N1cky

This is a strange one that people seem to dislike. My husband is the opposite, he hates sitting with a dirty plate in front of him and loves it when they take it away as soon as he has finished, so he can put his arms back on the table. What a gent

Apparantly lots of restaurants will split the plate before they fetch it to the table if you ask, ie, half straight in the doggy bag the other half plated.

What really annoys me about the Cheesecake Factory is they don't do a kids menu, and refuse to do a kids portion of pasta. Even when I say I am happy to pay full price but just put a small portion on the plate they still refuse.

I only go for Cheesecake because of this. I think they are the most un-accomodating place I have come across

NYCbound

We were there on Monday and they had a kids menu. Pasta with different sauces, mini burgers and the like. They also had a kids brunch option.

exvj

Why not just bring the dog to the restaurant and save the packaging..

Toss the bones over the shoulder Viking style..

Look first in case Dick Cheney is sat behind you

AmerLisa

I know, what's with that....my husband can wolf down a meal in 5 seconds flat. Something about his dad eating their food when they were kids if they didn't eat fast enough.... Well picking food off of their plates.

AmerLisa

I understand that scenario....except for the dishes. But usually the thought of going out for a dinner that's not going to be fantastic and will cost the three of us, usually, $30, makes me tell everyone its egg and chips for dinner.

exvj

I once got a freebie from work - it was Concorde to new york, limo to town, Marriott hotel times square

I got hungry at 3am (jet lag) and called room service for a piece of toast and a small cup of coffee.

It was $25. That was in the early 90's. That was the entire cost of the trip to me but I was gutted (Yorkshire you see)

But you are absolutely right that egg and chips with some hp sauce on will beat many of the restaurant meals I have had which cost (me) a fortune.
I would rather have a pint of Timmy Taylor's championship ale than a truck load of champagne.

That's why, at the prices we were paying and given that the restaurant was almost empty, I don't see the rush to get us out. The heating was low too so it was like a big cold barn. I kept my woolly jacket on and we sat there shivering like 2 vagrants in a bus station sharing a sausage roll

I will certainly line my retorts up for next time - when the third person says 'everything ok' just as I pitchfork another load of sweet potato into my cake hole, I will look down at the food all concerned and say ' Why, what have you heard ? '

AmerLisa

Hubs and I don't go out to dinner often....but a few weeks ago our daughter was invited to a birthday party on a Friday evening and we saw our chance and grabbed it. DH suggested an Italian restaurant he had heard about and I said ok. When we got there it wasn't too busy, but as we waited more people came in. We didn't have reservations, but they seated us pretty quickly. We decided to order appetizers, which came out and before we had a chance to finish that off (we shared an order of steamed clams) out came our dinner.... Besides the obvious problem, they sat us at this really tiny table and there was not enough room for all the plates, but she managed to put them on somehow. And yes she came back a few times, as we sat struggling, juggling our plates and asked how we were doing..... Uh, fine....

Anyway, the food wasn't bad, but not too sure I'd be in a big hurry to go back there. Even though we don't go out a lot and I have to agree with ABY, we sit there in stone silence after awhile, I still don't want to be rushed either.

exvj

You guys need to learn some conversation starters like 'how would you react if I had an affair', or 'If you thought I was becoming less attractive, would you tell me' or 'I am thinking of becoming Jewish, do you mind not eating pork chops in the house any more in consideration for me'

Actually, my wife is used to all that stuff and would probably ignore me twice as hard

Englishmum

When my son was at the local school the lunch breaks were incredibly short; he said that sometimes by the time they had left the classroom, walked through the long corridors and into the canteen and lined up to get food they had only 2 or 3 minutes to actually eat before the bell went for the next lesson.

It seems to be that it becomes an ingrained habit as to why Americans tend to bolt their food and go. No wonder you see so many adverts here for indigestion and heartburn tablets.

I was once rushed during a meal at the acclaimed Balthazar's in SoHo, NYC and it ruined the meal (and romantic dinner!) for me as I'm a slow eater....although it was obvious that the waiter wanted a fast-turn around so he could earn more tips.

However, last month I went for lunch with a friend I hadn't seen for ages at the French Culinary Insitute cooking school "L'Ecole" in NYC...excellent value too at $28 for price fixe 3 courses....we got there at 12.30pm and as we were chatting and lingering over dessert and coffee we didn't leave until 3.40pm..! (then we went to Balthazar's for wine lol!) The service was very impressive and they were more than happy for us to take our time and it was definitely quality over quantity. Perhaps being a French inspired institution they know that the culture in Europe is to actually *taste* in digest the food and enjoy dining as a social event, rather than shove it down ones gullet.

http://www.frenchculinary.com/lecole.htm

http://www.balthazarny.com/

(Another thing too.....Americans rarely seem to dress up to go out for a meal, in the UK it's the norm to get changed into something nice and smart and you wouldn't go out to dine on a Saturday night wearing your most casual pair of jeans!)

Englishmum

Just spotted this report in the health section of yesterday's DM:


"Want To Lose Weight? Then Just Eat a Little Slower"


http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/ar...es-fatter.html

cindyabs

My experience in eating out in the UK other than pubs, the prices dictate the dress, even if the ambiance isn't stellar. I mean, in the US if I'm going to grab something at Cracker Barrel or Waffle House I'm not going to get gussied up. If I'm going to Ruth's Chris, of course I would dress smarter.

AmerLisa

I would say no, especially as school lunches were never as short as they are now. Schools are forced to push as much learning in as little time as possible and they get away with it. Also, population has expanded and school buildings can't keep up, so kids are given a very short period of time so the next passle of kids can come in.

AmerLisa

Exactly.

exvj

I had to get sweets on my ration card after the war so I had to make em last a week - probably that's why I dont like ramming the grub in fast and getting back home quickly to watch Beyonce or American Idol or whatever people do with the time saved.

Right up to 1954...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/d...00/3818563.stm

Yes I prefer the French/Spanish European way of enjoying a meal as a social occasion. If it's eating to stay alive, I would be happy with a raw onion and Cheshire cheese sandwich with branston pickle and they can keep the restaurant stuff - I wouldnt dream of eating out if just eating was the motive.

- except en France where they do the best steaks in the world...

Englishmum

Er, I don't think so, unless you like yours raw! When we have chez our French friends, they always cook our meat a bit longer as they know we can't stand the blood oozing out of the flesh...

(OMG I spent a weekend at their home in Grenoble last Summer and the guy, Fabrice, made a fabulous plum tatin....French food is the best!)