Marketing is more a part of a successful real estate venture than most people, ranging from potential customers to multi-million dollar investors, seem to realize. A lot of commercial real estate space has been occupied by restaurants, with many offering a unique or special dining experience geared toward making their target audience choose them.
As the below linked article reminds us, the past five years (since the pandemic) have significantly impacted the restaurant business, thanks mostly to technology and various forms of delivery or take-out. When customers think of their favorite restaurants, they now consider which option is the best for the moment out of three available. They can order through an app or their phones from anywhere, request a delivery service to bring their meal(s) to their home or current location, or dine in.
It was not that long ago that many restaurants did not offer or encourage take-out, let alone participate with a delivery service. When not dining at the location, customers may lose the atmosphere experience, get food which is not as hot or fresh as the restaurant would like, and pay even more when using a delivery service. However, restaurants not making take-out and/or delivery a part of their offerings likely suffer from lost business because their competitors offer it.
What does this have to do with real estate?
Some restaurants remain in place as a destination. It may be an experience they offer, being located within a shopping or entertainment district as part of the experience, as in "dinner and a show". However, restaurants without a destination location or unique attraction may be able to consider other options for best serving their customer base and remain profitable. Real estate is all about "location location location".
Let's face it. For some restaurants, especially those with a limited or specialty menu, it just might make more sense to go with food trucks or reducing their space because of the increased percentage of their business going to take-out. I'm reminded of a restaurant which had been a big part of a suburban Chicago downtown business district for many years and how it recently closed. Although business was solid, the landlord demanded an upcoming rent increase, and the owner reportedly decided it was easier to close than to find and start another location.
My hunch is that other nearby businesses will also suffer from not having that restaurant after many years, while the landlord wound up with a prime location vacancy. Restaurant owners may have other options for reduced rent costs or dividing an owned property to increase income. Landlords may need to look at what else they can do to utilize their space for rent while being able to offer dining options for tenants and customers. It takes research to find out what is best, and to stay "first in" on the best opportunities.
Meanwhile, there is also the matter of making a beer garden or outdoor patio available to customers and groups every night of the year, and my team has the technology to do that.
https://www.theatlantic.com/culture/2025/10/food-delivery-america/684700/
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