My half-sister inherited a restaurant from her mom. The restaurant used to be profitable. It was located between a truck stop and a motel and offered "home-cooked food from Mom's kitchen".
A string of fast-food restaurants has opened up since Sis took over the place, wrecking her business. She is desperate, and her boy friend has brought her in touch with a guy who says he can get her "road kill and other meat you don't know what it died of" but he guarantees nobody will know, nobody will get sick. Boy friend says he can get her untaxed beer and wine, I don't know how for sure although I've heard him in the past talk of a racket where you buy 1/2 your stock from legitimate channels and mix it with identical untaxed stuff "for export".
Should Sis go along with boyfriend and guy, or should she just close up shop? She had promised her mom she'd carry on. I already nixed one proposed solution which was to hire illegal aliens off the books. That leaves a paper trail or, rather, lack of.
2006-09-11 07:19:05 · 14 answers · asked by Anonymous in Dining Out ➔ Other - Dining Out
i dont dine out at places that serve roadkill
2006-09-11 09:14:55 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
Mango makes a good point. There is not a lot of "road kill" available for the species of animal that restaurant patrons want to eat. My brother-in-law hit and killed a sheep some years ago (the statute of limitations has run out, so you busybodies can forget about calling the police, the farmer or the Animal Rights League) and fearing that it would be the most expensive sheep in the county if he had to pay for it, which he didn't have the money to do, he took it home and made a mechoui out of it (an Arab barbecue). I suppose if he had a restaurant he could have served mutton dressed as lamb.
If you are talking about the sale of game -- road-killed or shot by hunters -- I have to tell you that this is strictly licensed and illegal. Licensed because game (venison, partridge, grouse, etc.) sold in restaurants and at retail in the USA is I think exclusively foreign -- from New Zealand and such places.
But you are leaving out some key information. I suspect boyfriend & guy intend to get livestock that has been rustled (stolen) or meat slaughtered by a private (unregulated, uninspected) abbatoir/meatpacker. Those are fine if you want your legally shot moose or your pet cow made into steak. But their products are not legal for trade. And a health inspector will come by some day looking for the USDA stamp on your meat.
If you are doing a major business in hamburger, though, you will probably get away with it if you do what boyfriend is suggesting with the wine and beer: buying half legally and mixing the stuff up, and cooking the books to match.
But bear this in mind: some people, insiders, are going to know and you are going to fire some employee some day (probably for cause) and that employee is going to blow the whistle. And Sis will be toast.
Speaking of which, the restaurant doesn't happen to be the Whistle Stop Cafe, I hope. http://www.bookloons.com/cgi-bin/Review.ASP?bookid=63
What Sis needs to do is to get a consultant in to reposition her restaurant. This is done all the time. Perhaps she is trying too hard to compete with fast food; or maybe to bring in the wrong class of customer (truckers and motel guests may or may not be the right ones). It's worth paying $1,000 or so for the expertise, and then a couple of hundred more for recipes and a menu that bring in repeat customers.
2006-09-12 04:14:20 · answer #2 · answered by Pfeiffer 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋
you gotta be joking right. Totally gross, illegal and unethical. Look to save money else where, like cheaper tablecloths, hired help, plates etc. You have to meet and stay in code with us health regulations. And NO one can guarantee that nobody WILL GET SICK, hes making false promises to sell you otherwise free meat.
Yeah and the illegal hiring thing is NO good either. She needs to come up with a better plan. If she is not fast food, maybe she should start offering a to-go menu. Give the motel and truck-stop coupons and flyrs to help drw business your way. Spruce up the place and give it a catchier name. If word gets out you have illegal meats/foods/liquor etc people will be sure NOT to come!
2006-09-11 14:44:24 · answer #3 · answered by tara t 5 · 0⤊ 1⤋
I wouldn't sell road kill to paying customers. But it is done.
I live in a city in Washington and the homeless shelter here occasionally serves road kill to the people who show up for dinner. Usually it is deer, but I do not know how they get away with it. It is funny, I have eaten there and the food is really miserable but the deserts are excellent. All kinds of cakes and pies, it is incredible. God bless them.
2006-09-12 23:39:21 · answer #4 · answered by Radioactive1 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
restaurants can not, should not ever serve questionable foods or food products. restaurants are inspected... how long do you think it would take before she makes all the customers sick and the health department closes the business and she goes to jail... maybe she should just put a For Sale sign out front.
2006-09-11 14:25:14 · answer #5 · answered by tampico 6 · 1⤊ 1⤋
road kill special!!! I guess it depends what kind of road kill we're talking about? It's not like a cow or a chicken or a pig happens to stroll along the highway every day... so if your talking skunk or raccoon...it better taste like chicken!!!!!
BTW I'm totally kidding I think this whole thing is disgusting and I hope to god you're kidding asking this question!!!
2006-09-11 14:40:41 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 2⤋
Don't let your sister do anything illegal.
It is not hard to make better tasting food than a fast food place.
Make the restaruant more upscale than the fast food places and it should do well.
2006-09-11 14:28:27 · answer #7 · answered by Dennis K 4 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Get out. If they promised to carry on the restaurant, do it legit. It's illegal to serve roadkill.
2006-09-11 14:25:02 · answer #8 · answered by Robert V 2 · 1⤊ 1⤋
That's really disgusting. I hope to God you put the name on Yahoo so everyone will know not to eat there!!
I dont think that would meet Health Standards.
Do you really think her mom would really agree with her decision to serve unknown meat?
2006-09-11 14:21:39 · answer #9 · answered by Keith Perry 6 · 1⤊ 1⤋
that's really gross. people will know if you serve them road kill. then they can sue you for serving them something that's not approved by the health association for millions of dollars.
if i were your sister, i would sell the restaurant or fix the menu and prices but not serve roadkill. that's just wrong.
2006-09-11 15:09:07 · answer #10 · answered by ? 4 · 0⤊ 1⤋