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Tao Asian Bistro is top grossing restaurant in US

Discussion in 'Restaurants & Buffets' started by chitownjohn, Oct 28, 2014.

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  1. chitownjohn

    chitownjohn High-Roller

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    Tao is the top grossing independent restaurant in the US with a whopping 64M in sales.:nworthy: My goodness with that kind of revenue it's no wonder why they don't care about the gamblers. Here's the link to the article ...

    http://www.latimes.com/food/dailydish/la-dd-vegas-tao-is-the-topgrossing-restaurant-20141017-story.html

    Which of these top grossing LV restaurants have you dined at and which ones are on your hit list? Sadly for me I've only dined at Mon Ami Gabi and Harley-Davidson Cafe. Hopefully I'll add to that on my next trip.

    Overall Vegas has 20 in the top 100
    (rank / name / total gross / average tab)
    01 Tao Asian Bistro $64,600,000 $75.00*
    05 Lavo Italian Restaurant $24,000,000 $65.00*
    12 Joe’s Seafood, Prime Steak & Stone Crab $20,100,000* $68.00*
    13 Carnevino $19,000,000* $170.00*
    14 SW Steakhouse $18,600,000 $101.00*
    17 Prime Steakhouse $17,300,000* $140.00*
    20 Mon Ami Gabi $17,000,000* $65.00*
    27 Top of the World $15,900,000* $90.00*
    53 Delmonico Steakhouse $13,300,000* $85.00*
    56 N9NE Steakhouse $13,200,000* $80.00*
    66 Craftsteak $12,600,000* $100.00*
    69 Jean-Georges Steakhouse $12,100,001* $110.00*
    74 Mesa Grill $11,800,000* $65.00*
    76 Fix $11,680,000* $75.00*
    78 Bartolotta Ristorante Di Mare $11,600,001* $78.00*
    79 StripSteak $11,600,000* $105.00*
    83 Harley-Davidson Cafe $11,200,000* $32.00*
    87 Eiffel Tower Restaurant $11,000,000* $80.00*
    88 Zeffirino $10,900,001* $68.00*
    89 Aureole $10,900,000* $93.00
     
  2. lotso-bear

    lotso-bear VIP Whale

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    I wonder if TAO is factoring revenue from their nightclub.
     
  3. PayTriple

    PayTriple VIP Whale

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    Has to be.
     
  4. chitownjohn

    chitownjohn High-Roller

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    That has to be it, otherwise I can't see how they blow the competition away. Anyways 20 in the top 100 is second only to NY, that's impressive.
     
  5. vegasqc

    vegasqc VIP Whale

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    For me this is the biggest surprise of the list wow
     
  6. lotso-bear

    lotso-bear VIP Whale

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    Not surprised that Vegas is #2. Tons of restaurants that are worth going to. Sadly, I'd rather go to Vegas for food than NYC. Every restaurant that's worth going to (for the most part) is on one street. :p
     
  7. PayTriple

    PayTriple VIP Whale

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    I agree. In addition, my hosts with get me prime reservations times even if the restaurant is booked.
    Can't do that in NYC.
     
  8. broncofn

    broncofn VIP Whale

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    Holy cow but I do believe it. I have a few deli's and cafe's in the DC area and i avg around 2500-4000 in sales a day in each location which is normal. Opening another location now (mid November) and my temporary location is doing around 5k per day but my goal is to open a bar/restaurant/ lounge soon.

    Im sure their overhead is outreagous as well as everything else. None of those places are hotel owned and they have a lease etc on top of everything else. But those numbers are unreal and I could only wish for that kind of business.

    My places are a M-F operation besides the newest venture which is 7 days a week.
     
    Last edited: Oct 28, 2014
  9. broncofn

    broncofn VIP Whale

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    100% sure they are even though it says restaurant. But I would also say the same about lavo. The rest are only restaurants without a nightclub attached to it.
     
  10. Aces and Eights

    Aces and Eights VIP Whale

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    Tao has a rather large dining area having tables on two floors. They are completely packed everytime I've gone there, and they stay open later than most restaurants. Since the restaurant is always packed, so too is the bar area. And they have a large lounge area for people to order drinks. Again this is also packed.
     
  11. gpenguins67

    gpenguins67 High-Roller

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    If they aren't including the nightclub, at the very least they must be including Tao Beach day club.... it seems like it from the quote in the article about the facility.

    "According to the Tao website: “The multi-faceted and multi-story 'Asian City' houses a restaurant, banquet facilities, lounge, nightclub and beach in 60,000 square-feet. Corporate Executive Chef Ralph Scamardella showcases a menu incorporating culinary components from China, Japan and Thailand, along with a full sushi bar and perfectly paired cocktails to complement the authentic Asian cuisine.”"
     
  12. broncofn

    broncofn VIP Whale

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    Im sure they are including the club, etc and Hakkasan will be #1 next year.
     
  13. flailing

    flailing Tourist

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    My Carnevino check was about $300 and that was without wine. My guess is Robuchon has the highest average check in Las Vegas but maybe not enough seats to be on the list (or maybe they just didn't report sales to whomever put this together).
     
  14. dankyone

    dankyone VIP Whale

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    Yes, all the check averages look low to me--maybe people who just stop by the bar for one drink are factored in. They very high end places with the highest average checks won't be on the list because they just don't have as many diners per night.
     
  15. 44inarow

    44inarow VIP Whale

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    I actually don't think it is. It's a gigantic restaurant with high prices and fast turnover; before it closed, Tavern on the Green was in second place pulling in about $40 million, and that was about as far from a nightclub as you could possibly get. The numbers also don't add up otherwise, because Tao's nightclub operations were reported at $50-55 million last year and Lavo's at $25-30 million, which can't be matched up to the restaurant revenues listed above.

    That's just the LA Times providing color (and doing so pretty lazily, just pulling quotes from the Tao website). According to the Restaurant Business report that's linked (http://www.restaurantbusinessonline.com/boosting-sales/top-100-independents), Tao did 790k covers with an estimated average check of $75; that gets you to $59 million right there, and the average check numbers aren't exact.
     
  16. lotso-bear

    lotso-bear VIP Whale

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    Wow! Sounds too good to be true... Their waiters and waitresses must be happy with the fast turnovers and constant flow of customers.
     
  17. 44inarow

    44inarow VIP Whale

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    Exactly, plus those very high end places presumably have much lower overhead and go after a very different market, so even though their revenues are lower, I have a feeling they're still making plenty of money. If you compare it to a place like Picasso, for example, Tao has seating for 500 versus Picasso's ~120, and unless you're doing a buyout Picasso staggers their seating so the restaurant often isn't much more than half capacity or so. And your Picassos and Joel Robuchons are presumably making much, much more money on things like high-end wines, which tend to have pretty substantial markups.
     
    Last edited: Oct 30, 2014
  18. flailing

    flailing Tourist

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    2000 checks a night? Sounds like a lot but they seat 500 and are open from 5 p.m. till 12 a.m. (1 a.m. on Fri and Sat) so they are ringing up almost 300 checks an hour. As $75 would be low for a dining, they are racking up a lot drink checks but still are doing probably 125 to 150 in food an hour depending on the mix of tables. Some quick tabulation in my head says that these numbers are very plausible. I stay at the V/P but have never been in Tao so not sure if they are this packed everyday of the week.
     
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