It will soon be an unFriendly world

According to Mark Bittman, Friendlys restaurants will file or already have filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.   He feels the filing is nothing extraordinary, and maybe addition by subtraction on the food scene.  He points out that many dining venues frequented by the American middle class have gone by the wayside recently.  These chain restaurants specializing in large portions of forgettable food at low prices were probably the entry level dining experience for my generation.  They replaced the Mom and Pop diners and small town eateries of the previous generation.  I can't say I will miss the Bennigans, Friendly's et. al.  Unless you are willing to pay for people to source fresh ingredients and spend the time to actually cook them in some reasonable time frame (within two to three hours) of your eating said food, you are basically paying for someone to defrost an entree that was mass produced using highly processed foodlike substances and then have someone else bring it too your table.  You can get the same or better in your supermarket's frozen food isle.  The only differences are you are overpaying in the chain restaurant and you don't have to do dishes afterward.  Real food cooked by people in a local restaurant using high quality ingredients can cost the equivalent of enough raw food to feed a family of four for a week.  Maybe that is why niche restaurants continue to do well.  They cater to a clientele who can afford the gastronomic experience.  Meanwhile, even the Olive Gardens of the mass market had better watch out.  Just as Macy's customers have downgraded to Walmart, the O G's customers will be lining up at Micky D's.  Next stop Tender Vittles....