Why do hole-in-the walls scare me?

I'm sure I'm in the minority here but I absolutely dread going to little hole-in-the-wall restaurants, especially if I've never been there before and most especially if none of my dining companions have been there. My husband will drive up to a little Mexican restaurant in a strip center and I will literally sit in the car and mildly panic. Sometimes I convince him to drive off.

We had friends come visit from Dallas and they'd heard rave reviews about Harold's. When we drove up, I had to force myself out of the car. I stood in line with my heart beating quickly and ordered the first thing I saw. Turned out to be delicious, of course, but that didn't matter.

Hole-in-the-walls make me so nervous! I have no idea what scares me so much. It has nothing to do with health or food safety. I don't really notice cleanliness. I just don't like a place that doesn't have more than one (preferably dozens) of locations! Even though I'm a total cheapskate, I would rather eat the cost of the professional sign outside and matching uniforms for the waiters.

Maybe it's because I spent five years of my life serving up entrees that looked exactly the same at my restaurant in Denton (or Arlington or Grand Prairie) as they do here in Abilene. When I go to Spaghetti Warehouse, the Turin Trio might have gone through a few name changes in the last 10 years, but it's still a hunk of lasagne, a splatter of fett alf and a big ol' piece of chicken parm. (When you work at a restaurant you never say the entire word. It's so not cool.)

Theoretically, I would support a small business over a big one any day. I think it's great when people have the vision and the guts to open their own place and it's even greater when they're successful. But I still can't convince myself that I want to eat at a place like that!

Is anybody with me?