In this little, peaceful shop, I found things I loved, thing I liked and things I thought could have happened in a different way. Yes, there should be more seating, fewer chilli based sauces and quite possibly even a toilet. An alcohol license seems like a no-brainer to me. For less than a grand you can sell all kinds of excellent drink at a great mark up. But for a couple of good people who, I think, haven’t had a great deal of experience in the hospitality trade, they’ve done good for three years, it just doesn’t seem to have been given room to grow, for whatever reason. Prices can drop the jaw, admittedly, but that reflects the price from the supplier and the cost of getting decent staff, I reckon. I’d concur that spending more for decent stuff less often than processed c**p that mainly ends up in landfill is a good idea.
If you’re happy with Sainsbury’s Local then fine. I was in there at quarter to eight this morning looking for some non-existent pears, non-existent brown sugar and non-existent walnuts (not that niche) while three members of staff rolled about on the floor cackling and shredding Halloween decorations and a manager looked on, grinning and waving what looked like candy floss. I am firmly of the opinion John S should very quickly, like Tesco, be checking his own, overpriced, funeral cover.
And Sodo is a chain restaurant. A very good one.