Yup. Given the choice, I will always prefer a local mom and pop over anything else. Forget a hair net and gloves. Fuck a corporate recipe.
There was this one breakfast diner/truck stop that we used to go to in West Virginia, waaaay up in the mountains where there's no cell service and not even a gas station for twenty miles of winding, steep mountain roads.
One of those precursors to Cracker Barrel, I think. It was one of those really cool rustic cabin-looking spots with lots of country tcotchkes like belt buckles and local shit. Authentic country hams and pepperoni rolls made from scratch. Where the whole place smells like apples and cinnamon, motor oil and tobacco, and your waitress is a 57-year-old kind-eyed, hard-working lady named Donna who calls everybody 'sugar' or 'sweetie pie'.
I swear to Christ, they had the best fucking breakfast I've ever had in my life. The biscuit I got was the size of one of my hands clasped around a clenched fist. And about as heavy. Coffee was blacker than my soul and so strong you could stand a spoon up in it. Pancakes the size of the entire plate. Pork sausage in its own casing, butchered down the street and made in-house, with that SNAP and all of the juicy and spicy. PROPER scrambie eggs that weren't burnt all to hell or rubbery, and bacon so crisp. So crisp. And the whole thing was like eight dorrah.
They closed down because of COVID. This makes me very angry.
I know people, personally, who received tens of thousands of dollars because of that bullshit COVID paycheck protection whatever, claiming that the pandemic prevented them from making any money, being self-employed. They literally sold puppies and fixed cars on the side. They got more than $70,000 between just two people.
The worthier folks who lost their restaurant, their life savings and their family business would NOT apply for a program like that even if it were offered to them. We do it different down South.
Support local delis, diners and the real ones out there making food with love. And fucking tip your delivery driver.