(Trinidad Express) The Trinidad and Tobago branch of the German’s Restaurant, owned by two young Guyanese businessmen, closed its doors in St James, Port of Spain, last weekend after seven months in operation.
The German’s Restaurant has been in Guyana for over 50 years and is known for its special brands of soups and creole dishes.
The co-owners, Hubert and Clinton Urling, told the Express one of the reasons why they closed the restaurant in St James—which was meant to offer a distinct type of Guyanese cuisine to T&T—was because of an offer of the rental of its facilities, at the prime location at 41 Western Main Road, St James, to the local franchise owners of an American fast food outlet.
In addition to the rental, he said there were other business investment possibilities Guyana could benefit from in the deal, such as the American franchise extending its reach to Guyana.
Both brothers said in separate interviews from Georgetown, Guyana, they could not refuse the offers for the rental of the facilities.
Asked whether the restaurant was not getting the kind of patronage it had anticipated, Hubert said patronage, particularly from Guyanese who would have liked to savour the Guyanese cuisine, would have found the location out of the way, especially during lunch time.
The closure of German’s in Trinidad and Tobago meant the 12-member staff—a mixture of Guyanese and Trinidadians—were also sent home.
Hubert also noted they were doing a feasibility study to see if they could open another branch at another location, which would be closer to the large Guyanese community in T&T.
On opening the facility in February, Clinton had said the decision to open in St James was because the area was heavily populated and consumer traffic was good.
The Trinidad restaurant was the first branch in what was expected to be a chain of restaurants across the Caribbean and North America.