K2T2 said:

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PS3D said:

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A lot of it has less to do with what people want to eat and what people can afford it. To support a wide variety of unique restaurants, you need a wealthy base of people, and to build that, you need high-end jobs, which Austin, Dallas, and Houston have but College Station really doesn't.

Yeah, I know there are a few high-paying jobs in College Station-Bryan but not nearly the number that can support things like Brazilian steakhouses, other expense account lunch places, or highly specialized places like vegan restaurants.

This is not to say we get stiffed on demographics, and we deserve better than chicken fingers, pizza, and hamburgers, but a lot of the restaurants we wish we had are off-limits until our average income gets a lot better.

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I just want to point out that plant based meals are generally cheaper than animal-product based meals, especially those involving meat and especially those involving red meat or seafood. Ever order the portobello taco from your favorite taco place? The Veggie Delite at Subway? They're the usually cheapest item on the menu.

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Cstrickland05 said:

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K2T2 said:

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PS3D said:

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A lot of it has less to do with what people want to eat and what people can afford it. To support a wide variety of unique restaurants, you need a wealthy base of people, and to build that, you need high-end jobs, which Austin, Dallas, and Houston have but College Station really doesn't.

Yeah, I know there are a few high-paying jobs in College Station-Bryan but not nearly the number that can support things like Brazilian steakhouses, other expense account lunch places, or highly specialized places like vegan restaurants.

This is not to say we get stiffed on demographics, and we deserve better than chicken fingers, pizza, and hamburgers, but a lot of the restaurants we wish we had are off-limits until our average income gets a lot better.

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I just want to point out that plant based meals are generally cheaper than animal-product based meals, especially those involving meat and especially those involving red meat or seafood. Ever order the portobello taco from your favorite taco place? The Veggie Delite at Subway? They're the usually cheapest item on the menu.

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Those are cheaper because there isn't any food in them

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K2T2 said:

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The times, they are a changin', but vegetarians and especially vegans are still pretty underserved. A lot of places (especially nicer places, looking at you Christopher's, Veritas, and The Republic) lack real vegetarian entrees and usually have nothing vegan besides maybe a severely modified salad or mash up of sides. A pile of cheese isn't an entree, it's just lazy.

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Frio Cielo said:

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Oogway said:

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Biobioprof--yes, Cafe Eccell, Cenares, Christopher's are what I am talking about. If you include Veritas and some others, are there enough of that style of dining in BCS? You tell me; I was asking the question based on personal frame of reference to other places, although as you pointed out: BCS has a unique situation that developed due to the way the twin cities grew. The question grew out of the discussion on the Comings and Goings regarding the Brazilian Steakhouse comments and how much people were willing to pay for a plate o' food.

'Blue collar' may have been off-the-mark a little. Mostly I was referring to what I call the 'diner' establishments, even if they don't serve chicken fried steak. Little places like Coco Loco, La Familia, Hullabaloo. Places where folks go to grab their lunch or dinner w/o a lot of fuss. They seem to appear more in pocket neighborhoods, but as you pointed out, the sprawl of large subdivisions (not exactly what you said, I know) does seem to hinder their inclusion. I know very little about the business side of restaurants like some of you, but I imagine having to develop a large pad site with parking and such is daunting at the real estate prices that certain parts of the two towns command. Not a complaint, mind you, but it does influence local dining options.

As far as sprawl, weather, etc. it didn't influence me so much, but I didn't work downtown nor on the campus as my employment was in a business park on the outskirts of the city. There were plenty of dining options, some within walking distance but the 'mixed-use' development model may have been more popular and doesn't seem to be the case here.

Frio Cielo, I do think there are a lot of locally owned establishments that serve some pretty fine food. Getting the word out about them and where they are and what they serve and why you like them is just as important as the places that we post about that don't always live up to our expectations.

So back to one of the original questions, is there another niche, authentic Cajun notwithstanding, that may be underserved?

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I tjhink one of the problems is that BCS is larger in population then there is for the demand for local owned unique foods. We are a blend of about 10 cultures and population types. Sure we have over 200,000 persons, but 80,000 +/- are college students who either are not looking very often if ever for quality dining at the prices necessary to supply it. Then you have a large Hispanic and other ethnic group lower income, population in BCS who are not looking to dine at a Christophers, a Veritas, etc. Add to that a lot of people are economically just getting by and regardless of food quality, it's a lot less expensive to go through a chicken, hamburger, etc. drive through for $15 or so for two persons than to go to a dining restaurant for $30 to $40 for two persons.

I or we go to one of the three Soul food restaurants most every week. All three have enough variety that you could almost rotate the three restaurant's and pick out difference foods each time and not have to repeat over three weeks.

We just dont' have enough people familiar with or wanting Cajun foods to support a nice authentic restaurant and the ones that we have had were marginal or mis-managed. I loved the one down Wellborn and went there a few times and loved it but the food was inconsistent in quality and a couple of times the wait was long. It was too small of a dining area. The last time I went there we were put at a table right by the door and as we ate we had about 10 persons as close at two feet to us watching us eat. Just wasn't a pleasant dining experience for the $70 we spent. Even with that, I wish they were still there.

A good, well managed Cajun restaurant would do well but it would have to survive for two or three years to develop a customer base. The problem would be now, if Poppadoux does come it, they would hurt a locally owned restaurant. The average person just wants the chain restaurants more than they want foods as authentic as possible.

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Sorry, but chains have to come first, if you can't support chains, you can't support these mythical "great local restaurants" everyone speaks of.

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