There’s a story over at the New York Times about a new business in San Francisco, Eatsa, that’s like an old-fashioned automat: “[a]t this restaurant, customers order, pay and receive their food and never interact with a person.” See, Restaurant of the Future? Service With an Impersonal Touch @ NYT. (The story’s somewhat puzzling because reporter Claire…
Restaurant
Economics, Economy, Free Markets, Immigration, Labor, Restaurant
Film: From Dishwasher to Award-Winning Restaurateur
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
I suppose that if I wanted to curry favor with others, I’d talk about the need for immigration restrictions, or at the least I’d avoid taking a contrary view (a restrictive position being so popular these days). That would seem to me a timid way to face the world, unfit for robust Americans. One should…
Drink, Food, Restaurant, Review
How Many Visits for a Restaurant Review?
by JOHN ADAMS • • 3 Comments
How many trips should a reviewer make before publishing a review? I think at least two, if not three.(Exceptions would apply when one is revisiting an establishment that one has reviewed previously, or when one is traveling and a second visit is impractical.) One can review after one evening, but a single, first-visit review just doesn’t seem…
Business, Restaurant
The Restaurant Failure Rate, Real and Imagined
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
One often hears that almost all restaurants fail within their first year, but that’s not true. Turnover is high, but it’s nowhere near 90% in the first year: [H.G.] Parsa [then an associate professor at Ohio State, now at the University of Denver] says he spent three months trying to track down someone at American…
Restaurant, Review
Restaurant Review: Tokyo (Revisit)
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
View Larger Map Here’s a summary of a return trip to Whitewater’s Tokyo restaurant. When I visited Tokyo two years ago, I wrote that I liked it, despite a “décor [that was] a bit aged, but pleasant.” In the times that I’ve visited since, including recently, the establishment is no less aged, but no…
Restaurant, Review
Restaurant Review: Casual Joe’s
by JOHN ADAMS • • 2 Comments
Over on James Street, vacant for so many years, sat the Fort Auto Body building. Eventually, an entrepreneur would have found some use for the building, but it’s to Whitewater’s advantage that Causal Joe’s, an American barbecue restaurant, took the spot. Casual Joe’s is more than some use – it’s an establishment easy to recommend.…
City, Enforcement, Food, Hip & Prosperous, Local Government, Marketing, Regulations, Restaurant
Vulnerability of a Restaurant Culture
by JOHN ADAMS • • 2 Comments
View image | gettyimages.com Whitewater’s publicly-driven marketing may not have amounted to much, these last ten years, but there are few better advertisements for Whitewater than thriving restaurants and taverns. Good restaurants, doing well, are a sign of a successful community. Some of Whitewater’s newest restaurants also reflect a sensibility that’s significantly more contemporary than…
Restaurant, Review
Restaurant Review: Fratelli’s Ristorante Italiano
by JOHN ADAMS • • 3 Comments
Italian cuisine is among the most celebrated of offerings, yet there aren’t many Italian restaurants in Whitewater’s part of the state. Despite many choices, Whitewater hasn’t had a full, primary Italian menu. Fratelli’s Ristorante Italiano adds something lacking in our restaurant scene; I’m happy to recommend what it adds. This review comprises two dinner visits,…
Food, Restaurant, Review
Restaurant Review: Taco Fresco (Revisited)
by JOHN ADAMS • • 1 Comment
I reviewed Taco Fresco previously, years ago, when the establishment was under different ownership. This is an easy recommendation. The food’s delicious, the atmosphere pleasant. After a long day, I thought that I’d revisit to see how Taco Fresco was was faring. (This was a visit for a review, not a causal visit otherwise. In…
Restaurant, Review
Restaurant Review: Karina’s Mexican Restaurant (Revisited)
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
Karina’s Mexican Restaurant recently opened on the west side of Whitewater. I reviewed the establishment at its then-downtown location about two years ago. Karina’s is now located immediately to the west of Subway, in the same building, and east of Rocky Rococo’s. I’m not interested in reviewing those chains, but having returned to Karina’s I’d…
Food, Restaurant, Review
Restaurant Review: Fin & Hooves
by JOHN ADAMS • • 2 Comments
Food, Restaurant, Review
Seven Questions, Seven Replies About Restaurants
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
Three weeks ago, a reader kindly sent me a detailed email about restaurants, with a list of questions about my thoughts on service, food, dining out, etc. I answered shortly after the email arrived, and below one will find a posted version of some of those questions and my replies. (The original correspondence has been…
Restaurant, Review
Restaurant Review: Second Salem Brewing Company
by JOHN ADAMS • • 8 Comments
Second Salem Brewing Company is a small, locally-owned brewery that offers several beers from light to dark. There are two full bars, a gastro-pub with outdoor seating, and a tap lounge & anteroom. Thinking about the establishment principally as a gastro-pub, or even a tavern, gets Second Salem wrong (very much so). It’s not just…
Drink, Food, Restaurant, Review
Restaurant Review: 841 Brew House
by JOHN ADAMS • • 3 Comments
I’m beginning a new, spring and summer series of restaurant reviews. I’ll begin with something that, itself, is new: the restaurant at 841 Milwaukee Street, having opened at the beginning of the year. The 841 Brew House is a sports bar and restaurant, and differs notably and favorably from the predecessor establishment at that location. …