Tipu's Tiger closes its doors
By ROB CHANEY of the Missoulian
Missoula's decade-long source of samosas and curritos closed Friday after a series of economic misfortunes.
And the challenges that brought down Tipu's Tiger could threaten others in the specialty dining business. Between rising food prices and emptying customer wallets, there's little room for error.
When Tipu's finally turned off the stoves, 10 workers lost their jobs, according to co-owner Heidi Gonzales.
“No one was coming in,” she said. “I was doing $300 to $400 days. I just couldn't afford to pay my employees on that.”
Confusion over a recall of Tipu's Tiger Chai concentrate last month apparently scared many people, Gonzales said, even though the restaurant was not connected with the company that made the drink mix. And a recent salmonella scare involving fresh tomatoes may have further discouraged Indian-food customers, she said.
That was followed by breakdowns of the restaurant's walk-in and reach-in coolers, which resulted in both lost food and repair costs. Big jumps in the wholesale price of basmati rice and milk took bites out of the budget.
In tight economic times, bad breaks like that can rock a restaurant. Because Tipu's was a specialty place, Gonzales said it was doubly sensitive to downturns in people's dining-out tendencies.
And that could be a contagion in the larger Missoula restaurant scene, according to University of Montana culinary arts program director Tom Campbell.
“I'm going to predict it will be just a tidal wave,” Campbell said of the possibility for future restaurant closures. “It's such a small margin, it will just kill people. Already, (Missoulians) are tightening their belts. They're not buying SUVs and they're not going out to dinner very often.”
Campbell said strong restaurants typically make little more than 5 percent profit on business, and many make as little as 2 percent. Without either lots of savings or tolerant investors, it can be impossible to make it through lean times.
“No one's going to be able to raise prices, especially in a restaurant situation, to that degree,” Campbell said. “People just aren't going to pay it. So to try to keep it above water is a daily grind.”
Gonzales and her husband took over the restaurant last October from longtime owner Bipin Patel. They added chicken and fish options to the restaurant's original all-vegetarian menu, as well as some items aimed at children's tastes.
“I don't believe it was anything we did personally,” Gonzales said. “We just won the ‘Best of Missoula' and ‘Reader's Choice' awards. But there was always constant stress. We just never had money to buy food.”
What perishable food Tipu's did have on hand was donated to the Missoula Food Bank on Tuesday, mainly lettuce, mushrooms, peppers, tofu, honey, yams and potatoes. Dean Thompson, who picks up food donations for the Food Bank, said it came to about 200 pounds of produce.
“We've seen our donations of perishable items in general drop this year compared to previous years,” Thompson said. “Not only restaurants but grocery stores as well.”
The Food Bank's Food Circle pick-up program gathers perishable donations from about 15 regular providers, roughly half of which are restaurants or food preparers such as the University of Montana dining service. Thompson said smaller restaurants typically do a better job than larger ones at controlling food waste. But most of those donors appear to be buying less raw materials in the first place.
Patel founded Tipu's in 1997. He underwrote the loan for the new owners, and now is looking for another restaurateur to revive the place. He was hopeful that some recent business shuffling on the “Hip Strip” at the south end of the Higgins Avenue Bridge might spur the effort.
“With Scotty's Table moving to the old Marianne's (in the Wilma Building), and 515 closing, I think there's space to do something there,” Patel said. “It's going to be a difficult market. We were very specialized in doing Indian vegetarian food. I think if somebody went in doing simple food, salads and sandwiches, burgers and fries, using locally grown beef and chicken, it would appeal to Missoulians. I hope to find someone within the next few months who wants to go in there and use their own skills and imagination.”
The restaurant remains fully equipped. Gonzales said if an investor wanted to take over the lease, it would be ready to resume operations for almost any cuisine.
Reporter Rob Chaney can be reached at 523-5382 or at rchaney@missoulian.com.
