On Seafood Grill: Experiences of Restaurant Operators

Abstract

This study explored the experiences of seafood and grill restaurant operators in Cebu during 2022-2023, focusing on their business profiles, challenges, and aspirations for improvement. A descriptive phenomenological design was used to explore the lived experiences of 11 seafood and grill restaurant operators in Cebu Province. Data were collected through open-ended interviews, recorded with consent, transcribed verbatim, and analyzed thematically. For the experiences of the participants as seafood and grill restaurant operators’ emergent themes created were: Cultivating Reasons and Motivations, Establishing Stable Business Financial Flow, Maintaining Supply, Volume and Scale of Seafood Stocks/Goods, Monitoring Traceability on the Existing and Past Seafood Supply, Handling Impact of Customer Demand to Seafood Supply, and Securing a Sustainable and Consistent Supply. For the aspirations of the participants to improve their operations, the themes created were: Staying Passionate and Driven in Operating the Seafood Restaurant, Optimizing Restaurant Operations to Align with Business Goals, and Commitment to Launching the Seafood Restaurant Despite Facing Major Difficulties. It suggested to have an exploratory study in customer behavior and marketing dynamics in relation to seafood restaurants, expand the geographical scope of future research to include seafood and grill restaurant operators from other provinces or regions outside Cebu, conduct comparative studies between urban and rural locations in terms of seafood and grill restaurant operations. Furthermore, is to use findings to inform curriculum design in hospitality, culinary, and business programs and reference future studies in policy formulation for local government units or tourism departments promoting local culinary businesses.