Why do some people bother eating out?
Dec 27, 2011 | 11:52 am
#31
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I know a variety of people whom I think are better off staying home because they're such picky eaters.
One time I was on a trip with three of them. Here's what happened when we went to a breakfast restaurant together:
Person #1 is very capable in a kitchen, cooks for herself frequently, and thus is accustomed to having food exactly as she wants. She wanted an omelet, but she wanted information about all the possible ingredients (e.g., "What kind of cheeses do you have? Are the mushrooms fresh or canned?") and ultimately ended up asking for a custom omelet in which she specified every. Single. Ingredient. Her order required several minutes of information gathering and negotiation. I swear it took her longer to order than it would have taken her to make an omelet in her own kitchen.
Person #2 has some dietary restrictions. He has to watch his sugar levels, and he knows he needs to cut down on cholesterol and salt, too. What he should do is order a fruit and yogurt plate and be done with it, but no, he wants to figure out exactly how much fried eggs, bacon, and hashed browns he can get without killing himself. So he's asking for nutrition counts on all kinds of "bad" foods, looking for substitutions, and asking for things like hashed browns made without salt added. Another several minutes of negotiation.
Person #3 has a few food allergies. There are also some things she plain doesn't like. Unfortunately some of these are common ingredients and condiments in restaurant food. She has to go through the ingredients list of everything on the menu and ask for removals or substitutions. "I'd like the western omelet but no bacon. I don't like pork. ... Oh, that's basically a veggie omelet? Okay, then give me a veggie omelet, but no onions. I'm allergic. I don't like toast, may I have extra potatoes instead. And a coffee, no cream. Don't even put cream on my side of the table, it grosses me out."
Finally the waitress looks at me. She is exhausted and worried because she has been standing at our table for literally 10 minutes while we've monopolized her time. "French toast, side of sausage links, tall orange juice," I say, matter-of-factly.
She looks at me again, waiting for MY questioning and negotiation to start.
"That'll do it for me, thanks."
One time I was on a trip with three of them. Here's what happened when we went to a breakfast restaurant together:
Person #1 is very capable in a kitchen, cooks for herself frequently, and thus is accustomed to having food exactly as she wants. She wanted an omelet, but she wanted information about all the possible ingredients (e.g., "What kind of cheeses do you have? Are the mushrooms fresh or canned?") and ultimately ended up asking for a custom omelet in which she specified every. Single. Ingredient. Her order required several minutes of information gathering and negotiation. I swear it took her longer to order than it would have taken her to make an omelet in her own kitchen.
Person #2 has some dietary restrictions. He has to watch his sugar levels, and he knows he needs to cut down on cholesterol and salt, too. What he should do is order a fruit and yogurt plate and be done with it, but no, he wants to figure out exactly how much fried eggs, bacon, and hashed browns he can get without killing himself. So he's asking for nutrition counts on all kinds of "bad" foods, looking for substitutions, and asking for things like hashed browns made without salt added. Another several minutes of negotiation.
Person #3 has a few food allergies. There are also some things she plain doesn't like. Unfortunately some of these are common ingredients and condiments in restaurant food. She has to go through the ingredients list of everything on the menu and ask for removals or substitutions. "I'd like the western omelet but no bacon. I don't like pork. ... Oh, that's basically a veggie omelet? Okay, then give me a veggie omelet, but no onions. I'm allergic. I don't like toast, may I have extra potatoes instead. And a coffee, no cream. Don't even put cream on my side of the table, it grosses me out."
Finally the waitress looks at me. She is exhausted and worried because she has been standing at our table for literally 10 minutes while we've monopolized her time. "French toast, side of sausage links, tall orange juice," I say, matter-of-factly.
She looks at me again, waiting for MY questioning and negotiation to start.
"That'll do it for me, thanks."
Dec 27, 2011 | 1:34 pm
#32
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Dec 27, 2011 | 1:58 pm
#33
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FWIW that is a 25-mph zone...
As for the picky/never satisfied guests, for some folks it's just part of the routine with them. My sister, bless her, is incapable of ordering anything the way it comes on the menu and never has been, even when we were kids and our mom would take us to Roy Rogers. I think subconciously my sister scans a menu looking for the item that is most fun to deconstruct. I just about strangled her once when the waitress painstakingly took her order for half the ingredients on the side and toted out all these wee ramekins of olives and tomatoes and what-not, then my sister cheerfully dumped each one back into the salad bowl where the ingredients would have been anyway, had she not gone plucking around with the menu. Needless to say, the list of places where we will go dine together keeps getting smaller. Although Korean BBQ works great for her, as she gets the 10 little ramekins of sides/relishes to play with whilst the bulgogi cooks on the tabletop grill.
