Mekong

So, my dad and I thought it would be interesting, based on today's experience, to see what studies have been done, or to do a study on what makes a restaurants tick.

After checking out bikes at Sellwood Cycle & Repair, we asked the girl who worked there which food places were the best, in the area. She directed us to Jade Teahouse and Patisserie, just down the street. It was absolutely packed. We decided it would take too long to order, so we meandered back down toward the shop to see what else there was to be found.

We found Mekong, which is a great little Vietnamese restaurant right across from the bike shop. It was almost empty; there were two people eating inside. The food was pretty good -- I had the grilled garlic shrimp skewers, and Dad ordered some appetizer rolls, and chicken skewers.

The interesting thing is that, even though it was right across the street, and had pretty decent food, and was in basically the same location as Jade, Mekong was empty at lunchtime, and Jade was overcrowded, and the first recommendation to come from the bike girl's mouth.

Any thoughts? Ideas? Answers? Have you noticed this elsewhere?