Dining out again

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Long Run
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Dining out again

Post by Long Run »

After not eating at restaurants for a couple of years (and only getting take out), occasional sit down visits to eateries have revealed a couple of epidemics that have attacked the restaurant industry. The first is the misuse of the nearly 30 year old QR code technology to try to force patrons to look at menus on line, rather than the no-tech physical menu that works much better than trying to figure out an expansive menu on a tiny phone screen. This was likely propagated under the mistaken belief that COVID is spread by touching stuff, but that misunderstanding ended nearly two years ago for anyone paying attention.

The second annoyance is the reluctance of some restaurants to give up on the paper straw experiment. Yuck, is the tactile response to these awful creations. And has anything stupider ever been sold than a paper straw in a plastic wrap? This genuflection came about as a response to a real problem -- gobs and gobs of plastic in the oceans -- by offering a non-solution (sorry Gob for dragging you into this). I have used thousands of plastic straws, and everyone I know has used innumerable plastic straws, and every straw has ended up in the garbage and transferred to the landfills (though it is possible that the sock gremlin has branched into plastic straws). If a restaurant thinks it is making a "difference" by eliminating the microscopic contribution to plastics, fine; but if they're going to offer a straw, make it a straw someone wants.

On the upside, for the restaurants still going, workers are back and doing a great job overall. People are paying a more realistic cost of providing prepared food and have a better understanding of what it takes to make that convenience/treat possible, at least that's my experience.

Big RR
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Re: Dining out again

Post by Big RR »

I, too, hate those menus which you access through a QR code; I think you're right to how they began, but now I think the menus are used because they can easily change prices daily (or even more often, without much problem.

Straws? I generally avoid them (especially the paper ones)--I'm just as happy to drink out of the glass/cup.

ETA: One thing I read recently about QR codes is that there are people going into restaurants where they are stuck on the table and applying their own code over it as a sticker; the new code can get them into your phone (which many people now use for banking, etc.) and provides convenient access by prompting them to click to download the menu (most people will do what they are asked without thinking); the author recommended to void the QR and get the menu form the restaurants website. Just another reason to hate them for me.

Burning Petard
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Re: Dining out again

Post by Burning Petard »

I guess Northern Delaware has too many luddites. Never been in a place with QR code only menus. I have an Apple iPhone 13, but I have never scanned one of those codes for anything. I did get fed up with a local McDonalds that only took orders over their electronic menu stations. Took just too long to get "one Senior coffee, black" I have learned to use the electronic only order terminals at Royal Farms to get their fried chicken. Mostly because it is handier geographically than other chicken fast food places. At Chick Filet the wait is horrible, but people still do it.

snailgate

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Gob
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Re: Dining out again

Post by Gob »

“If you trust in yourself, and believe in your dreams, and follow your star. . . you'll still get beaten by people who spent their time working hard and learning things and weren't so lazy.”

Jarlaxle
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Re: Dining out again

Post by Jarlaxle »

Stepfather's birthday Saturday.

He was treated to...the worst chicken & broccoli alfredo he'd ever had. :(

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BoSoxGal
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Re: Dining out again

Post by BoSoxGal »

Jarlaxle wrote:
Mon Jul 25, 2022 1:57 am
Stepfather's birthday Saturday.

He was treated to...the worst chicken & broccoli alfredo he'd ever had. :(
Applebees? Olive Garden?
For me, it is far better to grasp the Universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring.
~ Carl Sagan

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Joe Guy
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Re: Dining out again

Post by Joe Guy »

ISLOP?

Jarlaxle
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Re: Dining out again

Post by Jarlaxle »

BoSoxGal wrote:
Mon Jul 25, 2022 2:08 am
Jarlaxle wrote:
Mon Jul 25, 2022 1:57 am
Stepfather's birthday Saturday.

He was treated to...the worst chicken & broccoli alfredo he'd ever had. :(
Applebees? Olive Garden?
Neither. Local place that everyone else loved-though nobody ordered alfredo until now. It was WAY too salty, and the mozzarella(huh?) didn't help.

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Long Run
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Re: Dining out again

Post by Long Run »

Gob wrote:
Sun Jul 24, 2022 11:45 am
Going here for Hen's birthday.

https://www.paul-ainsworth.co.uk/number6/menus/
What did you go for? Scallops looked good, the same for the strawberry or chocolate dessert.

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Long Run
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Re: Dining out again

Post by Long Run »

Jarlaxle wrote:
Mon Jul 25, 2022 1:57 am
.the worst chicken & broccoli alfredo he'd ever had. :(
Worst since The Godfather?

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Last edited by Long Run on Mon Jul 25, 2022 3:10 am, edited 1 time in total.

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Long Run
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Re: Dining out again

Post by Long Run »

ignore

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Gob
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Re: Dining out again

Post by Gob »

Gob wrote:
Sun Jul 24, 2022 11:45 am
Going here for Hen's birthday.

https://www.paul-ainsworth.co.uk/number6/menus/

Went there for Hen's Birthday, utterly superb.

Birthday and retirement cards, signed by Paul Ainsworth and family, waiting for L~A at the table.

Too many highlights to list, but the sommelier (a French chap,) was hoot! He tasted every new bottle he opened, we saw him open at least 8 while we were eating, and we were a second sitting! Despite / because of that his matched wines for our courses were superb.

