Martin desperately needs to revise its roster of restaurants

The human body and brain need a sufficient diet to grow and maintain good health.

This is not only a scientific fact, but it is common knowledge to all of us. If this is something that we are all aware of, then why is Martin, a small college town, lacking good restaurant choices?

As a student, it gets too repetitive when I leave the library for a dinner break and I find myself at either Cook Out, McDonald’s, Wendy’s or Taco Bell. This cycle needs to be broken and freshened up. The question now standing in front of us is what new restaurants need to be added to Martin?

One potential solution to our problem is a restaurant that I believe would profit very heavily from our large student population. I believe that a Steak ‘n Shake would be a wonderful addition to our lovely college town.

Steak ‘n Shake is not only a sit-down restaurant, they also have a drive-thru for the student in a hurry. Price-wise, Steak ‘n Shake is a frugal selection to add to Martin. A classic steakburger and fresh fries are only $3.99, a much cheaper alternative compared to Burger King. On top of the low prices, the food is wonderful.

Steak ‘n Shake has arguably one of the most diverse menus of a fast-food place. The steakburgers they are famous for have various different variants, from the spicy jalapeño crunch burger to the soulful cajun steakburger, there is a sandwich for everybody to enjoy.

You can enjoy their famous chili, or even a salad made to your liking. Regardless of your meal preferences, you can never be upset with one of their milkshakes. It’s needless to say anything else, but Steak ‘n Shake should be a top priority for Martin.

This next selection is more of a personal choice but is one that will be agreed upon by many. A Cracker Barrel would be an excellent selection to add to our list of new restaurants.

Cracker Barrel has a large selection of food to order, and they have something for everybody. Whether it is breakfast, lunch or dinner their menu will never let you down. The momma’s pancake breakfast, homemade chicken n’ dumplins, grilled pork chops and homestyle chicken are just a few of their famous meals that are waiting to be enjoyed by you.

Not only is the food brilliant, Cracker Barrel also includes the “Old Country Store” where you can find all sorts of toys, treats and trinkets. You can enjoy a nice meal with your family, and then you can peruse the shelves of this country-themed miniature shop.

The combination of homemade buttery biscuits, soft pancakes covered in golden maple syrup, an ice cold sweet tea to wash it all down and a short shopping experience makes for a restaurant that is unique to your area. This is exactly what Martin is missing.

Now that we have proposed a few ideas for new restaurants in Martin, we need to address a few issues that come with them.

The first issue we face is location. If these new restaurants are going to be built in Martin, they need a location to be built. Tearing down Huddle House is the first idea that comes to my mind, but we can not just start tearing down the places we do not enjoy eating at now. Realistically speaking, there would need to be new locations built, meaning construction on new properties and a loss of that land.

The second issue we face would be keeping these places in business. As I alluded to earlier, Martin is primarily active during the times of the year that the school year is in session. The issue facing these restaurants is their ability to maintain income and stay in business when the students are away. If you can remain steady year round, then you have an excellent eatery for the Martin area.

Overall, I believe that Martin has several tasty choices to eat at, however if any of these restaurants previously listed would make an appearance in the city, it would change Martin for the better.