UAE | General
Making a meal of monthly system
Within the nooks and crannies of the capital are a variety of restaurants to satisfy any craving and many Indian and Pakistani outlets offer discounts to regular customers.
- By Marie Magleby, Staff Reporter
- Published: 23:56 May 9, 2008
Abu Dhabi: Within the nooks and crannies of the capital are a variety of restaurants to satisfy any craving and many Indian and Pakistani outlets offer discounts to regular customers.
Geared toward the working class, these discounts have saved customers time and money for several years.
These restaurants offer a monthly plan under which patrons can pay a fixed amount to eat for one month.
Prices depend on whether customers want one or two meals per day, and what types of meal they prefer.
Though most customers choose to pay in cash, it is mostly Asians who use this system to get the biggest bang for their buck.
"Everyone wants to save money," one employee said.
Restaurant managers said customers use the monthly system to save time as well as money. Some patrons are executives who work nearby and have little time for a lunch break, said Kamran Aziz, who has been working in a restaurant for 15 years.
Depending on the restaurant, customers can get one meal daily for Dh150 to Dh275 per month. Two meals a day can cost Dh240 to Dh425 per month.
Some restaurants specify monthly prices for certain menu items, whereas others offer anything on the menu for a set price.
Feeling the pinch
One restaurant has a slightly different system. There, patrons can buy Dh300 in meal coupons for just Dh250. The coupons are like the restaurant's currency, with no restriction on how or when they are used.
In the face of rising food prices, however, restaurant managers say it has been difficult to maintain competitive pricing. They said they feel the pinch when they buy a bag of rice.
Aziz said he now pays Dh200 for the same rice he bought for Dh120 last year. According to employees of another restaurant, a bag of South Indian rice has jumped from Dh35 to Dh78 in the last year.
Naturally, managers said they have been forced to raise their menu prices by approximately 10 to 25 percent, and even more in some cases.
Although most restaurants began the monthly discount system in the last several years, many have been in business for much longer.
Some restaurants that are more than 20 years old implemented the monthly system in the last five or ten years.
"We have to give good packages," Kamran Aziz said. He said that through the monthly system "they will get their benefit, and I will get my benefit."
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