Closing Time? Not On Our Shift Thank You

That rumbling you hear in the distance is not the bombs over Tehran. The American indie restaurant business is lurching and limping along. I won’t quote you the numbers, but please trust me on this – restaurateurs are having real problems making ends meet. Rising food prices, exorbitant rents, and growing holes in US consumers’ pockets are driving people to not go out to eat nearly as much. What might that look like for our food-loving future?

Local neighborhood stalwart institutions are closing their doors. Chain brands and fast food joints who can afford to operate at a loss are snapping up newly available commercial space. My son, who waits tables when he is not creating music and running his deejay business, has had his shifts cut back. Everyone is feeling the pinch.

Veteran food journalist Andrea Strong of The Strong Buzz has inaugurated a new column lauding local places that need to be seen and heard while their doors are still open. Chef John DeLucie, whose skillset has landed him in a plenitude of successful eateries, goes deep Bourdain on the reality of filling empty seats. No one from diners to dish washers can ignore the harsh reality that their favorite hot spot is going through an existential crisis.

In my lifelong pursuit of the perfect grilled cheese, I have seen and documented what becomes of the American restaurant dream. It’s far too often lying in a collapsed heap, party only to the low moan of windswept weeds in a Texas prairie breeze.

Is there any one answer? Sure, and it’s the obvious one. Go out and eat. Patronize that luncheonette where your kids love the pancakes and you get a morning off from the stove. Grab a pint and a pie at the pizzeria on the corner. Sure it costs more than cooking at home and is less convenient than delivery. But do we really want our only choice to be Netflix and a sack of lukewarm food?

In More Cheerful News…

International Women’s Day just passed, but it is still Women’s History Month and honestly, given my druthers, I’d put a lot more women in charge. Period. Hard stop. Make of it what you will.

In honor of all the brilliant and creative women who help fill the pages of Beyondish, our social media manager created this zippy little video to share the love. Oh c’mon, give it a look-see! Then go out and have something good to eat. We’ve got plenty of places to send you.

Always hungry,

Ken Carlton

Editor in Chief, Beyondish