Don't Be Shy

Have you ever been to a restaurant before and ordered something, and after the first bite you realize you made a bad choice? I am sure many of us have been in this situation before plenty of time. I usually try to avoid this buy going to the same restaurants and ordering the same couple of things that I usually get. However, one of my goals is to travel and eat at many different restaurants as possible, but anyways back to my point. If you ever order something and don’t like how it tastes for whatever reason, please do not be afraid to say something and order something different. It’s all about how you go about it. “Ummm excuse me, but I don’t like this and want something else,” is not how you should inform your server about you wrong pick of the menu. Servers are there to help make sure everything is to your satisfaction when you eat at a restaurant. They deal with this issue all the time. It is a very easy issue to correct. All you have to do is when the server comes back to check up on you after your first bit, which they should just tell this, “I am really sorry but this is not what how I expected it to be, would it be too much trouble if I get something else in place of it?” They will usually reply by telling you that it is not a problem what so ever and ask you why you don’t like it. Just tell them the truth. If it has too much seasoning or you don’t like the flavor or whatever the reason is just be honest. You really won’t have to wait much because they will cook you re-order before everything else that went in before yours.

Reservations

Reservations are a very common thing in restaurants. Many people make them if they are planning on having a lot of people for a little get together. Making reservations for a get together is a great idea for many reasons. At most restaurants they have tables ready that seat four, five, six and maybe eight people already set up. Reason for this is because if groups of six or eight people come in they have the table ready for them as soon as they walk in and they are able to sit them really fast. I am sure you have walked in a restaurant before and there is not even enough room for you to stand up and have to wait outside to enjoy your personal space. Restaurants will try to sit people as fast as they can because they know that people hate waiting. You would be surprised how impatient people really are. Another reason why reservations are great is because if you make one especially if you are planning on having a large group the restaurant knows you will be coming at a specific time and they will make sure that when you walk in the door you will not have to wait at all. Your table will be ready for you along with a server or two depending on the size of your party. It’s nice walking into a busy restaurant and not having to wait for a table. Another reason why reservations are great is because it will help prepare the kitchen. If the kitchen knows in advance that there will be a large table coming in they will do all they can to ensure that they get the timing right. People have to take into consideration that it might take a little longer for them to prepare a meal for 20 people as opposed to just 2 people.

Screaming Kids!!!

I am sure you all have been in this situation before at least once. Your sitting down with your friends at a nice restaurant trying to enjoy your lunch or dinner. You watch as the host walks a married couple with two young children and sits them at the table right next to you. They look like sweet adorable kids until they start throwing things at one another. Then they start yelling as loud as they can. By this time you would think that the parents would take control of the situation but all they do is tell the kids to calm down and be quiet. You try not to look, but it’s hard not watching those kids putting on a show. I have seen this happen for many years. You would be surprised how children act at public places, but what is more surprising is that their parents do not take charge and let them continue misbehaving. The worst is when the kids get up from the table and start running around the restaurant. Yes, they literally run around the restaurant and their parents just sit there and continue on with their conversation. I don’t know if they think that someone else will control their kids or what? Kids running around a restaurant, is by far not the safest or smartest idea. There are people walking around with trays full of food and drinks and all it would take would be a little bump or a server having to put on the breaks for all that to come crashing down. The good news is that not all parents let their children act like this. The correct thing for parents to do is to take their children outside of to the bathroom and have a serious talk with them. Or do what my parents used to do and take us outside or to the bathroom and correct us, not by talking if you know what I mean.

Who Should Leave The Tip?

Lets say you got invited to go out to dinner with the in-laws, or a good old friend that you have not seen in a real long time, or your parents take you out you out to dinner. Fast forward a little and the server asks how he or she should spit the bill? Since you were invited to go out for dinner, your in-laws, or you good old friend, or you parents tell the server that it should just be one bill and they will get the bill. Since someone else other than you is paying for dinner it is only fair that someone else that did not pay the dinner bill should leave the tip. I would rather leave the tip instead of having to pay for the whole dinner bill. Every time I invite someone to go out and have dinner and lunch for that matter, I always pick up the bill. Usually the other person says oh let me give you half, or something along that line. I reply with, no that’s okay I invited you so I will pay but you can leave the tip. This way I made it clear that they should leave the tip. I always hear other people say this, so I am not the only one that thinks like this. Servers that I have worked with have came up to me before not too happy telling me that their large table of 10 people didn’t leave anything for them. First of all server should never talk about their tips to anyone, but unfortunately they do ALL THE TIME! I then ask if it was all on one check or multiple checks? They usually tell me that it was just on one check. When this happens it is usually because the person who picked up the check expected that the other people would leave the tip, but it’s not always the case. So if your ever go out and someone pays for you meal, just ask them if they would like for you to leave the tip, since it would only be being the polite thing to do.

