Why Ghanaian Restaurants Abroad Do No Last | Culture of Non-Patronage or Extortionate Prices?

Most of my favourite Ghanaian restaurants and bars in London have closed down—they pop frequently and shut down just as they come up.

According to my colleague in New York, the story is the same out there: most Ghanaian restaurants, bars and clubs do not last—they seem to have an average life span of two years.

From afar, it’s is difficult to ascertain the cause of the many set ups and their predictable close downs—but as a customer, two factors come up as the possible candidates responsible for the non-sustainability of Ghanaian restaurants abroad.

They are: the low patronage by Ghanaians abroad and what seems like extortionate prices these restaurants charge. I understand these two factors are related—with the latter capable of giving rise to the former.

But let’s treat them as exclusive—meaning, the restaurant owners would blame their business failure on the fact that Ghanaians do not like to patronage their outfits, independently. And the Ghanaian customers will also perch the prices of the foods being sold by these restaurants with others, saying, they are extortionate.

In between the two groups of people, let’s share our opinions and experiences to establish who is at fault.

I’ve always had issues with waiting times when it comes to Ghanaian restaurants and I have in the past written about this. Mostly, the entire customer service makes you not want to come back—that’s if you don’t die waiting for over an hour for your order.

It doesn’t matter even if you just ordered a cup of hot water—it’s going to take long as if they are going to the river side to fetch the water.

Let’s not cloud this discussion with these bad politics, albeit a strong factor why some people do not patronize Ghanaian restaurants abroad. I just want us to look at the issue of patronage: on the grounds that, Ghanaians naturally hate to eat out and that’s the main reason why these restaurants fail, against the arguments that these restaurants just take the piss with their prices—and that’s why they don’t last.

I just came from Ghana but my obsession with our Ghanaian food sent me to a North London Ghanaian restaurant this evening. I usually order, sit and wait for my order to be packaged as a takeaway and walk off. I’ve never really bothered myself with their price chart as much as I care about the quality of the food.

However, probably because I just came from Ghana—and with a lot of waiting time, I picked their menu (above) today to go through. And that’s when it hit me: why are they charging so much?

A big plate of Chinese (be it a special fried rice or noodles) will averagely go for £4:50 in most parts of London—but the same portion of Waakye will go for £12 or £15.

Perhaps Ghanaians do not understand that you can cut down prices to increase demand—and correspondingly, high prices can also decrease demand.

The Chinese and Indians seem to be playing their cards well in this sector. As someone who eats out a lot, I find their food prices reasonable—and customer service is mostly on point.

I’ve never operated a restaurant but if in the same vicinity (assuming the rent charges are closely the same) the Chinese and Indians are able to sell at reasonable prices, what stops Ghanaians from having competitive prices?

Maybe it’s true that Ghanaians abroad do not just like to eat out and as such the few who come out to eat have to pay for those at home. But that in itself is not a justification for these seemingly extortionate prices being slapped on Wakyee, Yam and Banku across the ocean.

I’ve heard a Ghanaian restaurant owner pricing a bottle of Joy Daddy at £15 with the buyer ready to pay for it—the only problem was that, all had been sold out.

For me, though one of my friends whose Luton based restaurant closed down early this year thinks it’s the fault of Ghanaians—a cultural attitude where Ghanaians love to cook and eat at home instead of patronizing restaurants; I still think the extortionate prices are the deal breaker.

How much do you pay for Ghanaian foods wherever you are across the pond?

What do you think of the prices—and most importantly, what do you think is the cause of Ghanaian restaurants abroad not lasting; the food price or a default culture of non-patronage? What’s been your general experience with Ghanaian restaurants wherever you are?