Fake Out

We live in a world of sleight of hands. We watch TV but pay for it in the stores when we buy advertised merchandise; and the TV stations show programmes but sell advertisements. You go to buy electronics and they really really want to sell you the extended service plan. Nothing is more so than restaurants. Restaurants try to make fantastic food, dazzling atmosphere, perfect service, promises of sex, and even impossible fantasies. We talk about these things, read about them, and most importantly patronize them. The strange thing though is that restaurants do not really make much money from these things, a few percents of the bill at best. It is like television, all these things are just like shows that get you into the door. What they really want you buy and can make real money on are drinks—the one thing they sell that has nothing to do with them. Someone else pressed, brewed, infused and distilled all the drinks and bottled them somewhere else. It really does not matter where a bottle of wine is served: how good or bad it is has little to nothing to do with the restaurant. The profit margins of drinks are many times of their famous food. So, if you want you favourite restaurant to last, do not go eat, just order drinks.