And then, behold! A restaurant is filled - no, packed! - to the gills. There are too many people milling around in the front. Yes, it's probably 20 degrees out, but anxious eaters pour into the streets and line up. No, it's not Gramercy Tavern. No, it's not Mesa Grill (or whatever). This is fucking Olive Garden.
Amazing, right? No one has any money, yet they'll gladly stand in the cold for a never-ending pasta bowl, salad, breadsticks or water. What value! Now, I'll be the first to admit that I rarely venture above 14th street if it's not for business purposes, but this seemed really odd (even for Manhattan). These weren't really tourists. It wasn't that sort of area. This was the midtown where people live - not Times Square.
I found the sight fascinating in the context of recent news about McDonald's rebound from irrelevancy. In 2008, while everything else crashed, McDonald's stock went up over six percent. This is pretty astronomical (and the only other comparable company to show gains was Walmart).
So, now the question: what do all of these stores have in common? Olive Garden, McDonald's and Walmart are all chains that target poverty by offering deals that are good (only in the theory). Perhaps we can call this the new Era of Chains.
OG offers those unlimited, never-ending meals, but they generally have a very poor quality. How much does bread really cost? How much will you actually eat? I only know one person that can eat a pound of pasta in a sitting, and this is a skill cultivated after a lifetime of work. It also costs about a dollar when you do it at home. I doubt anyone is going to Olive Garden for the scene.
McDonald's has a similar thing going. A value meal that's called a "value meal" is NY must be a good deal. Real talk: the values are locked in around 7 or 8 bucks minimum if you want anything close to a full meal. That's decent, but there are numerous other great options in the city that are way cheaper, less sterile and more conducive to actually sharing a meal with someone.
Walmart has everything. It's all cheaper than anywhere else, too. Fortunately, we don't have to deal with Walmart in New York. H. Lee Scott Jr. - CEO - remarked a few years ago that it surely wasn't worth the effort to penetrate a city that hates you. He was right. Then. Now? Who knows...
I'm going to Wendy's.
