Endless wasteland of generic chains... (Miami, Orlando: house, restaurant, price)

[OrlFlaUsa]

Originally Posted by Peter1948

Yes, really. Let's throw Dallas out. It's HUGE. Ft Worth also has a more indie vibe than Orl.

So lets compare Nashville, Orlando, and Louisville. Nashville and Louisville, although substantially smaller metro areas, really feel much more urban, dense, and bigger. Especially Louisville. Much better restaurants, and much more of a "look at our local culture" kind of vibe.

Orlando has its strengths...weather, tourism, growth, good shopping, and very internationally diverse for the SE, but it has such a long way to go in food, sophisticated (non college oriented) nightlife, and urban, walkable vitality while mitigating atrocious sprawl.

No no, I'm very familiar with Dallas and downtown Dallas is a big letdown for such a "big" city. Now I did like Forth Worth but the vibe leans ****** tonk which is fine but arguably not better. Nashville must have changed a lot since I was there back in 2008, I found it to small, very touristy in it's downtown, and the restaurants were on par with any other mid-sized downtown such as Orlando. I'd imagine the same would go for Louisville. But hey, since you wanna drop in here and claim how these cities best Orlando, then why don't you show examples and I'll do my darndest to counter them. Otherwise, you're just talking smack.

[annerk]

Originally Posted by Peter1948

....and both are chains. Good chains, but still chains. You guys need to travel more

Are you kidding? I flew over 100,000 miles last year. I made three trips to the west coast, and spent three weeks in Europe. I spent about 100 nights in hotels. I hardly think I need to travel more. In fact I traveled so much that having a good "chain" (like Seasons 52) would often be comforting, knowing that I'd get a good meal with good service and not run the risk of food poisoning ruining my meetings the next day--like I had happen in Portland last fall.

[Mr Idealism]

Originally Posted by Peter1948

....and both are chains. Good chains, but still chains. You guys need to travel more

Please reread the first half of my post. FWIW I haven't been to either Roy's nor Season's 52 in well over a year. I was just using them as examples of good small chains. Here's a short list of restaurants that deserve the recognition they've been getting.

Chef's Table
Prato
Luma
Ravenous Pig
Cask and Larder
Rusty Spoon
K Restaurant
Sushi Pop

[chopchop0]

Originally Posted by Mr Idealism

Please reread the first half of my post. FWIW I haven't been to either Roy's nor Season's 52 in well over a year. I was just using them as examples of good small chains. Here's a short list of restaurants that deserve the recognition they've been getting.

Chef's Table
Prato
Luma
Ravenous Pig
Cask and Larder
Rusty Spoon
K Restaurant
Sushi Pop

There's also "pharmacy" the bistro concept from the chefs that own the table

[Mr Idealism]

Originally Posted by chopchop0

There's also "pharmacy" the bistro concept from the chefs that own the table

shhh...can barely get a seat at the bar there as it is.

[chopchop0]

Originally Posted by Mr Idealism

shhh...can barely get a seat at the bar there as it is.

Surprising, considering there's no sign on the door

[CountryFisher]

Quite honestly, most people do not give a two sh**s about "vibrancy" or "walk-ability" (whatever these things mean), if they did, they would move to a place that offered these things. You elist urbanists need to get over it.

Only on this forum do I hear people whine about chain restaurants, the lack of "urbanity" or how much better things are in other cities.

[brinkofsunshine]

Originally Posted by CountryFisher

Quite honestly, most people do not give a two sh**s about "vibrancy" or "walk-ability" (whatever these things mean), if they did, they would move to a place that offered these things. You elist urbanists need to get over it.

Only on this forum do I hear people whine about chain restaurants, the lack of "urbanity" or how much better things are in other cities.

Perhaps in your neck of the woods they don't, but plenty of people enjoy places with a variety of cultural offerings that also inspire environmentally and economically conscious living.

Different strokes for different folks. However, I believe more people live in cities than in rural areas in the U.S... so actually most people do care about being in urban environments.

[chopchop0]

Originally Posted by brinkofsunshine

Perhaps in your neck of the woods they don't, but plenty of people enjoy places with a variety of cultural offerings that also inspire environmentally and economically conscious living.

Different strokes for different folks. However, I believe more people live in cities than in rural areas in the U.S... so actually most people do care about being in urban environments.

Correct. More people do live in cities/urban environments

As more move to the city, does rural America still matter?

Rural America, which encompasses nearly 75% of the land area of the United States, currently accounts for about 16% of the country's population, the lowest in the nation's history. In fact, it has been almost a century since people living in rural America outnumbered those who resided in metro areas. The U.S. Census Bureau classifies rural areas as open country and settlements with fewer than 2,500 residents.

[Peter1948]

Originally Posted by Mr Idealism

Please reread the first half of my post. FWIW I haven't been to either Roy's nor Season's 52 in well over a year. I was just using them as examples of good small chains. Here's a short list of restaurants that deserve the recognition they've been getting.

Chef's Table
Prato
Luma
Ravenous Pig
Cask and Larder
Rusty Spoon
K Restaurant
Sushi Pop

These are the types of restaurants we have been SORELY lacking. They are not quite up to far with other southern mid sized food meccas...New Orleans, Charleston, Louisville, etc.

But yes, we are improving here in Orlando. But talk to anyone here really on the inside of the food industry and they will admit we are behind, because the farm to table, fresh ingredient, and even gastropub and speakeasy concepts only recently arrived in the last 2 years.

IMO, only Prato, Chef's Table, the Pig, Cask and Larder, and K would be able to hold their grown in any foodie city listed above. However in a foodie town, one may find that many good caliber restaurants in 2 blocks...not a whole metro area! But we are getting better, and alot of the reason we are still behind is because the consumer does not know what to expect, and alot of our under 40 crowd prefers the bars on Orange Ave to a 100 dollar dinner with wine.

The cities listed on eater....these are the foodie cities for the most part:

http://eater.com
I am hoping Orlando will be there one day.