Coffee Shops and Chili's
The things that stay the same when going from Applebee's to Apple Phones
During a trip to the Southern California desert, my friends and I were parched… for coffee. We were in unfamiliar territory and needed some delicious caffeine to nourish us. Starbucks? No way, that’s just the burnt coffee chain. We pulled out our phones to try and find a coffee shop that would suit us: something with good reviews and a nice vibe. It took us a bit of time but we eventually landed on a good spot: Everbloom Coffee.
We walked inside and a sense of deja vu hit me. I felt like I had been here before. Neon sign, hanging plants, coffee beans for sale, minimalist menu. I suddenly remembered all of my San Francisco coffee joints: Cafe Reveille, St. Frank Coffee, The Mill, Sightglass, and my precious Coffee Movement. It felt like a lazier recreation of my favorite places. But why do my favorite coffee shops feel the same? Why do they all look the same?
I’m a millennial, which means I value authenticity. At least that’s what Twitter Business says. But seriously, if someone were to ask if I’d rather go to Applebee’s or the underrated, local burger place, I’m picking burgers. It’s not that I’m an elitist and think I’m above chain brands or anything. During a road trip, my friends and I all felt the sudden urge to peel off the highway for a nice bowl of orange chicken at Panda Express. But we know exactly what it is: mass-produced junk food. Same goes with McDonald’s, Jack in the Box, and yes even In-n-Out. There are times we want that, and times we want something that tastes good and feels unique. Which is why I was so shocked walking into Everbloom’s lazy decor and still enjoying it. Isn’t mass production the opposite of what millennials are supposed to be about?
I’ve got a theory on why we’re seeing mass-produced “unique” places and why millennials love them. And to understand it, we’ve got to look at an industry that millennials despise.
In the endless list of things millennials have killed lie chain restaurants. Applebee’s, Chili’s, The Cheesecake Factory, no chain restaurant is free from the millennial scourge. Sure, my friends and I may wind up in one for some nostalgic pleasure. But the numbers don’t lie, these places are slowly going out of business. Which can make us wonder, why were they so popular with our baby boomer parents?
Many of these chain restaurants were founded as baby boomers were reaching adulthood. You’ve got Cheesecake Factory in 1972, Chili’s in 1975, and Applebee’s in 1980. And for all of my complaints about Yelp, it’s hard to imagine a world where restaurant reviews were so inaccessible, but that was the world our parents lived in. So who do you trust when you want something beyond McDonald’s in the time before the internet? Television of course. It’s still one of the most trusted sources of information for boomers today. So if you were in your 30s from the late 70s to the early 90s, you’d probably trust the commercials for a solid place to eat.
Now let’s fast forward to the late 2010s/early 2020s. You’re a millennial and frankly, you don’t trust TV ads. And you’re over chain restaurants and businesses, they’re just not cool anymore. So these days, how do you decide where to go? You’ve got tons of tools: Yelp, Google Maps, FourSquare. But these aren’t the early days of the internet anymore, you’re dealing with information overload where not even Google searches are trustworthy. When it comes to figuring out where to go, you generally trust your friends. But what do you do when they don’t know?
You get lazy. And when you get lazy, you look for easy ways to figure out whether or not a place is worth going to. Besides blogs and reviews, there’s always the vibe check. Does it look cool? It’s something that’s easy to identify by scrolling through photos on Yelp and Google Maps. And it’s something coffee shops and trendy restaurants have capitalized on. If you’re a business owner, why not check out a guide to ensure you can get a steady stream of millennial customers?
It’s funny. Millennials killed chain restaurants because they were uncool mass-produced mess halls. But in a world of fake news and too much information, we still have the need to identify quality. Inadvertently we’ve decentralized mass production, creating spaces that feel unique and trendy but are really more of the same.
And to be honest… I’m fine with it. Every so often, I will put in the work to find a truly unique place, doing my research and asking friends. But sometimes, when you just want to go somewhere new and comfortable, a vibe check is all you need.
I don’t know what Gen-Z will consider trendy (or, Jesus Christ there’s a Gen-Alpha? The march of time is relentless). Either way, I know I’ll be sipping my lattes comfortably in my plant-covered, neon-sign lit, minimalist sanctuary.