America's Next Great Reality Show

so I had this show, America's Next Great Restaurant, recommended to me and after the pilot I have the following impressions:

SPOILERS!!!

1) aren't there are enough competition/elimination reality shows?

2) aren't there enough fast food places?

3) YOUR RESTAURANT WILL BE OPENING IN THREE MAJOR CITIES: LOS ANGELES, NEW YORK, AND... Minneapolis? (I joked to my coworker that Chicago wanted too much money. but seriously guys. we invented hotdogs and everyone here is obsessed with food. c'mon. c'mon.....c'mon.)

(c'mon.)

4) 3 of the proposed restaurant names were obviously referring to male anatomy (Hard & Soft, Saucy Balls, Lil' Wangs)

5) Right off the bat they showed a lot of footage of this guy being REALLY egotistical and douchey. You think "oh he's totally going to make trouble in the later episodes." but then he gets eliminated! It's so gratifying. He also had a name that was referring to penises.

6) I like how within the contestants there's a mix of restauranteurs, entrepreneurs, regular folk, and business people.

7) wow, extreme tokenism. The final 10 were 1 black guy, 1 black girl, 1 indian guy, 1 asian girl, aaaand 5 white people (which includes 1 stereotypical italian guido type, 1 real housewife type, and 1 lesbian)



8) They switched up the regular judge panel makeup of
Mean Person
Nice Person
Person with Accent
Kooky Person
Person of Color
to
Mean Person with an Accent
Mean Person Who Looks Like They Would Be Nice
Mean Boring Person
Kooky Person Of Color with an Accent



9) I cried a little when they lit up all the winner's restaurant's names, so inspiring!

10) okay, here's my main beef (har har) with the show:

As a person who doesn't like to dine alone and who dines with a vegetarian 100% of the time, I find it extremely trying to find a place that has substantial food that is meatless. Sure, every place is going to have salad or fries or bread or a really thick milkshake but that is SO LAME. Meatless entrees are so hard to find and FAST FOOD PLACES are the worst offenders. I mean, that's cool, I'm just avoiding crappy food that is terrible for you but sometimes fast food is the only option and it blows to wander around with an empty stomach peeking at menus to see if Chris can eat anything there.

That being said, this show is propagating this "americans love meat" LIE that makes it super time consuming for Chris and I to have lunch together.

First off, this huge guy (who is super positive and fun, btw) proposes a meatball-based restaurant and NOBODY sees a problem with this. The first thing he says "Eeeeverybody loves meatballs!" Actually, no. I was waiting for them to say something about veggie meatballs but no one said a word. Veggie meatballs would be super easy to make and not all that different from real meat. I would avoid a meatball restaurant like the plague. It's like a hamburger that's messier to eat.

Another thing that happened was this super cool Indian guy wanted a vegetarian restaurant and ALL the judges had a problem with this. They pretty much bullied him into including meat on his menu.

Judges: Now, would you be serving meats?

Indian Guy: I'm leaning heavily towards being all vegetarian.

J: What percentage of America is vegetarian?

I: I'm think you're looking at 15% maybe

J: It wouldn't work for me to invest in a concept that only appeals to 15% of the population

(another judge gives a thumbs up to that)

I: Absolutely.

J: You would need to offer a bit more variety.

I: Possibly, I mean I have-

J (interrupting): We need to know will there be meat on your menu or not?

(long silence)

I (with a pained and defeated look on his face): yes.

(pause)

I: 10-15%

(laughter)

Really? Are omnivores UNABLE to eat something that doesn't have meat in it? I was shocked by how narrow-minded this view is. An all-meat restaurant is going to exclude MORE people than a meat-less one. Some people's RELIGIOUS beliefs are based on not eating meat. Unbelievable.

The problem with eliminating vegetarians as a possible customer is the following, and these are mostly my opinions but they're a tiny bit factual too.

1) Vegetarians have money.
In America, being able to get enough nutrition without eating meat is a luxury. Tofurky is expensive. Seitan is expensive. For some reason salads are more expensive than Big Macs. I would love to give more money to restaurants who are thoughtful enough to not jam every item on the menu with chicken. This is why we go to Noodles & Company and Chipotle quite a bit.

2) Food without meat is healthier.
I want to say most vegetarians do it because meat is full of cholesterol and fat and calories that do little other than give you vitamins and fill you up. Sure, meat has lots of good points but if you're watching your calories, the veggie delight at Subway is the way to go. If you're watching your calories, you pretty much can't step foot into a McDonalds, because those guys could even ruin OATMEAL.

3) Food without meat is more sustainable and efficient.
Just read this article.

By not having a legit meatless option on your menu you are alienating smart nice rich people!

I think it's because both fast food and reality tv have broad appeal. Joe Schmo sitting on his couch in Akron, OH enjoys both those things. Vegetarianism? Go watch MSNBC you hippie.