Yesterday, my favorite wife and I decided to splurge…instead of eating soup at home, we went out for lunch at a place newly re-christened as DiDi’s. It had been called Abuela’s Kitchen, but a woman who served us (I assume she is the owner) said the corporate powers behind Abuelo’s objected and insisted that the tiny place change its name. I’m sure the corporate behemoth, whose chain restaurants litter the landscape in Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Missouri, Arkansas, Tennessee, Florida, Indiana, etc., etc. was terribly afraid a tiny mom & pop restaurant would badly damage its identity. Never mind the fact that, in English, the little place would be called Grandmother’s Kitchen and the corporate beast would be called Grandfather’s (no “kitchen). Anyway, I’m not here to write about a miserable corporate scumbag, I am here to write about lunch.
DiDi’s will introduce a new menu next week, but we got a little peek at it while we had lunch yesterday. It looks good. The food is primarily southern Mexican, but there are a few Peruvian dishes on the menu, as well, courtesy of a daughter-in-law who is from Peru. Though this time I had the bistec ranchero (the sauce for which was out of this world!), next time I may try a Peruvian dish. They have at least a couple of Peruvian ceviches on the menu and there may be a few other Peruvian dishes…we were only able to glance at the new menu for a few moments and they don’t yet have a paper version “to go.”
So far, I haven’t found a website, nor much in the way of social media coverage. I hope the place survives. They had only been open two months as Abuela’s Kitchen when the corporate lawyers swooped in to force the expense of an identity makeover. It’s too bad they didn’t have the ability to fight the bullying; I suspect they would have won. I found a couple of other Abuela’s Kitchens in other states, including at least one in Florida, where Abuelo’s supposedly has locations (the corporate website is a piece of trash, in my opinion, when it comes to finding their locations, though…evidence of some ineptitude hidden behind the flashy corporate design). Hey, I said I wasn’t here to write about a miserable corporate scumbag…and I won’t.
The woman who served us said they will be having a grand re-opening soon, to promote their new name. She took my phone number and said they will call us with an invitation.
I will go; tiny restaurants under attack by giants deserve all the help they can get, especially when the food is good, fresh, and made by the owner. Go there. 19177 Preston Road, Dallas.
Couldn’t miss it, Juanon! It kinda jumped me! 😉
Trish….Glad you saw the “pinche penny.” 😉
Juan, you and I need to go into business together…revolutionaries for hire! Larry, I’m ready to fight the corporate scumbags; bring the liquor and let’s get started!
Great post Juanon! Knew Florida has it share of major problems, but thanks to your post which enlightened me all the more. And, what you’d said about living under the illusion of competitive capitalism…bulls-eye!
P.S. Speaking of business names, I don’t escape just one light note….Pinche Penny?! Lol! Hope that never gets changed! Luv it!!
Actually it is Zuckerbergs Face Book. If it was mine I would be in Texas fighting the corporate scumbags with John after I got over the massive hangover we both would have .
Great link, Trish!
I wonder if she might get away by simply renaming it “My Abuela’s Kitchen.”
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Earlier this morning while buying jugs of chlorine at “Pinche Penny,” I and Jim the manager and a 78 year old woman from the Bronx in New York got into critical conversation concerning the increased insurance rates on our homes. In some areas, insurance rates have increased from 4 thousand to as much as 40 thousand a year. The recent surge of cost has gone unchallenged by our representatives. Republican Bilirakis hardly proposed an action. Republican Governor Scott has maintained his limp silence.
“They’re running us out!” said Jim. I was glad he had said because I, too, had been thinking the same thing.
“Their lobbies are too strong” I chimed in, to which the 78 year old agreed. I quoted the story from a recent article in the Atlantic Monthly about Jim Wilms, who through hooking and crooking managed a scheme not far different from trusts created at the turn of the 20th century, i.e., the American Sugar Refining Corporation (1895). In effect competition had been squelched by ASRC because it had created a plethora of businesses that while appearing separate, were actually all silently owned by the same ASRC.
Wilms followed a similar model. While you might think you are buying some weight control product from one corporation, and then buy from another because you’re getting it cheaper and thereby rewarding the competitive spirit, you’re actually buying from the same ownership. By the age of 27, Wilms had made more money than Zuckerman’s Facebook.
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In fact, if you really do some research based on the principle of “follow the money,” you might be surprised to find that any of the mega-corporations are all owned or managed by the same people, i.e. Viacom and so forth, whose board membership is not singular to one corporation but actually crosses over to many other corporations. I had my students do a research exercise on this, and they were amazed at their findings.
And so small businesses like “Abuelas” in your area and mine (though actually a minimal example) are pushed around by corporations over “name” alone.
Question: What is my point?
Answer: We are really living under the illusion of competitive capitalism. It’s actually a cluster-fuck, with mega-corporations in bed with each other – “bigger than US steel” (Godfather II, in discussion over Mafia control of Cuba before Castro take-over).
In the meantime, families are being pushed out of their Florida homes (purchased cheap in the 1960s), because if Realty corporations can’t find one way to increase their sale profits, then they’ll find a means of pushing out “old owners” through their lobbies. The object is to push out the old and put in the new with increased profits from sales. Generally, as the old evacuate due to increased property insurance rates, Reality corporations buy them up for re-sale at a higher price.
Recently,the nuclear power plant in Crystal River, Florida, was closed down. Too dangerous to operate now, since an addition had failed. The corporation that did the addition had no prior experience in building or adding-to nuclear power-plants. Why were they hired? The area is now saddled with paying the bill which amounts to over 6 billion dollars, dispersed to its taxpayers by Duke Energy. Duke doesn’t pay a dime!
Frankly, I’ve always hated comments that “the government is doing this, or the government is now doing that.” When really, it is not government, but high impacting corporations who now own our government — democrat or republican.
If I am rambling, it’s because there is so much to undertake here.
http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2014/01/the-dark-lord-of-the-internet/355726/
John, found this link which might help DiDi’s…just a thought.
http://www.opentable.com/new-dallas-texas-restaurants?ref=2795&mn=60