Why eat poorly in Louisville!

I have been eating like a pig since my return to Louisville. I do not know how anyone here stays in shape surrounded by such good vittles! I work out just about every day and my waist line keeps expanding!

Also, I do not know why anyone would continue to frequent mediocre or bad restaurants when there are so many great places around you in all price ranges.

I had a wonderful meal at Anthony Dike's Le Relais Wednesday night for their duck confit evening. Is there a more suave matre'de then Anthony in town? I don't think so...............

Last night Selena's Willow Lake Tavern provided a trip to New Orleans without the airfare. I devoured shrimp remoulade, a crawfish etoufee, and took home bread pudding for dessert. The food was scrumptious and the atmosphere warm and welcoming. This is a family owned and run establishment with great prices and friendly folks. Chris and Alan are the proprietors and they keep their customers happy with good cheer and reasonable prices.

I also had a darn good burger at Captain's Quarters on the river, a fun place to be in good weather. Their prices were quite reasonable.

Tonight I'm dining at Anthony Lamas' Seviche where I have never had anything but a great meal.

Thus, why eat at a disappointing chain restaurant when there are so many wonderful options surrounding you. I guess I don't get it..........................

That's right, Phil. And that is why it is important to support the originals. I tend to gravitate more towards the smaller ethnic places, throwing in other standards from time to time, especially when I take the wife out. .......I was in Dallas last week (more precisely in Frisco). The northern Frisco suburb is wealthy, vast, impersonal, and uninspiring. Strip mall after strip mall the food selection was rather boring. We were glad to get back on home turf!

Thus, why eat at a disappointing chain restaurant when there are so many wonderful options surrounding you. I guess I don't get it..........................

Because,Phil, some people are not as opposed to eating at a chain as others nor do they think the food is as bad. It's entirely up to a person's taste and no one else. In addition, people that dine at chains support the locals by eating in their establishment.

In addition, people that dine at chains support the locals by eating in their establishment.

Opening can of worms.....

Yes. Yes, I am. And, it's the same answer given to the same question asked every few months. So, unless someone else is able to come up with a better one; I'm sticking with this one.

[Robin Garr]

Yes. Yes, I am. And, it's the same answer given to the same question asked every few months. So, unless someone else is able to come up with a better one; I'm sticking with this one.

Keeping it civil, keeping it friendly, in that case I'll repeat my standard three reasons for preferentially dining at locals:

1. The multiplier effect: More local money stays home and circulates in the local economy when we support locals. None of the profits are piped out of town to corporate HQ.

2. The good neighbor effect: The owner and host live in your town and maybe in your neighborhood. There's something to be said for supporting your own community.

3. The quarterly balance sheet effect: Although this is not always the case, it's commonplace to see absentee, corporate management - particularly with public corporations - directing more corner cutting and a less amiable balance between budget and quality than a dedicated local merchant who has to look his customers in the eye (see No. 2).

Yes. Yes, I am. And, it's the same answer given to the same question asked every few months. So, unless someone else is able to come up with a better one; I'm sticking with this one.

While I support the "support local business" plan as an economic argument, I'll give you another argument for the sake of working toward an argument you may like.

Knowing that I'm leaving Louisville in roughly 2 years (about to the day at this point), my whole approach is to do as many things, and eat at as many places, that are "uniquely" Louisville. Now, this approach turns into a semantical issue relating to how we define unique. For example, how more unique is Vietnam Kitchen than a Vietnamese restaurant found in another city? I don't have that answer, but I do know that it won't be "Vietnam Kitchen" in the other city. As chains are based on a replicable model, I'm pretty certain that the Outback in Louisville is very much the same Outback in City X.

My argument, then, moves away from the "who does the $ support" argument to the "what does Louisville offer that other cities do not" - which seems to be the same argument Phil is making, just presented slightly differently.

FWIW, I was at El Mundo last night with a couple who is fairly new to the city. My female friend in this couple kept saying "tell us where to go in Louisville that really represents Louisville." She didn't say, "point me to the nearest Outback." She could have used a phone book for that.

Keeping it civil, keeping it friendly, in that case I'll repeat my standard three reasons for preferentially dining at locals:

1. The multiplier effect: More local money stays home and circulates in the local economy when we support locals. None of the profits are piped out of town to corporate HQ.

2. The good neighbor effect: The owner and host live in your town and maybe in your neighborhood. There's something to be said for supporting your own community.

3. The quarterly balance sheet effect: Although this is not always the case, it's commonplace to see absentee, corporate management - particularly with public corporations - directing more corner cutting and a less amiable balance between budget and quality than a dedicated local merchant who has to look his customers in the eye (see No. 2).