Chef Paul Ainsworth himself served each table at least one of their courses, our third course was served by him.

The food was utterly sublime, though I must pick the red mullet as my "dish of the day".

So many little treats and touches that just ramped up how special it was, including a breakfast treat bun, with their own coffee, to take away.

Sat down to eat at 1.40 pm, and left at 4.55 pm.

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“If you trust in yourself, and believe in your dreams, and follow your star. . . you'll still get beaten by people who spent their time working hard and learning things and weren't so lazy.”

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MajGenl.Meade
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Re: Dining out again

Post by MajGenl.Meade »

Funny thing about restaurants like that . . . you leave feeling less full than when you arrived. How is that? :shrug
For Christianity, by identifying truth with faith, must teach-and, properly understood, does teach-that any interference with the truth is immoral. A Christian with faith has nothing to fear from the facts

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BoSoxGal
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Re: Dining out again

Post by BoSoxGal »

I’ve only ever done a tasting menu like that once before, at a really great restaurant in Portland Maine - a law school classmate’s parents paid for a private sitting with a large table of his friends in the days leading up to his graduation. Everything was fantastic and there were so many wines to go along - I was not sick overstuffed like most Americans walk away from a table at Applebee’s et al., but I was definitely satiated and did not even think about food until the next mid morning.
For me, it is far better to grasp the Universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring.
~ Carl Sagan

Burning Petard
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Re: Dining out again

Post by Burning Petard »

Pre-ovid, the place I and my life-partner dined out at most frequently was a Dennys about 4 miles from our home. It has been there for decades. At one time it was the only 24/7 eatery in town. The food was acceptable and cheap (at least for seniors) Sometimes the servers were highly skilled craftsmen, more often they and the managers were people working at or near the top of their employment potential and they knew it. 99% of the time they were very accepting of all kinds of people. We were there often enough that my wife made baby blankets for new grandchildren of the help and some customers.

That all ended with covid. The place sat empty and then was torn down. (understandable--it had frequent problems with plumbing, heating and kitchen utilities.) Recently a new Popeyes franchise opened at that location. I had not been to one for many years. I got a coupon and my curiosity brought me to the drive through for two pieces of chicken, cole slaw, red beans and rice, and a biscuit. Same items I remember ordering way back when at another place (still in business) on the other side of town. Chicken, slaw, was the same as I remembered it. The bisquit was not soaked in butter-like chemical or as thick as I remember, but it was hot and seemed fresh. The 'red beans and rice' was not. It was a small scoop of bean paste dumped in flavorless rice.

Oh well, I guess it is tough times for almost all business.

Even Dunkin coffee and donuts have declined drastically around here.

PS. sorry Long Run, but I still carry the fadish-for-a-short-time little box with my own steel drinking straw. I rarely use it because I stick with hot coffee.
I drink it black so I don'd need the little plastic container of 'whitener' I remember when the real thing came in a tiny milk bottle and was favored on the end of a finger for playing slide guitar.

snailgate.

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Long Run
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Re: Dining out again

Post by Long Run »

Burning Petard wrote:
Fri Sep 30, 2022 12:24 pm

PS. sorry Long Run, but I still carry the fadish-for-a-short-time little box with my own steel drinking straw.
That's a good idea,SG, thanks. We have plenty of steel and glass ones that are never used (since we almost never use straws at home), so keeping a few in the car for that occasion makes sense (similar to having grocery bags in the car).

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Bicycle Bill
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Re: Dining out again

Post by Bicycle Bill »

Gob wrote:
Fri Sep 30, 2022 11:12 am
The food was utterly sublime, though I must pick the red mullet as my "dish of the day".
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-"BB"-
Yes, I suppose I could agree with you ... but then we'd both be wrong, wouldn't we?

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Gob
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Re: Dining out again

Post by Gob »

MajGenl.Meade wrote:
Fri Sep 30, 2022 12:11 pm
Funny thing about restaurants like that . . . you leave feeling less full than when you arrived. How is that? :shrug
We weren't, we were stuffed/sated. Maybe your experiences were different, (or maybe you're a fat sod. :lol: )
“If you trust in yourself, and believe in your dreams, and follow your star. . . you'll still get beaten by people who spent their time working hard and learning things and weren't so lazy.”

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MajGenl.Meade
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Re: Dining out again

Post by MajGenl.Meade »

Gob wrote:
Sat Oct 01, 2022 2:48 pm
MajGenl.Meade wrote:
Fri Sep 30, 2022 12:11 pm
Funny thing about restaurants like that . . . you leave feeling less full than when you arrived. How is that? :shrug
We weren't, we were stuffed/sated. Maybe your experiences were different, (or maybe you're a fat sod. :lol: )
Ah, the beanpole defense! Well played!
For Christianity, by identifying truth with faith, must teach-and, properly understood, does teach-that any interference with the truth is immoral. A Christian with faith has nothing to fear from the facts

ex-khobar Andy
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Re: Dining out again

Post by ex-khobar Andy »

I remember when 'nouvelle cuisine' was all the rage. I sent mine back. "Waiter, this plate is dirty." "That's your dinner, mon ami. Enjoy!"

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