BILLINGS - The restaurant business is always challenging.
In January, Bin 119 and Wild Ginger have closed in downtown Billings and Blaze Pizza closed on the Rimrock Mall property.
According to Savory Hospitality, 60 percent of restaurants fail in the first year and 80 percent fail by the fifth year.
By All Means (BAM) closed down Uberbrew in downtown Billings late last year and now has it brewery and restaurant at the west end.
MadHouse on Grand Avenue also had to make some changes to stay profitable.
The MadHouse Gastropub changed to the MadHouse Bar and Grill.
“If you don't have ownership that has capital to spend, it's very hard to make it through a couple of years,” said Nate Southwick, chef and general manager at MadHouse. “That's the general basic answer. You're going to hear that across the board."
MadHouse opened in May of 2023. In June of 2024, it closed for six weeks, and Southwick helped it reopen in August of last year.
“They were hoping for 10 or 11 percent profit on it,” Southwick said. “You're hoping for 10 or 11 percent so that means if you have a 4 percent error on your food cost and maybe a five percent error on your beverage for the week, there goes everything.”
Southwick has worked as a chef in San Francisco, Las Vegas, and Colorado Springs, and he knows what it takes to be successful in the restaurant business.
“Perseverance and consistent quality,” Southwick said. “Those are the two things you need and then all the rest can be figured out in the wash.”
By All Means executive chef Damien Beartusk worked on a special fish and chips sauce to go with the introduction of a new beer.
“It's actually the funnest part of my job,” Beartusk said.
“These are people that are trying to create value and bring people together,” Chandler Griffin, BAM president and C.E.O., said about chefs.
Griffin teamed up Mark Hastings, now the BAM director of brewing, at UberBrew, and they had to close that downtown restaurant.
“The biggest disruption we have is customer destabilization,” Griffin said. “Like people working from home changed the entire lunch model. 30 to 40 percent of the restaurant business was probably in your lunch that's potentially gone.”
Griffin says that all started with COVID, which cut into profits.
"Margins are always tough in every business," Griffin said. "If you catch 10 percent of your total revenue, that means you're giving away 90 percent. You're paying out 90 percent every month, so it's always hard to manage."
According to the Downtown Billings Association (DBA), the number of people downtown at noon has decreased since 2019.
The DBA also says 10 businesses closed downtown in 2024, but 21 opened, including restaurants.
“There isn't one reason why we're seeing some restaurant closures,” said Brad Griffin of the Montana Restaurant Association. “I would just say, you know, the restaurant business is a tough business.”
“I don't see anything different about today than I did 30 years ago,” Southwick said.
“I praise our young entrepreneurs for getting into it,” Chandler Griffin said. “Some of the bravest people I've ever met in my life.”
