The June '04 issue of Chicago Magazine has a one-page piece about how publicity from the WTTW show "Check, Please" has negatively effected different small eateries. They cite bursts of overcrowding, wait staffs that are stretched too thin, declining food quality, etc.

The story is really just a list, and it's not particularly insightful, but it does raise an interesting issue: Are we ruining our own dining experiences restaurants by publicizing them? Every restaurant critic, journalist, and food-lover wrestles with this issue. Do I tell my friends about the great little place where the food is great, the prices low, and I can always get a table? What if they tell two friends, and so on, and so on, and so on....??

EatChicago contends that it is our duty to tell other food-lovers about the places we love. Damn the consequences.

First, it is our duty to the restaurant proprietor. They did not open their doors to serve to a half-empty restaurant and teeter on the edge of survival. Their livelihoods depend on word-of-mouth publicity. Hema, of Hema's Kitchen, a Devon Ave. Indian institution, has doubled the size of her place since her Check, Please publicity, and she is now opening a Lincoln Park location. Ask her if she's angry about being on Check, Please.

Secondly, it is our duty to other food-lovers. It is downright selfish to hide something from someone if you know they'll love it. Share the wealth, there's plenty to go around. For every Hema's Kitchen that we're talking about, there are two others waiting to be discovered, and two more opening next month.

Finally, it is our duty to our community. If we aren't proud of the vast and diverse dining experience that our city has to offer, we risk losing it. If you stop telling your friends about that great little family-run place on the corner, your friends will stop considering those kind of places as an option, and our city will lose a tiny bit of the diversity that makes it great. Publicity might me a short term loss for your stomach, but it's a net gain for the city. Hema's story should make you feel proud to be a Chicagoan.

Granted, I am a little upset when I see a place like Friendship Chinese crowded, but I also feel a little bit proud that I live in a place where it's possible to open your kitchen and watch people line up.

EatChicago wants to know what you think. Leave a comment, or email us.

the other night i ate in Bhabi's kitchen, and the owner said he refused to allow Check Please to tape there until he had expanded. interesting.
Bhabi's is the bomb, by the way.

Posted by: ParkerS at May 20, 2004 4:16 PM

I agree. Restaurants have one of the worst success rates of any business around. Plus, success is not always a good or bad thing. With success comes questions of scale- can the restauranteur continue to produce excellent dining experiences to double, triple the number of customers going into the future? Or will they lose that special something in the process of growth?

If I were a restaurant owner, I would think I would welcome the opportunity for success, and have considered the possibilies when I got into the business. Really, this article seems pretty selfish minded- if you really love a restaurant, why not help the owner out, not horde it to yourself?

Posted by: Apod at May 21, 2004 12:49 PM

I experienced the "Check Please" effect first-hand a few months ago. After seeing Noon-o-Kabab mentioned on the show, I went there that night with some friends. Had to wait an hour for a table, and the staff seemed pretty frazzled but they were still friendly and the food was still fantastic. I've gone back a couple times since and it hasn't been quite so crazy...

I'm sure it's difficult for restaurants to deal with the initial onslaught, but probably well worth putting up with for a couple weeks in terms of growing one's long-term clientele.

Posted by: Benjy at May 21, 2004 4:06 PM

I totally agree with you. Given the choice (not an option in most instances) of too many patrons or too few, which would you choose? Of course, Check, Please! has virtually "made" the truly awful, Thai Pastry, the only bad Thai food I've ever had in the city.

Posted by: foo d at May 22, 2004 4:45 AM

Strike Check, Please! re: Thai Pastry, in my last comment. I meant, instead, periodicals such as Chicago magazine and the Trib.

Posted by: foo d at May 22, 2004 4:49 AM

Truely, these are the comments of someone that doesn't *own* a restaurant. With the rare exception of plaything restaurants backed by personal fortunes, doesn't every eatery want more traffic and table turnover? Sure there's a headache of crowded seating and long waits for a while, but doesn't everyone gravitate to places that are full, rather than empty? As "Kitchen Confidential" points out, places that have low turnover, are likely to have unfresh food. Ick!

Posted by: Mike at May 24, 2004 4:48 PM

It nice to see the pot calling the kettle black... for years we've watch the "Chicago Magazine Effect" kill smaller restaurants who expanded to cover the added load, and then couldn't handle it when the load went away again.

Because the fast crowd moves on.

Want an example... consider the late Tonkatsu.

Posted by: RheS at June 2, 2004 6:16 AM

Anything that helps support the city's economy and small business to succed it OK in my book. It's hard to share a good thing, I know. But it's only fair.

And, just a warning - "Check, Please" will be airing an episode on Cafe Laguardia in October.

Posted by: Jill at August 16, 2004 1:24 AM