3 ms·

When a restaurant closes that is functionally identical to every other franchisee, like an Applebees, Olive Garden, Burger King, etc., it doesn't need a remembr

by progne 3y ago

When a restaurant closes that is functionally identical to every other franchisee, like an Applebees, Olive Garden, Burger King, etc., it doesn't need a remembrance because you can just go to a different one. Like, if there are twelve identical clones of you when die, is it really an occasion for mourning?

gregsadetsky 3y ago
Yeah that’s an interesting point. Although I see what you mean, I imagine that any particular Burger King etc could still have felt “significant” - imagine someone who stopped there regularly, or had memories of going there with a relative. Or the people who worked there for a year or 20. I definitely remember a specific McDonald’s to which my mom often brought me as a child. I remember what seat we’d always pick. So… it’s meaningful..! :) If that McD closed, I’d definitely feel something.
pimlottc 3y ago
Even chain restaurants can be special to people. Maybe it’s the McDonald’s across the street from school where everyone hung out after class, or the Denny’s that was the only place open at 2 AM in college. Maybe you met your first love at that corner Starbucks, or celebrated a business deal at that Applebees next to the hotel on a work trip. There’s plenty of ways that people and events can make an otherwise unremarkable place memorable.
tyingq 3y ago
I have some nostalgia for the fast food chain place I worked at as a kid, ages ago. Same building, same rough layout, though everything else is different. I don't get the same vibe around other existing locations of the same chain.
hotnfresh 3y ago
I know of a small single-state chain of pizza restaurants with unique whole wheat crust unlike any other I’ve had, and I’ve looked. I’ve tried to recreate it at home, haven’t gotten terribly close. The chain only lasted about 15 years. I don’t know of any place that makes a substitute for what they made. I do know a place that makes pizza pretty close to an early 90s Pizza Hut pie. It’s like $20+ a pizza, because that’s what early 90s Pizza Hut would cost if they hadn’t been cutting quality to keep the the price relatively stable, for the last two-plus decades. So that’s nice.

by progne 3y ago

gregsadetsky 3y ago

Yeah that’s an interesting point. Although I see what you mean, I imagine that any particular Burger King etc could still have felt “significant” - imagine someone who stopped there regularly, or had memories of going there with a relative. Or the people who worked there for a year or 20. I definitely remember a specific McDonald’s to which my mom often brought me as a child. I remember what seat we’d always pick. So… it’s meaningful..! :) If that McD closed, I’d definitely feel something.

pimlottc 3y ago

Even chain restaurants can be special to people. Maybe it’s the McDonald’s across the street from school where everyone hung out after class, or the Denny’s that was the only place open at 2 AM in college. Maybe you met your first love at that corner Starbucks, or celebrated a business deal at that Applebees next to the hotel on a work trip. There’s plenty of ways that people and events can make an otherwise unremarkable place memorable.

tyingq 3y ago

I have some nostalgia for the fast food chain place I worked at as a kid, ages ago. Same building, same rough layout, though everything else is different. I don't get the same vibe around other existing locations of the same chain.

hotnfresh 3y ago

I know of a small single-state chain of pizza restaurants with unique whole wheat crust unlike any other I’ve had, and I’ve looked. I’ve tried to recreate it at home, haven’t gotten terribly close. The chain only lasted about 15 years. I don’t know of any place that makes a substitute for what they made. I do know a place that makes pizza pretty close to an early 90s Pizza Hut pie. It’s like $20+ a pizza, because that’s what early 90s Pizza Hut would cost if they hadn’t been cutting quality to keep the the price relatively stable, for the last two-plus decades. So that’s nice.