City Winery Atlanta, along with 13 other City Winery venues nationwide, has established a new $25 per patron minimum for food and drink at all concerts.
Michael Dorf, a New Yorker who owns all City Winery venues, told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Wednesday he relies heavily on food and beverage sales to survive. Unfortunately, he estimates about 30% of people who attend City Winery events spend not a single penny beyond the ticket price.
He laid out the brutal economics: Typically 75% to 80% of the ticket price goes to the artist, with the rest set aside for production costs and marketing. “The only income we have to pay our bills is food and beverage,” Dorf said. “Our challenge has been when someone comes in and just sits there and has a water or, worse, brings their own tea bag and asks for hot water.”
The intimate 350-seat venue, which opened in 2016 at Ponce City Market, draws an older audience with acts from the worlds of jazz, R&B, funk, rock, Americana and folk. Upcoming concerts include Chrisette Michele, Peabo Bryson, Avery Sunshine, John Waite, Mother’s Finest, and Norman Brown. City Winery Atlanta also hosts drag brunches, comedy shows and podcast tapings. Its schedule is consistently packed.
Credit: RODNEY HO/rhoaj
Credit: RODNEY HO/rhoaj
But costs across the board have gone up sharply in recent years, Dorf said: “Rent is very expensive. Insurance has gone up 50% in the last three years. Health coverage has gone up 50% for our staff over that same time period. Food costs, labor costs. It’s all up.”
The pandemic didn’t help matters, forcing Dorf to close the upstairs restaurant space in 2021 while maintaining a smaller bar area downstairs outside the music venue.
The food and drink minimum policy officially begins with all shows announced this week. (Any show already on sale is not impacted.) If patrons, say, only buy a $3 soda or a $14 glass of wine, they automatically will be charged $25.
An entrée and a drink usually gets attendees to $25, said Dorf, who noted the club guest who does order food and drink spends about $45 on average.
The current City Winery Atlanta menu has tea and coffee for $5, beers starting at $8 and wines starting at $12. The cheapest food item is truffle fries at $13, with a range of other options such as a charcuterie board ($19), an arugula salad ($17), a margherita pizza ($20), a poke bowl ($20) and lobster risotto ($31).
Dorf said the $25 minimum spend policy will be clear when people buy tickets and on the menu when they order, so there should be no surprises.
“We’re going to try not to harass,” Dorf said. “We would rather encourage. The last thing we want is friction in any way to our community of fans.”
Credit: CONTRIBUTE
Credit: CONTRIBUTE
He said he was guided by the success of a $20 per table minimum at the Blue Note jazz club in New York City. (A spokesperson for Blue Note did not respond to an email seeking comment.)
Dorf, who also owns City Winery locations in cities including Boston, New York, Chicago, Pittsburgh and St. Louis, said he does expect to lose some ticket sales but “on balance, we thought this was the best decision.”
At the same time, “We have our own obligations. We have to deliver on food. We have to deliver it fast. And we have to have great service.”
Dorf said a new menu is being revealed next month and he touted the quality of the club’s wine selection. “Most of our wine we sell by the glass is our own produced wine,” he said. “We buy from vineyards from around the globe.”
Credit: RODNEY HO/rho@ajc.com
Credit: RODNEY HO/rho@ajc.com
Marshall Chiles, who runs the Midtown Laughing Skull Lounge comedy club, which has a two-drink minimum, said he is sorry the venue had to take this measure.
“The only reason you’d do that is if you’re not generating enough revenue to stay in business,” Chiles said. “I’m rooting for them. They have a good menu and good service and a unique business model. I’ve gone to shows there that are well attended.”
Nicholas Wolaver, an Atlanta publicist who saw Sheila E. at City Winery last October, said for a person like him who eats out six days a week, the $25 minimum is no big deal. But he does worry that people who don’t drink might have more issues with the policy.
In a email note Dorf sent to critics, he wrote, “We appreciate that not everyone consumes alcohol or are on special diets and we have tried to deliver a menu that meets as many needs as possible. We are just looking for our customer’s understanding that we are an independent venue with intimate spaces and that everyone needs to contribute a little something to the house, not just the artist on stage. It’s not just fair, but essential.”
He also sent a memo to staff who have been hit with negative feedback, which he posted on a Substack essay Thursday morning. “We will lose a few people who have zero empathy to us being a cultural organization trying to make a profit in a very difficult space, but overall, this was not bad,” he wrote. “They just are very loud.”
Dorf said he empathizes with musical artists who have to rely on concert sales since streaming doesn’t compensate them the way CDs, LPs and cassettes did back in the day. “We don’t take a lot of money for merch,” he said. “We don’t have exorbitant ticket fees. We give a disproportionate share of the ticket price to artists. They need the money. That’s part of the ecosystem.”
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