Why are requirements for biscuits and bread different?
Heh heh, none of the above. I promised not to tell.
Because they are different products? That’s like saying, why are the yeast requirements for beer and wine different? They just are. I’m sure someone else can get into the science of gluten, wheat protein, winter vs. summer wheat, etc. I just know, from a practical standpoint, it matters.
Of course, if you want it to be crap you can make a biscuit any old way. But if you want it to be good you have to use the right ingredients. If those ingredients are going to be hard to get in some locations, you will either have to add the cost of transport, or lower your standards. This is why many people say, that when a business gets too big it becomes mediocre.
One prime example of a company going national too quickly was Krispy Kreme. They expanded wildly a few years ago and things did not go well. Stock tanked, many outlets were forced to close, etc. I think they’ve recovered now, but I think they were pretty close to bankruptcy for a bit.
I live in a town so small that we don’t have our own Dunkin Donuts! It’s a ten mile drive to the nearest one, that’s how far into the sticks this place is. 
Because a Krystal is a White Castle without the umph.
Look at all the fuss about when Macys converted Fields into Macys in the Chicago area. Did it change all that much?
They’ve expanded a lot in the last 10-15 years. It was a big deal when one opened as far north as Atascadero (near San Luis Obispo) around 1996. Now they’re all over the state…and in Texas?! There’s a tradeoff there; the more they expand, the less cult appeal they have. I can see how they’d want to limit their growth and go slow, not to mention the awful example of Krispy Kreme, which had similar cult appeal and overexpanded.
I’m going to pop this over to CS since it’s mainly been about food.
Praise Athena for that!
Maybe Bill Gray’s or Tom Wahl’s.
According to those who have an opinion, it’s gluten. For biscuits you want a nice soft flour like White Lily or Martha White. Both of which happen to be Southern.
I agree. These are the two most likely candidates.
Dunkin Donuts is one of the most extreme examples of a regional chain. In the northeast, even into eastern Canada, they are everywhere. Most people wo live there probably think it is nationwide, probably multinational.
But not so. There are hardly any Dunkin Donuts west of the Mississippi, and as you say, none at all in California.
If you don’t know the difference between northern and southern biscuits… good God, yoiu’re missing out.
Northern biuscuits are often mde with #2 hard winter wheat. It’s just fine. But southern biscuits use and incredible fine-grain white flour. They practically melt in the mouth. Yes, there’s a world of difference there.
There was close to rioting in the streets when the company who bought our local flour mill decided to save money by closing it and selling the “same” product ( :rolleyes: ) with northern wheat. Yeah that didn’t go over well, becuase it wasn’t the same product no matter what the packaging was.
Exactly- biscuits want low gluten, so they remain non-chewy and fluffy, while bread generally wants higher gluten. All-purpose flour is an attempt at a compromise, but even national brands of all purpose flour like Gold Medal have different regional formulations.
Why do people open a single business when there’s so much more profit in opening 20 across the tri-state area?
Portillos, a hotdog-beef-burgers chain, is crazy successful in the Chicago market with 32 locations in the region (I’m counting Merriville, IN as “Chicago region”) which are always hopping. I’ve never been to one that wasn’t doing brisk business. But from what I’ve heard, the owner is resistant to expanding outside the region due to quality control and regional tastes. They do have two locations in CA which I believe are run by a family member as what little info I saw on them said they are not franchise operations.
Just to note that “Uno Chicago Grill” is a franchise operation, licensing the Pizzeria Uno name and recipes from the owners of Pizzeria Uno / Pizzeria Due in Chicago. The original two restaurants aren’t part of the franchise operation.
Indeed; hot dogs (and pizza, for that matter) tend to be very regionalized in their appeal. Chicago-style hot dogs go over gangbusters in the Chicago area, but would face a steep road anywhere else, as most people elsewhere would say, “why on earth would you do that to a hot dog?”
Jack In The Box operated in the Chicago area in the 1970s, as well, but pulled back sometime soon after, and has largely remained a West Coast chain since.