Thursday, March 27, 2008

The Land of Rape & Butter

We thank the Lord for this our daily bread...
Bread- the mear mention of the word should send shivers down the spines of restaurant owners & workers everywhere.
Once upon a time, to go into a restaurant and have bread placed on your table meant that you were probably in a fine establishment where some artisan spent the wee hours of the morning pouring his heart into some sort of Boule or baguette for the fine patrons to enjoy as a "small" prelude to their meal or to be enjoyed along side what they ordered.
This is no longer the case. Now, it is expected, almost demanded that when people go out to eat, they be greeted by some grand gesture of never ending FREE bread, not to mention a tasty (and increasingly expensive) butter to accompany it. This expectation has no regard for whether or not the dining establishment has the space or capability to produce their own bread, and they needn't be concerned with such things, as there are a plethora of fine premade breads to be purchased and placed on the tables, one local restaurant in fact spent in excess of $25,000.00 in one year on FREE bread and the accompanying "dip", simply because they did not have the foresight nor the "balls" to simply say "no we don't have any FREE bread, sorry".
I would like to be clear, I do not blame the cyustomer for their demand for bread, although we don't go to any other business and "expect" to recieve some of that companies goods simply for sitting down. No, I blame the large chain so-called-restaurants such as Cooker (go figure, they're out of business), O'Charleys, and the like who began to popularize this rediculous concept in a business that already is possibly the least profitable business in the country. Likewise, I blame the restaurants who perpetuated this problem even when they had no real space or capability to make their own bread, but decided to go ahead and BUY bread to GIVE AWAY, really a genius business move (please tell me you sense the sarcasm).
In conclusion, I say to those restaurants that continue to serve purchased bread for FREE thus lowering the guest check, server tips, and overall profits of the business, good job jack ass! Thanks for Fuckin it up for the rest of us!
And to the Customer, without whom their would be no restaurant business, I ask, please consider the next time you go out to eat and want some bread, How many other companies are you willing to expect or demand FREE services from the next time you give them your business? And how upset might you get if the next time you go out, you are charged a minimal fee for bread that you requested?