Could We Have Reached the Saturation Point in Austin Fine Dining?

I can’t remember a time in the past 12 years when I’ve heard so many fine dining owners complain about a slow summer that didn’t immediately turn around when schools got back in session.

Could it be that we’ve reached Austin’s limit to accommodate more fine dining places? The first thing that restaurateurs have to realize is that the dining out pie chart in Austin for fine dining is only made up of perhaps 20% of the total dining population. Cut that to 10% during the summer months.

Given that Austin ostensibly has one of the more robust economies in the U.S., and it gets a bit scarier. But for even for many upwardly middle-class and wealthy Austinites, they’d just as soon settle for BBQ, Tex Mex or Burgers at P.Terry’s or Hopdoddy. Income does always correlate to upscale dining choices, especially in a laid back spot like the River City.

Future restaurant entrepreneurs should consider this when they begin the next venture. Because I do believe we’ve reached a saturation level of sorts in the high end scene. That being said, I withdraw my prediction that Parind Vora’s jacket only policy at Restaurant Jezebel would fail. After watching what this guy does in his tiny eight-table restaurant to please his customers, if he wants them to wear a jacket, so be it.