Thursday, October 3, 2013

Once You Go Indie You Never Go Back

Olive Garden saw a 4 percent drop in sales over the summer. Red Lobster is down 5.2 percent. And that’s in spite of efforts to promote new lighter dishes, small plates and better deals. Now their parent company, Orlando based Darden, is replacing its president and cutting 80 to 85 staff positions to save $50 million. Some analysts say the middle class isn’t eating out as much. Post-recession, that is true. The restaurant industry overall is in a battle with the fast-casual options of Noodles & Co., Chipotle and Panera. People want deals and they want quality. And more and more, we want local. Once I was exposed to indie restaurants and learned the awesome that is buying and supporting local, I just wasn’t interested in big-chain dining......more
Also check out Living Off Tips and Tampa Bay Locavore for a full list of local places to eat.
 more here: http://www.kansascity.com/2013/09/23/4503163/red-lobster-and-olive-garden-cannot.html#storylink=cpy

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