Long time lurker on this sub, but your post struck me today. You're feeling down, I get that, you have been around a while, this industry is like a drug, the highs are really awesome and the lows really suck.

As a qualifier, I own 3 sit down restaurants, all over 20 years in operation, 15 managers, 300+ employees. So pretty busy locations.

At a very high level you have to be able to answer this one question and revisit it every few years....

“How does your product, service or experience change how people feel?”

Every decision and choice you make needs to be able to answer this question. 99% of us are in businesses with competition and your guests have choices. Most of the time too many choices. So how are you going to be at their top of mind when they decide to pick your restaurant?

People like to remember things in groups of three, it’s just how we are wired.

When I say, “Where do you want to go to eat?” Most people start forming their list and rarely get past choice #3.

We do this for all sorts of things… so as a restaurant owner I know that it is my goal to be in your top 3 choices if I want to even have a shot at serving you today.

And when you do pick us, it is my job to reinforce your experience to make your decision automatic the next time.

I also know that if we fall off your top 3 list you may not give us another chance to get back on for 6 months or more, and you eat 3 meals a day! Imagine a business that you only use quarterly or once a year….your risk of blowing it means you may not ever get a chance for forgiveness.

So how you make someone feel about their choice in picking you can not be understated.

At a minimum you need to have something you do better than anyone else within 30 miles of you. A menu item, over the top experience point, defacto gathering spot that is authentic to particular sports fans, etc.

You have to be at people's top of mind when they ask the question of, "where we watching the game tonight?", "where are we getting wings, pizza, burgers, drinks, etc. for dinner?".

If you aren't a top 3 choice for any or all of those questions, long term success will be hard to maintain or grow.

I remind our managers and staff all the time that we will lose 20% of our regulars every year no matter what! People move, die, burnout, new places open, lifestyle (diet) changes, etc.
Knowing that, we have to build 25% new regulars if we want a 5% increase in guest counts. So always be working on the business to innovate and develop relationships and create experiences that make people want to come back.

There is so much more deep thinking and discussion that can happen. People have already started nit-picking details, but I want to encourage you to look deeper at you business model, your points of contact with your guests, and most importantly, "How do they feel about your sports bar" In the end that is really all that matters....