Running a Restaurant and Bar in Pattaya: What I've Learned

I own three Hemingways in and around Pattaya, but I started out managing other people's restaurants. Here's what I've learned along the way.

How did I get into restaurants?

It's where I started. My first real job in Thailand was on Koh Chang, managing the restaurant at 15 Palms, and while I was there I also helped launch Paddy's Palms. After seven or eight months I moved back to Pattaya and became the manager at the Sportsman on Soi 13.

There were a lot of restaurants between then and Hemingways. At various points I owned the Outback Bar, the Golf Club, which was also a restaurant, and the Clubhouse, plus a few others I've forgotten now.

How did Hemingways start?

It was what I knew, and an opportunity came up. There was an empty unit where Hemingways Jomtien is now, and the owner of the unit asked me if I wanted to do something with it.

What's the hardest part of running a restaurant and bar?

Dealing with the general public. That isn't unique to restaurants. I deal with the public in my car rental and property businesses too. But if you've always worked in an office, it can come as a shock. Everyone's expectations are slightly different, everyone has their own little ways, and in Pattaya it's even tougher because the mix of people is so diverse.

What has kept Hemingways going?

The staff and the management. We've been fortunate to keep a lot of our staff, and some have been with us right from the start, eight or nine years ago now. Once you build that core team, everything else falls into place. I've written more about managing Thai staff.

We were also lucky to be a first mover in Jomtien. The area has grown a lot since we opened, and we were pretty much the first expat sports bar there doing it properly.

How did one Hemingways become three?

Jomtien was the flagship, and it was making money reasonably early on. Then COVID hit. When we came out of it, a site came up in Central Pattaya that was the perfect size, a big place just like Jomtien, and far enough away that the two wouldn't compete for the same customers. The concept worked, so why not replicate it?

Hemingways Lakeside came about the same way. It's a long way from the other two, with a different customer base out there.

My advice if you want to open a restaurant and bar here

Don't go it alone. Team up with somebody who's already doing it, or has done it before. It may look easy from the outside, but it really, really isn't.

For the wider picture, read my advice on starting or buying a business in Pattaya, how I went from bar manager to seven businesses, and where a restaurant owner eats in Pattaya.

Want to work in the trade rather than own a business? Read working in hospitality in Pattaya.