We don't eat out often but when we do it's usually close to home.
I love walking up the street to several of the neighborhood restaurants/pubs. Some of them are owned by people who live in the neighborhood, all are locally owned. As a bonus we often run into people we know throughout the community, which can be fun.
I guess eating out for me has become more of a community than an individual thing.
My favorite restaurant experience came from my cab driving days in NYC (1980 - 1982). Because they actually have vegetables, I used to stop at a Chinese boite for lunch each day. If I was Uptown, it was Moo Shu Pork on E 83rd St. If I was in Midtown, I ate beef with bean sprouts richly spiced with fresh ginger on W 32nd St. If I was Downtown, I ate Beef Chow Foon with Chinese broccoli in Chinatown. Heavenly daily roulette. Super yum!
You wonder why restaurants don't offer old-time value. I'm gonna tell you why a few do. It's a winning formula, and you build up a loyal clientele. As a consequence, restaurant owners who want to feel that their feet are on solid ground go that way. I'm also going to say if the restaurant owner comes from a restaurant family, they may have the voice of the super ego (parents) in their heads telling them there's a right way to do things.
On the other hand, many can get away with overcharging and underdelivering, so many go that way too.
Where I live in Houston (grew up in WDC), land is cheaper, restaurants are abundant, moving around is easier, and the clientele is less willing to put up with ****. So, we have more good value restaurants.
A lot of the older neighborhoods in Richmond, Virginia have some excellent restaurants, and the clientele mostly seem to walk from home to get there. The restaurants are often in small commercial strips that appear in the city blocks otherwise given over to single-family units or townhomes. The vibe was homey and the food was often excellent.
I cannot name a favorite restaurant these days as most of my close family members and friends are excellent cook and churn out food more refined than most restaurants. But I do love this Japanese place in a suburban strip mall that has been there for 40 years. I started going since I was a high school junior and the high quality in the food and service have not changed over 30 years. It is still packed but the operating hours are much shorter than when I was kid. They also don’t use all the available space as they used to. I really hope the owners have a succession plan.
We don't eat out often but when we do it's usually close to home.
I love walking up the street to several of the neighborhood restaurants/pubs. Some of them are owned by people who live in the neighborhood, all are locally owned. As a bonus we often run into people we know throughout the community, which can be fun.
I guess eating out for me has become more of a community than an individual thing.
"the area is ripe for maturing into something walkable and livable"
How can anything so totally built for the car become something walkable and livable? Cannot wrap my head around that.
Hmmm...
My favorite restaurant experience came from my cab driving days in NYC (1980 - 1982). Because they actually have vegetables, I used to stop at a Chinese boite for lunch each day. If I was Uptown, it was Moo Shu Pork on E 83rd St. If I was in Midtown, I ate beef with bean sprouts richly spiced with fresh ginger on W 32nd St. If I was Downtown, I ate Beef Chow Foon with Chinese broccoli in Chinatown. Heavenly daily roulette. Super yum!
You wonder why restaurants don't offer old-time value. I'm gonna tell you why a few do. It's a winning formula, and you build up a loyal clientele. As a consequence, restaurant owners who want to feel that their feet are on solid ground go that way. I'm also going to say if the restaurant owner comes from a restaurant family, they may have the voice of the super ego (parents) in their heads telling them there's a right way to do things.
On the other hand, many can get away with overcharging and underdelivering, so many go that way too.
Where I live in Houston (grew up in WDC), land is cheaper, restaurants are abundant, moving around is easier, and the clientele is less willing to put up with ****. So, we have more good value restaurants.
A lot of the older neighborhoods in Richmond, Virginia have some excellent restaurants, and the clientele mostly seem to walk from home to get there. The restaurants are often in small commercial strips that appear in the city blocks otherwise given over to single-family units or townhomes. The vibe was homey and the food was often excellent.
I cannot name a favorite restaurant these days as most of my close family members and friends are excellent cook and churn out food more refined than most restaurants. But I do love this Japanese place in a suburban strip mall that has been there for 40 years. I started going since I was a high school junior and the high quality in the food and service have not changed over 30 years. It is still packed but the operating hours are much shorter than when I was kid. They also don’t use all the available space as they used to. I really hope the owners have a succession plan.