Toowoomba's Gip's Restaurant speaks out as hospitality industry faces hardships

A longstanding Toowoomba restaurant has refuted claims that diners were steering away from high-end restaurants, saying people were still willing to pay extra for an exemplary experience.

Gip's Restaurant weigh in on hospitality crisis

A Toowoomba restaurant with 26 years in the industry has weighed in on the region’s hospitality crisis, saying that as customers become more frugal with their hard-earnt money “consistency and quality” were paramount for weathering the storm.

After the closure of at least half a dozen popular Toowoomba restaurants in the past few months, including The Plate, Encores, Muller Bros, Hog’s Breath Cafe and Picnic Point Cafe, many in the community have questioned the future of the hospitality industry in the Garden City.

Gip’s Restaurant was established in 1999 and is one of Toowoomba’s most beloved fine dining restaurants. Faced with changing diner patterns and overall rising costs, they say restaurants needed to rise to their customer’s expectations.

Gip’s general manager Danielle Brown agreed that consistency was the key for ensuring longevity.

Gip’s general manager Danielle Brown said consistency was the key for ensuring longevity.

“Consistency is at the forefront, especially in Toowoomba, people are extremely loyal, over 50 per cent of our business is returning customers and we get to know them on a personal level,” she said

“Our head chef has been with us for 20 plus years, all of our staff have been with us for ten plus years so we have been able to offer that consistency, that high quality is what sets us apart.

“We haven’t compromised our quality because we have the same team.”

Gip's Restaurant weigh in on hospitality crisis

Ms Brown said the distinction between medium and high end dining prices was blurring and many people were opting to pay a little extra for a better experience.

“Our prices in comparison to some of the pubs in town there isn't a lot of difference, there’s about $5 between the price of a steak so people are possibly choosing to go to a fine dining restaurant rather than a pub,” she said.

“It’s not all doom and gloom out there we have had to work harder but people are still spending money so if you deliver what you say you will, you will get business.”

Gip's Restaurant weigh in on hospitality crisis

A Gip’s spokesman said people were still prepared to spend a little bit of money for good food and wine but expected value as well.

“Given things are a little tighter they expect a service level over and above what they would’ve expected three or four years ago,” he said.

“As a consequence we have had to be better at what we do to entice people to come to us.

“When things get tighter the market expects more from you so everything has to be on point.

“There is an expectation of a better quality product.”

They said they had used the difficult times to strive to provide an even greater quality of service.

“Food prices are stronger, so we have had to be more aggressive at finding the staff we want who fit the service we provide,” he said.

“You can’t compromise to try and win that dollar, it is a challenge when you’re competing with the likes of Encores and HOST, given they set such a high benchmark we can't compromise with ours.”