Ordering a Reuben is like unto leaping from a high perch into a dark void. You know what you want, but the odds of getting it may be slim. I'll admit that given available supplies of 'kraut, the use of coleslaw may be OK.

Of course, "Club Sandwich" covers sins beyond number, with ham and turkey substituting for bacon and chicken in all too many venues (plus the addition of "American" cheese for which there are a few limited applications, but not in a Club Sandwich.

Burned by experience, I'm unlikely to order a "Monte C(h)rist(h)o"** unless I've seen one brought to another diner, and even then suspicious of potential innards. I actual saw one example which seemed to be a PB&J battered and deep fried.

** Spellings I have seen.

Another mystery dish: The "Hot Brown", often with little genetic connection with the original thereof.

Then there's "Gumbo". Don't get me started on how badly some restaurants go down that road.

"Steak au poivre" is another.

Rarely rising to mediocre: "Crab Cakes", and a once revered dish, now most often snatched from the freezer, "Deviled Crab" (in which a 1000 diners are fed from a handful of crab snatched from oceans far from the Atlantic or Gulf costs).

Latest offense against nature and tradition: Panera Bread's "Broth Bowl" a strange and unsuccessful combination, over-priced, and an embarrassment to even a modest chef in an Asian noodle joint.

Caesar Salads or justly famous for the mystery lurking for diners. Unless I've seen a cart and bowl circulating, I avoid'em.