As you read my blogs, you know that Best Friend and I like to dine out once or maybe twice a week.

Well, a few days ago we went to our neighborhood diner for a quick bite before heading to the pool.  Between the two of us, we ordered a Philly steak sandwich, a Rueben sandwich, French fries, and a salad.

When my Philly steak sandwich arrived, I noticed it looked familiar.  When I took a bite, it dawned on me that I’ve had this many, many times before at other restaurants in the area – that this was the exact brand of bun, exact same style of chopped up meat, and seasonings, exact white cheese-diced green pepper melted on top I’ve eaten at X Restaurant and Y Restaurant.

Well, I did a lot of research.  What I discovered is that there is a huge corporation in this area that provides ready-made foods and frozen foods including Italian and Mexican, condiments, beverages, et cetera to local restaurants.  I regularly see the semi trucks from this corporation making deliveries at our local neighborhood restaurant and at others, too.

It is no wonder that over the past few years, I noticed that the restaurant food in this area tastes pretty much the same – same types of foods, same food presentations, same taste, and in some cases, the same blandness.  And it was that Philly cheese steak the other day that revealed what is going on in this area.

Now I laugh even more when the management of our neighborhood diner brags about having a “chef.”  I laugh when the residents here brag and swoon over this “chef’s creations.”  I wrote about my suspicion that there is no chef; only a food-warmer-upper.  I found that other neighborhood diners’ menus are nearly identical to the one here – and they even falsely tout having their own “chef.”  You can read my other blogs on this topic in Dining at Chez Ersatz, The New Year’s Eve Party, and Catered In.

No wonder that restaurant food had variety when I lived in a different part of the state (even though the food there was subpar).   At least I wasn’t eating the same exact foods at different restaurants.  Many of them actually shopped for and made their own fare.

Oh, and I also learned that this corporation that is in this part of the state and a portion of a neighboring state does a $2 billion business, and they will ship worldwide.

Sounds so much like a racket.

©2022 Colcannon Metropolis, “Life is Funny,” “Your Table is Ready,” and “Aren’t They Just!”