SIMPLY THAI CHANGES

I heard that Simply Thai had made some changes, some price reductions and has some specials including lunch plates starting at 60 pesos. We went there for lunch today. Sadly, there were few diners.

When we were given the menu, we checked the "Specials" page and noticed that there was but one 60 peso offering in the lunch plate dept. Prices immediately jumped to around 90 pesos. There were some interesting 2 person, multiple item choices, so we ordered the #7 at 197 pesos, which included spring rolls, rice, emerald chicken and sweet and sour chicken. The spring rolls arrived; two each. They were not the kind we had enjoyed there before, but were small, crispy and had little substance. Later, the owner said that for another ten pesos, we could get the other kind. The main dishes were very well prepared
.
There hasn't really been a significant price reduction but the food is fresh and delicious. It was a good idea to offer a lunch plate with several items on it. The place has beautiful decor and now that the heat is past......a very comfortable upstairs dining room, too. Lunch and dinner.

gringal wrote:I heard that Simply Thai had made some changes, some price reductions and has some specials including lunch plates starting at 60 pesos. We went there for lunch today. Sadly, there were few diners.

When we were given the menu, we checked the "Specials" page and noticed that there was but one 60 peso offering in the lunch plate dept. Prices immediately jumped to around 90 pesos. There were some interesting 2 person, multiple item choices, so we ordered the #7 at 197 pesos, which included spring rolls, rice, emerald chicken and sweet and sour chicken. The spring rolls arrived; two each. They were not the kind we had enjoyed there before, but were small, crispy and had little substance. Later, the owner said that for another ten pesos, we could get the other kind. The main dishes were very well prepared
.
There hasn't really been a significant price reduction but the food is fresh and delicious. It was a good idea to offer a lunch plate with several items on it. The place has beautiful decor and now that the heat is past......a very comfortable upstairs dining room, too. Lunch and dinner.

You cannot expect 60 peso lunches even in Mexico. They might as well go out of business first, rather than lose money. Even at 90 pesos which equals $ 6.92 US, you can't go to a fast food place. The only thing that's cheaper running a restaurant here is the help. The cost of electricity, propane gas and gasoline is constantly going up making it more expensive for restauranteurs, even to transport food.

Simply Thai serves excellent food with huge portions. It's best to order two dishes and split them between two people. You WILL be full. We love the spring rolls. The menu says two, but at night you get 3.

When our Semi Monthly Dinner group goes to Simply Thai, I can always be assured that 10 - 12 will attend.

You sort of missed my point, John. It was a description, not an expectation.

gringal wrote:You sort of missed my point, John. It was a description, not an expectation.

I was not criticizing your post. I guess I can't post anything on this forum.

[quote="johninajijic"]

gringal wrote:You sort of missed my point, John. It was a description, not an expectation.

I was not criticizing your post. I guess I can't post anything on this forum.[/quote]

I read both of your posts and found them both intelligently written so I don´t see the need for squabbling. I think you should stick around this forum, John even though some hereabouts, not including gringal, have taken to unfairly picking on you here and there. One reason, I suspect, is that you are easily aroused and react so vigorously and, at times, in a vulgar fashion, to criticism .

We dined there the other night after finding out that they had closed down their takeout place on the carretera west of Ajijic and the restaurant was very busy. One of the owners told us that business had turned dismal after all the recent community violence and they had decided to boost business with various special deals on certain nights of the week. They have had some success with that plan. Their food remains delicious and I recommend the place although I really miss that takeout joint. I guess it became too scary out there on the carretera and all that recent violence also really hurt patronage. I don´t blame them for closing as things really got hairy for a while.

John Tango and other resturants offer 60 peso lunches every day and it is
very good. I know three other places in town that do the same thing and are
happy to have you come in and buy there 60 peso lunch. I am afraid you are
wrong again.

Z

Zedinmexico wrote:John Tango and other resturants offer 60 peso lunches every day and it is
very good. I know three other places in town that do the same thing and are
happy to have you come in and buy there 60 peso lunch. I am afraid you are
wrong again.

