Try out some places in northern New England or Rhode Island. Still fairly popular there.

Names change, as do tastes. So it's not that they don't have an idea what you want, they just don't call it that any more. It's like ordering a Frappe. Nobody calls them Frappes anymore. Then try ordering a black and white Frappe, and they get totally confused.

Culture has a big deal with it, too. When I worked in Boston I would frequent an Au Bon Pain where most of their help was Brazillian. They honestly did not understand teh idea of toasting bread - so when you ordered a bagel tosted it took them a while to figure out how to properly toast one - and they had no idea why you would want to do such a thing!

My grandfather who was born and raised in the farm country of Iowa, loves to order "City Gin." By which, of course, he actually means "water." And he *loves* to confuse people with this. We went out for dinner at a place in Houston where our server clearly did not have good English, and the poor thing was incredibly confused, giving me a look of desperation and pleading to end her suffering.

Part of humor lies in that little twist of cruelty.

There's one FTer whom I've encountered at DOs who insists on ordering
Adam's Ale, to the general confusion of the staff. We don't carry that.
Oh, yes, you do. I'm thankful that I don't recall the identity of this FTer.

The only time I've had a waitress question what I ordered was when I ordered a veggie burger with bacon.

Now, THAT is just wrong.... :)

surprisingly, two servers at one of the busiest korean places near me had apparently never seen a caucasian order the raw beef. one was befuddled, while the other initially told me they were out, when they werent.

no idea why they saw raw beef as so different, considering the popularity of sushi, and the western equivalent steak tartare.

more amusingly, my friend stopped by a suntory trial stand in japan over the summer, and sampled some single malts. the guy manning the stand asked how he wanted it mixed, and my friend said straight. he then proceeded to nose and taste, while the guy manning the booth stared at him "as if he were the most hardcore scotch connoisseur he had ever seen."

Almost the opposite at a bar in Prague about 20 years back. Asked for a vodka and orange and the barman would only give me them in separate glasses as he didn't want me to ruin the vodka.

In fairness I only drink it neat now thanks to him

AFAIK, it's from Spain - also sometimes spelled Kalimotxo (or some variant thereof).

I actually prefer tinto de verano, which is more or less the same thing but with Sprite (or, if in Spain, Casera) instead of cola. Goes down very nicely when it's hot and/or when the wine is of not-great quality.

When I order a eggs for breakfast, I will usually order them "fried over hard, yolks broken"... Even when having Eggs Benedict or other dishes traditionally served softer.

This occasionally requires me to send my eggs back to the kitchen for more cooking....when a chef or waitress decides I could not have *really* meant what I ordered. :rolleyes: If I have to send it back, I'll usually add the helpful instruction that "if the eggs are not solid when they get back, I'll see how well they splatter as a decoration..." :p

If you call in advance, my favorite Russian restaurant will have a bottle of your favorite Vodka frozen *in the middle* of a block of ice with nothing but the neck exposed, ready for pouring neat. Nastrovya!

Hot Water
 

My wife is from Asia and like many Asians she likes to drink hot water with her dinner. 10 out of 10 times when we order hot water at a restaurant in Europe or the US we get a blank look. We then explain that we want "tea without the tea":rolleyes:, that usually works. Most of the time we get charged for a tea:(

Oh I get this kind of thing far too often to even remember, as a Brit living in Virginia.

"You want that with that??" :confused:

I did once ask for a glass of cava on Iberia and was brought coffee :D

That'll teach you for eating at a Slobster ;)

I get really whipped up by the following conversation, which seems to happen all of the time:

Andrew: "I'd like a burger, fries, and a Sprite"
Server: "One burger, with fries, and a Coke"
Andrew: "No, a Sprite."
Server: "Right, a Coke."
Andrew: :mad:

Everything down here, except for a Doctor Pepper, is a bleeping Coke. Drives me nuts.

Cheers,

-Andrew

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GYCTVlxVx0I

From "Dead Like Me", the (in)famous patty melt scene.

Cheers,

-Andrew

Poached eggs, but do not overcook the yolk, I was told recently to order runny, that sounds sick.

Sounds like something that goes on the nipp..s. :D

We've seen it, and it looks disgusting.

I think many of us can't handle the idea of taking greasy (but yummy) fries, and then throwing on even more grease/fat with the mayo. French fries are bad enough, but if you're eating fries with mayo, you might as well be injecting the fat directly into your arteries.

:eek: :eek: :eek:

Are the fat police back? I thought the carb police would still be pissed off about ketchup on fries...

