Meat Fix Price Replaces Two Eateries in Novosibirsk

In Novosibirsk, a restaurant from the Moscow chain «The Byk» opened on the fourth floor of the Aura mall on Monday, 20 July. The venue was opened as a franchise by entrepreneurs from Altai Krai.

The Novosibirsk «The Byk» took over the spaces of two restaurants from the Moscow company Rosinter (Il Patio and Shikari), which closed at the beginning of the year. The restaurant has about 250 seats, including a summer veranda overlooking Ipoddromskaya Street.

The chain was founded in 2016 by entrepreneur Mekhak Galstyan, with the first restaurant opened in Kaluga. The chain now has 23 locations in Moscow, three in St. Petersburg, two in Kaluga, and one each in Tula, Tambov, and Yerevan.

The project positions itself as «democratic meat restaurants». At the Novosibirsk location, beef steaks (250 grams) cost 700 rubles each ($8 at current rates), all main menu items (including burgers and pizza — about 70 items) are 400 rubles ($4). The most expensive items — ribeye and filet mignon steaks — are sold for 1,500 rubles ($17), and are listed in the «Prime» section.

In Novosibirsk, beef steaks at other establishments are generally more expensive. For example, one of the most affordable options currently — a 147-gram beef tenderloin steak — costs 790 rubles ($9). At the restaurant «Grill i Butyl», the most affordable steak (200 grams) on the regular menu costs 1,099 rubles ($12). At lower-priced chain establishments (Shashlykoff and Druzya), according to menus posted on their websites, there are no beef steaks; pork steaks cost 430 rubles ($5) and 330 rubles ($4) respectively.

The business model of «The Byk» is based on rapid turnover — it is assumed that significant revenue will allow it to earn even with small markups. Moreover, in the chain«s restaurants, the markup on drinks can now be considered standard. Beer, for example, costs 390 rubles ($4). At Druzya bars, prices for this drink range from 154 rubles ($2) to 172 rubles ($2) per 0.5-liter glass. Prices are roughly the same at ResPublica bars (from 187 rubles ($2) to 185 rubles ($2)). At the Bochka bar, prices start at 250 rubles ($3), and at Harat»s bar — from 330 rubles ($4).

The Novosibirsk venue is opened under a franchise. The Barnaul-registered Aspekt-Sibir LLC, which manages the bar, is owned by Sergey Polyakov (33%) and Nina Korolenko (33%), with the remainder being a share in the charter capital of another legal entity. Polyakov, together with Igor Korolenko and Denis Gunger, owns KhP City Restaurants LLC, which operates the large restaurant «Khochu Puri» at the Central Market. The company«s revenue last year was 127 million rubles ($1,411,100 at current rates), with a net loss of 23 million rubles ($255,600). The restaurant opened at the beginning of last year. In addition, Sergey Polyakov is a co-founder of several companies in Barnaul that manage fitness centers and public catering.

This is far from the only example of restaurateurs from other regions trying to establish themselves in Novosibirsk. After the success of the first «Frank by Basta» bar on Lenin Street, a second venue opened in the city on Marx Square — it was also opened by entrepreneurs from St. Petersburg (at least, it is registered in that city).

Not everyone, however, manages to achieve success in Novosibirsk. At the beginning of summer, a large Georgian restaurant on Krasny Prospekt, originally opened by a restaurateur from Kuzbass, ceased operations.