Opening a bar & restaurant in Phnom Penh?

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Artisan
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Re: Opening a bar & restaurant in Phnom Penh?

Post by Artisan »

CMBcurious wrote: Sat Feb 23, 2019 11:50 am Thank you all so much for the advice and genuine feedback of what the F&B market is like in PP. Much appreciated.
I would think more than twice opening anything F&B related in PP.
There are around 2000 (give or take 100) resto's nowadays and from what i can tell the majority of them are struggling.
Niches are good, only takes years to be profitable.
Anyway, if you still want to pursue, I wish you all the best.
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Re: Opening a bar & restaurant in Phnom Penh?

Post by Jcml19 »

Make bangin food and create the right atmosphere... I agree with the other comments... be vigilant and work yo butt off. Good luck with whichever route u take
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Re: Opening a bar & restaurant in Phnom Penh?

Post by Clutch Cargo »

Not only are some of these places struggling or marginally profitable but when it comes time to get out and sell...you could be waiting a couple of years..

Examples of restos/bars to name a few:

Les Oliviers (french) st 51 Sorya mall

Genova (italian) originally st 118, now in Kandal Market but for sale again..

Chez Gaston (french) st 15

La Patate (belgian) st 5

Lonestar (US) st 23 for sale again after only 1 yr

Cadillac riverside ownership change: US>Swiss>Swedish in a few yrs

That's gotta tell you something..
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Re: Opening a bar & restaurant in Phnom Penh?

Post by willyhilly »

Cadillac seems to be cursed. Lone Star looked like a pretty good operation before with the rooms upstairs always let. How much have the rents been jacked lately though?
What happened to that Monsta sports bar near the Cadillac? That always looked ill fated.
Larry’s must be one of the few places that does well and the Score Bar. Here in Cairns there is a place very similar to Score and they are coining it. But when a small town has two million domestic tourists a year and nearly a million international then there is a lot of cash floating around.
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Clutch Cargo
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Re: Opening a bar & restaurant in Phnom Penh?

Post by Clutch Cargo »

willyhilly wrote: Sun Feb 24, 2019 9:50 am Cadillac seems to be cursed.
What happened to that Monsta sports bar near the Cadillac?
That always looked ill fated.
The original Cadillac was just a single shop front. It seemed popular and do well. Then Monsta opened up.. next door? It didn't seem to do so well. Then Cadillac was sold and combined with Monsta (?) to make it double shop front it is today.
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Re: Opening a bar & restaurant in Phnom Penh?

Post by CMBcurious »

Again, thank you so much for the information it helps a LOT!
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Re: Opening a bar & restaurant in Phnom Penh?

Post by logos »

Les Oliviers (french) st 51 Sorya mall

Chez Gaston (french) st 15

La Patate (belgian) st 5
Les oliviers, doing ok in a difficult area. The boss Richard doubled the size end of last year.

La Patate closed almost a year ago, fat Didier returned to Belgium. Replaced by a nondescript eatery.

Chez Gaston doing quite well under the new owner. If you want an excellent French dinner on a budget head there before 7pm and you can have a $10 menu including starters , mains and dessert plus a glass of wine or a beer. For that price you will eat at the bar and not sit at a table.
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Re: Opening a bar & restaurant in Phnom Penh?

Post by logos »

Les Oliviers (french) st 51 Sorya mall

Chez Gaston (french) st 15

La Patate (belgian) st 5
Les oliviers, doing ok in a difficult area. The boss Richard doubled the size of the place at the end of last year.

La Patate closed about a year ago, fat Didier returned to Belgium. Replaced by a nondescript eatery. Too bad as it was one of the few places open late at night that served western comfort food.

Chez Gaston has been doing quite well under the new owner. If you want an excellent French dinner on a budget head there before 7pm and you can have a $10 menu including starters , mains and dessert plus a glass of wine or a beer. For that price you will eat at the bar and not sit at a table.
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Clutch Cargo
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Re: Opening a bar & restaurant in Phnom Penh?

Post by Clutch Cargo »

logos wrote: Tue Feb 26, 2019 4:49 am
Les Oliviers (french) st 51 Sorya mall

Chez Gaston (french) st 15

La Patate (belgian) st 5
Les oliviers, doing ok in a difficult area. The boss Richard doubled the size of the place at the end of last year.

La Patate closed about a year ago, fat Didier returned to Belgium. Replaced by a nondescript eatery. Too bad as it was one of the few places open late at night that served western comfort food.

Chez Gaston has been doing quite well under the new owner. If you want an excellent French dinner on a budget head there before 7pm and you can have a $10 menu including starters , mains and dessert plus a glass of wine or a beer. For that price you will eat at the bar and not sit at a table.
My original quote was:
Not only are some of these places struggling or marginally profitable but when it comes time to get out and sell...you could be waiting a couple of years..
So, to clarify I wasn't necessarily implying they are all necessarily doing badly now.

Altho some can't be doing that great if they're up for sale or changed ownership a few times in a small space of time ie Cadillac (3 owners in a few years) and Lonestar (up for sale after only 1 year).

My main point was that some of the places were either up for sale for a number of years before they were actually sold ie Gaston and Patate or haven't been sold and are still for sale ie Oliviers and Genova.

I'm sure there are many other examples that expats would be aware of.
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Re: Opening a bar & restaurant in Phnom Penh?

Post by Cam Nivag »

clutchcargo wrote: Sun Feb 24, 2019 10:07 am
willyhilly wrote: Sun Feb 24, 2019 9:50 am Cadillac seems to be cursed.
What happened to that Monsta sports bar near the Cadillac?
That always looked ill fated.
The original Cadillac was just a single shop front. It seemed popular and do well. Then Monsta opened up.. next door? It didn't seem to do so well. Then Cadillac was sold and combined with Monsta (?) to make it double shop front it is today.
Cadillac was bought by that boiler room guy Barry John Wilson. He probably didn't care if it made money.

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https://www.andrew-drummond.com/2018/10 ... phnom-pen/
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