18
submitted 2 days ago by ki4jgt@feddit.org to c/asklemmy@lemmy.ml

Most restaurants in the US -- including mom and pop -- use national food chain networks to get the produce they use to cook with. Are there any chains that source their food locally?

top 10 comments
sorted by: hot top new old
[-] lntl@lemmy.ml 4 points 1 day ago

My brother is a chef at a kosher restaurant and tells me that they have to use specific suppliers. I don't know if those suppliers are 'local' but they're definitely segregated from suppliers like Sysco.

My point is there are niche restaurants, like a kosher restaurant, that may source things more locally for reasons.

[-] SmokeInFog@midwest.social 14 points 2 days ago

That's something that's usually advertised by the establishment. I know that e.g. in St Louis both Rooster and Mike's Local Eats source their ingredients from local as much as possible

[-] davidgro@lemmy.world 6 points 1 day ago

Five Guys usually names where the potatoes are from, but oddly don't mention the source of the beef, veggies, etc.

[-] HobbitFoot@thelemmy.club 4 points 1 day ago

In-N-Out can only place restaurants in certain locations due to internal supply chain limitations. I haven't confirmed it, but I wouldn't be surprised if their food was sourced locally because of it.

[-] The_Che_Banana@beehaw.org 8 points 2 days ago

Chains, by definition, are supplied by the lowest common denominator

[-] HobbitFoot@thelemmy.club 2 points 1 day ago

Not exactly. Many franchises require that you purchase food through them and some of them will put time in ensuring quality.

[-] The_Che_Banana@beehaw.org 1 points 1 day ago

And where do you think the ingredients for those items come from?

[-] HobbitFoot@thelemmy.club 1 points 1 day ago

It depends on the restaurant chain. The problem is that the question is if the food is local which is a harder claim to verify than if the restaurant distributes its own food.

For instance, I know that McDonald's owns its own supply chain and is really good at managing it. However, because the company serves so much food, it likely gets its food from the same locations as major supermarket chains, just with its own verification for food quality. So, the food is controlled, but it likely isn't local.

[-] Bluegrass_Addict@lemmy.ca 2 points 2 days ago

Infact they created their own even lower denominator because greed

[-] GonzoAtBarstow@lemmy.world 2 points 1 day ago

Swiss Chalet in Rochester and Buffalo used to source it's potatoes locally, before they closed anyway. Kraft for everything else not supplied by the chain.

me and my 30 year old information

this post was submitted on 07 Oct 2026
18 points (95.0% liked)

Asklemmy

55771 readers
412 users here now

A loosely moderated place to ask open-ended questions

Search asklemmy ๐Ÿ”

If your post meets the following criteria, it's welcome here!

  1. Open-ended question
  2. Not offensive: at this point, we do not have the bandwidth to moderate overtly political discussions. Assume best intent and be excellent to each other.
  3. Not regarding using or support for Lemmy: context, see the list of support communities and tools for finding communities below
  4. Not ad nauseam inducing: please make sure it is a question that would be new to most members
  5. An actual topic of discussion

Looking for support?

Looking for a community?

~Icon~ ~by~ ~@Double_A@discuss.tchncs.de~

founded 7 years ago
MODERATORS