We had a wonder “food hall” move into our area recently and I try to buy/support local and all that but it does seem appealing. Right off the bat I feel like id have issues with it but dont specifically have anything to point to really aside from that its sort of a ghost kitchen. Should I give it a shot or continue avoiding it?
I’ve eaten stuff from there once or twice. We had a rather mixed crowd of people and it made it very convenient to get something for adults of various cultures and their kids to all get some from one stop.
When my friend introduced me to it, I said, oh, so it’s like if Sysco cut out the middle man and just heated up the food for you themselves, right? That’s pretty much what it is. So I’d treat it like the mall food court. Food is just fine, like you’d get from a fast casual chain, and you can please near any variety of appetites in one store pickup.
I’d label it ethically neutral. You’re not supporting a real local business, but they do employee locals, assumingly pay local taxes, and if you’re feeding someone who may be shy to speak up if everyone else wants to eat one type of food and they don’t, they’re not put on the spot.
It usually gets complicated. We’re at the point where you basically have to decide what level of unethicalness in any system is acceptable to you. Would help if you put that in your OP probably.
After a cursory look at the concept after hearing about it here for the first time, it seems no more or less ethical than any other large chain food business.
Its definitely not “local” though.
If you’re wondering if you should eat there, the bigger issue is they’re just not very good. Its all reheated food frozen in central kitchens optimized for delivery.
I think its owned by the doordash guy too, so they don’t exactly support ethical compensation for their delivery workers
