Chain Free's the Way to Be

I recently overheard a meeting between a business owner and his marketing specialist where they were  discussing marketing techniques for their restaurant in Wichita. Business management is not a topic which particularly interests me, so I made no attempt to listen to the conversation. I then heard a snipet of information that I found intriguing: Wichita has the highest number of restaurants per capita second only to Philidelphia. 

What?

The restaurant industry in this city is exponentially over-saturated, and with poor excuses for nourishment at that, but I'm willing to bet that over half of those eateries are chains. So where are all these restaurants? Why are they all here? And why on earth do I rotate between the same ones???

Perhaps it is that we are suffocating in a cloud of industrial, corporate induced comatose brought on by the same chains that continue to bring customers in day after day, year after year, and continue to build their establishments on every street corner. 

Or maybe I'm just naive. 

I have lived here one year and I seldom reach beyond my comfortable and "affordable" means and eating habits. 

Wichita has such a uniquely diverse population that it seems a shame to waste our caloric intake and hard earned dollars on a well-established corporation rather than an underappreciated local business. 

It is a shame, and I now relinquish myself of their control and my own naivety. 

While I have been McDonald's free for a few years now, I sheepishly admit my shameful cravings for the other fast foods that should have been long banned from my lifestyle. Being from the Midwest, Braum's is my number one pick for fast food, any time, hands down. And Braums, I commend you for using horomone free feed and treatment in your meat and produce, but most everything I want from your menu is still fried and was probably frozen. While I do retain a bit of my dignity by avoiding the monopolized corporations, I could do even better. 

Not being a native Wichitan, I have been blindly unaware of the plethora of dining options that are quietly tucked away in some of the cities most interesting areas, and in my ignorance I have continued to run willingly into the arms of Applebee's half-price appetizers and McAlister's tasty, fresh sandwiches. In my research, I've found that there are innumerable amounts of authentic, amazing, local, and fresh options run by genuinely hard working people whose passion is to serve up their favorite foods to the residents of Wichita. 

For example,

Due to its extremely diverse population, there is no shortage of any type of food in Wichita one could ever desire. Delano, Old Town, and Riverside are blessed with built in atmosphere perfect, and essential, for a restaurant. Indeed, many entrepreneurs have taken advantage of this very opportunity and have left their mark on the American food industry with their trendy, hip, or laid back, your choice, of bar and grill scenes.

Wichita also has an amazing selection of Medeterranian foods where you'll be served up quality, healthy foods by the friendliest people you'll ever meet for an unbeatable price. 

Authentic Mexican food is difficult to come by especially considering that I grew up in a town whose population was and remains to be approximately half Hispanic; I am one of the pickiest of the picky when it comes to the US's take on Mexican.

Sure, there are several Tex-Mex options that have migrated here from the South, but they're sadly not what I'm after. But look no further, ladies and gents, there lies some of the most fantastic Mexican food I've ever tasted within the city limits of our very own Wichita, Kansas. If you travel a short distance West, you will come upon an indescribable selection of authentic Mexican food served up fresh and daily and are exponentially paramount to anything dished out by a national chain. No fear though, East siders, there's a fix in your neck of the woods as well!

Did you know Subway is the worst possible place in this city to get a sub sandwich? The fact that I could make a better sandwich in my own kitchen aside, there are some delectable delis that should be the prime choice for our weekday lunches  without having to settle for long lines, sub-par food, and re-purposed shredded paper lettuce. 

I could literally go on and on.

Therefore, I hereby make a pledge to my body and wallet to consume only foods prepared at local establishments  where I can indulge in my favorites in addition to branching out and expanding my palatal horizons. It is my hope to highlight my experiences in the best way possible to turn others and myself off from the bland regularities that could be experienced identically around the country or even the world. 

So there it is, documented and published to hold myself accountable. I am no longer able to circumvent my convictions.  

So long MSG injected Great Wall sweet and sour chicken, farewell Wendy's value menu, I bid thee all adieu! Here's to a journey to find the best local eats in Wichita and locate the establishments most worthy of my precious time, money, and nutritional allotment. 

So far, no regrets.