Re: Conspiracy Theory Du Jour
I think that is the biggest one. I could not care less about any of those diet trends, and still eat more than a fair share of fast food, but couldn't tell you the last time I ate at a sit-down chain restaurant. Part of it is the Food Network-ification(Bourdain if your brain is wired one way, Captain Flavortown if it's the other) of dining hyping up "authentic" experiences.
The other part is technological. The big thing chains had going for them was being easy to find(prime location, big signs) and delivering a standard of consistency. Smart phones largely take the gamble out of stand-alone restaurants. Last week, I was on a road trip and going to have lunch in a town I had never stopped in before. Maybe a decade ago I would have played it stuff and stuck with a chain I knew was decent, but fifteen miles out of town, I literally just shouted "Best restaurants in ___" into my phone, got a bunch of reviews for different places, got to compare menus, got directions to a place that looked interesting, and ended up with a much better meal than I would have had at a typical chain.
Also semi-related, but speaking of fast-casual employment, the Washington Post pointed out in an article last March that the entirety of Trump's beloved coal industry employs fewer people than Arby's.
Originally posted by FadeToBlack&Gold
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The other part is technological. The big thing chains had going for them was being easy to find(prime location, big signs) and delivering a standard of consistency. Smart phones largely take the gamble out of stand-alone restaurants. Last week, I was on a road trip and going to have lunch in a town I had never stopped in before. Maybe a decade ago I would have played it stuff and stuck with a chain I knew was decent, but fifteen miles out of town, I literally just shouted "Best restaurants in ___" into my phone, got a bunch of reviews for different places, got to compare menus, got directions to a place that looked interesting, and ended up with a much better meal than I would have had at a typical chain.
Also semi-related, but speaking of fast-casual employment, the Washington Post pointed out in an article last March that the entirety of Trump's beloved coal industry employs fewer people than Arby's.
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