I started to grab quotes from this piece and quickly realized I’d grabbed about 2/3rds of the thing. Here’s what it comes down to though,
“[Restaurants] have identified their customer base and are giving them exactly what they want. It just happens that the customer base doesn’t include me. Because here’s the thing: restaurants are not social services. Beyond the legal requirement for disability access, to comply with hygiene rules and post information on allergens, a restaurant does not have to give a damn about you and your needs.” (Note that this is from The Guardian and therefore the info about allergens is not applicable in the U.S.)
I’d love more vegetarian and vegan options, more comfortable seating, quieter restaurants with better lighting - and places that accept reservations, have oodles of well-lit parking, and knowledgeable servers who are able to read my mind and understand what I’m really asking as opposed to what comes out of my mouth, etc. and so forth.
But that’s just me: I find the restaurants that work with my preferred dining practices. (And, thankfully, I live in a region where I have many, many options!) I do not have a right to dictate how a restaurant does business: they are there to make money from their targeted consumers and it’s really damn presumptive to assume I (or anyone else) fits into that target.
TBC…