Hawkers/salesmen in front of restaurants
 

Was in Montreal a few weeks ago, but I've seen this elsewhere.

Hawkers/salesmen in front of a restaurant, not allowing you to view their menu in peace.

Are you swayed by a hawker? I find them very intrusive/annoying and I usually steer clear of restaurants that have them.

I agree with you -- it's intrusive and annoying, to say the least.

Restaurant hawkers say one thing to me: A tourist trap with bad food.

I've had this happen to me in S.E. Asia. I've successfully bargained with these hawkers into comping an appetizer and/or dessert. Once in a while I can get them to throw in something from the bar, I even had a couple of establishments pay for my taxi back to the hotel! This usually works best when you're in an area where there are several hawkers trying to outsell each other on a relatively slow night.

I haven't tried it in N. America yet, but what have I got to lose?

[This message has been edited by Mr. Roboto (edited 08-13-2003).]

I too dislike this practice and was dismayed when I saw it being used here in the US a couple of years ago in Miami Beach. If I am accosted by a hawker/salesperson I generally will not patronize that establishment.

I agree with you and I too dislike this practice. Is it just me, or does anyone else think to themselves... "If this place is so good, why do they need to use high pressure hawkers?" Usually the good restaurants don't need to advertise.

This is a huge problem on London's Brick Lane but the council is clamping down

The only other place I've had it happen is on New York's East 6th Street which is also the home to mainly Bangladeshi restaurants masquerading as genuine Indian.

It does put me off a restaurant but in the case of NYC I think every restaurant had a tout outside. Fortunately I have a friend who runs one of the world's best Indian restaurants (it rates a 24 for food on Zagat) - Sarkhel's and I have some idea which dishes on a menu are authentic and which aren't. I base my decision on this - and will ask the tout how a particular dish I am very familiar with is prepared. We ended up at Guru on E. 6th Street which specialises in moderately authentic southern Indian cuisine. I still think it was probably the best choice in the area but the manager's promise that I would experience "the best Indian meal I had ever tasted in my life" turned out to be total BS. It was better than average but the mixed starter platter was very dry indeed and had no sambar or other sauce to go with it even though most of the starters would have had a sauce had they been served individually. It fell a very long way short of even the least exciting meal I've had at Sarkhel's which genuinely does feature a world class chef, Udit Sarkhel.

If I am less familiar with a cuisine I'll do some research and look at reviews rather than being swayed by touts!

In Istanbul, if you avoided all the hawkers, you would starve.

It's really in certain areas that I've noticed it in NY. Namely along curry row where you were and in Little Italy (or rather, the 2 blocks that remain of Little Italy).

In any event . . . it is an incredibly annoying practice and turns me off of eating at the place.

They're all over the beaches in BCN. Almost always the "picture menu" restaurants.

I'd never seen this practice until I the last time I went to New Orleans (April 2002) when I saw this quite a bit!

In Carlton, MEL (Aus), myself and some business colleagues (and the boss) were having a dinner out when we were at a conference there in Dec 2003. The amount of hawkers on the main street of Carlton (Lygon Street - where all the Italian restaurants are) was stupid.

Anyway....we were walking up and down the street, trying to find somewhere to eat and there was a restaurant (Piccolo's)....the guy there was pretty up himself and recommended that we eat there. He managed to get out of us that we were looking for somewhere for the boss (who was going to meet us later). He wasn't taking no as an answer, but was trying this line....

"Well, think about this. If I was your boss, and you took me in here, I'd be really impressed. Perhaps he's asking you to find a place and impress him ?"

Pleeeasssee......