A Review

Tonight I was searching for blogs dealing with food in general and I came across a blog titled “What We’re Eating.” I found this blog in the New York Times webs site and it was written by Mark Bittman. The blog talked about the spending habits of Americans in grocery stores. And for the past couple of years Americans have had the same spending habits as to what they purchase the most at grocery stores. Can you guess what was in the number one spot? Carbonated beverages took the number one spot. And has held on to the number one spot for a couple of years now, which isn’t hard to believe when you think about going over to someone’s home and that’s usually the first thing they offer you to drink. Runners up were milk and bread, followed up by beer and salty snacks. There were no healthy foods on the list that they showed, even though they only showed the top 11 purchases. I wish I could put numbers with this statement, but this explains why America as a whole is considered being overweight. Personally I don’t shop at the grocery store that often because I typically end up throwing away a lot of what I bought only because I really am not home during meal time. I am usually in school or at work, and working at a restaurant I never have to worry about being hungry. So if you happened to have a couple of extra minutes and want to check out this blog here is the link to it. http://bitten.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/10/16/what-were-eating/
It is a real short blog and it gives you to stats about what Americans buy at the grocery store. Check out the comments that people left about the blog as well. Very interesting!!!

Biaggi's, TRY IT!!

This might be the only time that I actually recommend a restaurant. I do not work for them nor will I get anything from them buy recommending them. I think people should write more reviews about their favorite restaurants from their local towns. I do not travel much due to school and work but sometime later down the road I plan to do a lot of traveling. When I do get the chance to do some traveling I plan on finding out where the locals like to go eat and eat there. I have always heard that’s the best way to find great restaurants if you’re not from around there. At the restaurant that I work at I always have people tell me that they are from out of town and the car dealership recommend us to them. Same thing is said from people who are in town and are staying at a hotel. My favorite place to go eat at here in town would have to be Biaggi’s. It is a local restaurant here in Bloomington/Normal, IL. By the name I am sure you can figure out that it is an Italian restaurant. Even though it is a little pricy, it is worth every penny. I have been there many times and I have never walked out the door unhappy. If you are someone who loves Italian food like I do, you will love it. Or for you gentlemen who are trying to impress someone, Biaggi’s will sure score you some huge brownie points. One of the best parts of the dining experience is that you can eat all the free bread you want. This might sound real crazy, but they have some of the best bread I have ever had. The server also prepares an olive, salt, pepper, and parmesan cheese mixture to dip the bread in. The atmosphere is very relaxing and quiet, and everyone that works there are very friendly and professional. Here is their web site that will give you more information about Biaggi’s and hopefully there is a Biaggi’s near you. http://www.biaggis.net/staff/dcp/category/content/id=6

Great Dinner

I just had an amazing dining experience earlier tonight that I wanted to share with all of you. As I have mentioned before I am not here to advertise for any particular restaurant or to talk bad about another. The only thing I will say about this restaurant that I went to is that is a well known Italian restaurant. Everything from when I first got there to when I left was perfect. The server I had did an outstanding job taking care of us. She asked if I wanted to try a seasonal wine that they were featuring. I am not really a wine person but every time I do go to that restaurant I always do try their wine because the wine that they offer I do seem to enjoy. After tasting the wine I ordered a whole bottle because it was really good. Even though I could tell that the server was still fairly new she still did a great job. She introduced herself when she first greeted us and welcomed us to the restaurant. I had a couple of questions that I had before I ordered and she was able to answer them very effectively. We had a full course meal with soup and salad, an appetizer, the entre, dessert, and a couple of drinks. Yes, I enjoy eating a lot when I go out. Unfortunately, I can’t afford to go out and eat as much as I would like to so, when I do go out and eat I take advantage of. The timing with everything was perfect. After I finished my salad the appetizer came out and after I was finished with the appetizer the entre came out. We didn’t wait long for our meals and when we got it was steaming hot. For myself and my date I spent $86 and change plus a $18 tip which was a little over 20%. I wanted to compensate our server for a job well done.