Business Insider got on the Detroit SEO bandwagon with a Google-friendly slideshow of the city's 23 "coolest" small businesses. Among the usual suspects like Hugh, Green Dot Stables, and Detroit Venture Partners' project Are You Human, was The Batata Shop, which specializes in sweet potato-based foods.
Why it's cool: The Batata Shop makes all of its food from scratch using fresh, homemade ingredients. Batata means sweet potato, and the restaurant uses sweet potatoes in many of its recipes including in their waffles, pancakes, and biscuits.
That does sounds like a great place, but if you wonder why something like the White Entrepreneurial Detroit Guy meme took off, consider that while national content farms like Business Insider are wowed by the existence of a new sweet potato joint in Midtown, they'll never bother to call attention to Sweet Potato Sensations across from the Redford Theater.
Two sweet potato-based shops. One just opened in a trendy part of town and the other has been making payroll for 26 years in a town where, for so many complex reasons, it's tough to do business.
Sincerely, everyone hopes The Batata Shop succeeds. Detroit is big enough to support two thriving sweet potato places.
At the same time, why is it always the shiny new thing that attracts the attention of self-ordained "tastemakers"?
It's not the fault of new businesses that they attract parachute journalists like glittering pieces of metal attract squirrels, but after watching the hype over Zaccaro's and pretty much every Frank Taylor disaster, I think maintaining a successful business into its fourth decade is way cooler than starting one.
So as a small step toward tweaking the narrative, kudos to the Detroit businesses -- from newer places like Slows and Canine To Five to older businesses like Sweet Potato Sensations, Fred's Key Shop, and Metro Foodland -- that have found a way to make payroll over the long-haul.
