Food, Restaurants, and Popular Culture

The distinction between folk and popular culture becomes clear when we examine food preferences. Each culture produced a folk cuisine based on the preparation of locally produced types of food. Today, some foods have become popular in cultures everywhere. In large cities throughout the world, there are numerous restaurants that specialize in different ethnic cuisines. Hamburgers, hot become a part of global popular culture.

Fast-Food Restaurants. Fast-food restaurants have enabled popular food customsto be diffused throughout the world. The concept of fastfood developed in the United States shortly after WorldWar II, in connection with the rapid expansion of suburbsand freeways. Most early fast-food restaurants werelocated along major transportation arteries, either in suburban areas or near interstate highways and turnpikes.From the beginning, fast-food restaurants were geared topeople traveling by automobile. Speedy service, simplemenus, low prices, and drive-through windows appealedto customers who did not have enough time for a home-cooked, sit-down meal.

Because customers demanded immediate service, fast-food restaurants applied mass-production techniques to food service. Large quantities of hamburgers, french fries, tacos, and other items are prepared in advance to be served on request. Today, most fast-food restaurants are franchised. A franchised restaurant is owned by a local operator who contracts with a large regional, national, or international company.

The contract grants the local operator the right to use the company's logos, promotions, production methods, and trademarks. The franchising method was critical to the establishment of fast-food chains. Many major fast-food chains maintain thousands of restaurants located throughout the world.

The development of fast-food chains enabled travelers in unfamiliar areas to recognize fast-food signs and symbols and know exactly what to expect. The concept of franchising soon diffused to gas stations, convenience stores, motels, hotels, and other service industries geared toward the long-distance traveler. Companies that rely on the franchising method often play up their uniformity, counting on customers to feel at home by being able to purchase familiar services in distant places.

Yet uniformity generated landscape uniformity. Many critics soon blasted fast-food corporations for promoting uniform architectural standards, regardless of location. Each restaurant looked alike, with little or no consideration for whether the design conformed to local architectural or aesthetic standards. An attempt by McDonald's to erect its "golden arches" in the historic district of Williamsburg, Virginia—a town renowned for its well-preserved colonial architecture dating back to the seventeenth century—was rebuffed until the McDonald's Corporation agreed to build the restaurant according to the architectural standards of this historic district.

In recent years, fast-food restaurants have diffused into new areas. American-inspired fast food is increasingly popular abroad. Nearly a third of McDonald's twelve thousand restaurants are now located outside the United States. In the late 1980s, McDonald's opened its first restaurant in Moscow.

The restaurant soon became very popular, not only for its cuisine but also as a tourist attraction and a symbol of American culture. With the collapse of Soviet Communism, more and more American- and European-owned fast-food restaurants are being opened throughout Russia and Eastern Europe. Fast-food restaurants continue to spread American popular culture to other parts of the world as well. In 1992 the Subway Corporation announced plans to construct over five hundred Subway sandwich shops throughout Japan.

At first, most fast-food restaurants were located in suburban areas and near limited-access, long-distance highways. In recent years, they have diffused to other types of locations. By the early 1980s, many were found in the central business districts of major cities. Freestanding suburban restaurant buildings gave way to restaurants located on the ground floors of urban skyscrapers (Figure 6-2). Large crowds of busy city office workers congregate there to grab quick breakfasts, lunches, and snacks.

Figure 6-2 Fast Food in the Big City. Fast-food restaurants originated in suburbs and along freeways, but have since diffused to many other locations. Today, ground floors of many skyscrapers in large cities are occupied by fast-food restaurants like this McDonald's restaurant in New York City

Fast-food restaurants have become more and more commonplace in inner-city and ethnic-minority neighborhoods as well. Over 25 percent of McDonald's restaurants in the United States, in fact, are now managed by members of ethnic-minority groups. In some depressed inner-city neighborhoods, local fast-food restaurants have become a primary source of jobs in high-unemployment communities.

McDonald's and other fast-food corporations have taken a leadership role in sponsoring educational, recreational, and cultural programs in impoverished inner-city communities across the United States. The McDonald's Corporation, in fact, was commended for its efforts in rebuilding south-central Los Angeles after the 1992 riots.

Outside of central cities, fast-food restaurants have diffused to institutional places. College and university communities frequently sport a strip of fast-food restaurants adjacent to the campus. Many of these establishments stay open all night to accommodate hungry students who keep irregular hours. At some universities, student unions have replaced their own food service with franchised fast-food outlets.

Fast-food restaurants have also become common in airports, bus stations, zoos, and museums. In resort areas, they also have frequently superseded local food-service operations. As they continue to diffuse these nontraditional locations, their operators have become less concerned with maintaining architectural consistency.

Another recent innovation consistent with the increasing flexibility of fast-food service is the food court. Frequently, a party of shoppers or travelers may have different preferences. In recent years, cooperation among franchised as well as locally owned fast-food concerns has spurred the development of fast-food courts.

Fast-food courts consist of several fast-food restaurants surrounding a large, common seating area. This arrangement allows for greater flexibility for customers and more sales for each restaurant. Fast-food courts are common in large shopping malls, downtown business districts transportation terminals, and college and university campuses—all places where groups of people congregate and circulate on short notice.