Yesterday.... the restaurant I went to in Sacramento, told me they had taken their Ruben Sandwich off the menu because they didn't think anyone would pay 30 bucks for it.
I only found out because it was the very item I went there for.
I'd never been there before, but it was a mom and pops - so we both took more time to talk. It was nice to know those types of places recognize that we tried to save them. But they do notice it trailing off.
We are all tired at this point. We put up with growing pains at a time no one else was supporting them and they didn't really know how to run their businesses in that environment. Now we are growing a little tired of being "flexible". Not in a mean way....but if places don't have what you want...you won't come back.
They have been whipsawed like no other. Now this. I don't really know what is going to happen. Well.. I do.. but I don't want to admit it. But clearly Biden can't print any more money to save these business like in the pandemic.
In the lockdowns who was "essential" and who wasn't? Who made bank & who went broke?
ReplyDeleteIt's not hard to see what was going on.
I guess I'm the one who is having a hard time seeing. Because none of that is showing up in bankruptcy filings.
DeleteBankruptcies are still at 35 year lows.
Chart here.
Hit the 'all data' button.
This isn't to say that no one went out of business, but there are a lot of myths out there about the pandemic and this is one of them.
Most restaurants were open the whole time, even in the most restrictive lockdowns. You couldn't eat inside, but they were open like supermarkets. They also got the benefit of people like me trying to save them. I have the receipts(posts) to prove it.
Even the owner I talked to this weekend said people would just walk in and put a hundy down on the bar. We were all excessively tipping because we wanted them to live. Plus the government was just pounding money into them.
Lots of places that closed down during the lock down never opened after where I've been.
ReplyDeleteCould be just bad luck or a change of direction...I'll never know.
$30 for a Reuben sandwich? That's crazy! It's corned beef, cheese and sauerkraut! Down here in the antibodies I always thought that diner meals in the U.S. were huge and cheap. $30 has shaken my faith in the American dream.
ReplyDeleteA Reuben sandwich here in New Zealand is $US10 and we normally come out a bit more expensive on the Big Mac Index
Yeah, right? That's why I posted about it because it isn't even a bougie thing.
ReplyDeleteWelcome to the Blog!