Whatever Happened to Side Orders??
 

I am beginning to notice something about restaurant menus these days. The menus no longer have a section for "side orders" of, say, French fries or cole slaw or jello. The menu is set up so that anything you can order is priced at the entree ($12) price point. There is nothing that costs $2.50 except maybe the iced tea. Am I making sense here?

Hmmm... what kind of restaurants are you going to? Popular sit-down chains like T.G.I.Friday's, Bennigan's, Chili's, etc., or slightly more upscale? I have no difficulty finding sides at traditional locally-owned "diners" (on the east coast) or their equivalents... but those places aren't trying to replicate a marketable "experience" across dozens or hundreds of locations, either...

Well, I'm not the OP but I've seen the same thing.

I avoid the chain type places and choose an independent type place in order to taste "local" cuisine. At some point within the last 12-18 months, potatoes and (other) vegetables have disappeared from the entree plate. But I haven't seen any $2-3 sides. You want potatoes? Ca-ching!, another $6. You want veggies? Ca-ching! another $5. Suddenly the reasonable $18 entree becomes $29 and not so reasonable. Desserts have moved too from $4-5 to $7-8. Signs of the times I guess.

Yous Guys Want Some Sides?
 

Looks like they're alive and well in New Joisey: http://flyertalk.com/forum/showpost....4&postcount=21

I don't have a problem finding places that offer side items.

I do not recall seeing a side order of Jello in years, not since I used to get a diet plate at the cafeteria just across the street from WJM on my secret lunchdates with Mary Richards.

Next time you are in LA go to Cliftons Cafeteria in downtown You will be amazed by the Jello presentations!
I hate jello

I see sides all the time on moderate and fancy places.My problem is that they tend to be expensive and they are huge portions meant for sharing.

Lots of Jello on the menus in Rochester, MN.

If you're by yourself, ask the server or manager if you can order a half portion.

ROFLMAO!!!

You can get side orders of about anything at any restaurant but most dont have a separate side order listing anymore. I found its better to ask the price before ordering to avoid some surprises.

MisterNice

Funny you mentioned that. The times I was talking about my Mary Richards lunches were really spent with Grandma in the same era, when she'd take me to either Clifton's or Ontra Cafeteria on a semi-regular basis.

Jell-o is popular in Hawaii as well. Always with a scoop of "whipped cream" on top.

My old Hawaiian cookbooks are filled with gelatin-based desserts.

Vegetable-based gelatin
 

How can one make or find vegetable-based gelatin for vegetarians or those of the Muslim faith?

With agar-agar!

Just Google it!: http://www.google.com/search?q=veget...e=utf8&oe=utf8

Or gelatin molds depicting whatsizname?

I still find tons of restaurants that offer side orders in my neighborhood and many other places as well.

Of the chains I've been to, virtually all list sides on the menu... ditto for local diners. Fine-dining places? Not so much, except when they unbundle entrees and sides as many better steakhouses do.

That said, most of the places where you're getting sides, it's not going to be $2, except maybe as an add-on to an entree... ordering a side separately (around here) seems to pretty consistently be $3-4 at the mid-price family places like Chilis or Outback or local diner-y places.

Then again, come to think of it, refillable soft drinks are creeping up to around $3 around here so it may just be the local area being expensive.

See these side orders from The Palm:

VEGETABLES & POTATOES -
served family-style ( Prices Range from $7.50 -$9.50 )

Asparagus
fritti, steamed, garlic and oil
Leaf Spinach
String Beans
Broccoli
Sauteed Wild Mushrooms
Creamed Spinach
Hash Browns
Baked Potato
Hand Cut French Fries
Three Cheese Potatoes Au Gratin
Mashed Potatoes
Half & Half
cottage fries and fried onions

Lots of chains have sides. Loqans has a sweet potato the size of a football, smothered in butter and covered in cinamon. Yours Truly (CLE area)has an awesome spinach dish. Showmars (CLT area) has the best onion rings ever. And of course at Waffle House, you can have your hash browns with cheese, onions, etc. None of these is over $3, some are included in the reasonable price of an entree. None are high class establishments, just good eats.