Why do 99% restaurants serve crap?

I very rarely cook at home which means I eat out in a lot of restaurants and at street stalls day in and day out. I’ve got a handful of restaurants (and street stalls) I visit regularly who provide good quality food consistently. I don’t mind paying extra for quality, although it’s worth noting that extra sponds doesn’t necessarily guarantee top notch food.

Maybe I’m a little fussy from the average joey and understand the difference between microwave meals, meals that have been prepared days in advance or meals cooked by with great produce by people who have huge enthusiasm with food. I consider myself to be a good judge of quality food and it’s a sad fact I’m disappointed more times than not. This is a not local thing; restaurants all over the world serve up shit and get away with it.

I’ve noticed a few patterns from the restaurants that constantly provide good food compared to the ones that don’t, here are a few that come to mind:

Clientele
This is a biggy - If the restaurant is centrally located or has been around a while and has no customers, you need to ask your self why.

Can you see the kitchen?
From previous experience, 9 times out of 10 food offered from restaurants that show case the restaurant engine offer good quality food. I always think it’s a great feature to a restaurant as well.

Location
Highly populated tourist areas are the worst: people in, people out: don’t come back for years. This is the only reason poor restaurants survive: location. No matter how their food is, if they have enough numbers walking past their door everyday, they will survive.

Menu
Is it just me or do you hate it when you see 4 different cuisines on a menu? Or worse, the menu is as thick as the Oxford English dictionary which means having to decide from 485 dishes? A restaurant needs to have an identity and only offer what they do best. Personally, I’m more than happy with a choice of 3 starters, 3 mains and 3 deserts if that means what I’m going to get is their best. The best seafood restaurant I’ve ever eaten at had this simple and light menu and I think it’s the reason why I rate it one of the best restaurants I’ve ever eaten in!

History
I understand this may be hard for newly established restaurants, but time will provide good reviews and a history of cliental that recommends the restaurant. They say word of mouth is the best form of marketing there is, and that rule is especially true for restaurants.

So why do restaurants serve up shit and get away with it? They can? Staff lacking passion? It’s expensive? They want to appeal to the masses?

I know most people just eat to survive and maybe with this in mind, this answers my question. It’s cheaper to produce crap, it’s also easier and most people are happy with eating this stuff. However to me it matters. If restaurants provide good quality food on a consistent basis they win me over as regular customer, but the sad thing is they are becoming harder to find.

What are your thoughts? Am I just being snobby here or do you wish more restaurants serve up quality food?