Spin off "are you getting take out poll"

I hear you about many areas not having mom and pop places, or hardly any places. I spent a year teaching in a very small town in western Nebraska and it was a BIG deal when they got a Taco Bell. LOL

For me, living in a large city, a few things come into play. One, I do have options, and when I do, I'm always going to choose the locally owned place. That's true whether we're in a pandemic or not. The reason we have small towns without mom and pop places is because the chains came in and could do things cheaper because they do them on a larger scale, so they put the mom and pop places out of business. Many of our small restaurants here are woman-owned, immigrant-owned, etc., so I also want to support that.

Two, my observation here at least is that the corporate fast food type places are often not providing their workers with PPE or requiring that they wear it. The local places are working a lot harder to make sure their customers can see that they are taking all precautions. The day a few weeks ago when I stopped at a burger place for a soda and was served by an obviously ill drive-through worker with no mask or gloves was the last day I went to a big chain for anything. 

Three, I'm not worried about Subway going out of business. Subway and McDonald's and Saltgrass and PF Chang are going to be just fine when this is over. The locally owned place may not be. It may very well go under and a whole family lose its livelihood. So if I'm limiting myself to takeout once a week or so, I'm going to put my money where I think it will do the most good.

If you live in a place where you don't have options, then obviously your choices will be different, and that's OK.

Here, the small family owned restaurants always have higher quality and usually have lower prices than their chain counterparts.

I will always go with better quality for less money when that is an available choice.

Chains are in a better position to weather this. If the local Subway franchise goes belly up, another will replace it within months. Can’t say the same about the Ethiopian restaurant down the street.

So they can be righteous and sit on that high horse of theirs.

Pretty much all fast food are franchises. Some are larger than others. They do follow what the brand wants to offer because of franchising rules. Their employees are your next door neighbor's high school kid, the single mom, the recent college graduate that's working a job, any job until they can find something in their field.

I will get food from Burger King and the locally owned Mexican restaurant. I will get a frappe from McDonald's and a growler from the local brewery. I've ordered pizza from Papa John's and the small non-chain pizza joint. It's all about what you're in the mood for.

Fuck off with the self-righteous, high horse crap, and just get whatever it is you want, knowing that you're keeping local people employed.

I want to favor the mom and pop businesses because they often take a little more effort to get to. All our chains except the take out only Pizza Hut have drive throughs. They are all on main roads. Most of the locally owned places do not have drive throughs and some like the one in my part of the county are more remote. I think the drive through restaurants are naturally going to have more business as they are just convenient. Of course this means, we have to go inside to pick up our food at our local places but currently we take precautions and are not afraid of doing so.

I've always been a fan of supporting the local businesses because I grew up in such a business. When I had to go buy a new stove this weekend, I knew Lowes and Home Depot were open. But first I called my local appliance place and they were open and had a closeout on the floor that fit my needs. I went there, the clerk and I kept our distance and my stove will be delivered tomorrow. I think I got a better deal and was happier to help out a business that not only employees local people but is owned by a local family.

Every place we spend money helps someone but buying from a locally owned business helps even more people and it can make the difference on whether they weather this storm.


ETA:  Lowes was actually founded about 20 miles from where I live so they are local in a way but such a big company will most likely weather this event.  If they don't, we are all in trouble.

I personally don't love most national chains because I just don't care for the food. BUT this is 100% correct. Most fast food restaurants are franchises and locally owned. Yes, they pay a fair bit to the corporate office for licensing, etc. but they are still employing local folks and have local ownership. If they go under, it's real people in your community who are hurt, just like for independent restaurants. 

But the person who owns the Subway franchise that went belly up is a small business owner, too. 

I would continue to support any business that is important to you. If it’s the local Subway, order take out from there. If it’s Pop’s Deli, order from there.

We are still ordering from chains. Chains employ people that need their jobs.

But the owner of that Subway franchise, their family, their employees and their employees' families will have been hurt in the intervening months. They matter too. 

The sad fact of this is that a lot of business *are* going to fail. Support the ones that matter to you, regardless of if they're chains or independent, and hope that helps them survive. 

I purchased several pots of flowers from a local greenhouse this weekend and dropped them off at various homes of people that I know.

Greenhouses and farmers need to survive this pandemic as well.  They were 5/$20.  All can be replanted into flower gardens and can give enjoyment many times over.

We get food from chains. We trust them more when it comes to food allergies. We're mostly getting Wendy's and Little Caesar's so far. If we had a local Chipotle we'd get that too.