“The Piata Victoriei area has developed around the office buildings there, which is why the hotel and restaurant business mostly operates during weekdays, mornings to 6 or 7 p.m.,” says Daniel Boaje, CEO of the McDonald’s restaurant chain, the leader of the local restaurant market.
During weekends, however, despite the area being a central location, foot traffic is not enough to compensate. On a weekend day, sales drop to as little as a quarter of what they were in a regular day, actors on the market have previously said.
One of the oldest actors in the area is McDonald’s, which has a network of more than 70 restaurants in Romania, one of which in Piata Victoriei, on the ground floor of the America House office building it opened in 2011.
Many of the companies renting space in the office buildings in the area are leaders in their respective sectors and as such pay higher than average salaries, which is why the restaurant, bar and café supply is diverse covering all price segments and specialties – from fast-food (McDonald’s) to health food (Cooperativa Fru-Fru) and from Italian (Trattoria Buongiorno) to Spanish cuisine (Thalia).
There also a number of cafés (Starbucks, Ted’s, The CoffeeShop), confectionery shops (French Revolution) and bars (Vinexpert).
The most important area of Bucharest for the restaurant, café and bar business by revenue is still the Old Town, followed by Piata Victoriei.
(English version by Loredana Fratila-Cristescu)