Some restaurants turn over five or six times a day

  "May Day" Golden Week time-honored brands have become "traffic responsibility"

  ■ Reporter Li Zichen of this newspaper

  During the May Day holiday, the catering market in Beijing was booming, and time-honored restaurants also ushered in a wave of consumption boom. The reporter learned from Beijing Huatian Group that the revenue of Huatian’s time-honored brand “May Day” holiday exceeded the same period last year. Among them, Tongchunyuan, the first of the “Eight Springs” and the famous Jiangsu cuisine store, increased by nearly 30% year-on-year, and Huatian Eryouju Meatball and Qingfeng Baozishop’s revenue increased by more than 10% year-on-year. It is hard to find a private room in major old-fashioned restaurants. Some restaurants have a daily turnover rate of 5 to 6 times, and nearly 100 tables are waiting for the meals during peak meals.

  At around 11 a.m. on May 1, the Tongchunyuan, the first of the "Eight Great Springs", was already crowded with people in the store of Tongchunyuan, the famous Jiangsu cuisine store, and many customers took their numbers and queued up in the lobby to wait. According to staff, during this year's May Day holiday, the store's customer flow was full, and the market turnover rate in the afternoon could reach 3 to 4 times. Sales in the first three days of the holiday increased by nearly 30% compared with the same period last year.

  "At ordinary time, customers are basically all seated around 12:30. These days, dozens of customers are waiting for seats at 1:00 p.m. every afternoon." The reporter noticed that there are a lot more mandarin fish in Tongchunyuan fish tank than usual. The staff told reporters that squirrel mandarin fish is a signature dish in the store, and more than 100 are sold every day during the May Day holiday.

  Also popular are the "Lucai Master" Tongheju. At Tongheju Yuetan Store located in Sanlihe, the private rooms in the afternoon and evening cities are full. There are dozens of customers waiting for seats every day in the lobby. During peak hours, nearly 100 customers waiting for seats. Signature dishes such as Sannon-stick, crumbs, scallions, sea cucumbers, etc. are almost a must-order on the table.

  During the May Day holiday, foreign tourists were also the "main force" of catering consumption, especially the number of tourists in stores near scenic spots increased significantly. The number of tourists in scenic spots such as Tongheju Shichahai Store, Gulou Makai Restaurant, and Qingfeng Baozipu Sanzuqiao Store increased significantly.

  Gulou Makai Restaurant is known as the "pearl of food on the central axis". It has been popular since the successful application for World Heritage on the Central axis of Beijing. It is a famous "king of the rank" of Gulou Scenic Area. According to restaurant manager Zhang Xuexiao, during the May Day holiday, customers wait until 2:30 pm every day. Specialty delicacies such as Mao's braised pork, spicy and sour beans, and Dong'an chicken are very popular. The mutton skewers at the takeaway stalls are sold thousands of skewers every day, and "one person in hand has a skewer of mutton skewers" has become a scene in the Gulou.

  Not only are the time-honored brands under Huatian, but also the time-honored stores with intangible cultural heritage experience projects such as Hongbinlou, Barbecue Wan, Barbecue Ji, Camelloju, Liuquanju, Emei Restaurant, Quyuan Restaurant, etc., which have bookings are almost 2 to 3 times that of usual, ushering in the peak of holiday passenger flow.

  "We will record and arrange every national-level intangible cultural heritage and self-grilling appointment." Lu Jianwei, manager of barbecue, told reporters, "A reasonable allocation of time periods allows customers to experience it easily and try to avoid waiting in line."

  At the same time, in order to prosper holiday consumption and enrich consumer experience, many time-honored restaurants are also continuing to launch new products. For example, the barbecue season launched the old Beijing Chinese afternoon tea refreshment project, which is mainly designed around the intangible cultural heritage of the barbecue season. The plum blossom crisps in "every time you encounter snow, you will warm up the room, roasted meat", the duck crisps in the canal culture of Shichahai Wharf, etc., as well as the pea yellow, Aiwowo and other snacks combined with the old Beijing snack culture, have attracted many consumers to come and "check in".

  During the May Day holiday, Quanjudeqian Store was also renovated again. Its "Wang Tianer" themed terrace restaurant built on the second-floor open-air platform draws inspiration from the leisurely lifestyle of old Beijingers "Wang Tianer Bathing in the Sun". Here, diners can enjoy classic roast duck and creative Beijing dishes while looking at the street view, watching the flying figures of pigeons, and experiencing immersive urban slow life.

  According to reports, this is also another masterpiece of Quanjude after the "Pin·Fairy" light and shadow theme restaurant and the "Zhongxun Food Ceremony" experience store. It not only enriches the brand's cultural expression, but also extends the food experience to an outdoor space with a more lifelike atmosphere. The restaurant also sets up multiple creative check-in points, and the photo back panel, interesting decoration and urban scenery intertwines into a unique picture, creating a strong "old Beijing + trendy life" atmosphere.

  It is reported that the "new model store" of Huatian's time-honored brand has also become a major boost to the revenue growth during the May Day holiday. After checking in to the Qingfeng bun shop that I have been thinking about for a long time, Xiao Li from Wuxi, Jiangsu said: "This place is different from the time-honored brands I think. The decoration is simple and elegant, and the dishes are rich in variety. The most important thing is that they are all fried and full of steamed pots."

  Liu Xiaodong, the inheritor of Qingfeng Baozi Shop's skills, told reporters that many foreign tourists who come to check in with their names will sigh that time-honored brands are not old. "In order to allow consumers to eat more abundant dishes, Qingfeng's new model store has added a variety of stir-fry, all of which are fried on order and zero pre-made, which also helps our revenue growth by more than 10% year-on-year during the May Day period."

[Editor in charge: Feng Kong]