Although Stonehenge Grille continues to operate deep in the red, Fairfield Glade Community Club General Manager Bill Ward gave encouraging signs for improvement based on the early work of the new food and beverage director.
He said Linda James, who has more than 30 years of experience in the industry, has improved training and accountability of the staff since starting her job Aug. 27 and has garnered the respect of her team.
“She’s a professional. She knows the business,” Ward said at the board of directors monthly meeting Oct. 24 at The Center.
Ward said James has made some “exciting” menu changes, which include a new daily menu and a Sunday brunch, and has plans for other improvements. (See related story.)
“I do want to say what a pleasure it is to have her on board compared to where we’ve been thus far this year,” he said.
James is Bobby Jones Links’ third manager in less than two years tasked with implementing changes to turn around the community club’s F&B operations, especially Stonehenge Grille, which for many years has lost hundreds of thousands of dollars annually.
The Atlanta-based club management company was hired last year under a three-year contract to run the F&B division, which previously was managed by community club leadership. The company is in the second year of its contract, which runs until February 2025.
This year has been especially challenging, with frequent long periods of rain cited as a major reason for the division’s continued poor finances as well as over-enthusiastic expectations when the 2024 F&B budget was prepared a year ago.
The division was projected to have made a profit of $313,000 by the end of September. Instead, it lost $184,000 for the first nine months. Stonehenge Grille itself was nearly $384,000 in the red; it was expected to be $30,000 in the black.
While the restaurant gets the most attention, board Treasurer Bruce Horn advised the membership to consider the performance of the entire division instead of only one part of it. F&B consists of Stonehenge Grille, the four golf course snack bars, and private banquets and events.
“You’ve got to look at the whole thing,” Horn said.
Board President Greg Jones agreed, emphasizing that the community club’s agreement with Bobby Jones Links is for the management of the entire food and beverage division, not just Stonehenge Grille.
He pointed out that although Stonehenge Grille lost money last year, the losses were offset by income from the snack bars, which were largely responsible for F&B ending the year with a profit of $109,000.
As of the end of September, all operations of F&B except Stonehenge Grille were making a profit.
“So you’ve got to keep in mind that if you want to look at any one venue, you may draw a different conclusion than if you look at the overall,” Jones said. “And the overall is what the agreement is between Bobby Jones Links and Fairfield Glade Community Club.”
Audience member Tom Racklyeft offered a cautionary note, however, saying the community club must ensure that the restaurant planned for the new Druid Hills golf complex does not perform as Stonehenge Grille has “or that could be a problem.”