I think Phil, acting as a visitor/newbie to the city, puts forth a good forth point. The "you can't find X restaurant in any other city" argument.

So, unless someone else is able to come up with a better one; I'm sticking with this one.

Well,Im not sure it can be said that one answer to this question is "better" than another. This goes right in line with religion and politics. As you said,its about personal taste preference. For me its above and beyond taste. Its about creating a diverse,owner driven business environment. While I do see your point that chains employ local people,going to local owned/operated place not only supports the workers who are local,it supports the local owner as well. But, like I said I dont think there is one right answer...I just do what I think is right as Im sure you do to.

My thoughts exactly, John. And for all the reasons people giving reasons me to eat local, I can list others that favor a chain; it's been done in this forum many times. However, at no time do I sacrifice taste simply because a restaurant is chain or local. I dine because it's my personal preference. And, my greatest gripe, is people not having the respect for another's preference.

That's all I have to say about it.

Thus, why eat at a disappointing chain restaurant when there are so many wonderful options surrounding you. I guess I don't get it..........................

I've discussed this quite a bit with some of the nurses I work with. The general feeling I get from them is that they don't want to spend money on something they aren't sure they'll like. With chains and fast food places, it doesn't matter if it's good or bad, just so long as it's consistant.

We work a couple blocks from bardstown & baxter, we've got a ton of places within walking or short driving distance, but they just don't want to hear about it.

I dunno.

Thus, why eat at a disappointing chain restaurant when there are so many wonderful options surrounding you. I guess I don't get it..........................

I've discussed this quite a bit with some of the nurses I work with. The general feeling I get from them is that they don't want to spend money on something they aren't sure they'll like. With chains and fast food places, it doesn't matter if it's good or bad, just so long as it's consistant.

We work a couple blocks from bardstown & baxter, we've got a ton of places within walking or short driving distance, but they just don't want to hear about it.

I dunno.

Ding Ding Ding....my office staff say the same thing. "Give me Chedder's, O'Charlie's, Texas Roadhouse, .........and so forth." They have no interest, I mean none, in trying anything different or that isn't deep fried.

On the other hand I think these chain vs. independant arguments tend to be a waste of bandwidth. You eat where you want and I'll eat where I want. The masses will always follow the herd mentality.

This argument goes way beyond restaurants and supporting local businesses. I am opposed to homogeny at any level.

I grew up at a time when almost all the retail businesses were locally owned. Thus, when you went to the meat store, the fruit store, the pharmacy, the haberdashery etc., the proprietor knew you by name and knew what your individual needs were. I didn't have to communicate with some computerized voice on the phone that cannot analyze or understand anything critical. Have any of you tried to deal with a Walgreens lately? They screw up my prescription every time! The pharmacist does not know me from atom, and I have to go through the litany of my medical issues again and again. Even physicians today check your computerized file and really do not want to know anything personal about you. I hope people will begin to rebel against this depersonalization of society. My name is Phil and I do not want to be called "Sir" by some one I see several times a week!

This curse of homogeny also corrupts housing and architecture. It is infinitely cheaper for a developer to create cookie cutter houses in a cookie cutter development that lacks any sort of individualism or distinctiveness. I hope know one is offended by this, but I drove through the Norton Commons in May and I literally became scared. Talk about the "Stepford Wives!" My fear of an Orwellian society seemed to be coming true.

These are the reasons I am against chains. I know they supply jobs and opportunities for locals, but the sameness of it all makes me frightened for our culture and our society.

As a teacher for 36 years, I see the same thing happening in education with the advent of the "No Child Left Behind" dogma. How can education judge a child or a teacher by a performance on a test that is the same test given to every child in the state. If that is what makes good teaching and learning we are completely ignoring the special and unique qualities that we all have. I wonder how many of our wonderful chefs would score well on one of these standardized tests. However, many chefs who have reached the pinnacle of their profession are considered a great success story. Yet, if this same chef would have done poorly on this standardized test, the schools would have completely diminished their self esteem back when they were kids. School should bolster the confidence of all our children. Even the ones that are poor test takers.

I feel that small, locally owned restaurants need to be supported, or they will disappear with the onslaught of corporate chains that have the money and political clout to bulldoze the small business owner.

Watch it folks the next chains will be "big-box" health care! Doc-in-the-Box!

And don't forget: not only does a local restaurant support the local staff and owners, if one visits a place like the Bank Street Brewhouse (which is on my mind because I recently had a spectacular meal there), one also supports local growers and suppliers, thus increasing the aforementioned "Multiplier Effect" even more.

Not to mention, locally grown ingredients are obviously fresher, and in comparison to the ingredients that a chain restaurant may use, probably healthier.