Would you eat "more often" at a restaurant that was openly Pro-gun?

[zombienerd]

This is obviously the wrong group to ask to get a good cross-section focus group result, but, here goes anyway.

Say a small cafe/diner opened a few doors down from your local firing range. The name was "Centerfire Cafe". The food is better than average, there were guns hanging on the walls, the cook and the waitresses were open carrying. There is a sign on the door welcoming all lawful carriers of firearms. Paid members of the local range got a discount, and the range employees ate for free.

Would you eat out more than normal just to visit this type of establishment?


This is all purely hypothetical, but I'm wondering if this "niche" business idea would be profitable.

 

[N003k]

Eh, as long as the food's good, I definitly would go there more often then other places that are anti-gun or gun-neutral...

Definitly wouldn't eat out more often though.

 

[scottaschultz]

I don't know about this hypothetical restaurant, but I know where I will not eat because of their views on firearms and it has nothing to do with whether or not you can carry in their establishment.

There is a chain of "upscale" bakery/cafes called Panera Bread. Normally I would go in there and get a cup of coffee and a bagel or pastry and leave. On one particular day, I had time to sit down inside while waiting on a friend. So I got out my iPod Touch that has wi-fi built in. I was able to read my email, check the local weather and so on, but when I went to check into a firearm forum, it said I was blocked by their firewall!

I wrote a tersely worded email to their corporate office and asked what gives? Their response: "As part of offering free wi-fi in our bakery-cafes nationwide, it is important that we maintain the community tone and standards that Panera Bread is known for."

They have definitely lost one customer because of this policy and if any of my fellow THR members have a Panera Bread in their neighborhood, you will put them on your "Do Not Patronize" list!

Scott

 

[kyo]

i would go there when i eat out to show appreciation, probably would open carry and talk guns and make it a hang out with me and my friends. I would love one of those.

 

[conw]

YES.

if any of my fellow THR members have a Panera Bread in their neighborhood, you will put them on your "Do Not Patronize" list!

A little bossy are we?

 

[jackdanson]

I would def. like it, but I think it would turn more people away than it would bring in. Any business I owned would be completely politically neutral on every subject. Of course I would allow concealed or open carry (if it was legal where my theoretical restauraunt is)

 

[ArfinGreebly]

Good Food

All else being equal -- and the food being good -- sure, I'd eat there in preference to other places.

Let's say, for example, that this restaurant was a "themed" eatery. Think Applebees or TGI Friday's or Outback for themed outfits.

So, a firearms theme. Maybe a "guns of WW I & II" room, a "guns of the Old West" room, a "hunter's history" room, and maybe a "famous shooters" room.

A tastefully themed restaurant of this kind -- provided THE FOOD IS TOP DRAWER -- would have my custom.

I don't get to eat out a lot, but I would happily send my hard-earned bucks to a restaurant like this.

You would, naturally, have to have occasional promotional events like "Cowboy Arms" day, where folks are encouraged to wear their "Wild West" rigs, or ":Open Carry" day. Heck, you might have a "Law Enforcement Appreciation" day.

Make no mistake, owing and managing a restaurant at all is tough enough in its own right. Getting creative with a theme would introduce its own special set of challenges.

But you could count on having my dollar.

Oh, you were planning to open this place in North Idaho, right?

 

[Diamondback6]

ScottASchultz, that's almost verbatim what you posted in http://thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=464311 , already rebutted with a link to the prior discussion at http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=374123&highlight=panera+bread , which also includes my own Panera experience. Did you not see the reply, or are you just locked on "Talking Point"?

I wonder what I'll find if I Google some of your exact phrases...

 

[RDCL]

I prefer to eat at home

Russ

 

[scottaschultz]

ScottASchultz, that's almost verbatim what you posted in http://thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=464311 , already rebutted with a link to the prior discussion at http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=374123&highlight=panera+bread , which also includes my own Panera experience.

Geez, someone needs to switch to decaf!

I did say in the "Perkins" thread that I had posted the same thing in another thread... which happens to be this one! If it was against the rules to post something that someone similar to what someone else had said on another thread or ask a question that had already been answered numerous times, 90% of the content on this forum would go away.

Did you not see the reply, or are you just locked on "Talking Point"?

I wonder what I'll find if I Google some of your exact phrases...

I am so very very sorry that I did not search to see if someone else had posted something about Panera Bread. I don't have any "Talking Points" about this issue at all. I was just relating my experience on the subject.

I am sure every one of your 618 posts are totally unique.

If you want to waste your time Googling my phrases, that is entirely up to you. I have more important things to do!

Scott

 

[Hush]

Do they serve booze?

 

[Oro]

I mostly try to eat at home. The food is better - I'm a hell of a chef.

Do I even care about their gun policy? Frack' that noise. Have you ever heard of Maslow's hierarchy of needs? I mean, when you are hungry, you are hungry. You set political crap like concealed carry aside and eat. Is this confusing in some way?

