Dear ITZME

You are correct. Longbranch has been around for a long time and until two years ago offered a very limited one page laminated menu. The Longbranch menu that now exists was created by Tim McGinnis (manager/operator of Latitude 33) and his very dear friend Jackie.

When creating the menu for latitude 33, we had to consider: "What does 'steak and seafood' encompass. Well - steaks of cource, and the myriad of options from the sea: fish, crab, shrimp, etc. It was inevitable that the menu would be similar, but make no mistake there are differences. For example, we offer conch fritters, peel-n-eat shrimp, shrimp scampi, "homemade" crab cakes, mango salsa for the fish choices, grilled zucchini, etc. We also did away with some of the pork items like pork chops that Longbranch offers (which by the way are very good) The owner of Longbranch makes an excellent BBQ sauce which rivals that of Speedi Pig - but I don't believe the long time owners of Speedi Pig are complaining.

Capitalism is about competition. This is the decree of our great nation. So if the Latitude menu resembles that of Longbranch, and Longbranch's menu resembles Longhorn, and so on....well, that's capitalism. It would be ridiculous for one Italian restaurant not to serve pasta because another Italian rest. in town has pasta dishes.

I am not too worried about 'competing' with Longbranch. We have been busy most nights and the sales have been like nothing I ever saw in my 7 year employment at Longbranch. I realize that some of the 'kinks' we have to work out may have cost us some of our new business but my hope is that most will realize that starting a business from the ground takes hardwork and savvy that isn't involved with purchasing an already established restaurant. We have a cleaner and fresher atmosphere and we are the only establishment south of Hwy. 54 that serves mixed drinks. We have a lot going for us. We just need the patience and understanding from the community for the moment.

BY THE WAY - HAVE YOU TRIED US? HOW WAS YOUR DINNER? THIS IS THE FEEDBACK I'M LOOKING FOR. IF YOU HAVEN'T TRIED US, PLEASE DO, THEN I'LL GLADLY ADDRESS ANY FURTHER FEEDBACK YOU MAY HAVE.