An old Echo Park restaurant's recipe for riding out the recession

There is comfort in places like Taix, the French restaurant housed in a faux chateau, that comes with years of predictability. The same valet opens the car door upon arriving at the Echo Park restaurant. Familiar bartenders and barflies await in the dimly lit lounge. White-shirted waiters exchange nods of recognition with long time customers who know the soup de jour is split green pea on Sunday and lentil on Tuesday. So, when things change, even slightly, customers notice. The steak, isn't that smaller? Macaroni and cheese on the menu? That's new. When did the Happy Hour specials begin? Why is Michael Taix, whose grandfather founded the place, waiting tables? What is going on?

Taix, like other restaurants, bars and cafe along Sunset Boulevard and across the city, is struggling in a rough economy. The recession has undermined the restaurant's banquet business and kept regular customers away. Business at the 82-year-old restaurant is off 10%, which is a big deal a competitive industry with little margin for error. As a result, Taix, one of the oldest restaurants in Los Angeles, has introduced a series of new menu items and promotions aimed at keeping it in business. A profit would be nice this year but the immediate goal for the landmark Echo park restaurant is to generate enough revenue to pay the bills and meet a payroll with more than 50 workers. The current slump has posed the biggest challenge to face Michael Taix, the third generation of a family who has steered the restaurant through the Great Depression, several lesser economic downturns and a world war.

"We are lucky to be down only 10%," said Taix, who took charge of the business from his father, Raymond, about 15 years ago. "This has been the most challenging period we have had. Survival is the goal."

Michael Taix's grandfather, Marius Taix, Jr., opened the restaurant only two years before the stock market crashed in 1929, triggering the Great Depression. The restaurant was then located in downtown, near what is now Parker Center (the restaurant moved to its current Echo Park location in 1962). Despite the Wall Street crash and the hard years that followed, the new restaurant turned out to be well suited for the times, featuring large portions and cheap 50 cent meals served family style at communal tables. An extra 25 cents bought you a seat at a private booth. "They were able to offer meals at a very reasonable price from day one," Taix said. "They were as busy as ever during the Depression."

During World War II, the Taix family struggled to find workers amid a labor shortage and buy basic ingredients, like butter and and milk, in the face of rationing. The next big challenge came in the early 1980s when a recession drove up unemployment and inflation raised food costs the restaurant could not pass along to budget-conscious customers. Those conditions are very similar to what Taix is facing now, only more severe. "People are not eating out as much," said Taix. "Restaurants are offering discounts all over town, but ... they are not making money. They are waiting for better days and better years."

Taix said he noticed that business began to slide at the end of last summer. In response, the restaurant has introduced special menu items, like macaroni and cheese and quiche at lunch. These low priced comfort foods - some starting at $7.95 - have proved popular. The restaurant has also held the line on pricing, this year's $59 Bastille Day menu cost the same as last year despite higher food costs. Some food portions have also shrunk. "It's hard to change what you to do," Taix said. "When you serve a smaller portion ... people say something."

The one part of the business that has held up during the past year is the bar, said Taix. That's a lesson the family has learned over three generations:

"People still drink in a depression or recession."

Photos from Taix