Z

And the reasoning behind it is?

Zedinmexico wrote:John Tango and other resturants offer 60 peso lunches every day and it is
very good. I know three other places in town that do the same thing

Z

I knew Roberto's had a lunch special on Mondays
Now Tangos everyday....
WELL..... what are the three other places?

Nueva Posada: 65 pesos (weekday specials...se Guad. Reporter)
Yves: 55 pesos-75pesos for many items (Senior discounts 10% on Mondays)
Angelicas: 50 pesos -up
Lake Taco: many items under 60 pesos
and many, many more.

BTW: I didn't "pick on John" . He was indicating that expecting a 60 peso lunch around town was unreasonable. It isn't. That's all.

With the low cost of labor and overhead here in Mexico it should be easy to still make a peso or two off a 60 pesos lunch. I still wonder how some of the restaurants here justify a 200+ peso dinner and 100+ peso drinks.

CanuckBob wrote:With the low cost of labor and overhead here in Mexico it should be easy to still make a peso or two off a 60 pesos lunch. I still wonder how some of the restaurants here justify a 200+ peso dinner and 100+ peso drinks.

Justify it? They do it because they can.

Short sighted business plan IMHO.........

CanuckBob wrote:With the low cost of labor and overhead here in Mexico it should be easy to still make a peso or two off a 60 pesos lunch. I still wonder how some of the restaurants here justify a 200+ peso dinner and 100+ peso drinks.

Bob, most of the restaurants run in the 120 - 140 peso range for dinner. A very few are 160. Theover 200 peso is Number 4, who serves mediocre, inconsistent food and high priced drinks. Most wine runs 38 - 45 pesos a glass. Most mixed drinks are 40 - 55 pesos.

Chac Lan in SJC is 210 pesos for every dinner.

Reastaurants charge these prices at Lakeside because extranjeros and tapitios will pay them. Try those prices in Chiapas and prepare for tar and feathers. One cannot compare resraurant prices at most of Lakeside with similarly sized small urban areas in most of the rest of Mexico. You want to change that? Stop patronizing those restaurants that overcharge but avoid traveling to France unless you have a big bankroll and a sense of humor when the check arrives.

On a recent visit to Lakeside my wife and I were pleased with the quality, selection and pricing of the restaurants,you guys are lucky IMO.
I'd like to add that John's restaurant list was very helpful to us.

Thank you for all the comments. I am awared that there are many restaurants offering $60 peso meals. We know we can not compete with those restaurants, however we are trying our best. Half of our food are imported from the States and we paid double or more for these ingredients. Just to give you an example, our spring roll shells for our Fresh Rolls is over $110 US dollars, not pesos per box. Large can of coconut milk is $250 pesos per can.
A box of Pad Thai noodles is over $100 US dollars. How many of those restaurants offering $60 pesos lunch are specialty restaurants? Let's compare apples to oranges.
It has been tough for all businesses in town. All we are doing in the last 4-5 months is keeping people employed and pay our bills.
Many thanks to those who supported us. We really really appreciate the business.
Thai 2 Go is closed because there was not enough business and the food was much cheaper than Simply Thai due to a lower cost of operating a business. Can we do any cheaper? No. We are hanging on to a thread at this moment.

thip wrote:Thank you for all the comments. I am awared that there are many restaurants offering $60 peso meals. We know we can not compete with those restaurants, however we are trying our best. Half of our food are imported from the States and we paid double or more for these ingredients. Just to give you an example, our spring roll shells for our Fresh Rolls is over $110 US dollars, not pesos per box. Large can of coconut milk is $250 pesos per can.
A box of Pad Thai noodles is over $100 US dollars. How many of those restaurants offering $60 pesos lunch are specialty restaurants? Let's compare apples to oranges.
It has been tough for all businesses in town. All we are doing in the last 4-5 months is keeping people employed and pay our bills.
Many thanks to those who supported us. We really really appreciate the business.
Thai 2 Go is closed because there was not enough business and the food was much cheaper than Simply Thai due to a lower cost of operating a business. Can we do any cheaper? No. We are hanging on to a thread at this moment.

