With the multitude of restaurants available on and off campus, students must pay attention to where they spend their money and who they support.
Supporting local restaurants and businesses is essential to the prosperity of our culture and community. When people think about Austin, they think of a niche city full of unique environments and experiences. This is exemplified by our local food, shops, music and the overall beauty of the city. If students continuously decide to choose chain restaurants over local favorites, the city will be overrun by mass corporations as gentrification increases.
“Real estate’s gotten too expensive, so the more support that local businesses (get) … really helps out,” said Daniel Young, general manager of Dirty Martin’s Place, the second-oldest restaurant in Austin.
Students can create a positive impact by choosing locally-owned restaurants over conglomerate chains. The decision to eat locally can impact the community, economy and spirit of Austin. The influence that students have when they put their heart into something was proven a few years back when a light-rail project threatened to shut Dirty’s down.
“I came up with (a petition) in 2021 to try to build some awareness, and we got almost 25,000 signatures from local Austinites and UT students who really care about this place and wanted us to stay,” Young said.
After the influx of student support, Dirty Martin’s petition gained enough traction to halt its closing. This is why, when students are deciding to spend their time and money in West Campus or beyond, they should look to support Austin’s vast number of local restaurants.
“There’s no difference in the Whataburger here and the Whataburger in North Austin,” Young said. “There’s only one Dirty Martin’s.”
When students decide to go out to eat or even out for coffee, they must pay attention to the companies they support with their dollars. Austin staples such as Cabo Bob’s and FoodHeads are just as good, if not better, than their mainstream counterparts. While convenience is a big factor for a lot of students, they might be drawn into the accessibility of large-name corporations on campus. However, even the Lucky Lab on San Antonio Street is less than a minute’s walk away from the Starbucks on 24th Street.
“(Corporations) don’t care about their workers as much as they say that they do,” said English junior Madi Sladecek, who works for two local Austin-based companies, Lucky Lab and Bananarchy. “You’re not working for someone. You’re working for an entity. Whereas Lucky Lab, for example, you know exactly who you’re working for. You know exactly where the food comes from. A big part of customer experience is connection, and I think you’ll find that connection with local businesses versus a big corporation.”
Students may feel compelled to have a quick and easy fast-food meal. However, the experience local companies bring to the customer outweighs the speedy and cheap food made by businesses that do not care for the people they serve.
As expenses in Austin rise, the future of the local restaurant relies on the support of the people and the students who value their presence here. Supporting the local restaurants of Austin benefits the city’s community as a whole.
Petry is a government sophomore from Rowlett, Texas.