 

[FMFDevildoc]

Mk 19

If the silver ware consisted of MK19 grenade launcher hulls converted into spoons to eat habanero chile spiced up with OC spray I would do it.

Just tried to think of something uber-manly.

Perhaps a menu of MRE's tray items?

I would totally eat there; frequency who knows - although it is likely if prices were right I would do so.

 

[piratelooking@40]

There's a bar here in Vegas which for a while (maybe still) gave away a pistol to people who won enough in a given period (yes, there are gambling machines in the bars here, and yes, you may carry while in a bar, and

EVEN WHILE DRINKING

as long as you're under the legal BAC limit).

Seen interviews with the owner, he's decidedly pro-gun.

Never been there.

Voted "yes" in the poll, so I'm a hypocrite.

 

[COMPNOR]

I don't think it would change my habits at all. Life is too short to worry about the politics of where I shop, especially "Mom and Pop" type places.

You say the food is better than average, so cost and location will be factors. Besides, if I ate there all the time, I'd get sick. So I'd change it up. Variety is the spice of life.

 

[PTK]

I do just that. A local sushi place LOVES when I open carry in there - the owner comes out, shakes my hand, and always has a kind word to say ("You make us all safer" is a good example)

When I do eat out, which isn't often, it's usually there.

 

[zombienerd]

^^ That's pretty cool. I am thinking about starting to OC around where I live in NH, maybe I'll find a nice little place like that.

I have always wanted to start my own business, and I've been saving for a while to do just that, but I still haven't quite decided what I want to do or sell. I've run my own business in the past (On site computer repair) and I did pretty well. There's just so many things I love to do, it would be nice to combine a few into a business (Cooking + Guns) etc.

 

[flor1]

Interesting you don't like Panera because the they filter certain types of web sites. I have to wonder what your thoughts would be if the next time you went their with your wife or children someone was looking at a porn site in plain view. Careful what you wish for. What you and I may deem as a normal site very well bother others.

 

[1-UP]

It's an interesting idea, but I'm somewhat skeptical about how well it would do. It would take a special kind of community to support something like that to the point of thriving.

Look at it this way - the biggest worry you have in the business is the quality of your food, not your politics. If you start limiting your customer base (and there are PLENTY of folks who would avoid it because of the guns), you're putting yourself at a disadvantage.

If you serve alcohol, that creates an interesting problem. The people you're trying to attract won't be able to purchase your product.

Would the "Open Gun" thing be enough to draw folks in (More than you scare away)? Maybe, but usually when my family decides what to eat it's based on what sounds good. Same when I'm with a group of friends. We don't pick Finley's because of the "Awesome stuff on the wall".

Having a gun theme/decorum might be a good idea/possibility. I've seen restaurants with such things before, although never the overriding theme. They add some class to the place.

What would it be like to cook/waitress with a pistol on your side? Seems like you'd be knocking into a lot of stuff and it'd be in the way a lot. Maybe I'm just a big lummox though. Kitchen probably wouldn't be very good for the finish, seems like a tough environment.

 

[zombienerd]

I wasn't thinking of a full service bar/restaurant, more of a little side of the road, few booths and a long "bar" type Diner. There wouldn't be any alcohol, but just lots of "short order" food. Breakfast served all day, steaks, burgers, sandwiches, maybe some baked dishes. Throw a pizza oven in there, and you're a "one stop shop" for anything tasty.

The thing was it's proximity to the firing range. I figured maybe make a deal with the range that I give discounts to their members, their employees eat free during work, and My employees and I would get free range time, something like that.

I'd open a firing range/restaurant myself, but I don't think that the health board would feel to kindly about all that lead in the restaurant

 

[bnkrazy]

Considering I created the Friend or Foe site for this purpose, I can say I can and do eat at pro-gun establishments when I go out.

Since starting the site, I've come to realize there are enough pro gun eateries around that I don't miss any of the places I used to patronize that maintain their anti-self defense policy.

As for your idea zombienerd, I think that it's great, and wish you luck if you pursue it.

 

[Deanimator]

Here in Ohio, I can't carry into any restaurant that serves alcohol. People are working to fix that. That's state law, so I can't blame the restaurant. I disarm before entering those establishments.

I don't know of any non-liquor serving restaurants in my town that are posted. If I did, I'd avoid them for the many others that aren't.

 

[Blackbeard]

I know it may sound strange, but I don't base my buying decisions on the political views of the seller. My principal concern is whether they are selling what I want, and secondarily what is the value compared to the price. I do eat at Panera and will continue to do so, because they have a low-fat low-calorie menu that is just wonderful. If I want to browse THR there I either get on the 3G network with my iPhone, or wait until I go home.

If the "Centerfire Cafe" opened near me, I'd go and try it out. If the food was unappealing, unhealthy or overpriced, I wouldn't return.

 

[BBQLS1]

It would register as a plus to me, but I don't know about the sum total of the pluses. I'd try it out for sure.

 

[middy]

Nah. I go for the food.