Last edited by dcpatti; Dec 27, 2011 at 2:03 pm
Dec 28, 2011 | 9:50 am
#35
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Coaching the correct behavior?
How would you coach someone who is not behaving appropriately while dining out?
Say it's your boss so you need to tread lightly, but the behavior should be corrected before they make a larger fool of themselves. Assume they are toilet trained and wouldn't put their bare feet on the table, but might normally frequent a different class of restaurant, or are used to dining in a different country.
Say it's your boss so you need to tread lightly, but the behavior should be corrected before they make a larger fool of themselves. Assume they are toilet trained and wouldn't put their bare feet on the table, but might normally frequent a different class of restaurant, or are used to dining in a different country.
Dec 29, 2011 | 11:39 am
#36
Join Date: Nov 2007
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yelp is absolutely rubbish.
its where people will complain about service in a low-brow chinese restaurant, sanitation at a food truck, if a restaurant refuses to split a 40$ check between 6 people, and -- no exaggeration -- i recently saw a guy 1* a restaurant because he had "been going [there] for years" but suddenly there was a change in staff and nobody there now remembers his name / recognize him
the fact that reviews can be rated as "funny" or "cool" steer the tone for users. i cant take it seriously if theres no option to down-vote a review. the whole site has too big of an emphasis on the social aspect, and it seems like people pump out reviews as some sort of e-popularity contest.
if im interested in restaurants in a few city, i prefer to use chowhound. seems like those folks in general are a little more wise to the food than yelpers are
its where people will complain about service in a low-brow chinese restaurant, sanitation at a food truck, if a restaurant refuses to split a 40$ check between 6 people, and -- no exaggeration -- i recently saw a guy 1* a restaurant because he had "been going [there] for years" but suddenly there was a change in staff and nobody there now remembers his name / recognize him
the fact that reviews can be rated as "funny" or "cool" steer the tone for users. i cant take it seriously if theres no option to down-vote a review. the whole site has too big of an emphasis on the social aspect, and it seems like people pump out reviews as some sort of e-popularity contest.
if im interested in restaurants in a few city, i prefer to use chowhound. seems like those folks in general are a little more wise to the food than yelpers are
Last edited by Shangri-La; Dec 29, 2011 at 11:54 am
Dec 29, 2011 | 11:23 pm
#38
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How would you coach someone who is not behaving appropriately while dining out?
Say it's your boss so you need to tread lightly, but the behavior should be corrected before they make a larger fool of themselves. Assume they are toilet trained and wouldn't put their bare feet on the table, but might normally frequent a different class of restaurant, or are used to dining in a different country.
Say it's your boss so you need to tread lightly, but the behavior should be corrected before they make a larger fool of themselves. Assume they are toilet trained and wouldn't put their bare feet on the table, but might normally frequent a different class of restaurant, or are used to dining in a different country.
Dec 29, 2011 | 11:37 pm
#39
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Dec 30, 2011 | 8:09 am
#40
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I find Yelp (and TripAdvisor) useful in small cities that Chowhound wouldn't be covering, at least more useful than the typical front desk clerk at the random HIX where I'm staying that night. In these types of situations, I'm just looking for "better than Ruby Tuesday" and I can usually piece together enough information to get down to two or three places, and then check their websites and maybe drive by them. But I tend to look at "most reviewed" and don't really differentiate between what gets an average of 4.1* vs. 4.3*.
Dec 30, 2011 | 8:12 am
#41
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I find Yelp (and TripAdvisor) useful in small cities that Chowhound wouldn't be covering, at least more useful than the typical front desk clerk at the random HIX where I'm staying that night. In these types of situations, I'm just looking for "better than Ruby Tuesday" and I can usually piece together enough information to get down to two or three places, and then check their websites and maybe drive by them. But I tend to look at "most reviewed" and don't really differentiate between what gets an average of 4.1* vs. 4.3*.
Dec 30, 2011 | 8:29 am
#42
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Chowhound tends to have a lot of foodies on it, and they can get a little esoteric at times, but again it's enough to give you a list from which you can form your own opinions.
In Chicago, especially if you want to get away from downtown and River North, the definitive choice is lthforum.com.
In Chicago, especially if you want to get away from downtown and River North, the definitive choice is lthforum.com.
Dec 30, 2011 | 8:41 am
#43
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Chowhound tends to have a lot of foodies on it, and they can get a little esoteric at times, but again it's enough to give you a list from which you can form your own opinions.
In Chicago, especially if you want to get away from downtown and River North, the definitive choice is lthforum.com.
In Chicago, especially if you want to get away from downtown and River North, the definitive choice is lthforum.com.
Dec 30, 2011 | 11:42 am
#44
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Dec 30, 2011 | 9:26 pm
#45
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