When Resturaunts Jump the Shark

Perkins did it. They sucked last month, when Xan was here. The meals were bad, and I was shocked, just shocked, because that was one of my standard "hamster food" places (what to eat, when I didn't want to think much about eating). Decent, cheap food, etc.

Well, the menu changed, for the third time in the past year. The prices have leapt by maybe 20-30%. The food...sucks. They got rid of the breakfast specials, so, the "breakfast special" crowd stopped coming in, causing the place to be empty in the mornings (because who can afford 8 bucks, for an omelet...) which, in turn, caused the better wait staff to quit. So, half the good servers quit. The food is ridiculously priced, and it's ZOOMING downhill. I ordered some oatmeal, today, because I was in the mood for it. The waitress brought me a bowl of dried instant oat powder, a pitcher of tap-hot water, and a cup of milk. 3 bucks. Powder. Hot water. Milk. For 3 bucks, at Turning Point, I get a vat of rich, creamy, chewy, piping hot steel cut Irish oatmeal, with cinnamon sugar, butter, raisins, and dried apples. We decided that we probably won't be eating much there, anymore.

Then, tonight, we were in the mood for Polish food. We went to Polanka, this awesome little store-front/takeout Polish food joint. The kitchen is run by little grandmothers, and the waitresses are daughters and granddaughters. Normally. This time, though, the little babcias were in the kitchen, toiling away, as usual, but the servers were all different...and awful. The service SUCKED. The food (which is normally, like, astronomically good) came out cold, and wrong. She kept forgetting things. She picked up the plate of the woman next to us, before she was finished eating, and offered a shrug, when the woman complained. (to me, that's like, a cardinal sin...NEVER take my plate before I'm done. I would have rapped her with my spoon) My dinner had about an inch of watery something on the bottom of the plate, pretty much waterlogging my food. Oh, and (death knell, for any eating establishment, in my book) the menu changed. The prices went up, the selection got smaller (like, instead of offering 14 things, they now offered 10...not like there was a huge selection, to begin with) and they stopped doing take-home baked goods. We were sad. As we were walking out, we noticed a for-sale sign, on the door. "Business For Sale" That just sucks, but, it explains a lot.

There are way too many resturaunts closing, or sucking, these days, and not enough good ones opening up in their place. RIP Sciortinos, Perkins, Polanka, Babbok, Gianna's, Sapore, Mrs. Eng's, Keller's, Chowder Pot, Sand Bar, Shamrock, Marina Diner, The Grill and the Grape, Hoffbrau House, etc etc. You will live on in my gastronomic heart.

[Listening to: Bad Reputation - Reverend Horton Heat - (2:24)]