Traveling Feast

The last time I was driving through Vancouver WA I went out of my way to find a Burgerville location.  I was hungry (not all that surprising), but I specifically sought out Burgerville because of all I’d heard about how the company cares… for its customers, for the environment, and for its employees.  For a number of years the company has purchased premium ingredients and they try to celebrate local foods.

After a visit I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a fast food chain with a more obvious commitment to minimizing their environmental impact.  Clearly this makes for great marketing in the current cultural climate that celebrates all things green, but I believe Burgerville decided they cared before it was a marketing home-run.

Then today I came across an article in the Wall Street Journal praising Burgerville for not only offering health care to their employees, but for paying 90% of the premiums for any employee working 20 hours or more a week.  This doubled the cost to the company of their health insurance in 2005, but the company feels the end result has been great for employees and also positive for their bottom line.

The Wall Street Journal article notes that fewer than half of restaurant chains report that they provide any kind of health insurance and those that do typically pay less than half of the premium costs and limit enrollment to only employees working more than 30 hours a week.  Given this, Burgerville’s choice is that much more striking.

The impact has been equally striking.  Typically, very few restaurant employees enroll in company health plans even if they are offered.  This is due to the prohibitive cost of the plans even when the company kicks in half the money.  Burgerville before the change typified this generalization.  Only 3% of their hourly workers were enrolled in the company plan.  Contrast this to now.  Today 98% of the hourly workers and 97% of the salaried employees have opted into the plan.

Equally striking is the apparent direct link to employee retention.  In 2005, Burgerville’s employee turnover was 128%.  In 2006, after the company chose to cover 90% of the premiums, the turnover rate plummeted to 54%.

Overall sales and average ticket prices both increased at the same time.  While it might be simplistic to suggest that this was only due to the gutsy move in health care, it seems reasonable to suggest that this move contributed to both increases.

This probably means there will be plenty of Walla Walla onion rings waiting for me next time I’m in the Portland/Vancouver area along with a burger made from beef that is 100% antibiotic and hormone free.

We’ve been making a simple Honey Vanilla Ice Cream at home this summer with our Cuisinart Ice Cream Maker, but sometimes what you really want is straight-up soft serve.  Zips on Spokane’s South Hill (on Regal just south of 29th) offers an off-the-menu deal that just may be the ultimate Inland Northwest bargain for penny-pinchers with a sweet tooth.

33 cent cones… vanilla, chocolate, or a twist.  Rumor has it this deal is unique to the South Hill location, but it might not hurt to check at other locations.  Simply ask for a “kid’s cone.”  One added benefit is that the portion is just about perfect unless you are an ice-cream-by-the-pint person.

Skip anything that resembles your typical fast food if you are in the Portland metropolitan area, and instead head east and south to Best Baguette @ 8308 SE Powell.  You can get several safe and recognizable sandwiches here in the “French Sandwiches” section, but Best Baguette is at heart a Vietnamese sandwich shop which brings together wonderfully crusty French baguettes (baked fresh each hour) with marinated meats, fresh vegetables, and flavors that taste nothing like the sack lunch specials of my childhood.

Try a Number Four (Grilled Pork) which packs the perfect baguette with thin slices of lemongrass-soy marinated pork, shredded carrot, pickled jicama, fresh cilantro, and jalepeno slivers.  At $2.85 it is a brilliant deal.

Best Baguette also offers cream puffs for a $1, well-executed ’salad rolls,’ and plenty of Boba drinks.  All this and a drive-thru.