板前餐饮爆火背后 90%的门店都只是徒有其表的刻意作秀？

This article outlines the current state of the popular counter-side dining trend, helping ordinary consumers sort out the reality behind the hype and avoid bad visiting experiences.

1. The core of counter-side dining is placing the cooking process in front of diners, centered on visual ingredient transparency and interactive experience. Multiple brands have achieved traffic growth through this model: for example, Baozaihuang saw a 40% increase in single-store revenue, and Gan Shiji recorded a 30% to 40% rise in store entry rate. A high-end counter-side coffee brand even sells its coffee for 398 RMB per cup through experiential positioning, and still has fully booked reservations.

2. There is obvious froth in the current market. Around 90% of counter-side stores only focus on superficial aesthetics: they turn cooking into performance, attract customers with photo-worthy setups, but ignore core product strengths such as ingredient quality and flavor. Many stores also inflate prices through the "ritual experience" of counter-side service, offering very low cost-performance, and struggle to retain customers once the novelty fades.

3. For consumers visiting counter-side dining outlets, we advise prioritizing the product itself over paying high premiums for hollow ritual sense. Diners can also check store hygiene through the open counter workspace, avoiding low-quality outlets.

This article analyzes the current development and core issues of the counter-side dining boom, offering multi-faceted insights for restaurant brands rolling out this model.

1. From a consumer trend perspective, today's consumers not only care about dish flavor, but also pay close attention to ingredient sourcing and cooking processes. Rising demand for transparency and experience is reshaping restaurant logic, and the counter-side model directly caters to this demand. When executed well, it effectively boosts store entry rates and single-store revenue.

2. Brands adopting this model should avoid three major pitfalls: do not follow the trend blindly, do not stop at superficial form (turning cooking into a attention-grabbing performance while neglecting product quality), do not erode consumer trust by inflating prices for ritual sense. Open counter setups also amplify hygiene management gaps, so brands must pay greater attention to store operations.

3. Key considerations for the counter-side model: choose compatible categories first — prioritize categories whose core value is tied to "wok hei", freshly cooked food, handmade craft, or categories whose production process is inherently compelling. Brands also need to build core barriers to avoid homogenized competition, and balance location costs against customer flow.

This article analyzes the opportunities and risks of the counter-side dining track, offering clear actionable guidance for independent sellers looking to enter the space.

1. Current track opportunities: The counter-side model caters to consumer demand for transparent, freshly made food and experiential dining. No dominant leading brands have emerged yet in the track, so early entrants can capture traffic dividends. Many successful cases prove that well-executed counter-side concepts can quickly lift store entry rates and single-store revenue.

2. Core risk warnings: Blindly following the trend carries high risk, as 90% of current players prioritize form over substance. If the category is not compatible with the model, it will disrupt order flow, reduce efficiency, and drag down user experience. The model has low technical barriers, making it easy to fall into homogenized competition that splits customer flow quickly. In addition, counter-side stores have much higher fixed costs than traditional outlets, rely on high-foot-traffic locations, face heavy rent pressure, have slower payback, and are very likely to lose money once the hype fades.

3. Actionable recommendations: Assess category compatibility before entering the market, prioritize polishing product strength, build differentiated core barriers, do not only copy the superficial format, and calculate payback periods to control investment risk.

This article analyzes shifting market demand brought by the counter-side dining boom, providing directional guidance for food supply chain factories.

1. Shifts in product design and production demand: The counter-side model has higher requirements for ingredient freshness, and sees rising demand for standardized semi-finished products and customized raw materials adapted to in-counter fresh preparation — such as raw materials for counter-side clay pot rice, fresh beef, and handmade noodles. Factories can develop tailored products for this demand.

2. Commercial opportunities: Counter-side dining is currently in a boom period, and demand for specialized equipment and customized raw materials from a flood of new openings is growing rapidly. Factories can launch targeted cooking equipment and pre-conditioned raw materials for counter-side stores to capture the new niche market.

3. Development insights: The counter-side model requires more transparent supply chains, as consumers care about ingredient sourcing. Factories can partner with downstream restaurant brands to build open, traceable supply chain systems to boost product trust. At the same time, factories should pay attention to the track's hype cycle, avoid blindly expanding production, and prevent overcapacity once the boom cools.

This article sorts out development trends and merchant pain points in the counter-side dining industry, providing business direction for food industry-related service providers.

1. Industry development trend: Counter-side dining is a new restaurant model that has emerged in recent years, and is currently in a hype-fueled boom phase. A large number of small and medium-sized restaurant operators are rushing to enter the space, driving rapid track growth and generating strong demand for professional services — creating a new source of business growth for service providers.

2. Core merchant pain points: Most merchants looking to enter the space do not know which categories fit the counter-side model, struggle to balance rent costs and payback pressure in high-traffic locations, easily fall into the trap of prioritizing superficial form over product strength, struggle to build differentiated competitiveness, and lack guidance on hygiene operations and management in open counter settings.

3. Recommended business directions: Service providers can launch targeted services to address these pain points, including category compatibility consulting for counter-side stores, differentiated brand positioning, operations management training, and cost control solutions. These services help merchants avoid the risk of blind trend-following, improve the operational success rate of counter-side stores, and capture the new service market.

This article analyzes the operating characteristics and core needs of counter-side dining merchants, providing operational guidance for platforms that host food businesses, such as shopping malls and restaurant investment platforms.

1. Core merchant needs and problems: Counter-side dining relies heavily on customer flow provided by platforms, has very high requirements for location quality, has much higher fixed costs than traditional dining, and faces heavy payback pressure. The track is currently plagued by severe homogenization, lacks leading brands, and the lifespan of the large number of trend-following merchants is uncertain, making a boom-and-bust cycle very likely.

2. Adjustments to investment attraction and operations: Platforms should control the density of counter-side stores in the same region to avoid excessive competition that leads to mass merchant exits. They should also screen merchants that have real product strength and choose compatible categories, weed out trend-following merchants that only focus on superficial form, and improve the overall quality of the platform's business mix.

3. Risk mitigation: Platforms should recognize that while the track is currently hot, its growth cycle is uncertain. They should avoid large-scale investment attraction just to capitalize on the hype, and plan their business layout reasonably. They can also design flexible rent policies to address the payback pressure faced by counter-side merchants, helping reduce early-stage pressure and improve merchant survival rates.

This article presents in-depth research on the emerging counter-side dining model, sorting out the industry's development stage and core issues, providing first-hand reference for food industry researchers.

1. New industry trends: Counter-side dining is an innovative model that has emerged in China's restaurant industry in recent years. Its core is moving kitchen operations front of house, leveraging visible cooking to enhance the consumer experience and build consumer trust. The industry has now entered a boom phase where players are rushing in, and multiple restaurant categories are testing the model. Several cases of high-performing single stores have already emerged, confirming the potential of compatible applications of the model.

2. New industry problems: There is widespread blind trend-following in the current market. Nearly 90% of merchants prioritize form over substance: they only focus on attention-grabbing superficial performances, and ignore core product strength. This has also spawned a range of other problems: inflated premiums, amplified hygiene risks, poor category compatibility, severe homogenized competition, the contradiction between costs and site selection, and long payback cycles.

3. Reference for business model research: This article concludes that the counter-side model is essentially an experience amplifier and a trust hook, not a one-size-fits-all solution for struggling businesses. It places higher requirements on operators' fundamental product capabilities, and long-term development ultimately depends on returning to product quality. This conclusion offers high reference value for studying the development rules of new restaurant models and the logic of boom-and-bust hype cycles.