Stratification is about the inequalities that exist between individuals and groups. I also talked about social class. The concept of class is important for analyzing stratification for industrialized societies like the United States. A social class is a large group of people who occupy a similar socioeconomic position relative to wider society. I talked about five aspects of class: (1) Income (2) Wealth (3) Education (4) Occupation (5) Lifestyle. Some sociologists see class groups as identifiable not only according to economic or occupational factors but also on the basis of their consumption patterns, tastes, and leisure pursuits. All these possessions and attitudes end up leading to a particular kind of lifestyle. In the United States, the more money you have, the more you have freedom to pick and chose which consumer items to purchase which will fit in with the tastes of the social class you (believe you) belong to. Along these lines, there is nothing more basic than the food we purchase, or the restaurants where we eat.
That being said, this week’s writing assignment asks you to analyze the websites of two different restaurants in the Orange County/LA area. While thinking about social class distinctions, I want you to examine the restaurant website’s content. What is on their menus? What are the prices of the food and drinks they serve? What kind of vocabulary do they use to describe their dishes, cooking techniques, or concepts What is the restaurant’s overall style of presentation? Based on the website’s content, I want you to think about who are the restaurant’s ideal customers? Would you personally feel comfortable eating there, why or why not? In what ways does each restaurant’s website reflect a highbrow or lowbrow social class?Write 450-500 words for each of the restaurants you choose to examine. That means the total length of your essay should be between 900-1000 words. Please include visuals (screen shots of the restaurant’s homepage, menu, etc etc) in your write ups.
Stratification
Social stratification is a reality not only in the United States of America but throughout the world. There exists a variety of inequalities in the society which are generally based on amount of wealth, level of education, form of lifestyle, type of occupation and the like. These inequalities have led to division of the society into different social classes. By and large, the society is made up of people from the upper class, middle class and lower class. Despite their inequalities, nature dictates that all these groups of people must struggle to survive (Nadrag, Lavinia, and Monica, pg. 9). Of interest to this paper is an analysis of two restaurants within Los Angeles, looking at classes of people they target, the meals they provide and their overall image given that different classes of people are attracted to different restaurants depending on their affordability. The two restaurants selected are Ammo and Cha Cha Cha restaurants.
Ammo restaurant is of the reputable restaurants within LA. Meals offered here keep on changing depending on seasons and guests expected at various times. However, there are some meals that will always be present on the menu regardless of the season. Whenever you pass by this restaurant either for dinner or lunch you must always find different types hot soup, ranging from mixture of lettuces and radishes, that which is prepared from reggiamo, and a mixture of olive oil and lemon at a cost of $12.00. There are also other soups that have been prepared form clams, mussels and white wine, beans and chilli for $15.00.
Other dishes that are also provided by this restaurant include stinging nettle at $19.00, pappardelle at $18.00, Alexander’s brown rice at $18.00, orecchiette at $17, pizza which ranges from $14.00 to $17.00 depending on the type of dish it has been served with. The restaurant also offers sea bass, cherry tomatoes, baby artichokes and herb broth at a cost of $27.00 each. At Ammo restaurant, California grass is with beef at a cost of $18.00 whereas braised short ribs mixed with polenta and horseradish goes at $24.00. French fries, charred rapini and cauliflower are also available at a cost of $7.00 each. Special dishes for lunch at Ammo restaurant include radishes at $5.00, asparagus at $14.00, market lettuces at $10.00, lentil salad at $14.00 and Caesar salad at $14.00 only. Last but not least, all vegetables provided by at restaurant including sprouts, cucumber, tomatoes each sell at a price of $14.00.
Having looked at the menu, it notable the foods provided by Ammo restaurant as not very expensive and people from the middle class can easily afford. Any person who earns about $100.00 in a day can comfortably be served at this restaurant. Personally I would not comfortable eat at the restaurant given that I am still a student who hardly gets any income except for except allowances for my up keep and therefore I would rather go to other restaurants that are relatively cheaper. The restaurant reflects a lowbrow social class due to it is the simplicity and affordable nature of the foods provided.
Some of the visuals retrieved from of Ammo restaurants homepage as follows:
A delicious oven pizza prepared at Ammo restaurant.
Ammo restaurant has the ability to customer menus to suit customer needs in serein environment for guests.
This is just but a brief illustration on how to Ammo catering experts prepare a Maple Leaf Rag. The restaurant offers a wide variety of soft drinks ranging from lemon juice to Black Maple Hill.
The second restaurant found LA area to be analysed goes by the name Cha Cha Cha. For close to 20 years, this restaurant has kept on providing great meals as it is also known to for its outstanding hospitality. This restaurant began form a very humble background as a family affair business but since then it has kept growing to what it is today following various expansions and partnerships from the family members. It is one of the reckoned restaurants in LA.
Cha Cha Cha restaurant has a very rich menu most of which are known to appear in TV shows and Hollywood movies. At this restaurant, guava and goat juice goes at 5 dollars, the famous Jamaican chicken costs 25 dollars, a jerk pork dish is sold at 7 dollars, valenciana, shrimp, mussels, and fish dishes are sold at 18 or 36 dollars each. Shrimp cakes are sold at 7 dollars and this in most cases served with entrees, pastas or even salads. In some special occasions, customers at the restaurant may request for home-made Paellas. The restaurant also provides buffet jerk chicken, mango chicken, paella Verde, camarones Negros, bistec Argentin, salmon negro, curry shrimp for 27 dollars in every two choices per person and 30 dollars in every three choices for every person. In another group of foods, the restaurant offers garlic bruchetta, banana boasts, corn tamales, mushrooms, chopped Roma tomato, chicken sopes, quesadillas, coconut shrimp and brochetta de polo at a price of 15 dollars for every two choices per person and 20 dollars for every three choices per person.
From the analysis of Cha Cha Cha restaurant, it goes without saying that it is indeed a very executive place with only attracts prominent business people and celebrities. This restaurant portrays itself in a very classy way and as a student I would not feel very comfortable eating in this here because it is way above my class. There are so many restaurants that correspondent with my income and therefore I do not have any reason to go for Cha Cha Cha. Without a doubt, this restaurant reflects at the high classes because the meals are relatively expensive. Below follows some images the Cha Cha Cha web page.
Works Cited
Nadrag, Lavinia, and Nadrag Bala Monica,“Socio-Economic Stratification.” Economics, Management and Financial Markets 9.1 (2014): 362-9. ProQuest. Web. 17 May 2015.
www.ammocafe.com
www.theoriginalchachacha.com
