Xmas party and Ruen Pair

[krasnoludek]

We drove out to the semi-rural New Haven suburbs for an Xmas party at parents of one of Christian's coworkers. It was a typical affair of family and friends, but this coworker also invited a lot of people from work. It was pretty nice hanging out and talking to people.

We got home and I found a depressing email in my box from rdore. Ruen Pair, the Thai

Comments

[rdore]

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news! I was pretty surprised. The Berkeley restaurant market is ever brutal.

[lingboy]

In some cities, location isn't as huge of an issue. Their location was bad though and that is really important in Berkeley.

I also always felt that students had a extremely warped sense of what the good restaurants were in the bay area. Many don't tread more than 4 blocks from campus, so restaurants that were close always got high ratings despite being really bad.

[krasnoludek]

but if their location were better, they'd be paying even more astronomical rent and would have closed faster.

[lingboy]

It depends. People may also have considered them to be an excellent Thai restaurant (which they were) and given them more credit. Think for a moment. The "Asian" food court on Durant has that super crappy Italian restaurant and the greasy spoon Thai place. Both have been there for a long time because of their location. Also, there are apparently people who like Pasand. That fact in and of itself should tell you that quality of food is just a small part of what makes a restaurant successful.

[rdore]

I agree with all these comments.

Though as a consumer, it's really not so bad for me: there are lots of good, affordable places to eat. It's just important not to get too attached to any particular place, and keep eyes and ears open for new ones.

[krasnoludek]

It's really surprising thinking back at the number of restaurants I knew in Berkeley that closed during the six years I was there. If you last for two years, that's a major success.