Restaurant

The Very Real Appeal of Chain Restaurants

It is easy to diss chain restaurants in a current social environment that doesn’t have many good things to say about corporatism. Chain restaurants represent corporate greed in the minds of many consumers who would rather go hungry than choose a chain restaurant over a locally owned enterprise. But believe it or not, chain restaurants do have a very real appeal that keeps them in business.

A chain restaurant offers something that a locally owned, single location restaurant cannot possibly offer. What is that? Familiarity. Yes, you can be familiar with a locally owned restaurant by virtue of dining there regularly, but go to any other city and there are no guarantees that locally owned restaurants you find there will be similar to your favorite establishment back home. Those other restaurants will certainly not be identical.

Therein lies the appeal of the chain. A TGI Friday’s in the Chicago suburbs is going to be nearly identical to one located in the Houston area. You will find the same menu, the same ambiance, the same pricing structure, etc. This sort of familiarity is important to a lot of people.

Dining Out Can Be Scary

People can argue all day long over whether or not chain restaurants offer the same kind of quality you get from a locally owned establishment. Let us just assume that chain restaurants cannot. Let’s assume that locally owned restaurants always provide superior food. That means very little to consumers who are not normally adventurous about their food choices.

Let’s face it, dining out can be a very scary thing to people for whom food is more functional than anything else. While foodies relish in trying new things, everyone else prefers recipes they know for certain will not cause them to rethink their ordering choices.

The problem with locally owned restaurants, at least for some diners, is that you don’t know what you’re getting unless you’ve been there before. So that very first visit to a locally owned restaurant can be a nerve-racking experience. The same thing is true for chain restaurants, but the appeal of the chain is that it gives you a place to eat even when you are away from home.

Familiarity at the Local Level

There is a way to achieve familiarity at the local level: taking that locally owned operation and expanding it to multiple locations within a confined area. Salt Lake City’s Taqueria27 is a good example. This is a restaurant with several locations around town all serving the same Mexican food.

People know that regardless of the Tacqueria27 location they choose, they can get the same great Mexican food in Salt Lake City. This obviously doesn’t help people who don’t live locally, but at least it does provide familiarity to Salt Lake City residents.

Chain Restaurants Have Their Place

The desire for familiarity is one of the things that keeps chain restaurants going. That is not a bad thing. While you can certainly make the case that locally owned restaurants provide a different kind of experience that you cannot get from chains, you can also make the case that chain restaurants have their place within the rather broad dining space.

Restaurant chains may be dominated by corporate think. They may not offer the same kind of intimate and personal experience you get at a locally owned restaurant. But for people who want to know that they will be dining in a familiar environment and ordering from a familiar menu, restaurant chains are the way to go. They eat at chains because there are no surprises. There is nothing wrong with that.…

Become A Coffee Pro With These Top Ideas

Everyone loves a good cup of java but buying all your coffee from your local coffee shop can get quite expensive. The alternative of course if to brew your own, but where do you begin? Choosing the right type of coffee can be a difficult task, especially if you are new to homemade coffee. Use the following article as a guide.

If you are feeling down, try changing to a new flavor of coffee. Simple changes like this can help stimulate your mind and pull you out of your rut. Be sure to take time to enjoy this special cup and try to identify the new flavors. Keep a few sample packs in your cupboard to pull out for these special occasions.

Do you enjoy the coffee you make with a standard drip machine? You can make some better coffee if you let your machine heat up and run with just water. After you have run the machine with water, start it up again with coffee grounds. You can also clean your coffee maker this way.

Seek out coffee grounds that have not had any pesticides near them. Coffee develops much of its flavor through the soil its grown in. Look for organic coffees, which will taste markedly better.

If you drink your coffee cold, think past just traditional cream and sugar. Mix entire fruits into your coffee. You can add foods like oranges, cherries and strawberries for interesting additions to the flavor. Even think about spicing things up with cinnamon or cardamom. The possibilities for you are nearly endless!

Coffee beans themselves are what can make or break the drink’s flavor. Look around for different varieties. You can usually locate fresh roasted beans. You may have to buy them online. It may cost a little more, but it will save you a lot of time hunting for it.

If lowering your sugar use when drinking coffee is a priority, you will find lots of options. Agave nectar, for example, contains sugar but will not harm your blood sugar. Stevia and Splenda also work well to sweeten coffee.

If you really want the freshest coffee with a gourmet taste, avoid pre-packaged coffee that sits on the grocer’s shelves. Purchase your coffee beans directly from the roaster through their website. Most roaster’s will have the coffee on your doorstep in just a couple days. This enables you to enjoy the beans when they are at their most flavorful.

Iced coffee doesn’t taste so great when the ice cubes begin to melt, watering down the flavor. An excellent tip is to make ice cubes out of coffee or milk, and keeping them in the freezer in zippered bags. They will be handy anytime you want a cold drink on a hot day!

