Why I blog about local food.
When I was a kid, i remember we would drive past this building in Ozark, Mo that sat on a lot at the corner of Jackson St. that turned into 3rd St. It seemed like every 12 months or so it would be a new business; a coffee shop, a doughnut shop, a small sandwich shop and so on.
Every time we would drive by the business, it was never busy; no matter what it might have been at that time. After a few years of watching this unfold, I began to wonder about the people who were running the business. Trying to wrap my head around the amount of time and effort everyone put into opening the shop. Thinking that the business they were running was a dream of theirs and they were achieving those dreams! But alas another year would go by and another business would open up. I started to feel bad for these people that I never knew, that those dreams of a business had come and gone.
Flash forward many years later and as a teen I was working for a local restaurant in my home town. Over the course of about 4 years I got to see the ins and outs of running a small business and what it took to keep it going. It was very eye opening to say the least!
So, let me get to the meat and potatoes of this whole thing. I started this Facebook and Instagram page because I feel more people deserve to see what local places are out there! The places that people work so hard at daily! Putting all their time and energy into a dream that they want us, the people of the 417 to come and enjoy! The page isn’t meant to be a place for me to tell you what is good and what is bad. The page is for me to showcase what is out there that people might not know about! Everything from a small-town restaurant that the locals eat at 3 times a day, to the coffee shop downtown that college students frequent daily!
So next time you head out to grab dinner, lunch or a coffee. Before you settle on that chain place that everyone goes to, look around and see what local places are in the area and give them a shot! Don’t be afraid to try something new, I guarantee you are bound to find something you love!
