus is on their grilled chicken. The appetizers range from 200-800Rs and the main course range from 300-2200Rs this depends on the chicken deals they have and how many people are sharing the meal.

* Service: We visited the restaurant on a week day for dinner. It was not so crowded. As we entered the store the manager greeted us and asked us how many people were we and which floor would we like to have dinner at. We decided to settle on the first floor as it seemed very comfortable and quiet. Once we placed our order, the appetizers were out in about 10- 15 minutes. The main course was out 15 minutes after that, perfect timing as we were done with the appetizers and were ready to eat. So the food didn’t have to wait around and was warm. There were 2 other groups of people on the same floor and there were two waiters. The waiters were properly dressed in a black t-shirts with the nandos signage at the back, black pants long with black shoes and a green half apron. The waiters asked us twice if we needed anything and were attentive. It was good to know that they cared about us and that if we needed anything so that we would have to wait around for them to come. The place looked very clean, so did the table cloth and the cutlery. The air conditioning was working well, especially when you walk in from the heat outside. They had soft music playing which did not distract us while we were talking.

* Food Quality: The food was excellent. The peri bites were fried to perfection and tasted so fresh. The chicken wings were tender and the spice level was hot, just the way we wanted. The main course chicken with spicy rice was divine. The chicken was so moist and tender that it fell of the bone. The crispiness and the bbq taste from the grilling were great. The rice was also flavorsome which added to the taste and not to forget the special variety of nandos peri peri sauce, without which the meal was incomplete

* Convenience: The fact that they have their own parking space makes it very easy and reduces all the hassle. There is only one more restaurant next to it, leaving the place very peaceful and not over crowded. The view is great especially if you plan to eat out on a winter night. They did charge us around 300Rs of TAX SALES 1 and around 600Rs on 16% S.TAX but after leaving the restaurant we felt the money was well spent.

* Comparison:

| Roasters | Nandos | Location | 9/10 | 8/10 | Signage | 8/10 | 9/10 | Interior | 8/10 | 9/10 | Exterior | 6/10 | 8/10 | Price Range against Quantity | 6/10 | 8/10 | Quality | 6/10 | 10/10 | Service | 5/10 | 8/10 | Convenience | 8/10 | 8/10 | Overall Experience | 7/10 | 9/10 |

* In conclusion both the restaurants are great depends on your choice, if you want to go for more variety or if you are a chicken lover. The service always depends on the day and time you go and on the people who are there to serve you, so even though our trip to Roasters didn’t go as expected we would still go as we did enjoy the main course. And as far as for Nandos, that will be the number one restaurant on the list.