C3: The Food Industry Has Lost the Plot — June 2026

The food industry spent the last stretch doing two things at once: launching products so bizarre they read like satire, and watching its own business models come apart under the pressure of the internet, labor costs, and a customer base that has run out of patience. Both stories are worth telling. Let's get into it.

Quick note before we start: a lot of what's circulating right now as "new" food news is actually 2023 and 2024 material being recycled for clicks. I went back to primary sources on everything in this post. Dates and details below are verified.

Something Broke in Food Service — And It Wasn't Just the Dishwasher

Why the restaurant industry is a dumpster fire — and why it's complicated.

So when I say the food service industry is in trouble right now — I'm not reading that off a press release. I'm living it. And so is everybody else who's ever tied on an apron for a paycheck.

Here's the thing, though. This isn't a simple story. It's not "workers are lazy now" and it's not "owners are greedy monsters." It's messier than that. It's a full-blown, multi-car pileup on the interstate and somehow every driver has a point about whose fault it is.

Let's talk about it. And yes — we're going to laugh a little. Because if you don't laugh, you cry, and then the health inspector shows up and asks why there's moisture near the equipment.

C3: Feet Pics, Franchise Failures, and Caviar McNuggets — May 2026

Tyrone B. Cookin · C3 Series

Curated Culinary Curiosities

May 2026 Edition

The food world is having a moment. Several moments, actually. None of them normal. Here's what caught my eye this month — verified, fact-checked, and served with a side of chef's perspective.

The Smoke Has Cleared — And It Doesn't Look Good for Rodney Scott's BBQ

Industry News · BBQ

All locations of Rodney Scott's Whole Hog BBQ have abruptly shut down. Here's what happened, who Rodney Scott is, and why the family's original pit is still very much alive.

TyroneBCookin.com  ·  May 5, 2026

If you follow the barbecue world at all, you probably saw the news drop on May 5, 2026: every single location of Rodney Scott's Whole Hog BBQ has closed. All of them. At once. Some mid-service, some with zero warning to staff. Signs on the doors say "temporary" and "until further notice" — but when a restaurant chain shuts down like this, those words don't carry much weight.

18 Years Later: Revisiting the 25 Reasons I'd Never Own a Restaurant

18 Years Later: Revisiting the 25 Reasons I'd Never Own a Restaurant

Back in 2008, I reposted a list on this blog. Twenty-five reasons a chef named Niall Harbison would never open a restaurant. I asked his permission, credited him properly, and then added my own little confession at the top — that 99% of his reasons were the same reasons I wrestled with the idea myself.

Here's what I didn't mention in that post: I wrote it from a ship.