chapotraphouse

Begging Kim to resurrect Mao so he can protect Chinese grandmothers.

I was just about to write up a landlord story of my own, so I'll hitch onto your existing post, kristina.

Every summer I make it a point to get the hell out of the city and spend some time approximately in the middle of nowhere. I like to find a village where I can rent out a backyard guest house (aka a big shed with a kitchen), and just disconnect for a week.

Twice now I've ended up in the same small town, and rented out the same couple's ~~trailer next to their irrigation reservoir~~ lakefront guest house. Lovely people. They have a one-eyed dog, and a three-legged dog. The husband taught me how to temporarily patch my tire with rubber cement and a knife so I could drive back home for a real fix. But they aren't the point of the story.

I'd like to talk about the town's burger shop. It's one of those local chains that you only find in just one state. Think of it as being like In-N-Out Burger, circa 1995. One of the locations is right near my place back in the city, too. Naturally, there is a huge price difference between the two locations.

Before I go further, I want you to guess which burger costs more: the restaurant in the city that's a central shipping hub for the region, or the restaurant in a town with less than 1500 people? Obviously it's the rural one, right?

Nope. The first time I visited there was five or six years ago, and I was shocked to find that their menu was cheaper by more than a third. Same food, same distributors, same recipes—way cheaper. A burger that cost me $6 in the city cost me $3.90 in the middle of nowhere. How'd that happen? Wild.

I was there again this year and, obviously, prices have gone up thanks to ~~massive corporate greed~~ mysterious inflation. But by far less than I expected. The burger on the menu in rural nowhere has now increased to a staggering... $4.25. The one in the city is now $9. I asked the owner about it, and he very flatly told me why he can charge so little:

He owns the building the restaurant is in. His dad built it 40 years ago. He's the only location that isn't a renter. He's making the same profit all the other owners are, but he doesn't have to pay any rent.

Fuck landlords. They make my treats 'spensive.

Yeah, we've got a ton of empty commercial properties in my city because some dbag bean counter reckons they make more money keeping it empty and seeking ludicrous rents than they would actually renting it out for a reasonable rate.

ALAB

edit: they did this to a restaurant I liked downtown. It was a historical old mason building and they sold it so the Hilton could build a hotel inside of it. The restaurant was in the basement. They ended up turning it into an area for businesses and still nobody has entered it. They could have just kept them.

That's awful, hope she's okay

I have a similar story but in my case it was good Chinese tea that I lost not a restaurant

There was a nice lady who ran a small tea shop in town, then the landlord raised her rent after covid because all of the people moving up from the city gave them an excuse

The tiny building remains empty over a year later and that landlord remains at the top of my shit list

You thought you were eating, but you ended up with a MAOthfull

This is why so much of NYC retail space is just “for rent” signs. Landlords got spoiled by those years when national banks, pharmacy chains, and high-end realtors were setting up branches every other block. Now they’d rather just let these spaces sit empty and wait for the unicorn tenant that can afford their ridiculous prices. And this isn’t just a thing on the minor strips/outer boroughs, 5th Avenue in manhattan is a ghost town, relatively speaking.

FUCK LANDLORDS. they dont even care about profit, only misery!

I also had a really good Chinese restaurant (with very generous portions) close down