One of my nieces works at an organic restaurant...

[Archae]

My Mom and I went there today, to say hi to my niece, and eat.

The prices? Holy Toledo!

$15 for a sandwich!

$5 for a bagel with cram cheese.

And so on...

My Mom and I didn't complain, (we both had a bagel,) but this is a "trendy" place and in the car later my Mom said she doesn't expect the place to last long.

The bagels did taste good, and I had a root beer that is made without that high fructose corn syrup.

[ConnorMarc]

1. Where is this place?

State/city.

[Archae]

2. Sheboygan, WI.

Quit laughing!

[ConnorMarc]

4. Isn't that supposed to be a liberal bastion?

Folks should have some coins to spend on healthy food.

[Archae]

11. Not...really.

Our congressman is Glenn Grothmann, and even democrats in the area tend to be just a tad to the right of centrist.

Kohler is nearby, in fact it's within eyeshot of my building.
And Herb Kohler is fairly conservative.

As to "healthy" food, don't forget the biggest event in Sheboygan is Bratwurst Days.

[stopbush]

3. Organic is such a scam.

[htuttle]

6. Try an organic or free range chicken sometime

Bell and Evans are an almost mass market brand they have in a lot of chain groceries. They are huge, flavorful and juicy. They cost about twice as much as the weird Eraserhead-type Banquet factory chickens I see, but they're worth it.



Plenty of organic stuff borders on ridiculous (they sell organic socks at a place near my house), but with meat the difference is really noticeable.

[Major Nikon]

9. Has nothing to do with "organic"

Mass marketed chickens are flavorless because they are fed a diet intended for fast growth which results in a cheaper product. Most people (at least in the US) heavily favor price over quality. It's not really that difficult to reverse the price vs quality model when the latter takes priority.

I sometimes buy "organic" products simply because some higher quality producers will pursue certification to justify higher prices. However I recognize the label has nothing to do with quality, nutrition, or safety and is merely a marketing term which is largely meaningless.

[htuttle]

13. Sure. But it's still better chicken.

[Major Nikon]

14. Sometimes, yes

There's also non-organic options which are still well over and above the typical quality you find at most supermarkets.

The bottom line is that for as long as people here demand lower and lower prices as the only consideration, quality will suffer. This is starting to change as some consumers are paying more for better quality.

[MineralMan]

16. Best chickens of all are farm yard chickens

that get killed the day you eat them. They eat table scraps, a little scattered grain and whatever they can scratch up, including, plants, seeds, bugs and small lizards and mice. They get plenty of exercise trying to keep away from the family dog and stay out from underfoot.

Are they organic? Well, they eat only organic things, meaning that those things once were alive. Best-tasting chickens ever, and you won't see an infestation of insects in any farmyard where they live. They're sure tasty, too.

[htuttle]

17. I haven't had one of those since I was a boy

That's almost long enough ago that most 'organic food' was just called 'food' (as they say) around where I lived.

[miyazaki]

5. didn't she kick down the employee discount?

[politicat]

7. Ask your niece how they're paying their workers.

If they have servers, are they on the $2.13 plus tips bullshit, or are they actually paying them properly? If the latter, that's part of the cost right there, and is within reason for what served food should cost. If the former, well... it's more of the scam.

Food costs for restaurants are weird. Supermarkets do buy at much lower wholesale costs than restaurants, because a supermarket is buying 10,000 cases at a time, for 50% less than single case cost, while small restaurants are buying 1-5. So the lime that costs $0.50 at the market costs the market $30-50 per case, but the restaurant gets charged $100 a case, for 200, or more, if the restaurant wants partial cases. (http://www.pennlive.com/food/index.ssf/2014/04/lime_prices_on_the_rise_lime_p.html)

And farm to table operations can be even weirder on costs. Farm to table farmers usually prefer to sell direct to consumer, at farmers markets and stands and through CSA shares, because they get to set and keep the markup over labor and cost of production. But they will sell to restaurants, except the restaurants want a bulk discount (because they've got labor and overhead they have to pay), except the farmers can't really discount that much and still break even, much less make a profit.

Agriculture for the actual people doing it (as opposed to agribusiness, who are exploitative POS) is often barely break-even. Which makes it really, really tough for restaurants, because that's two levels of industry -- ag/food and service -- where people expect to pay a lot less than the cost of production.

[ConnorMarc]

8. Isn't that supposed to be a liberal bastion?

Folks should have some coins to spend on healthy food.

[Beaverhausen]

10. Was the restaurant clean and well-run? was it in an upscale neighborhood?

Were there enough servers?

sometimes I'm happy to pay more for a nicer eating experience. YMMV

[Archae]

12. Yes to all the above.

I doubt I'll be eating there again, (just too expensive for me,) but it is a nice place.

[hatrack]

15. Sad to say, but $15 for a sandwich isn't unusual these days . . .

Way back when, worked full-time in a restaurant (late 80s early 90s) - and the most expensive thing on the menu was a stuffed chicken breast, which was either 9.95 or 10.95 (full-service restaurant, casual dining). Same chain, went back not long ago, and the same entree was $16.95, IIRC.

Inflation happens

I hear you, though - which is why I try and not let myself go out to eat too often - it's as discretionary as it gets.