Shake Shack is, of course, one of the great New York City success stories. Started as a stand in Madison Square Park, it’s grown to well over 100 locations around the world, all of which promise burgers and fries with an increased focus on quality and hospitality. Sbarro, meanwhile, was once a family-run New York operation that specialized in Italian-American food, and which is now in every food court in every mall in America (or so it seems).

Yet after the growth, Sbarro’s defining feature is the mediocrity of its food. Expansion — and corporate influence — can have a wide-ranging effect on a small, independent business. Murray’s Cheese, long a beloved Bleecker Street destination for soft-ripened triple creams and brandy-washed wheels of Époisses, is now at this crossroads.