S.F. Giants Fan Katie Williams Makes Her Debut, Nature Boy's WOOOO Wednesday & Olympian Has Trouble With Her Medals
I've never been more committed to hunkering down & doing garage & basement nights
Containers stuck on massive ships in the Pacific Ocean. Skyrocketing energy prices. Chinese-made Christmas presents that won't make it to shelves. UPS & Fed Ex are struggling, and in some cases -- the FedEx near my house is a sea of packages that have been sitting there while suburbanites lose their damn mind looking at the tracking app -- overrun with packages. Chicken wing prices up to $1.50 per wing at some locations -- and probably more in your neck of the woods.
It's even hard to get McCormick seasoning in some parts of the country.
$40 to grab Chick-fil-A.
In March, federal data showed that prices at places like Chick-fil-A have soared since the pandemic began. "Overall, food-away-from-home prices rose 0.5% month-over-month in September, a slight acceleration from the 0.4% increase in August but not at the post-pandemic peak of 0.8% in July. On an annual basis, prices rose 4.7%, the same level as in August," industry site Restaurant Business reported this week.
And how about these numbers:
"Food prices jumped 0.9% last month and are now up 4.6% annually, according to the index," Fox Business reported Thursday. "The price for meats, poultry, fish and eggs soared 10.5% this year, while beef prices climbed a whopping 17.6%. Fruits and vegetables rose by 3%."
Now, I know my challenge to Screencaps readers this week was to tell me about the best mom & pops/backroad restaurants out there. Yes, my family will still support the common man and common woman who are trying to keep their restaurants above water and I won't go in complaining about $1.50 chicken wings. I'll still call up the local strip mall Chinese restaurant, Yum Yummy, and let the hilarious woman who owns the place insult me. She's a treasure and the food is good.
But something has to give here and I feel like random nights out for $7 10 oz. beers are what will get cut as inflation has forced Americans "to spend an extra $175 a month on food, gas and housing," according to the New York Post.
With all that said, I'm perfectly fine heating the garage, putting a fire pit in the driveway and holding football nights in the basement. Busch Lights, Aldi bold and zesty pretzels and Costco jalapeno chips it is.
• Speaking of backroad restaurants and mom & pops, I wanted to get to Paul Y in Mobile and his list because he has suggestions all across America that some of you might be able to hit this weekend. Covington, OH jumped off the page. That's near where I grew up and isn't a typical place to stop even for guys traveling for work. Trust this list!
Joe, thanks for your posts each day, I enjoy reading. I used to travel with my job, and my customers were in rural areas. Here are some places I used to enjoy going to:
A&G - Maryville Missouri
Bardenay Restaurant and Distillery - Eagle, ID
Bommers BBQ - Carthage, Missouri
Buffalo Jacks - Covington, Ohio
Doe's Eat Place - Greenville, MS
Hickory Park - Ames, Iowa
Pirates Cove - Josephine, Alabama
Portway Tavern - Astoria, Oregon
The Depot - Missoula, Montana
• Jon F. sent along his wife's weekly planner with one HUGE edit -- see Friday's schedule. As I told Jon, his wife's top priorities sound like my own house:
• Beau in Toledo checks in with the latest Brandon billboard to go up. This one is near downtown Toledo:
• In case you missed it, TNT began its NHL coverage by having Wayne Gretzky shooting on Charles Barkley. I believe this is what the experts call corporate synergy.
Keep the backroad restaurant emails rolling in. I'd like to have a full list ready to publish next Thursday.
Email: joekinsey@gmail.com