Year-plus study shows residents want a full-service restaurant with a varied menu that lets people linger and socialize

By Sam Richards

Staff writer

 

Friday, March 7 (1:30 p.m.): After more than a year of surveys, small-group research and by speaking with “anyone who was willing to talk with us,” two partners in a Newport Beach-based consulting firm have determined some of the most wanted additions to Rossmoor’s food and beverage offerings.

The wide-brush answer: an all-day customer-service restaurant with “coffee, cocktails and hospitality,” along with a diverse menu blending classics, seasonal specialties and healthy menu items and portion sizes, preferably at a reasonable price. There was a multitude of more specific desires expressed about specific cuisines and health-conscious options.

Other amenities that have a lot of support among Rossmoor residents who shared their opinions, two visiting consultants reported Feb. 25, include a walk-up window (at the above-described ideal eatery, or separate from it); an outdoor patio, perhaps with a nearby food truck, where diners can enjoy a leisurely meal or beverage and socialize at length; a food-catering business that could serve large events or private parties; mobile food or beverage carts serving high-traffic areas like those adjacent to golf and pickleball; hyperlocal food delivery; and perhaps limited convenience retail sales of “ingredients” for cooking meals at home.

But for any of it to work, Danny Bendas said, it would probably require “finding a really good local (contract) operator that has strong entrepreneurial spirit … in my mind, that would be one of the best scenarios.”

Bendas and Mandy DeLucia, partners with Synergy Restaurant Consultants, spoke to about 100 people at the Event Center, reporting findings of the food and beverage study first commissioned by GRF over a year ago to determine what food services are wanted by Rossmoor residents, and the practicalities (or lack thereof) of establishing them.

DeLucia said the survey showed that only 5% of respondents said they’re satisfied with the current options. She also reported a hint of personal frustration in that, on her visit to Rossmoor last week, she was unable to do something as seemingly simple as picking up a Diet Coke.

The pair said about 1,400 Rossmoorians completed a food-and-beverage-related survey, and almost 70% of respondents said they want a restaurant that offers full table service. Sixty-plus percent want a “bakery café” in Rossmoor. Almost 60% said they want to see a less formal “counter service” restaurant, one at which guests go to a counter to order, pay for and pick up their food.

A coffee/dessert shop, a “grab and go” shop and restaurant delivery also got considerable support in the survey, Bendas and DeLucia said.

Bendas said the study also evaluated the Rossmoor facilities, primarily kitchen capacity, that would be needed by a restaurant. The two biggest kitchens, they said, are at the Event Center and at Creekside Grill and Bar, now the only restaurant in Rossmoor.

Jeff Matheson, Rossmoor’s general manager, said the food and beverage study “was not focused on the pros and cons of Creekside Grill,” but he did note that the grill’s lease expires at the end of 2025. Bendas said Creekside could be part of a larger “master plan” for Rossmoor food service, yet to be created.

Rossmoor residents told Bendas and DeLucia that they enjoy going out to eat, largely for the social aspect, but also to avoid cooking. Of about 1,400 survey respondents, almost 90% said they eat in a restaurant anywhere from once a week to every day, with the largest segment (42%) going out to eat one or two times a week.

Armed with such data, it would be up to Rossmoor to issue a “request for proposals” (an RFP) for potential operators of whichever services are ultimately deemed worth pursuing. Bendas said it isn’t out of the question that the chosen operator could be a large food service company, such as Sodexo or Sysco.

But he also stressed that a local operator would best know Rossmoor and its market, and how to fit in with the robust restaurant ecosystem right outside Rossmoor’s gates. Walnut Creek and Lafayette both boast popular and highly acclaimed foodie scenes. And any potential partner-operator, Matheson said, would want to step into a situation that would be profitable, and that Rossmoorians would use.

As for the specifics on which to base any request for proposals, including the costs to make Rossmoor’s facilities attractive to a prospective partner, Matheson said it’s too early to know them. The research into that and related questions will continue, he added.