The Tribune

WHILE the world is at war and innocent women and children are held hostage amidst growing fears of all-out global conflict, the lowly burger has become a hot potato in The Bahamas.

Daily headlines dish out both sides of the beef, decrying support for or opposition to the proposed transformation of a former bank venue on Paradise Island into a new Wendy’s storefront.

Let me say at the outset I am not a fan of fast food. I much prefer the old-fashioned style of cooking, real down-home preparation of grub. Give me a slow-roasted chicken purchased on Saturday at the Farmer’s Market on Gladstone Road and stuffed with apples, celery and onions tossed with freshly pulled marjoram and basil, wrapped in foil and cooked at 325 degrees for as long as it takes on a Sunday afternoon with the aroma filling the kitchen as Sunday chores fill the hours.

I cannot remember the last time I tasted a Wendy’s burger or purchased a McHappy Meal or smacked my lips after a finger lickin’ good box of KFC, though I confess when it comes to KFC, about once a year I am tempted by the distinctive smell of the unofficial favourite meal of The Bahamas. But I resist that momentary temptation on the somewhat imperfect principle that if I am going to do something less than wonderful for my body, it’s going to be four perfectly cooked ounces of thick, juicy, tender red meat known as filet mignon.

As I said, I am not a fan of fast food, but I am an avid fan of rights. And I cannot for the life of me understand one good reason why the owners of the Wendy’s franchise should be denied the right to operate a fast-food restaurant where the old Scotiabank was located.

Nobody objected when the former Jiffy Cleaners on East Street and Wulff Road was going to become a walk-up Wendy’s. Nobody objected when Wendy’s on Mackey Street closed its original Bahamas location to move to larger premises further south on Mackey Street. Just as an aside, that original location on Mackey Street, proudly opened by Wendy’s founder Dave Thomas who named the franchise after his daughter and created the square burger because he did not want to cut corners, became the busiest Wendy’s in the entire global franchise under the ownership of the late Norman Solomon. Remember those famous radio commercials: “Doctors say breakfast is the most important meal of the day”, words that would lead you to believe that eating at Wendy’s was a healthy choice. But Norman Solomon believed in the Wendy’s brand as wholeheartedly as anyone who ever held a franchise. He checked every restaurant personally every day, greeting those in the kitchen, checking cleanliness and service, saying he had to protect the reputation not just because it was a commercial success but because Wendy’s was the golden girl who kept the birds and wildlife of Ardastra in food and vet care.

But I digress. Please forgive me. I had a nostalgic moment having handled the opening of at least three Wendy’s in The Bahamas along with Dave Thomas and Norman Solomon. As Solomon’s battle with Parkinson’s disease worsened, he sold his beloved Wendy’s to two Bahamian brothers, Chris and Terry Tsavoussis who operate it and their other franchise, Marcos’s Pizza, through their holding company Aetos Holdings Limited. I do not know the brothers, though have met them briefly over the years, nor does that matter. If you follow the news or check the website, they’ve done their part - updated restaurants, invested, maintained the commitment to the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption (his main cause) and as I said, they are Bahamian.

This isn’t about Wendy’s, anyway.

According to the opposition it’s about traffic it would allegedly generate and incompatibility with the character of Paradise Island, so let’s look at those causes for concern objectively.

The plan, from what has been presented publicly, calls for a storefront, not a drive-through. Since presumably folks would not drive over the bridge and pay a $2 bridge fee to go to a Wendy’s on Paradise Island when there is already a nearby one on the Nassau side, the traffic is already on Paradise Island, much of it parked at the main Atlantis parking area adjacent to the proposed location. As someone pointed out, when Scotiabank was there, it probably drew more traffic, especially on Atlantis payday, than Wendy’s ever would.

If it were a drive-through, given the location on the corner of a main thoroughfare, I would agree with the opposition, but again let’s remember what is being proposed is not a drive-through.

As for incompatibility with the character of surrounding property, isn’t the proposed site the same somewhat dated shopping centre where there is a large, popular Dunkin’ Donuts? Isn’t there a liquor store? A souvenir shop? Isn’t this the Paradise Village Shopping Centre that one site describes as “cheery” maybe because of the wide array of signage and colour? Wasn’t there a Quizno’s Subs there a few years ago? For those who say Wendy’s at the end of that centre could reduce property values, I say that shopping centre, like any once fine-looking lady with a few years on her, could benefit from a facelift.

Visitors and those who work on PI want choices and some of those choices may relate to price point and affordability. Let’s remember a few basics. If Atlantis has foreign-bred offerings, fine dining experiences and a Shake Shack, and a Chicago-based restaurant is coming to Sterling Global’s Hurricane Hole Marina at Paradise Landing and we value our choices, welcoming them all, how do we account for denying two Bahamian brothers the right to open an affordable fast-food eatery basically within walking distance of all of the above?

Let’s turn down the heat on the Wendyphobia since, as I said, for the life of me I can’t figure out where’s the beef.