Restaurant Depot??????

was wondering of those who this place do you find thier prices are better or comparible to a vendor and how do you find the products

Hey, Fat Boy. I have started using them for limited number of items. Their pricing is just a little lower at the nearest store as compared to my primary vendor. They are 65 miles away, so I only justify it when I am going to be in Atlanta anyway. They actually ahve a couple products that I just cannot get through USFoods, so it works out. Hard goods are same or slightly higher . . . . paper and foam are big savings for me. It is a great benefit to be able to see the meat before I buy it. They carry Stanislaus and some Escalon products, too.

You can get set up for online access to search/see a database style of what they have. No pictures, and very limited descriptions. You can use their interface to print a shopping list to take with you.

The in-store experience is inconsistent for me. If the item is not on the shelf, it is difficult to find out if it is in overhead stock. They are willing, just not overly encumbered with labor costs sometimes. The people are quite helpful when you and one to talk to. I’ve gone in to find they were ‘out’ of my tomatoes only to find later, when I called back about next shipment, they just hadn’t been placed on the shelf yet. All in all, it is worth getting a day to go check them out and try to talk to a management type about their business and your needs. You may get some help and establish a useful relationship if you move some volume.

I find RD prices beating national vendors hands-down!!!

Flour/cheese are my major purchases…I prefer their house brand of mozz/prov (believe it is Saputo 4 Fla) - Nationals can’t touch price w/i .20/#

I get 99.5% of my needs thru them & a few preferred items from Sam’s…

Years back I bought a lot of my supplies at “Real Canadian Wholesale”…Meat, cheese, boxes and sodas…But what bugged me is that although they were always labeled the same, it seemed the meat and cheese varied from week to week…In Canada meat and cheese has a code on it that tells you the plant that made it and these numbers also changed from week to week…Eventually we started buying meat and cheese from a typical supplier again and got consistent products…

I wave the Stanislaus flag passionately. I am big fan for them, and will tell anyone that they are the premier company in the marketplace.

That said, I only mentioned the Escalon since I saw it there last weekend next to the 7-11 I picked up.

I’m in a similar spot as Nick it seems, we’re about 2 hours away from the RD’s in the Chicago-land market so a trip up has to be worth our time and money. We’ve only started looking at them for supplies and so far like what we see. I agree the ability to hand pick your own meats and produce is big. I’m seeing around $4.00 a case cheaper on the 7-11’s and like products, don’t see any 6n1’s though, at least in the 2 Chicago stores I’ve looked into.

Membership is free with a copy of your state business license so it won’t hurt to go poke around. Fill your “application” out online so when you first get to the store, all you need is to stop by the “reception” desk and give them your license. We were then given our plastic membership card and then a manager was called who gave us a very nice and detailed tour of their store and procedures.

I also agree with the statement that it seems most of their employees are really tuned in to helpful customer service. I plan on making them a supplier, besides it means I’d be about 30 minutes from on of my son’s in Chicago…I can make him buy me dinner!!

forgot to mention…you will see online pricing only after you’ve shopped a physical store 3 seperate times…but that will be a huge help for me in determining to place an order with my vendor, or make a trip to Chicago.

I can’t believe that some can comment on RD’s customer service being good. The one closest to me is filled with the rejects from the worst McDonalds anywhere. I can’t imagine worse employees if they went to the day labor supplier and got new employees every single day. To make things worse, nearly every time I went there at least one item would ring up at a higher price than it was marked on the shelf. Just not worth the trip for me.

So Paul, how do you really feel?

The service @ my local RD seems fine - there are a few price glitches from time 2 time, but never had one ring up higher…

As a former food salesman, I reckon you get outstanding prices, based on the # of location you guys have & the volume you buy - I know I’d only make a minor % on acounts such as yours, but I make big $$$ based on your volume…

Now us “little” guys don’t buy as much as you - hence our prices are not as good - so RD is good value…

I don’t need much customer service - just have the product in stock so I can get in & out…

USFoods/SYSCO/Roma/Bari/ can’t get cheese prices within .10 of what I can get @ RD - plus, RD is a 1-stop shop 4 me…I use fresh tenders & wings - still priced below the local chicken distributor…

My pricing structure is quite like yours & I’m running good food costs…

Sorry the CS sux 4 u @ RD

I do wish they had a “click & pull” pre-order option, so I could just swing by & pick it up…my RD is on the way 2 the store…

Good to hear Nick,

They have been a big help to me. At the Expo my wife and I who again we were both clueless as to who the Industry leaders were or who positioned themselves as being the “premium brand”. We came across the Stanislaus booth and wound up being served by the company President (Tom) he spent about 25 minutes with us sharing about the company and giving a good run down on their products and bringing samplings to us. Tom along with all others that we met were really just standout people. After being in retail for 30 years it takes some doing for me to be impressed by a company but I was nothing but impressed by the folks at Stanislaus…

@Paul, generally I’d guess the great attitude we’ve experienced at RD was a locational thing, but seeing as the 2 we’ve visited were in Chicago…blows that theory out!!

I just know that both my wife and I were impressed enough with the “eager to help you” attitude of multiple zone stockers who went out of their way to leave their busy work to come down to us and ask “anything I can do for you”? to make a point of stopping in both managers’ offices as we left their stores to comment on it. I’ve been in retail management and ownership for nearly 34 years and know it left an impression on me it was that “genuine”…that or both locations were running one heck of an employee spiff!!

@Patriot, we were told we could indeed fax in an order to have pulled and waiting for us. I noticed at both locations there were carts loaded and stacked up by the counters much like one would see at SAMS. One caveat though, I think the manager showing us around may have said that their fax and pull’s require a minimum order and $1000 sticks in my head…sounds high to me though. Might be worth checking out.

Someone from RD came down to my shop a few month back looking to get our business… some of their items were the same pricing as i’m getting now, but most of it was higher… put i’d have to drive 30 minutes. So forget that. :lol:

I’ve saved probably a few $100,000 over the years by going there. Some items are cheaper, and some are higher. Paul is right, sometimes their pricing comes up different on the register. They also, don’t employ the best of people.
Take a trip out there and price everything out, Maybe you can save a few bucks. If you are near one, i’d give it a shot. I have one warehouse which is 10 minutes away, and another about 25 minutes away.

We have one about 90 miles from us, but I still go there about once a week and save enough for me to feel it’s worthwhile. I will admit that it’s nice to get in the car and away from phones, sales people and other distractions for awhile.

I get most of my produce there, mushrooms are about $8 less case, peppers about $10 less, and I really like being able to see the product before I buy it. Paper goods are significantly cheaper, as are cleaning supplies and canned goods (olives are about $20 less per case). When we get to the volume our store should have, I’ll see a fairly major savings.

Customer service has been great every time, but it’s nice that you don’t get stopped by a new employee every other isle to see if they can help you.