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Well, there are four Red Lobster restaurants in New York City (Times Square, W. 125th Street, one each in the boroughs of Brooklyn and the Bronx) and only one in my town, so I will have to get my nose up in the air and some day ask the sophisticated urbanites there how they can even manage to stay in business. No truly sophisticated city needs more than one.
New York City also has three Olive Gardens (Times Square, Avenue of the Americas, and one in Brooklyn) while there is one in my town. I checked both restaurants' websites.
Both of these restaurants have several additional restaurants in the NYC suburbs. They both make plenty of $$$$ serving to NYC metro area residents.
To the small town residents, next time you suggest one of these two to a visiting New Yorker and they object, tell them about these seven restaurants in their own city and ask how on earth do they manage to even stay open. Food for thought! Pun intended!
The main point, however, is about having manners and class, realizing it is just one meal in your life.
The owners of national restaurant chains pursue cities with relatively broad tax bases. Back on topic, though: Yes, it is about manners and class when visiting "non-chici" restaurants with friends and family. It takes very little effort to order something acceptable from the menu. Perhaps pair a salad with an appetizer, or order a soup and sandwich combination. Little enough effort to avoid alienating those you care about.
New York has millions of tourists visit every year. Maybe they are going to those restaurants because they are familiar to them. Think about it--is a person who lives in New York City likely to ever eat out in Times Square? I don't think so! But, I haven't surveyed every New Yorker, so I wouldn't know where they eat.
Seriously, I bet office workers at least get lunch in those chain places in New York. When I worked in the Flatiron district, there was a woman in my office who wanted to have her birthday lunch every year in the Outback down the street because she liked their sweet potato fries. There are a ton of wonderful, independent restaurants in that area, but she wanted friggin' Outback. I'm sure she's not the only person like that.
If I was a tourist in NYC, I would not go to Olive Garden or Red Lobster if I could help it. Yes, it could be office workers and some tourists. BTW, only two of those seven restaurants were in Times Square.
That was funny about the lady wanting Outback every birthday. Sure there are others like her as you said and no doubt NYC has several options. I have eaten at Outback and it is probably one of the better places for steak in my town.
By that I mean people (not all obviously) will talk down about places that don't have the luxury of having a million different/unique places to eat. Where I live admittedly most is chain restaurants and the like, but we do still have some unique restaurants/places to go eat you just have to drive a bit, yet time and time again when I've had people from big city's come down to visit and I suggest somewhere that's more chain-type places I get disparaging remarks.
A few examples: Last year a friend of mine who moved to NY a few years ago came down to visit. We were going to go out to eat and I said how about Olive garden to which she said "Olive garden? That's such crap! In NY you can get REAL Italian food!" she said it in a kind of joking manner but it still rubbed me the wrong way.
Another time a friend visited from Boston and when I suggested we go grab a bite to eat she said "Sure, but it better not be one of those crappy chain-type places that serve low quality food. In Boston we have so much more variety and the food there puts anything here to shame."
I get it, living in a smaller town I'm not fortunate enough to have access to all these great, wonderful restaurants/eatery's that people in bigger cities have, but there's no reason to be condescending! I just hate how so many from bigger cities feel the need to blurt out how much "better" they have it in terms of food.
For the same reason that some people will complain that "people from big city's" are "elitist" - because some people fixate on differences. As often as not, those differences are cast as 'those people = bad, unlike people where I live, which = good'.
You're engaging in the same category of behavior that annoys you.
The people in smaller towns can get their "revenge" against their big city friends (the ones that always remind them there eateries are superior) when they are in heavy traffic in the big city saying "In my town, we would already be seated and ordering by now. We are still over a mile from the restaurant in all this congestion and you will probably have to pay to park, right?" Just having fun with the thread!
(Also? I LOVE Olive Garden's salad and breadsticks. There, I said it. It's not going to win any culinary awards, but it reminds me so much of childhood and makes me smile. I could eat an entire bowl of that salad and several breadsticks dunked in marinara, and just call it a meal.)
ME TOO ME TOO!!!
But I don't particularly like their food. We have gone there and did the soup/salad lunch, and I'm fine with that. I live in an area that has a lot of excellent Italian restaurants, so I"m a little spoiled. But i do love their salad and breadsticks.
Also, most of the big cities have these chains (including OG). And go past any of them, they are usually packed. Even though there is decent Italian a half mile away. So obviously people do enjoy it.
Yeah, I'm about to walk 3 minutes to a restaurant, and I'll pass 7 or 8 other ones on the way.
How many beggars asked you for money on that three minute walk? It would still be nice to live within walking distance of that many restaurants even with that issue.
How many beggars asked you for money on that three minute walk? It would still be nice to live within walking distance of that many restaurants even with that issue.
None. I had a bro-type guy ask me for directions to a bar and ran into a friend. Oh, and I also made the walk with my 7 year old daughter, who helped give the bro guy directions. I should also note that I live in a SFH with a yard and garage - not a skyscraper, condo, or other stereotypical urban living situation. And this is in a neighborhood with about 12,000 people/sq. mile. It's a mix of 3 flats and SFHs. That's pretty typical among the people I know in Chicago, or most other large cities (Boston, SF, DC, NYC - Brooklyn).
None. I had a bro-type guy ask me for directions to a bar and ran into a friend. Oh, and I also made the walk with my 7 year old daughter, who helped give the bro guy directions. I should also note that I live in a SFH with a yard and garage - not a skyscraper, condo, or other stereotypical urban living situation. And this is in a neighborhood with about 12,000 people/sq. mile. It's a mix of 3 flats and SFHs. That's pretty typical among the people I know in Chicago, or most other large cities (Boston, SF, DC, NYC - Brooklyn).
Sounds like the best of both worlds: SFH w/yard and garage and walking distance to restaurants!
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