Fit to be Thaid
I live in San Francisco, where there is what I would describe as a shitload of Thai restaurants. menukarma has about 150 listings for Thai Restaurant in San Francisco, (map view) but the total number is much bigger. Google local search puts the figure at over a thousand, which feels a lot closer to the truth to me. In some parts of town, there are 2 or 3 on a block for blocks. I’m not a huge fan of Thai, truth be told, so it feels like too many fucking Thai restaurants to me. But, it is hard to argue with their collective success. I wonder if that large number of restaurants reflects the innate demand of the city to consume Thai food. I reckon not. I reckon it’s a combination of factors, not the least of which is the high economic efficiency of many Thai restaurants. If they are the only kind of restaurant surviving in a certain type of available San Francisco retail space, then their success is not the expression of demand, but of something else.
Tags: San Francisco, Thai
