Breakfast at the Paramount case study focuses on the unique seating policy of the restaurant. It also discusses the increase in the number of carryout orders which may be a threat to their dine-in operations and the overall revenue of the business.
​Ryan W. Buell
Harvard Business Review (617011-PDF-ENG)
August 30, 2016
Case questions answered:
- Based on your reading of the Breakfast at the Paramount case, what factors contribute to and detract from dine-in customers’ service experiences waiting in line at the Paramount? How might Michael Conlon redesign the process to improve the experience?
- Analyze the Paramount’s seating policy. How does the seating policy contribute to the restaurant’s capacity to serve customers? Why does it work?
- What advice do you have for Michael Conlon about how to respond to the increase in carryout orders at the Paramount?
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Case answers for Breakfast at the Paramount
This case solution includes an Excel file with calculations.
Introduction – Breakfast at the Paramount
The Paramount is a diner restaurant that consists of 44 seats dining capacity for the customers who arrived in the restaurant whether for breakfast or dinner. The Paramount was owned by Michael Conlon since 1997 in the neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts. The restaurant was known for its fine dining of breakfast which is popular in Massachusetts and its neighborhood Boston. Furthermore, the popularity and the fine taste of its serving compels the visitors of the restaurants or their customers to visit repeatedly often to enjoy the breakfast at the Paramount. Hence, the wide popularity of the Paramount restaurant led the customers to wait in long lines for their turn to order and pick up their food from the counter so that they can have their scrumptious breakfast served by Paramount restaurant.
There is also a policy of the restaurant that customers are not allowed to occupy the table before ordering and paying cash. This is to make sure that the customers who just received their order after payment have tables available for them to be seated and to enjoy their breakfast. Due to the wider acceptance of the business, Michael Conlon was thinking to add the carryout activities along with serving the dining customers to generate and increase the revenue stream of the company. Hence, various options are considered by Michal Conlon in order to decide whether he should perform carrying out orders or serve only dining customers.
Method of Analysis
The Paramount Restaurant will be analyzed by applying methods of determining arrival rate, service rate, and average number of customers that the company is serving. Furthermore, the services provided by the restaurant will also be analyzed in detail, and the future services that the company is focusing to expand or the company has started will also be determined.
Moreover, the impact of adopting carryout orders activities will also be determined and how it will affect the visiting customers at the restaurants and increase the time of serving the visiting customers. Hence, the detailed analysis for the Paramount Restaurant is discussed below.
Ease for Dining Customers
Michael Conlon can create ease for Paramount dining customers by redesigning the process which is creating a disturbance for the customers who are waiting in line to order and collect their breakfast and beverages after the payment. Hence, all this process becomes complicated because the line is designed to turn 180 degrees and the limited space in the restaurant compels the customer to shatter after the basket of dishes is delivered from the kitchen to the washing area.
Therefore, to remove the double line and create a single line of customers, Michael Conlon should place the order counter first when the customers entered in the restaurant and after that, the pickup for food, cash counter, and beverage counter should be placed, which will eliminate the double lining and 180 degrees of turn in line to first order and then pick up the breakfast.
Response Required for Increase in Carryout Orders
To cope up with the increase in carryout order and serving the dining customers who are waiting in long lines, Michael Conlon should change its strategy in making the customers wait in a long line for the preparation of carryout orders which are prepared when the order is received. Hence, Michael Conlon should treat the carryout order the same as the new customer added in line so that justice can be done for both the customers i.e. customers who are arriving at the restaurant and the customers who are placing a carryout order.
The other option available to cope up with the increase in carryout order is to increase the price of carrying out the order by placing special charges of serving them early before the customers waiting in line. Hence, this might reduce the number of carrying out the order but the ease of delivering on time could affect the revenue stream of the Paramount Restaurant positively.
Factors of Carryout Orders
The factors which will be tempted to look for an increase in the carryout orders will be the increase in the revenue stream of the restaurant by serving the carryout orders. Furthermore, the restaurant only possesses 44 dining tables to serve the customers who visit the restaurants and long lines of customers compel the restaurant to serve a limited number of customers. The carryout orders will enable the restaurants to serve the unlimited number of customers through delivering at their doorstep without letting the customer visit the restaurant. Hence, the extra revenue-generating stream through carryout orders is the factor that could tempt the thought of increasing the carryout orders.
The factors which that would make to decrease the carryout orders consist of the increase in waiting time for the customers in line visiting the order which would increase the average turnover time of serving the customer visiting the restaurant and will also result in longer waiting lines which will compel many customers to balk and renege.
Seating Policy of Paramount
The seating policy of Paramount is one of its kind in which the customers are instructed to sit only when the order is placed by them and the payment is being made by them at the pickup and beverage counter in the restaurant. This policy of the Paramount assists in increasing the turnover rate of the visitors who are served with breakfast in the restaurant because when the customer picked up their order they intend to look for an idle table so that they can be seated and enjoy their breakfast. Hence, this policy…
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