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169 comments on DrumBeat: June 30, 2007

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AlanfromBigEasy on June 30, 2007 - 9:52am Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top

We have 3 McDonald's in New Orleans. One in a WalMart.

We have 15 James Beard Award winning chefs (1 is retired)

I am CERTAIN that this is the highest James Beard to McDonald's ratio on this planet.

About 10% of the labor force works in restaurants.

In a conversation with a Kentucky Nat'l Guard soldier just after Katrina.

KY NG: I see lots of what looks like restaurants around here as we patrol. Are they restaurants ?

Me: Yes, about 400. 10% of the labor force worked in them before Katrina.

KY NG: I was wondering since I did not recognize ANY of the names.

Worst Hopes for Chain Restaurants,

Alan

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enviro attny on June 30, 2007 - 11:46am Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top

Nice try Alan, but the yahoo yellow pages show at least 50 McD's within 10 miles of the center of NO. Plenty of wendys and burger kings also.

I agree about the food in NO (I used to live in Mississippi and went to NO all the time). However, there is NO city in America that isn't covered in fast food restaurants.

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nelsone on June 30, 2007 - 12:14pm Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top

Ashland, Oregon! The story is that their only Mickey D's closed down for lack of business.... Apocryphal or not, a great tale.

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folsomman on June 30, 2007 - 5:02pm Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top

Carmel, California has none. The chains are Piatti and Il Fornaio.

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andrew on July 1, 2007 - 9:08pm Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top

Beerwah, Queensland, Australia has no golden arches, but it has 2 asian take-away ,a subway, and 2 pizza shops. (and as far as i know there are no plans for one in the next few years)

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wizofaus on July 1, 2007 - 11:15pm Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top

Beerwah's population is, what, 1500? It barely counts as a town. Just with a brief Google/Whitepages search for Victoria, I found Swan Hill (pop 10000), Portland (8800) and Castlemaine (8700). In all cases the closest Macca's was at least 35km away. Indeed the closest Macca's I could find to Swan Hill was 150 km away in Echuca.

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bruce from chicago on June 30, 2007 - 3:40pm Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top

But there are some cities that only seem to have fast food restaurants. I swear Minneapolis has some of the worst food in the world and is limited mostly to franchises (excepting Kramarczuk’s Deli of course!). When I was going to the U there I could not find a decent meal, especially breakfast, for the life of me. It's impossible to find a decent pizza in that town.

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Don Sailorman on June 30, 2007 - 5:22pm Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top

Minneapolis does have overpriced food of poor quality in most of its restaurants. The neighboring city of St. Paul, however, has some first-class little-known ethnic restaurants at reasonable prices. Try for example, Cecil's Deli, same location since 1949 near St. Catherine's college on Cleveland Avenue. You won't find many slender or grumpy people there.

There are a number of good Vietmamese restaurants, both in St. Paul and at least two in Minneapolis. If you know where to get freshly caught walleye, you can dine well in Minnesota. Try Tavern on Grand (where the MN governor took Gorbachov for a Walleye sandwich, very resonably priced and utterly scrumptious) in St Paul. Grand Avenue in St. Paul also has several other excellent eateries, most of them modestly priced. For some reasons I cannot figure out, Minneapolis restaurant food tends to be both more expensive and lower quality than that found in St. Paul. The worst food is to be found in Uptown Minneapolis, followed by Downtown. Some of the suburbs have very good hole-in-the wall places that could probably hold their own in New Orleans, especially those that are not afraid to serve distinctive mid-western cuisine.

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AlanfromBigEasy on July 2, 2007 - 3:05pm Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top

10 miles gets you into Metairie and the West Bank. Post-WW II Suburbia. NOT New Orleans ! Predominantly white, R voting, much more fried food, different culture.

New Orleans is compact. Do the same search for a 2.5 mile radius (still get some West Bank).

Alan

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mencial on July 2, 2007 - 12:45pm Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top

Donostia, Spain (Donostia is basque, in Spanish it is San Sebastián), pop. 182,930, two McDonalds, three Michelin three star restaurants (56 in the world, 5 in the whole USA), only behind Paris and New York (and I believe, the only city in the planet with an >1 McDonald's-to-Michelin-three-stars ratio). Also, the prettiest city in Spain.

If you like eating, you should go there. And I am not talking just fancy ultramodern does-not-look-like-food stuff.

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AlanfromBigEasy on July 2, 2007 - 2:57pm Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top

Yes, well worth the trip !

Best Hopes for Fine Dining,

Alan

A few New Orleans restaurants have the formality that Michelin seems to require, but not that many.

Our local restaurant critic ate at the French Laundry (3 star in Napa Valley) and said that it was as good as the best New Orleans restaurants, and fairly experimental.

Perhaps I should review the stars & reviews of our best.

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