Among many signs indicating Armenia’s drastic turn to a free market economy is the growing restaurant industry.

While in Soviet times the number of restaurants in the city hardly exceeded 10, today, according to some estimation (there is not any official statistic) there are more than 500 restaurants in the city, with greatest concentration in the center. The restaurants are not only found in plenty, but offer the gastronomic diversity from Western to Eastern cuisine. Unlike Soviet times, when the restaurants menu was comprised mostly of barbecue or kebab today in Yerevan Italian, French, Spanish, Indian, Chinese, Tai, Lebanese, Mexican and other cuisines (or at least a “version” of them) can be found.

The existence of so many restaurants has created competition from the one side and the necessity of cooperation from the other.

Eight restaurants have united into Armenian Restaurants Association (ARA) to promote better quality of restaurants service through introducing new technologies in restaurants business, ongoing training of its member personnel, ensuring the safety of products, as well as lobbying for favorable legislation to the restaurants industry. (The members of association are Jazzve, Café Central, Artbridge, the Club, Bravo, French restaurant, Square One and Cactus.)

“The association is open and eager to involve more new members,” says David Gabrielyan, manager of Cactus, member restaurant of the association. “Being a member of association is something new in Armenia’s restaurant business and owners of restaurants are dubious to be a part of an organization, though being a member surely does not envisage sharing commercial secrets or recipes. Definitely, the members should meet certain requirements of the association, such as food safety norms, appropriate equipment, quality of service, professional staff.

“We have to admit that generally, the quality in Yerevan’s restaurants leaves much to be desired. It refers mostly to the management, service and generally to the approach to the restaurant business. The mission of our association is to put the restaurant service into such a level that the visitors would see no difference between our restaurants and those in Europe”.”

Members of association (founded last year) pay an annual fee to the organization and organize monthly meetings, during which they discuss different issues- from supplier service to new equipment.

Gabrielyan says there is no appropriate education establishment in Armenia for educating restaurant managers, even though such specialty is offered by some 30 colleges or courses. ARA hopes to fill that gap and has plans to retrain and train its member staff with the help of professionals from abroad.

The ARA has created a database, which is accessible to all its members that provides information from job vacancies to information about delivery service and suppliers.

The association is planning to make decals that will identify their restaurants, verifying that they are members of the association and thereby guarantee a high quality of service.