why must every moderately successful store in the UK be immediately turned into a chain?

noodle vague in what way is wagamama "cheap"?????

I don't even know what a wagamama is. In what way is it bad?

it doesn't use fresh-sourced peasants, it uses pre-ground peasants

Anarcho-punk collective, had a big hit with "Tubthumping".

xp

aren't wagammama dolls banned now?

xxpost

I think not even trying to make sense might be a sign of bad faith.

Burnt ends are Sunday and Wednesday, I thought? Hmm I have a Bodeans 100 yards from my office (BUT I'M ON A DIET NO NO NO).

Is there anyone here whose FAVOURITE place to go out to eat (not some £100 a head restaurant, somewhere reasonable) is a chain restaurant?

Not me.

This thread still has a way to go before it matches Tracey's DAEREST BRITISHES: WHY YOU NO WASH DISHES PROPERLY?

all the chinese buns shops are run by the triads, ed!

wagamama is cheap when you get those 2 for 1 vouchers

it's my favourite place to go for lunch. in a way that is because there is a lack of good cheap noodle shops in the vicinity.

but that also brings a point - near where i work, in central london, it must cost so much to set up a business that, almost all of the time it is going to be a big chain store who can afford to do this???

on holloway road there are quite a few indie food stores. although amici had a shop down the road

if your business is doing well, and you have the capital to expand the business, and the market is there to absorb your growth, why wouldn't you do it?

there are probably loads of moderately successful shops that do not branch out. but you will never hear about them because there's only one?

xpost conscience and a concern for the traditional profile of the area.

LOOK TRACER A WOP LIKES PIZZA EXPRESS AND A CHINK LIKES WAGAMAMA

it shows how far gone you are

Assimilated is the word, I think

what does conscience have to do with this? it's unethical to expand your business if you believe it is something good and you know that people enjoy it?

there are probably loads of moderately successful shops that do not branch out. but you will never hear about them because there's only one?

-- ken c, Monday, November 5, 2007 1:09 PM (4 minutes ago) Bookmark Link

this is the thing. hard to compare a chain with a single restaurant. if the single restaurant is conveniently situated for your needs, great.

wagamama are the nips. mark. english people love haggis.

haha i am so wrong. wagamama dude was totally from hong kong

¦)

but then pizza express dude was from peterborough. go figure!

Is there anyone here whose FAVOURITE place to go out to eat (not some £100 a head restaurant, somewhere reasonable) is a chain restaurant?

-- Mark C, Monday, 5 November 2007 12:54 (24 minutes ago) Bookmark Link

http://www.buddiesrestaurants.com/

what does conscience have to do with this? it's unethical to expand your business if you believe it is something good and you know that people enjoy it?

sorry ken, should have included the /sarcasm tag after that post.

you should have included the /italkshite tag after your post.

you're saying everyone who runs a successful business has no conscience.

or are you saying that no business ever delivers something good for anybody.

in that case, close all shops?

what makes a shop with one branch more ethical than two?

if you cannot answer that, then you have just talked shite.

I can't answer that!

jesus ken, i just told you it was sarcasm. wtf?

oh! sorry

i thought you said "sorry ken, you should have put the 'sarcasm' tag on" which had a totally different meaning!

i like wagamamma's because there are few other japanese restaurants near me which do katsu don (though there's a killer place just by piccadilly circus). i like bodean's because there are few other american barbecue places near me. i don't understand the attraction of masala zone in london, where there are tonnes of great independent indian restaurants. and my favourite italian restaurant, presto, was dirt cheap and delicious but closed like four or five years ago, i think, though the aurora is nice, when i can remember where it is.

Yo Sushi is good because you can go there after you've been to Lucky Voice, assuming we're talking about the Yo Sushi on Poland Street.

The "yay chain restaurants for bringing affordable dining out for the working classes" is flawed because in many cases independent restaurants are not significantly more expensive than chains. But I'm enjoying the "hooray global capitalism for saving the working classes' precious pennies" doublethink at work here.

how many 'masala zones' are there in london anyway?

The "yay chain restaurants for bringing affordable dining out for the working classes" is flawed because in many cases independent restaurants are not significantly more expensive than chains.

indeed but people don't want to take a punt, as has been said repeatedly; they know what they're getting, as said repeatedly. it hasn't been established that cheap indie places even have better ingredients. IT'S JUST LIKE WITH POP VS INDIE REALLY.

And the answer to the original thread question is that, more often than not, they are backed up with private equity/venture capital/seed capital money rather than old-fashioned bank loans and investors be wanting to grow the business as quickly as possible.

i had a domino's last night :D

One of the best restaurants I've ever been to was a run-down Italian place in central London called the 'Centrale'. You could grab a huge plate of delicious pasta (with chilli sauce/other toppings) for about three quid. We were taken there by a wonderful, worldly-wise teacher of mine, and we ate superb food for extremely low prices. It had a reputation of being homeless-friendly; tramps would often come every few days, having saved up their takings, and it would serve them without prejudice. When it closed down a few years ago I was greatly saddened. I think Dom would have adored it (not least because he'd have been able to natter along with the charming owners in their native tongue).

My point? Some independent places are not only cheaper, but they're necessary.

But I had a lovely chatter with a beautiful girl who worked at a KFC. Which was also very homeless-friendly, so in a way it's not what type of shop it is it's the people in it, innit.

That Centrale place was nice though.. (near old compton street??)

Assuming it's the same place.. the lady (presumably the owner) was very charmingly angry. and shouted at us a lot, but in an adorable way

Yeah, I think it was near (or on) the circus (Cambridge Circus?) where Shaftesbury Avenue joins Charing Cross Road. [/rickety geography]

The lady was indeed like that. She was also very sympathetic (if amused) when I succumbed to temptation, and the goads of my friends, and placed one of the very small, very red chillis in my mouth, and crunched down. Not overly distressed by the immediate effect, I repeated the process with a second. Sadly, my hubris was to be punished roughly 8 seconds later with a sensation I can only describe as 'internalised hell'. It took, I believe, five glasses of water before it even became normal 'hot-food' pain.

savin' the thread, one post at a time.

glad I'm not interested in food

lol scottish?

what are you interested in?

xpost

do you live on vitamin pills, RJG?