kickstarter for kevin sousa's new restaurant in braddock (Pittsburgh, Swissvale: manufacturing, food)

[erieguy]

Originally Posted by Merge

YOU are their target demographic!

I just know the target demographic. There's not enough people interested in spending enough $$$ to keep many places going.

It is interesting how many people such as yourself are so concerned where people live and how we/they spend our/their $$$.

[UKyank]

Originally Posted by Rocket88

I was at Olive Garden a few weeks back and I could hear people at a table near me raving about how much they love the "Eye-talian" food at the Olive Garden.

Personally I think they make some tasty dishes.

[erieguy]

Originally Posted by UKyank

Personally I think they make some tasty dishes.

But there's no BYOB. I wasn't aware how important that is to some.

[SteelCityRising]

Originally Posted by Merge

YOU are their target demographic!

Why all the hate for erieguy?

I'm a college-educated liberal 20-something who has a decent IQ and also happens to love Olive Garden's breadsticks. Does this make me part of the bottom barrel of America?

[erieguy]

Originally Posted by SteelCityRising

Why all the hate for erieguy?

I'm a college-educated liberal 20-something who has a decent IQ and also happens to love Olive Garden's breadsticks. Does this make me part of the bottom barrel of America?

Even you know and have complained of Butler County, Cranberry, taxes, $$$, McMansions, etc...

I/we on the other hand, say the more the merrier and welcome everyone and most everything. Even Mario just built out here.

If you looked at from a better perspective, you could certainly make more $$$ at a busier pizza delivery restaurant than fighting your way through the city.

[sskink]

Originally Posted by UKyank

Personally I think they make some tasty dishes.

I don't go there by choice. But I have been there. Speaking as a cook and a food professional, I don't get the appeal.

I rarely go out for red sauce Italian, but if I were to do so, I'd go to a place like Big Jim's Roadhouse 100x out of 100. Huge portions (enough to make dinner the next day), more tasty, cheaper prices, better house salad, better bread... and for less $$$$.

Seems many people can't think outside of a big brand.

[UKyank]

I

Originally Posted by sskink

I don't go there by choice. But I have been there. Speaking as a cook and a food professional, I don't get the appeal.

I rarely go out for red sauce Italian, but if I were to do so, I'd go to a place like Big Jim's Roadhouse 100x out of 100. Huge portions (enough to make dinner the next day), more tasty, cheaper prices, better house salad, better bread... and for less $$$$.

Seems many people can't think outside of a big brand.

I find no reason not to enjoy both as I prefer the variety since no places serves identical dishes. Even if I had the option of eating at say 'French Laundry' everyday for free, that wouldn't mean I'd stop getting a hankering for eat-n-park at times too.

If one doesn't like a place such as the Olive Garden because they've been there & dislike the taste of the food I'm fine with that, if however they don't like it just because it's a big national chain then I find that line of thinking silly.

[RogersParkTransplant]

Originally Posted by sskink

I don't go there by choice. But I have been there. Speaking as a cook and a food professional, I don't get the appeal.

I rarely go out for red sauce Italian, but if I were to do so, I'd go to a place like Big Jim's Roadhouse 100x out of 100. Huge portions (enough to make dinner the next day), more tasty, cheaper prices, better house salad, better bread... and for less $$$$.

Seems many people can't think outside of a big brand.

Do you mean Big Jim's out on 79? The one in Greenfield / the Run is amazing; I'm aware of the one on the way to Canonsburg but not sure if they have any connection beyond just the name.


It's hard to debate about one kind of restaurant vs. another because the restaurant business is such a complicated thing, and people have such different needs depending on their circumstances. It's also a huge question, whether a restaurant in Braddock should focus on the local community, or whether it should try to attract people from elsewhere to come in and spend time in Braddock when they otherwise wouldn't.

Personally I think that local, independent businesses do more for a community than national chains in the end, because they attract a certain kind of intangible good will that can't be boiled down to a dollar amount. On Federal Street there's a Pizza Hut across the street from an independent burrito shop. I don't know which one makes more money, but it's probably Pizza Hut. I still think the burrito shop does more for the community, though, because it draws people to come and hang out and get to know the neighborhood, and that's incredibly important for the whole North side.

Demographic questions become very tricky here, and it's mostly (but not entirely) true that the burrito shop crowd is much more gentrified than the Pizza Hut crowd. This doesn't have to be the case, though, and there's definitely a way for restaurants to reach out to both the established locals and other people who might want to get to know places like Braddock, and would love a new reason to go check it out.

[erieguy]

Originally Posted by UKyank

I

I find no reason not to enjoy both as I prefer the variety since no places serves identical dishes. Even if I had the option of eating at say 'French Laundry' everyday for free, that wouldn't mean I'd stop getting a hankering for eat-n-park at times too.

If one doesn't like a place such as the Olive Garden because they've been there & dislike the taste of the food I'm fine with that, if however they don't like it just because it's a big national chain then I find that line of thinking silly.

Bingo.

[sealie]

Originally Posted by SteelCityRising

Why all the hate for erieguy?

I'm a college-educated liberal 20-something who has a decent IQ and also happens to love Olive Garden's breadsticks. Does this make me part of the bottom barrel of America?

It makes you middlebrow. It may make you a sodium addict. These are both still legal things to be AFAIK. I am a firm believer in people's right to choose what they eat, where they live, and how they get to work, which I realize is a radical philosophy.