Do What You Do, and Be Good At It

I have a complaint to make to the restaurants of America: Why do you all feel the need to serve almost every genre of food?

Recently on vacation, we dined out a little more than normal, like ya do when you're on vacation. Anyways, it occurred to me that so many of the places we went to had a huge variety of food; an unnecessary amount, in most cases.

Why is it that an Italian restaurant feels the need to serve burgers? If I'm going to an Italian place, there's a good chance I'm going because I want Italian food. It really bugs me that so many of our restaurants feel like they have to cater to everyone and the only way to do that is to offer a little of everything. The fast food industry has taken a turn like this too, if you haven't noticed. Five years ago we wouldn't have dreamed of going to Wendy's for a salad, or get iced coffee at McDonald's, or breakfast at Subway. Why? Because they were already successful with (and good at) their staple items, burgers or sub sandwiches. According to a retired fast food franchisee, the restaurants have expanded their menus so much these days, requiring more and more equipment to make these new special items, that it is nearly impossible for anyone to even get started, much less stay in business.

Please, restaurant CEOs: cut it out. Instead of being mediocre at a lot, how about you try to be awesome at less. Instead of serving me just 'eh' spaghetti, forget about the burger and fries, and make great pasta! Do what you do and be proud of it.