Differences between urban and suburban dining

[pete6032]

I have lived in a few major metro areas and traveled quite a bit and it seems pretty spot on that urban areas and core cities of major metros tend to have way more single-establishment mom & pop restaurants and way better food. Even small things like coffee shops, once you go out into suburban areas it is 90% Starbucks or Dunkin/Tim's, Peet's, whatever. You would think people would get bored eating the same thing all the time. Don't get me wrong, some chain places I really like a lot, but the lack of variety is mind boggling. The types of food seem more adventurous in urban areas as well. Out in suburban areas going out for a "nice meal" most people think is a steakhouse or hibachi or something like that. Those are fine but I'd rather have a nice Indian or Thai meal or try something new. Just find it odd that so few alternatives exist in suburban areas.

 

[[DHT]Osiris]

I have lived in a few major metro areas and traveled quite a bit and it seems pretty spot on that urban areas and core cities of major metros tend to have way more single-establishment mom & pop restaurants and way better food. Even small things like coffee shops, once you go out into suburban areas it is 90% Starbucks or Dunkin/Tim's, Peet's, whatever. You would think people would get bored eating the same thing all the time. Don't get me wrong, some chain places I really like a lot, but the lack of variety is mind boggling. The types of food seem more adventurous in urban areas as well. Out in suburban areas going out for a "nice meal" most people think is a steakhouse or hibachi or something like that. Those are fine but I'd rather have a nice Indian or Thai meal or try something new. Just find it odd that so few alternatives exist in suburban areas.

I think that's the nature of how we've collectively built our lives/infrastructure surrounding it. In suburbia, most people are only getting 1-2 meals out a week due to financial or time constraints, so 'old reliable' is preferred, doubly so if you have kids. In cities, there's far, far more pressure for quality because a shit restaurant won't last too long if there's something else that sells similar within walking distance. It also encourages variety for the same reasons. Urban is a little weird because real estate costs may be low, so you can be more creative with your offerings. Within 5 miles of me, I've got a brick oven pizza bistro/brewery, a bar with some really good food, a like 4-star hotel with a Michelin star (i think) french place in it, a few other excellent pizza places, and an honestly good mexican restaurant which is rare in the northeast, and that's just the ones I like.

 

[RPD]

Thread is about dining, op lists 4 coffee shops in complaint.

 

[VashHT]

Totally agree, my wife and I go down to Chicago a lot and it's really hard to find places in the suburbs even close to the quality, especially with foreign food places like you mention. A certain distance from the city they all turn into heavily Americanized "Chinese" places that are pretty terrible. Luckily we're close enough to the city we still have some good options, but if I lived just a little further north it's mostly garbage.

 

[Red Squirrel]

It costs a lot to run a business, due to having to pay commercial rate for everything. Property taxes, insurance etc. So in a smaller city it's not very profitable unless you're getting tons of customers per day. I don't even know how our cinema is surviving tbh. During covid they put the building up for sale and the tax rate was listed, and it was 50 grand a year. I imagine the insurance is probably around that ballpark, then add all the other bills too like heating etc. A typical person going to the movies might be spending like 20 bucks and sometimes there's only like 10 people in the theatre for a given showing.

Chains on the other hand just seem to have more visibility and attract more people. They are often in prime locations too, that a mom and pop shop would never be able to afford.

We are starting to see more food variety here though a lot of them are ghost kitchens that go through Skip The Dishes, I imagine those are much cheaper to operate. In theory you could run that right from your house, at least until the city finds out.

 

[pete6032]

Totally agree, my wife and I go down to Chicago a lot and it's really hard to find places in the suburbs even close to the quality, especially with foreign food places like you mention. A certain distance from the city they all turn into heavily Americanized "Chinese" places that are pretty terrible. Luckily we're close enough to the city we still have some good options, but if I lived just a little further north it's mostly garbage.

LaGrange, Hinsdale, Oak Brook, Elmhurst, Lombard, Downer's Grove, Naperville. I bet 90% of the restaurants in all those cities are the same. And yeah, you can get some interesting non-American things, but for the most part, it's all Americanized ethnic foods.

 

[sdifox]

Thread is about dining, op lists 4 coffee shops in complaint.

Maybe he dines at coffee shops. Who are we to judge.

 

[sdifox]

I got all sorts of nice restaurants to go to, even some good mom and pop shops. Tech ically we are suburb of Toronto. Sadly a few closed due to aging out. As in retiring and kids were not interested in keeping it going.

 

[VashHT]

LaGrange, Hinsdale, Oak Brook, Elmhurst, Lombard, Downer's Grove, Naperville. I bet 90% of the restaurants in all those cities are the same. And yeah, you can get some interesting non-American things, but for the most part, it's all Americanized ethnic foods.

Yeah I could see that in those areas, I live a bit Northeast of there and there are a good amount of one off foreign places in like Arlington Heights, Buffalo Grove, type areas. There's a lot of Asian and Indian people living around here, we've found some great Indian, Thai or Mediterranean type places that aren't very Americanized (yet). One thing we've noticed with Indian places is a common cycle where they open, food is really good but slowly gets more bland and Americanized until they change ownership or go under. There's a couple that haven't gotten worse but that's a pretty common cycle to see. There used to be a South Indian place in Schaumburg we went to that was really good, unfortunately it eventually closed.

I'm not really disagreeing with you though, far more options and easier to find in the city and usually a lot better at the higher end places, just saying we've found some solid places in the suburbs but definitely takes a lot more searching.

 

[RPD]

Maybe he dines at coffee shops. Who are we to judge.

Guess me, I'll judge.
Complaining about coffee shops in the vein of dining would be like say all automobiles look like shit because you saw a cyber truck once.

 

[pete6032]

Yeah I could see that in those areas, I live a bit Northeast of there and there are a good amount of one off foreign places in like Arlington Heights, Buffalo Grove, type areas. There's a lot of Asian and Indian people living around here, we've found some great Indian, Thai or Mediterranean type places that aren't very Americanized (yet). One thing we've noticed with Indian places is a common cycle where they open, food is really good but slowly gets more bland and Americanized until they change ownership or go under. There's a couple that haven't gotten worse but that's a pretty common cycle to see. There used to be a South Indian place in Schaumburg we went to that was really good, unfortunately it eventually closed.

I'm not really disagreeing with you though, far more options and easier to find in the city and usually a lot better at the higher end places, just saying we've found some solid places in the suburbs but definitely takes a lot more searching.

Yes! We have a great Indian place near us that is brand new. Went a few weeks ago and the food was amazing. The roti was actual roti, not whole wheat naan masquerading as roti. Unfortunately there were only 5 people in the whole restaurant. I'm certain that place won't make it unless they become more americanized.

 

[sandorski]

Urban life can be the best of all worlds except being in the Wilderness/Countryside. Kinda hard to tell here though, cause dozens of Bears are caught wandering around every year. The Fast Food/Family Dining/Pub Food available is fantastic though. Chinese, Korean, Japanese, Mexican, Indian, Middle Eastern, Italian/Greek, and many North American Fast Food/Gourmet options. Since Covid we even got a couple places making excellent Calzones, unlike Pizza Huts abortion or Papa Johns better but sad attempt at one.

What I wish existed was 1 restaurant that made a Meat/Spinach in meat sauce Baked Canneloni though. Why this does not exist in every Italian restaurant is a mystery.