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“The closer to the train station, the worse the kebab” – a “study”

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Re: “The closer to the train station, the worse the kebab” – a “study”

#191

Post by hattmall »

drjasonharrison wrote: post #152
dole wrote: post #148

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The Thai government practices gastro-diplomacy, they have a program where you set a Thai restaurant up in a foreign country, you can pick from three different packages for size or fanciness of restaurant. It's why you see a lot of the same decorations and similarities between differently owned Thai restaurants, or occasionally a family will own a number in a metro area.

/s missing?

No, this is why there are so many Thai restaurants relative to their population. Even most small towns will have one or two.

Re: “The closer to the train station, the worse the kebab” – a “study”

#192

Post by gamedever »

tialaramex wrote: post #73
myhf wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There may not be a correlation, but you can clearly see that the bottom-right quadrant of the plot is basically empty, which is an important insight. A more accurate aphorism would be "You can sell good kebabs anywhere, but you can only sell bad kebabs near a train station." And if you look at the "minimum viable quality" instead of the overall quality, there does seem to be a linear correlation with the distance. Yo…

> but you can clearly see that the bottom-right quadrant of the plot is basically empty, which is an important insight. I don't think so? It's mostly a result of the fact that (obviously) the best place to sell food is where there are people, which is also the best place to put a metro station. So on average the kebabs are pretty good and on average they're near a station. In Figure 9 one of the worst reviewed restau…

> but the way you can tell it's the best place for a kebab is how late it's open every night

That logic definitely does not apply to SF Bay Area. Most of the places that stay open are all pretty meh. A few pizza by the slice places, Dennys, Grubstake, Orphan Andy's, Mel's. Oakland and LA (SoCal) are no better.

AFAIK most places have no interest in staying open late. Maybe they don't want to stay up. Maybe they don't want to deal with drunks. So, given there are so few, the few that are open have no competition.

I been to / lived in cities that actually have good late night options. Tokyo, Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur, Singapore. California has a curfew which doesn't help.

Re: “The closer to the train station, the worse the kebab” – a “study”

#195

Post by HolyLampshade »

MichaelDickens wrote: post #150
btilly wrote: post #42

Many years ago I came up with a rule of thumb. Restaurants have three basic strategies, be a known quantity (chain), have a good location, or be actually good. I've found some gems by looking for the third category. Given that "near the train" is a good location, that would support this theory.

Based on the empirical evidence from OP, this seems correct. But there's a theoretical argument for why "good location" and "actually good" should be positively correlated: 1. Good locations are more expensive. 2. People are willing to pay more for better food. 3. Therefore (all else equal), better restaurants earn more revenue. 4. Therefore, better restaurants have a higher willingness-to-pay on rent. 5. Therefore,…

I’d posit that closer proximity to drinking establishments would mean increased foot traffic with a less discerning clientele.

Every kebob is a good kebob when you’re a few drinks in.

Re: “The closer to the train station, the worse the kebab” – a “study”

#196

Post by gaiagraphia »

aqueueaqueue wrote: post #98
chadcmulligan wrote: post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My rule for finding a good restaurant - if it doesn't look that good and/or is in an out of the way place but seems to be busy, its probably good.

My rule. Check TripAdvisor!

A great way to detect who buys ikea furniture!

Re: “The closer to the train station, the worse the kebab” – a “study”

#198

Post by Gabriel54 »

Tangential, and not a train station, but one of the best Turkish şiş kebabs I ever had was at Esenler Otogar (bus station) in Istanbul. The station is something out of a horror movie, but if you go up to the second floor there are some fantastic little places to eat.

Re: “The closer to the train station, the worse the kebab” – a “study”

#199

Post by bluGill »

98codes wrote: post #93
btilly wrote: post #42

Many years ago I came up with a rule of thumb. Restaurants have three basic strategies, be a known quantity (chain), have a good location, or be actually good. I've found some gems by looking for the third category. Given that "near the train" is a good location, that would support this theory.

This supports the inverse square rule for seafood restaurant quality vs. being near the ocean. There are good places, but right on the water? Universally bad.

Shipping of sea food is expensive so even the cheapest distant resteraunt will pay for premium prices since the difference isn't that much. Near the shore you can save buying cheap - but if you know what you are looking for you can buy the best off the boat for cheap.

Re: “The closer to the train station, the worse the kebab” – a “study”

#200

Post by bluGill »

gamedever wrote: post #192
tialaramex wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> but you can clearly see that the bottom-right quadrant of the plot is basically empty, which is an important insight. I don't think so? It's mostly a result of the fact that (obviously) the best place to sell food is where there are people, which is also the best place to put a metro station. So on average the kebabs are pretty good and on average they're near a station. In Figure 9 one of the worst reviewed restau…

> but the way you can tell it's the best place for a kebab is how late it's open every night That logic definitely does not apply to SF Bay Area. Most of the places that stay open are all pretty meh. A few pizza by the slice places, Dennys, Grubstake, Orphan Andy's, Mel's. Oakland and LA (SoCal) are no better. AFAIK most places have no interest in staying open late. Maybe they don't want to stay up. Maybe they don't…

Late is a tradeoff. On resteraunt can make a killing serving anyone out but there are not many so two staying open late both go bankrupt from lack of business. Or maybe the area can support two (3? 10?) I don't know the real number but not as many as the daytime lunch crowd.
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