Lavinia's Relaxed Dining Closed

Seaplane Pilot · 10-16-2017, 07:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dpg

Bring back the Coe House (and their wonderful "no kids" policy)! It was fantastic.

A no kids policy anywhere in New Hampshire is a joke. Do these places think they're on Rodeo Drive??

Don't know or care where they "think they were". I, and many other people knew they were in Center Harbor, NH. The place was always busy, and I purposely went there because of the "no-kids" (read: screaming brat) policy. It was like Camelot!

thinkxingu · 10-16-2017, 08:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Seaplane Pilot

Don't know or care where they "think they were". I, and many other people knew they were in Center Harbor, NH. The place was always busy, and I purposely went there because of the "no-kids" (read: screaming brat) policy. It was like Camelot!

Umm...why'd they go out of business if they "were always busy"? I'm confident there's no way a restaurant in the lakes region would survive on adult-only patrons. It's hard enough to make it WITH families.

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Seaplane Pilot · 10-16-2017, 09:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by thinkxingu

Umm...why'd they go out of business if they "were always busy"? I'm confident there's no way a restaurant in the lakes region would survive on adult-only patrons. It's hard enough to make it WITH families.

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I don't know the answer to your question. People go out of business for many reasons. There are dozens of restaurants in the Lakes Region, only one of which (to my knowledge) had a "no kids" policy. Is that really too much to ask? And yes, they were ALWAYS busy.

SAMIAM · 10-16-2017, 09:18 AM

FYI Coe House didn't go out of business. Owners sold the business and leased the building

Seaplane Pilot · 10-16-2017, 09:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SAMIAM

FYI Coe House didn't go out of business. Owners sold the business and leased the building

Thank you for clarifying.

jbolty · 10-16-2017, 10:33 AM

Just because a place is packed does not mean it's making a profit.

tis · 10-16-2017, 01:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Seaplane Pilot

Don't know or care where they "think they were". I, and many other people knew they were in Center Harbor, NH. The place was always busy, and I purposely went there because of the "no-kids" (read: screaming brat) policy. It was like Camelot!

LOL, SP! Don't ask me why but your reply struck me funny. You know know where they think they were?? LOL LOL LOL Must not take much, huh??

tis · 10-16-2017, 01:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Seaplane Pilot

Don't know or care where they "think they were". I, and many other people knew they were in Center Harbor, NH. The place was always busy, and I purposely went there because of the "no-kids" (read: screaming brat) policy. It was like Camelot!

LOL, SP! Don't ask me why but your reply struck me funny. You don't know or care where they "think they were"?? LOL LOL LOL Must not take much, huh??

phoenix · 10-16-2017, 08:10 PM

I am always unhappy when i good local restaurant goes out of business. A couple of years ago a full time resident said it was tough for anyone to survive the winter unless they either had something unique like Woodshed, Lemon Grass or Kitchen ( very reasonable prices ) or a good bar scene like the Bob or Buckeys . lavinias to me didn't have either. Just a thought

jetskier · 10-16-2017, 08:56 PM

My observation is that there are approximately four types of segmentation in the restaurant market at the lake:

Value Market
High End Market
Bar
Social

Restaurants such as Lemon Grass and Local Eatery fit into the high end market and their survival depends upon maintaining a high quality product and catering to generally a smaller market segment in the lakes region.

Restaurants such as T-Bones and Patricks are more value oriented and their survival depends upon good portion/quality relative to competitive pricing and developing volume (lower margins).

The bar segment is restaurants such as 405, Looney Bin and Patricks who rely heavily on the drinking crowd.

Some restaurants become social hangouts such as the Crazy Gringo.

To survive in the lakes region, restaurants have to establish themselves in at least one of these categories and develop an off season clientele. I don't think that Lavinia's positioned itself well in any one category. It seemed to want to cater to both the high end crowd and the bar crowd. Our experience is that the food was quite variable which probably hurt it in its high end positioning.

The Holy Grail is another good example of restaurant failure. The environment was not really great for social interaction and it did not appear to attract the bar crowd. The food was value based but the quality was lacking.

Just my observations.

Jetskier

Newbiesaukee · 10-16-2017, 10:09 PM

Don’t really disagree with Jetskier’s analysis. The Corner House does pretty well with the upstairs bar and downstairs dining rooms.

As long as I’m here, I can’t find anything on Lavinias FaceBook page about closing; perhaps there are multiple groups I can’t find. Just wondrin’

VitaBene · 10-17-2017, 11:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by phoenix

I am always unhappy when i good local restaurant goes out of business. A couple of years ago a full time resident said it was tough for anyone to survive the winter unless they either had something unique like Woodshed, Lemon Grass or Kitchen ( very reasonable prices ) or a good bar scene like the Bob or Buckeys . lavinias to me didn't have either. Just a thought

Me too! In this case, Lavinias was a restaurant with good food and service when seated at the bar, after that it dropped off quickly... Stopped in during bike week this year for a good burger. It was not busy, no one at the hostess station, so we walked into the bar area and sat down at the high top closest to the bar. Manager came over and lectured us about coming into busy season, you need reservations, blah, blah (very condescending)... we left and went to the Woodshed instead. I only ate at Lavinias 4 or 5 times a year, but one of the people in our party was there often. Neither of us went back. I knew many regulars that felt that things had changed since the father was not involved.

