Palm Desert Restaurant Reaches Milestone In Longevity

Bad economy or not, George Argyros has reason to be proud.

He’s survived in the tough restaurant business and is celebrating the fact he opened the doors to John’s Restaurant in Palm Desert 25 years ago.

“We try to give our customers great value,” said Argyros. “You get a good meal at a decent price and I think that’s helped us through the years and good service of course. “

And on the subject of service, since opening on July 5, 1985, Argyros say 18 to 20 employees have been loyal. He’s seen little turnover.

Take Gloria Meza. She’s worked at John’s for 22 years and is thankful the restaurant has never closed over the summer months even though there’s usually a 20 percent drop off in business.

“Its helped us a lot,” she said. “There’s a lot of people without jobs. For us it’s good; it’s not that many hours, but it’s good we have a job.”

At Le Vallauris Restaurant in Palm Springs, a different story.

The restaurant just closed for the summer. Thirty-six years in business as the valley’s oldest restaurant. In recent years, it has shut down operations over the summer months because the numbers just didn’t add up.

“You’re looking at $5,000, $6,000 just in energy costs a month,” said Tony Bruggemans, General Manager of Le Vallauris. “Plus you have staffing, plus of course business is much less in the shorter seasons. In my opinion it’s not a winning proposition.”

At high season, Le Vallauris employs 30 people. Bruggemans says most of his staff is grateful for the summer break in order to get a chance to recharge. As for regular customers, Bruggemans says they’ve bought into the philosophy.

“We let them know that we’re going to be closing well in advance. They communicate back to us. ‘have a great vacation, we look forward to seeing your re-opening on the 16th of September,’ so it creates anticipation which is good.”