“A table for five people and a stroller? It’s noted. Thank you.” At the O’Beach restaurant on the beaches of the Mourillon in Toulon, the reservations are not that numerous.
On this Wednesday at the end of July at lunchtime, only 66 covers were allocated, out of the 160 available.
“We have a half-tone start to the season, Loose the new co-director Étienne Maréchal, who has just resumed the establishment in early July. There is bound to be a little disappointment. “
In the past month, his establishment posted between 10 and 15% less attendance, compared to his forecast which was however “reasonable”.
As a result, its payroll has passed over 30% of the turnover of its restaurant, while it was rather tarnished on 28 or 29%.
“A good month of July, it normally makes it possible to compensate for more hollow periods of the year”adds the restaurateur.
For him, downward purchasing power is not necessarily the first of the reasons. The O’Beach boss, where the average ticket is around 45 euros per person, wants more to the weather that was “Handicapant”.
Between heat wave and mistral
“During the heat wave episode, customers did not want to go out too much for lunch, he says. And then, we had a sudden drop in temperatures, with a strong mistral, which resulted in the same result in the evening. We were almost a little cold. All this is not good for trade. “
This one does not want to look at the forecasts for the next few days. He prefers to cross his fingers. While counting on a good month of August and on a promising rear season.
In the meantime, he reassures himself as he can: “We get around our pin back to the game, because we know it’s worse elsewhere …”
“It’s very, very calm”confirms Émilie Biville, head of the Italian restaurant Il Parasol di Marco, right next to it.
This evokes a fall in the attendance of around 30%, compared to the figures of July 2024. “However, we kept the same card, the same prices, the same decor …”she says.
Since the start of the school holidays, his restaurant has been between 180 and 300 covers, the “Rare good days” (especially at the start of the week), when it should frequently exceed 400. “If it continues like that, it can be complicated …”slides the restaurateur.
A number of covers divided by two in ten years
A little further, it is even more the grimace soup in the ranks of the M5, which advocates “A refined, traditional cuisine, with a point of inventiveness, highlighting noble products”.
Jean-Philippe Denys, room manager for eleven years, sums up the situation in two words: “Catastrophic, horrible”. “Ten years ago, we made 200 covers per day. At the moment, we do 100, he deplores. Over a year, we lost a third of our customers, who was already down. It’s problematic, especially in the evening. “
In contact with vacationers, he can clearly see that there is a prioritization of expenses: “Going to the restaurant is the last choice”. Tourists seem to prefer the picnic or the meals taken at home, which is much less expensive.
Sitting in the grass a few steps from the restaurants, this couple from Alsace confirms: “In view of the prohibitive prices charged by restaurateurs by the sea, who offer almost all the same cards, we no longer even ask ourselves the question. We can no longer afford to go to the restaurant.”
Should we review the prices? “Maybe the bosses should think about it. But we must not believe that we are stuffed. Between raw material, wages and rent … We are far from making 80% margin.”
This accustomed to the premises, which saw the Gargotes of the Mourillon being replaced by qualitative restaurants with “A beautiful card, a nice decor and qualified personnel” Do not hide a certain frustration: “We pay the costs, it’s sad”.