If you find mayo so disagreeable, then don't order poutine in Quebec.

Cheers,

-Andrew
fry-o-holic.

GREAT SCENE. Thanx^

I wouldn't Google "patat oorlog" if I were you, then...

With foie gras ? Salivating....

http://www.restaurantaupieddecochon.ca/#

Gluten free

...especially international.

I can't stand mayo, whether on fries or not. That said, if it weren't for a general revulsion of the stuff, I don't see how it would be any worse than cheese or gravy or ranch dressing on french fries.

Now, fries dipped in tzatziki(*) is really good :)

(* or other national variants like cacik or lebanese yoghurt salad.)

"espresso doppio macchiato" is an order that confuses loads of waiters/baristas in Italian cafes outside Italy.
Lemon to squeeze on steak/meat also causes a bit of confusion. In VIE, I was brought a tiny slice (off the bar that used lemon slices for drinks) on top of my massive Schnitzel, and in England I was once asked to pay an extra 70p for the lemon!
Plenty of drinks orders confuse bartenders, because I tend to know their drinks better than themselves! I am having a lot of trouble explaining what Krupnik is to barpersons at bars that evidently stock it and I can see the bottle... :rolleyes:

Surprisingly, a fair number of people seem to give me a blank stare when I ask what single malt scotch they have. Some of the answers arent good either.

Please pass me some MSG.

I love MSG.
Eat it with my popcorn, we have premixed salt and MSG shaker. Anytime we pass the salt, MSG is included.

Most servers are insulted that I want MSG and they insist they do not use it.

Mmmmm, MSG :) I'm quite fond of it, too, especially when cooking. Rarely a savory dish goes by without reaching for the bag of Ajinomoto. It's also one of my secret ingredients in chocolate chip cookies.

Have no tried it on popcorn, though, and will have to one of these days - although the microwave stuff I usually have is so flavored-up with the fake butter that it probably doesn't need it.

I really love the free refill hot chocolates at places like Bob Evans, I always ask for a mug of the whipped cream on the side and eat it by itself :p

maybe you should have asked for kava instead

cava = underrated
kava = overrated

I think the biggest one would be drinks. The server often will write it down and then come back and ask how to make it. I was not impressed last weekend when I went out to dinner with my sister and the server came back and said the bartender didn't know how to make a "Love Potion" so did I want something else? Usually they will ask what's in it and the bartender will attempt to make it- and usually do it right! I'm hoping this isn't a sign of things to come.

I too like a blue steak. I find that when I order one in France the waiter often looks surprised (as if to say, "What? an Anglo-Saxon ordering a steak cooked blue!), but I get what I want. In the USA and the UK, about half the time the steak comes medium—rare (if you ask for it blue or rare) or medium (if you ask for it medium or well-done) anyway.

I agree that any bartender worth his or her job ought to know what a whisky sour is. Even if not, a good bartender always has a good book of mixed drinks and cocktails to hand and ought to be able to look it up. (After all, no one can remember everything, I guess.) I was surprised on a recent visit to Seattle that the bartender in the main bar of one of the top-line hotels didn't know what a champagne cocktail was. One of the waitresses knew, though...

I love fries with mayo. Ketchup just makes everything taste like corn syrup. The French got that right. ;)

To be fair to them, there are literally thousands of cocktails and cocktail names the world over, and even the supposedly "classic" ones have many different versions, so, unless it's in the menu, I never ask for a cocktail by name.

schnapps, Crown Royal Canadian whisky, triple sec and sweet and sour mix

I ordered a club soda from a bartender the other night. She looked at me blankly, so I repeated the order.

She then asked me how to make a club soda.

::facepalm::

Still to find a USA establishment that can make a decent cup of tea .......

In the words of the late, great Mitch Hedberg:

“I went to a restaurant and I ordered a chicken sandwich, but I don’t think the waitress heard me ’cause she asked how I’d like my eggs. So I tried answering her anyways. ‘INCUBATED! Then hatched, then raised, then beheaded, then plucked, then cut up, then put onto a grill, then put onto a bun. Damn, it’s gonna take a while. I don’t have the time. Scrambled!’”

One of my favorite winter drinks is a Snowball, with either lemon-lime soda or lemonade mixed with Advocaat. I've rarely found a bar that has Advocaat, so I generally have to enjoy them at home. Ordering one from a waitperson or bartender usually elicits "what's in that?" followed by a frown when I say "Advocaat".