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Last summer we had some work group visiting. Not friends, but you have to pretend to be friends.
We took them for breakfast at an awesome little diner. They acted like the place was filthy. One ordered a soy latte, no, this is a DINER...they serve coffee! They sat stiffly, ordering wheat toast, instead of the awesome specials like green chili eggs, blueberry French toast, with fresh berries...
Gee, this is good food! Not fancy or expensive. They missed out.
I guess they are back in the big city...with fancy food!
Exactly "pretend to be friends". Soy latte
Meanwhile, coming from Philly, I ADORE diners, the ones in Philly and NJ are legendary! My father ate here every single day of his life since the 1960's haha.
when you live in a sewer, you need to take the few positives of the sewer and magnify their importance. oh we don't have a front lawn, but we have lots of fancy restaurants! oh, a homeless person just took a dump outside my front door. but I can go eat at an Argentinean restaurant whenever I want!
.....
OR.....when a person visits a new place or a place the person hasn't been often or isn't familiar with...how about not suggesting a low level chain where the person could eat any day of the week at home. Why not let the hosts pick a place... or say something like, "let's go somewhere I CAN'T eat at home," or be light hearted from the start and say -- "OK you guys know I'm on a budget. How about the best place for under 25 bucks, or $40 or whatever you the budget is. Not that the person HAS to do this BUT at least it might show a willingness to eat a bit better, if one is open to that, of course.
I AM a food snob is some ways, but sure the people you're visiting should be able to suggest a place-- maybe even one they've been wanting to try but haven't gotten to yet -- that's within budget.
Having lived in Italy and traveled internationally quite a bit, I am snobbish about several cuisines, Italian being just one. So I have to say I'd be put off too if someone goes to NYC, or SF, or Boston, Chicago, or Philly -- and even MENTIONS Olive Garden to me. BUT I do agree there is a way to suggest a higher level of dining, without being insulting.
Cities for the most part have much better food, period. You simply don't have any access in rural parts to many of the higher quality ingredients and food items that you can find in cities, there is a plethora of more options to choose from, and you can find many choices by simply walking.
If I go to smaller towns and rural parts of the country, I'm not expecting haute cuisine, but chain restaurants? Come on. You can do better. What defines your region of the country? A chain restaurant? That says there's nothing special about where you live except you've been commercialized by a suit in a major city. Mom and pop diner where they've been there for 40 years? Great! Let's go there instead of location with mass produced factory items where they just drown everything in salt, sugar, and fat.
You can't find say a La Bec Fin type of place like Lancaster, PA, but what you can find is something better than a chain restaurant like family style dining with good fried chicken, corn, carrots, sweet potatoes, an local amish shoo fly pie with ice cream made by a dairy farmer down the road. I refuse to believe that no matter where you are you can't do better than a chain restaurant. If not, then well that's a sad statement about America. It says we are losing our heritage and regional cultures.
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.
I am not from a "big" city at all and feel I tend to get all uppity over where I would go to eat. I won't jeopardize my health to make anyone richer *chain restaurants, especially.
And...I worked for while in a banquet hall. Broke out in hives every time just by carrying the "food." Never ate the stuff. yech
I want my food fresh, free of chemicals and local bought. If not, I will eat at home. Most of the food purchased from these places is crap. imo. I just cannot help their profit margin by making myself ill because they buy cheap ingredients. Nope.
If it means I find that one little out of the way place that actually uses bison for burgers and gf buns - YES!!! I will pay a little more for knowing the cattle wasn't fed something untested from a lab and shot full of antibiotics. Or worse. (seafood from a country that is not big on quality or anything remotely like it)
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.
It's not unique to situations as yours either; while I find the chains boring and tend to avoid them, the problem is regional as well. People from different areas will comment how bad the food is in other parts of the country.
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.
Yes. Chain restaurants proliferate easily in these places because the companies have access to deep wells of capital, and can operate an individual restaurant at a loss for years if necessary. This allows them to obtain favorable lease terms, undercut locally owned entrepreneurs, obtain economies of scale, etc (especially in "new" places such as greenfield suburbs without an established small business environment). They largely purchase their food in more or less prepared form from Sysco. A total lack of local autonomy strips the experience of any character, and removes many elements of learned business and culinary skill that could be used to build up communities. The profits are then returned to HQ and shareholders, not plowed back into the local economy. And if chain restaurants are the only choice, then people are often not even aware of the types of choices that exist elsewhere.
So, I enjoy the huge variety of wonderful places to eat where I live. My wife is also an excellent cook, and we also have incredible locally owned grocery stores such as Berkeley Bowl and Rainbow Grocery that provide quality and selection that you simply won't find at a national chain grocer (Whole Foods tries to approximate the experience.)
Basically, in many cases, the food really is better. It's the consequence of a mature small business environment, population density, and land use patterns.
The exception is suburban areas that are not actively targeted by chain companies, usually because the demographics don't line up with their formula business model. Typically ethnic or low income neighborhoods. In actuality this often allows great small business environments to develop in these areas, and can produce excellent restaurants and grocery stores.
If someone is visiting you from a far distant place, why would anyone want to go to the same restaurants they can get in their own town. And, if there is good food available while on vacation, why eat standard fast food - or even upgraded fast food.
I've seen plenty of food snobbery from suburbanites as well. Foodies in suburbia are gonna steer clear of Olive Garden the same way they'll steer clear of cheap wine and watery beer.
So this thread would be better discussing the obsessions of foodies, and why they often say they "live to eat," and think the wine selection is the most important part of the meal. I'm fine with foodies if they are using their passion to eat healthy. But if they are eating high-calorie, ultimately unhealthy food thinking it's all good because it was lovingly prepared, I'll roll my eyes.
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Most of the food purchased from these places is crap. imo. I just cannot help their profit margin by making myself ill because they buy cheap ingredients. Nope.
especially today--imo