As was mentioned earlier of this article, it can be a bit overwhelming trying to decide what type of coffee you should purchase to brew at home. When you use the advice given in this article, you will be able to make an informed decision that will result in great tasting coffee time and time again.…

How To Brew A Coffee For Your Health

Making the perfect cup of coffee is about more than buying a jar of instant and adding a bit of water. It is all about selecting the right quality of coffee, buying the right coffee maker and a list of other things. The following article will give you tips on how to make a decent cup of coffee.

If you are feeling down, try changing to a new flavor of coffee. Simple changes like this can help stimulate your mind and pull you out of your rut. Be sure to take time to enjoy this special cup and try to identify the new flavors. Keep a few sample packs in your cupboard to pull out for these special occasions.

Always make sure that you store your coffee in an airtight container if you are not planning on using it. This will help to preserve its freshness so that you can make coffee that is desirable for all of your friends and family. Coffee tastes the best when it is fresh, as this will help to optimize your brew.

If you grind your own coffee, be sure to only grind the amount you will be using that day. If you grind too much and just leave your coffee around, the elements will take the freshness and taste of it. Contrary to what many believe, storing coffee in the refrigerator does not leave it fresh.

To ensure that your coffee stays fresh as long as possible, avoid grinding all your beans at once. Once ground, heat and humidity will rob your coffee of the fragrant oils that provide much of its flavor. Instead, only grind the amount of coffee you will use for a day or two. Doing so will help you maximize the flavor of your beans.

Try using coffee when cooking meats. When you think of coffee in foods, you typically think of a flavor that is rather strong. In desserts, that’s definitely true. But when you use coffee as a rub for red meat, it actually brings out the flavor of the meat itself, making for a much tastier meal.

When you are storing coffee, try not to store it in containers that are made out of glass. While there may seem to be airtight, the reality is that they are not, and a lot of air will be able to reach the coffee. This will negatively affect the taste.

To brew the best cup of coffee, your water temperature needs to be just under the boiling point. At this temperature, the water will extract the maximum amount of flavor from your beans. If your coffee does not taste good in the morning, run a thermometer in the water to ensure that it is heating to the right temperature.

Now that you know the best way to make coffee, it is time to take things on a test run. there is no reason to spend a fortune on coffee drinks when you can make them right at home. After reading the article above, you should feel up to the challenge.…

Expert Tips About The Tasty World Of Wine

Simply enjoying wine is great, but with a bit of knowledge, you can be your own sommelier! This article will guide you through many ideas which you may never have thought of before. This will ensure that you start pouring a glass of wine which never disappoints yourself or your guests.

Wine goes extremely well with pasta dishes. To choose the perfect wine remember that red wines work best with heavy sauces such as tomato sauce. Pair white wines with white sauces and salads. For basil pestos and other meatless dishes, you should opt for a complimentary wine such as a rosé.

Simply because a bottle of wine is more expensive than another does not mean that it is necessarily better. You don’t have to buy the most expensive bottles of wine that you find. Try wine at all different price levels. You may like something better that is less expensive than what you usually buy.

Take a trip out to a vineyard. If there is one located close to you, make it a day trip. If not, consider taking a short vacation to go out and explore. An adventure such as this may help you appreciate and love wine even more than you did before.

If you drink wine with your meal and you get frequent headaches, you may want to reduce the amount you drink. Wine has sulfites in it which can cause headaches sometimes when they are consumed. Drink only in moderation to avoid headaches.

You can easily make a mulled wine with only a few ingredients. You will need a bottle of red wine such as Merlot, Zinfandel or Cabernet Sauvignon, a peeled and sliced orange, a quality brandy, honey or sugar and a few spices including whole cloves, cinnamon and ginger. Combine your ingredients into a slow cooker. Then, heat for 30 minutes and enjoy!

If you are venturing into trying new wines, it is better to get an experimental bottle over a whole case. Given the wide variety of wines and styles out there, single educational bottles are a great idea whenever drinking something new for the first time. If you like the taste, move up to a half-case.

Instead of throwing out your last bits of wine, consider saving it for a marinade for dinner the next night. Take your wine, add some seasoning and place it in a bowl. Add your favorite piece of meat to the bowl and let it sit for several hours or even overnight. This will add delicious flavor to your next night’s meal!

Believe it or not, the glass you choose to drink your wine out of can have a major affect on your drinking experience. You want a glass whose bowl is round so that the aroma can develop. Also, the top should taper inward; this prevents its essence from getting out.

Now that you’re well versed in wine tips, you should feel confident in your new knowledge. Want to learn more? Keep reading and stay on top of news in the wine world. With all of the knowledge at your fingertips, you’ll be able to take wine to astronomical new levels!…