4 ms·

The anecdotal example of a local restaurant seeing a big uptick in business on the day a cafeteria is closed seems to suggest you might be wrong! Every workpla

The anecdotal example of a local restaurant seeing a big uptick in business on the day a cafeteria is closed seems to suggest you might be wrong! Every workplace I've had in SV where we had catered lunches, people were pretty likely to walk a few blocks for a meal instead. It wasn't like working at a place with a cafeteria since you were being offered a choice of 1-2 catered items instead of a huge cafeteria menu.

saagarjha 8y ago
Presumably if this was a permanent rule, rather than a temporary issue like the cafeteria being closed, the company would bring in more variety in catered food.
- ghaff 8y ago
  Do people really think that providing free catered food is in any way, shape, or form the norm (much less an expectation) for companies--even those in urban locations employing well-paid professional workers?
  - waterhouse 8y ago
    I am familiar with one medium-sized tech company in downtown Mountain View, which used to provide catered lunches from individual restaurants three days of the week, and now uses the EAT Club service three days of the week instead.
  - ghaff 8y ago
    That's my reaction but I've actually asked this question of some people who work in the Bay Area and been told it's table stakes in a lot of cases. Hard for me to comprehend and anecdotal, but there you are.
jedberg 8y ago
But was that closed cafeteria replaced with catered lunch or with nothing? If they company pays for the catered lunch then you won't see the uptick. I too have anecdotal evidence -- when reddit moved and no longer had access to a kitchen, they started bringing in catered meals, and pretty much everyone just stuck around for lunch.
thatswrong0 8y ago
Why should we prefer that we support people who work at restaurants vs people who work at tech company cafeterias? That’s what this legislation is effectively doing. The biggest issue here is the cost it takes to run a business like a restaurant in this city. It’s too damn high. Even right near Salesforce in Soma there is not really that great of a selection of food.. I wouldn’t blame tech for that. I would blame the city and it’s awful regressive anti-housing legislation that has driven up the costs of everything to near unsustainable levels. Which is exactly the kind of bullshit that Aaron Peskin supports. Hes literally causing a problem, then trying to blame someone else for dealing with the fallout of that problem. Truly a terrible politician for most of the residents of this city.
- cjhopman 8y ago
  > Why should we prefer that we support people who work at restaurants vs people who work at tech company cafeterias? Because restaurants bring a lot of value to the city and area itself. Vibrant restaurant scenes are a key component of a city's atmosphere and an area's walkability.
  - thatswrong0 8y ago
    Then the city should make it cheaper to own and operate restaurants and make the city less shitty to walk around in by cleaning up its streets of shit and syringes. A lot of these areas that have tech cafeterias are just plain awful to walk around in. You can’t create a vibrant restaurant scene in these areas just by attempting to force people to eat lunch out at overpriced restaurants that aren’t even open on weekends

saagarjha 8y ago

Presumably if this was a permanent rule, rather than a temporary issue like the cafeteria being closed, the company would bring in more variety in catered food.

ghaff 8y ago
Do people really think that providing free catered food is in any way, shape, or form the norm (much less an expectation) for companies--even those in urban locations employing well-paid professional workers?
- waterhouse 8y ago
  I am familiar with one medium-sized tech company in downtown Mountain View, which used to provide catered lunches from individual restaurants three days of the week, and now uses the EAT Club service three days of the week instead.
- ghaff 8y ago
  That's my reaction but I've actually asked this question of some people who work in the Bay Area and been told it's table stakes in a lot of cases. Hard for me to comprehend and anecdotal, but there you are.

jedberg 8y ago

But was that closed cafeteria replaced with catered lunch or with nothing? If they company pays for the catered lunch then you won't see the uptick. I too have anecdotal evidence -- when reddit moved and no longer had access to a kitchen, they started bringing in catered meals, and pretty much everyone just stuck around for lunch.

thatswrong0 8y ago

Why should we prefer that we support people who work at restaurants vs people who work at tech company cafeterias? That’s what this legislation is effectively doing. The biggest issue here is the cost it takes to run a business like a restaurant in this city. It’s too damn high. Even right near Salesforce in Soma there is not really that great of a selection of food.. I wouldn’t blame tech for that. I would blame the city and it’s awful regressive anti-housing legislation that has driven up the costs of everything to near unsustainable levels. Which is exactly the kind of bullshit that Aaron Peskin supports. Hes literally causing a problem, then trying to blame someone else for dealing with the fallout of that problem. Truly a terrible politician for most of the residents of this city.

cjhopman 8y ago
> Why should we prefer that we support people who work at restaurants vs people who work at tech company cafeterias? Because restaurants bring a lot of value to the city and area itself. Vibrant restaurant scenes are a key component of a city's atmosphere and an area's walkability.
- thatswrong0 8y ago
  Then the city should make it cheaper to own and operate restaurants and make the city less shitty to walk around in by cleaning up its streets of shit and syringes. A lot of these areas that have tech cafeterias are just plain awful to walk around in. You can’t create a vibrant restaurant scene in these areas just by attempting to force people to eat lunch out at overpriced restaurants that aren’t even open on weekends