The restaurant business is tough at best, customer service is paramount to success!

LongShort · 10-21-2017, 09:23 AM

My family and I (including my 13 and 11 year old children) have been going to Lavinia's 4 or 5 times a year over the past 3 years and have always had a great meal and were treated well. I think part of their problem was the layout of the restaurant as it was somewhat awkward to eat in the dining room areas that were really just small rooms of the old house. You could hear every word people were saying and they could only fit so many tables into the rooms. I will really miss the scallop appetizer that we all would fight over every time we visited. Should have just ordered two. Good luck to the owners. I hope they find a way to try again.

newbie · 11-05-2017, 11:13 AM

Does anyone know who owns the building? Plans?

Descant · 11-06-2017, 12:05 AM

Most municipalities in NH list tax assessment data (ownership) on the town website. Or you can just google and get http://www.newhampshire.com/apps/pbc...WS02/140529255

10-16-2017, 08:10 PM	#9
phoenix Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: phoenix and moultonboro Posts: 1,561 Thanks: 61 Thanked 276 Times in 194 Posts	I am always unhappy when i good local restaurant goes out of business. A couple of years ago a full time resident said it was tough for anyone to survive the winter unless they either had something unique like Woodshed, Lemon Grass or Kitchen ( very reasonable prices ) or a good bar scene like the Bob or Buckeys . lavinias to me didn't have either. Just a thought __________________ it's tough to make predictions specially about the future

10-16-2017, 08:56 PM	#10
jetskier Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: North Reading, MA and South Down Shores Posts: 854 Thanks: 57 Thanked 183 Times in 114 Posts	Market Segmentation My observation is that there are approximately four types of segmentation in the restaurant market at the lake: Value Market High End Market Bar Social Restaurants such as Lemon Grass and Local Eatery fit into the high end market and their survival depends upon maintaining a high quality product and catering to generally a smaller market segment in the lakes region. Restaurants such as T-Bones and Patricks are more value oriented and their survival depends upon good portion/quality relative to competitive pricing and developing volume (lower margins). The bar segment is restaurants such as 405, Looney Bin and Patricks who rely heavily on the drinking crowd. Some restaurants become social hangouts such as the Crazy Gringo. To survive in the lakes region, restaurants have to establish themselves in at least one of these categories and develop an off season clientele. I don't think that Lavinia's positioned itself well in any one category. It seemed to want to cater to both the high end crowd and the bar crowd. Our experience is that the food was quite variable which probably hurt it in its high end positioning. The Holy Grail is another good example of restaurant failure. The environment was not really great for social interaction and it did not appear to attract the bar crowd. The food was value based but the quality was lacking. Just my observations. Jetskier

10-16-2017, 10:09 PM	#11
Newbiesaukee Senior Member Join Date: May 2004 Location: Coral Gables, winter; Long Island, summer Posts: 1,359 Thanks: 957 Thanked 573 Times in 298 Posts	Don’t really disagree with Jetskier’s analysis. The Corner House does pretty well with the upstairs bar and downstairs dining rooms. As long as I’m here, I can’t find anything on Lavinias FaceBook page about closing; perhaps there are multiple groups I can’t find. Just wondrin’ __________________ "You're only young once, but you can be immature forever."

10-21-2017, 09:23 AM	#13
LongShort Member Join Date: Mar 2014 Location: Canton, MA/Meredith, NH Posts: 23 Thanks: 50 Thanked 11 Times in 4 Posts	Very sad to see them close My family and I (including my 13 and 11 year old children) have been going to Lavinia's 4 or 5 times a year over the past 3 years and have always had a great meal and were treated well. I think part of their problem was the layout of the restaurant as it was somewhat awkward to eat in the dining room areas that were really just small rooms of the old house. You could hear every word people were saying and they could only fit so many tables into the rooms. I will really miss the scallop appetizer that we all would fight over every time we visited. Should have just ordered two. Good luck to the owners. I hope they find a way to try again.

11-05-2017, 11:13 AM	#14
newbie Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Just North of Boston Posts: 111 Thanks: 61 Thanked 5 Times in 4 Posts	Lavina’s Building Ownership Does anyone know who owns the building? Plans?

10-16-2017, 09:18 AM	#4
SAMIAM Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Moultonborough Posts: 2,915 Thanks: 338 Thanked 1,692 Times in 594 Posts	FYI Coe House didn't go out of business. Owners sold the business and leased the building

10-16-2017, 10:33 AM	#6
jbolty Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2015 Posts: 669 Thanks: 322 Thanked 257 Times in 153 Posts	Just because a place is packed does not mean it's making a profit.

11-06-2017, 12:05 AM	#15
Descant Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Merrimack and Welch Island Posts: 4,425 Thanks: 1,369 Thanked 1,642 Times in 1,071 Posts	Town websites Most municipalities in NH list tax assessment data (ownership) on the town website. Or you can just google and get http://www.newhampshire.com/apps/pbc...WS02/140529255 Last edited by Descant; 11-06-2017 at 12:06 AM. Reason: misspelling date vs data