restaurant of an unwanted reputation for being an expensive place to eat.

Among the changes are the withdrawal of the Front Street restaurant's automatic 15 percent gratuities.

"I don't believe in this system,'' said Mr. Reiter. "Why should people tip regardless of the service they receive?'' Earlier this year Mr. Reiter removed automatic gratuities at his other restaurant, The Lobster Pot.

"Staff will pay more attention to the business if they are unsure of whether they will be tipped or how much,'' said Mr. Reiter.

"I'm sure that customers will be only too happy to tip them if they receive good service.'' Port o' Call has also added a fixed price `Early Bird Dinner Special' in a further attempt to alter the public's perception of the business.

For $15.75, a customer can have an appetiser, main course, dessert and coffee, provided it is ordered between 5 p.m. and 6.30 p.m.

Mr. Reiter said: "We have been labelled, unjustifiably, as being expensive.

"But, if you compare apples with apples, I believe this reputation is unfair.

Our prices are way below those of the Newport Room, Fourways Inn or Tom Moore's Tavern.

"Because of the elegance of the place, people wrongly believe we're expensive.'' In an attempt to increase traffic in the restaurant and to "loosen up'' its atmosphere, he has installed a public bar for use by diners and non-diners alike.

Apart from there being too many restaurants around at the moment, Mr. Reiter said there were several other factors making it difficult for restaurateurs to make ends meet.

He criticised the "kickbacks'' which some hotels charge for steering their guests to preferred restaurants.

"The general practice is to charge us $2.50 per diner but I've heard of fees as high as $5, which is a ridiculous sum,'' he said.

In some cases, hotel staff have been ordered by management not to recommend any local restaurants, he said. "They want their guests to eat at the hotel restaurant, instead,'' he added.

People who organise the entertainment agendas for large groups of visitors are also profiting at the expense of restaurateurs, he said.

"We may quote these people a group rate of, say, $35 a head but they in turn may quote their customers $45 a head,'' he said.

In more than 20 years in the restaurant business, Mr. Reiter said he had never seen it more difficult to make money.

CHEERS! -- Mrs. Gillian Thieding, bar tender and assistant Maitre d' at Port o' Call, shakes up a drink for assistant manager Mrs. Lynn Bardgett at the restaurant's new bar.