sorry for wandering off subject...

yours is a terrific menu and food quality is second to none... we will continue to frequent and enjoy your establishment

Hoxx

thip wrote:Thank you for all the comments. I am awared that there are many restaurants offering $60 peso meals. We know we can not compete with those restaurants, however we are trying our best. Half of our food are imported from the States and we paid double or more for these ingredients. Just to give you an example, our spring roll shells for our Fresh Rolls is over $110 US dollars, not pesos per box. Large can of coconut milk is $250 pesos per can.
A box of Pad Thai noodles is over $100 US dollars. How many of those restaurants offering $60 pesos lunch are specialty restaurants? Let's compare apples to oranges.
It has been tough for all businesses in town. All we are doing in the last 4-5 months is keeping people employed and pay our bills.
Many thanks to those who supported us. We really really appreciate the business.
Thai 2 Go is closed because there was not enough business and the food was much cheaper than Simply Thai due to a lower cost of operating a business. Can we do any cheaper? No. We are hanging on to a thread at this moment.

I sent you a PM.

The original post suggested that there has not been a "significant price reduction"........................
One of our combos is Fresh Rolls & House Special Fried Rice for $105. For example, individually, Fresh Rolls was $45 & lunch Fried Rice was $95, dinner Fried Rice was $120. So lunch was discounted at 25% & dinner was discounted by 36%. For other individual dishes not part of the combos were discounted by 10-20%. For other combos, we reduced our price around 20%-30%.
We no longer have lunch menu & replaced it with combos at a lower price than when we had the lunch menu. Now we only offer combos & what was a dinner menu but droped the price and continue to serve dinner portion. If I am confusing you, please come to the restaurant and check it out.
Besides 1/2 price Margarita on Mondays & 2 x1 Beer or Wine by the glass on Tuesdays, we are serving FREE Lemongrass Tea on Thursdays.

Thip, your food is delicious and I can see where your costs are making it hard to compete. I hope you can stay in business because you satisfy a desire for food with the Thai flavor.

Please don't take my responses the wrong way. We know we can't compete when it comes to price but we don't really think we over charged for the food & the ambiance. Though we are trying to justify our price with good portion and the quality of the food we served.
Once again, my husband and I appreciate the comments and any feedbacks.

I vow to go to Simply Thai for dinner at least once this week. I challenge all fellow Thai food lovers to do the same thing.

I must say, Thip, that you folks at Simply Thia have become a great asset to our community in Ajijic and I hope you will continue to succeed during these difficult economic times at Lakeside. Your Thai-style food is outstanding and your prices are entirely reasonable considering that you are delivering excellent cuisine to an area where you have high costs of ingredients exotic to the region.

Most Asian-style food at Lakeside is a pathetic take on Asian cooking but Simply Thai is the notable exception to that rule. Excellent, authentic Thai cuisine. Join us in supporting this local treasure.

I, like CB, will be dining at Simply Thai but my darlin´ wife will be in San Cristóbal for a while so I guess I´ll have to eat twice as much as normal.

thip wrote:Please don't take my responses the wrong way. We know we can't compete when it comes to price but we don't really think we over charged for the food & the ambiance. Though we are trying to justify our price with good portion and the quality of the food we served.
Once again, my husband and I appreciate the comments and any feedbacks.

thip - Your food is delicious, your restaurant is beautiful, unlike many others in Ajijic. Your portion size is large. I am John from Los Arroyos Sur who brings our semi Monthly Dinner group there and we akways have a good sized group. I'm looking forward to trying one of your specials. I will let our community and our friends know that you are now running specials. See you soon.

I met hound dog and his wife. Love to meet John from Los Arroyos and Bob. I am sure I saw or met many of you but sometime I can't put the name and the face together. Please introduce yourself the next time you guys are in. Since I am no longer at Thai 2 Go, I have been working 13 hrs everyday. If I am not at the restaurant, that means I step out to buy groceries.
Thanks again everyone for your support!