Anyone been to the Mac & Cheese place by the Clev. rd./GCAA fields Food lion? I was by there last night and saw it for 1st time. I Heart Mac & Cheese (iheartmacandcheese.com)
So far, I've heard that they couldn't keep up with the demand, and someone that has stopped in a few times saw there were more people waiting to be served than people actually eating, so they left. I like the concept, but they'll need to get past the "newly opened jitters" and settle into a routine before I go.
If you haven't heard, Mulligan's opens soon at 40/42. It's the same owners as Good Times that recently closed. Basically they moved to a new building and rebranded. https://mulligansarcadeandtavern.com/
I was on Next Door and a person was complaining (shocking) about the lack of good restaurants near 40/42. So i listed Cleveland Draft House, Mulligan's, LaPiazza, MoonRunners, Garibaldis etc as good local (non-national chains) in the area. And the reply was that the only 1 of those that actually cook the food, not just heat it up (made elsewhere) was LaPiazza. Does anyone who has worked at any of those, is that true?
Don't forget about the Clubhouse, Amore Pizza, Divanos, and a few other non-chain restaurants that are not half bad either. I guess how do you define "cook the food" vs "heat it up". I would suggest that all hot meals are heated up. Do they want someone to get a quarter of a cow and have a butcher in the back slicing steaks and making their own ground chuck/brisket? I would think as far as meat goes, all restaurants are buying pre-made ground beef, pre-cut steaks, cut up chicken, fish, etc. And some may be frozen and some may be fresh. I would like to think that many are buying it fresh in the area if you are not a chain. Honestly, I can buy a pre-made patty and season and cook it better than most restaurant burgers. As far as salads, I think most probably buy the veggies and make the salads themselves. Most of these places have someone like Sysco, US Foods, etc just deliver their food fresh or frozen. There's only so many places that don't buy from a distribution service. It's not like many restaurants in the Triangle go to the farmers market or local butcher to get their ingredients.
When I think premade/heated up i am thinking like Panera gets their soup in a bag, that's put into hot water to warm up. I agree most all food places get there supplies from just a few sources, like Sysco. Most non-national places are probably "cooking", not getting stuff shipped in.