New England Indic restaurants business and culture: an exploratory empirical study

Abstract

Indian cuisine is gaining increasing popularity all over the world because of the unique delicious taste of the food as well as a healthy diet it represents. Indian food is well known for the excellent use of spices and a wonderful combination of vegetables and pulses. In the present exploratory study, we surveyed 104 Indian restaurants in New England region in the USA and examined the model that identifies the variables that have a profound influence on performance of restaurants. The hierarchical regression results revealed that vegetarian food served in Indian restaurants has a positive effect on performance in terms of sales revenue. Results also reveal that the non-vegetarian food served (beef, chicken, pork, lamb and seafood) in Indian restaurants is not significantly related to sales revenue. Further, traditional method of serving food in Indian restaurants is positively related to sales revenue. Quite surprisingly, the price of food in Indian restaurants is not a significant factor and is not related to sales revenue. The implications of the findings from the study, and recommendations are discussed.