location matters

another aspect of our busy lives

At the height of the pandemic, a salad place opened on my Annapolis route to and from Fort McNair in southwest Washington, D.C. The welcoming flashing pink sign got my attention every time I sat at the signal where I made a right if I transited the intersection during opening hours; they certainly were closed when I departed at Oh Dark Thirty while still working. The pink sign was a definite lure for me along with the establishment’s name, Fresh Healthy. After I noticed the new place, I watched the pink sign draw my attention as I waited to turn left on my trips home, unless I was so late they were already closed for the day (but that reminded me what a long day I had put in).

A strict vegetarian gets excited whenever a new place advertises the prospect of our kind of cuisine, even it is only probably salad. I wish they had been a wee bit more creative with the name because I most definitely think every restaurant ought serve fresh food, though we all know not every single one does. There are actually few things more disappointing than something the least stale in a restaurant unless it’s panzanella salad, a delicacy requiring day-old bread. Sushi, sandwiches, aging fruit, and most food is decidedly inferior when served beyond its prime so it always strikes me as unnecessary to advertise food as fresh. It’s a redundant term in my book.

Healthy is different; I welcome that descriptor as it’s usually code for salad. Code, however, does not equate to equivalency. Before I embraced a vegetarian lifestyle, I ate salads with all sorts of ‘add ons’ that increased calorie count significantly without providing many benefits to my health. Had I been in a South Sudan famine, then those salads would have qualified as healthy (relative to having nothing, of course) but lots of salads are hardly what a nutritionist likely would have said were at the top of the list for adding years to my life.

Many places today, however, do offer appealing options. This ‘Fresh, Healthy’ sign gave me some confidence that this place was probably on the right side of things for me.

The real lesson of this establishment’s name, however, was most likely was someone trying to break into the casual lunch market in Annapolis. This place was on a major artery from Route 50 along the western side of our fair city, offering terrific access.

However, their location was a bit dicey for easy-in and easy-out. It’s such a major artery that getting time to make the sharp right hand turn into the parking lot after spying the establishment, with its modest sign (pink flashing sign not withstanding) is much tougher than it might seem. Annapolis is a fascinating place if one actually takes time to think about the history of building here. We are neither native Annapolitans but it appears, looking at building styles, this town expanded dramatically in the 1960s and perhaps 1970s. Many small strip malls have that fairly clunky 1960s look with huge parking lots but modest buildings.

The location for ‘Fresh, Healthy’ clearly was a 1960s production, part of a smart business park. As a matter of fact, Fresh, Healthy was likely a repurposed bank. The drive through window was obviously part of the location’s appeal as someone could drive up, get the salad, then return to the office along Forest Avenue or some other part of town. I can’t tell the adjacent businesses is even though I have looked across the intersection countless times as I sat through the signal awaiting my right hand turn, salivating over a nice salad. And I pride myself on being attentive. Neither the nearby Mexican place, Italian deli, nor barbeque joint had drive up windows so this was a decided advantage.

Except that the signage was a bit hard to see from the main artery because of the building situated in this large parking lot. If you did not know the salad option was there, you would drive right past it as no sign was near enough the road nor a restaurant name catchy enough to draw your attention.

We noticed Tuesday that obviously not enough folks had paid attention to this (potentially) charming place as the pink sign flashing OPEN no longer flashes. The decorations I had passed every day for about three years were no longer visible.

By all indications, Fresh, Healthy no longer lives or serves. And I never took time to try them.

The restaurant business is one of the toughest in the United States. The dreams, the savings to start, the cash flow needed, the demand for consistency of quality food day in and day out, the competition with a panoply of other places, the long hours of preparing/cleaning/maintenance, and cultivating a loyal clientele are killers for most new (and plenty of seasoned) restaurants. I respect how gutsy these folks were to throw their doors open during the pandemic as an additional challenge.

Businesses in a free market economy face many obstacles, especially in a period of downturn which this currently is not. But, the human spirit of optimism to give it a go is inspriring.

The next time you have the opportunity to dine out, take a minute to ponder the actions and consequences of the particular enterprise. The proprietors at Fresh, Healthy had a few built in challenges. Obviously I acknowledge I never managed to go in the door or up to the drive-in window so they may have been understaffed for all I know but they gave it a go for thirty-six months. Perhaps they have opened elsewhere, perhaps they already reached retirement age so they closed as a result (my husband and I have a remarkable record, truly awesome, of liking restaurants which subsequently close despite our approval of their food. We have done this from Massachusetts to Alexandria to Hawai’i and in between. More than once we heard it was that owners wanted to retire so we do know how to choose ‘em, don’t we?), who knows.

At the end of this Labour Day week, think not only of the farmers who work so hard to produce food for our table but the restauranteurs who have a spirit of entrepeneurship and hope when they open the doors daily. Sometimes they become Subway shops which expand globally while others misjudge either the location or adequacy of advertising; it may be something else which leads them to shutter. But there is a spirit of chance that is worth respecting.

Thank you for reading Actions Create Consequences. It’s a joy writing these days with the knowledge you may have some fascinating comments you send. I read each, laugh at some and really think about implications of others. Thank you for those who subscribe. Please feel free to circulate or restack, via the button below.

Be safe in this heat and welcome the gradually changing colours. Be well. FIN