The 50-pound burger, dubbed "Mt. Olympus" by the man responsible, Mike Zambas, the owner of the Clinton Station Diner in rural New Jersey, has never been conquered. If you and 4 friends can eat the burger in 3 hours, it's free — and you'll win a $1,000 prize. If not, you're on the hook for $159.95.

The best way to describe this burger is: gargantuan. Zambas has to bake a special bun big enough to hold the thing. An entire package of American cheese is used to cover it, as well as a whole head of lettuce and several tomatoes.

When the burger arrived at the table, every customer in the diner turned and looked at us. Several came over to check it out. And that's exactly what Zambas wants. We turned a normal Saturday afternoon lunch into a spectacle. Suddenly that couple two tables over got a side of entertainment with their BLT.

Of course, the reporter wasn't the first to finish it — even though he brought a professional eater with him. Maybe if he'd brought 4 of them? Ultimately, it was the eating champ's expert opinion that there was simply too much bun.

Recession Bargain or Fool's Challenge [ABCNews]

Yesterday my fiancée and I were out and about with a lot to do in preparation of the upcoming wedding, our travels finished in Westchester County, NY. It was getting late and we were starving, we thought seafood would be great and we were close to a Red Lobster (yes, I know, I know) so we decided that we’d zip in for dinner.

Once inside we learned that there was a 25-minute wait, that was out of the question as it was already closing in on 9PM. With that said we decided to sit at the bar area that had no wait. It took a couple of minutes to get our food ordered which was fine and to be expected, hey, they were busy. Well we order our dishes, receive our drinks and then waited 20 minutes for our appetizer, after those aforementioned 20 minutes our entrées show up and we asked the server what happened to our appetizer he apologized and offered to go see, we decided that we’d skip it, finish eat our dinner and head home.

Now all throughout our meal there were waiters going back and forth between the kitchen, the bar and their respective tables, all the while they were cracking jokes to the likes of “Why cant I get a hot customer” and another waiter complaining about the fact that their table came $15 short of the required amount for a automatic tip to be added, both situations I can sympathize with. However as I was halfway through with my meal, two waiters passed by and were audibly joking about diarrhea, well enough was enough and my appetite was finished. A few minutes later I saw the Service Manager passing by and explained to him the situation regarding our appetizers and the professionalism of the waiters. The manager asked me if there was anything he could do, I told him that there was nothing (I know, we should have had a clear request of some sort), we were just grossed out and wanted to let him know what was going on. He apologized and then his eyes caught on fire, he started pointing at waiters and directing them to the back, we overheard a waiter say “All wait staff meeting in the kitchen and at this point my fiancée and I were satisfied, the manager was addressing the situation. We waited for the waiter to comeback and asked for the check and gave him the credit card. A few minutes later the manager emerged with my credit card and informed me that he was buying our dinner tonight, he explained that he was very embarrassed by the situation and had reminded his staff that they are always on stage and that nothing comes before the customer.

Needless to say we left with a smile on our face and despite my fiancée’s concerns about a potential retaliation from the staff, we’ll be back to the Scarsdale Red Lobster next time we’re in the area.

And that's why it's always a good idea to speak up.

(Photo: Simon Goldenberg)

When he was charged for two $7 buffet meals, Linscomb refused to pay for one of them. He said that “there were no signs in the restaurant that said someone could not have some food off your plate,” the report said.

The restaurant staff called police, who came to the restaurant on Donald Lee Hollowell Parkway and arrested Linscomb on a charge of theft of services. He was taken to Fulton County Jail.

The man was released from jail two days later after pleading guilty to disorderly conduct.

According to the police report, the jailed diner said that his girlfriend had only had "a couple bites" of his food. Don't mess with buffet restaurant managers, people. They are serious about the buffet rules.

Texan jailed after 2 ate from 1 plate [AJC] (Thanks, j!)
(Photo: Morton Fox )

Science tells us there is almost no correlation between tips and good service, but surveys show that Americans relish the power to tip because we falsely believe it provides an incentive to provide good service.

Let's consider a situation: you go out to one of your regular dinner spots for a snack with friends. The place isn't too busy, and you're not too hungry, so you only order a salad and a side dish. Your friends don't get their food for almost 40 minutes. You get nothing. After repeatedly flagging down the waitstaff, you still can't get your salad. Another 30 minutes goes by before your food finally arrives, around the time your friends are finishing their meal.

Obviously, it's not the end of the world and there are far more disturbing stories littering the internet. Before asking what kind of tip this service merits, let's travel with the New York Times to San Diego to visit a small restaurant called the Linkery. The Linkery's waitstaff doesn't accept tips. Instead, they levy an 18% service charge on all sit-down meals, which is split 3-1 between the waitstaff and the kitchen. If customers want to tip more, they are invited to donate to the restaurant's charity of the month.

...every so often diners at the Linkery take offense. “I’ll go over to the table and ask if there is a problem with the service,” McGuan, the general manager, says. “If there is, then I offer to remove the service charge. Almost always, the customers’ issue isn’t about the service but about not being able to handle their loss of control.”

In some instances, this restaurant with a uniform charge completely removes the service fee, resulting in no tip.

Keeping that in mind:

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Why Tip? [The New York Times]
(Photo: Getty)

Because men can generally put away more food and alcohol, “men spend more, women spend less,” said Steve Dublanica, author of the recent best seller “Waiter Rant.” In addition, he said: “Men eat and leave. Women eat and stick around.” So a server attending to women may have to wait longer “to turn the table over, get another group, get more tips.”

“On a Saturday night,” he continued, “you get these two ladies who walk in and say, ‘We haven’t seen each other in ages, we’re going to talk and talk and talk,’ and they’ll sit for four hours. Women are more verbal than men. That’s a scientific fact. And I’m like, ‘Ladies, I have reservations for these tables. You’ve got to go.’ ”

As a consequence, Mr. Dublanica explained, “Waiters are guilty of treating female diners as second-class citizens.”

The article also explored the reluctance of waiters to let women order wine — and their habit of delivering the bottle to the man at the table, regardless of who ordered it.

Have you been treated this way at fancy restaurants? At not-so-fancy ones?

Old Gender Roles With Your Dinner? [NYT]
(Photo: Groovnick )

Here's MunkyBoi's story:

My (now) wife and I decided earlier this year that it was time to get married. We live in the San Francisco bay area. We wanted to make it as easy as possible for our small gathering to get together, and wound up having a beautiful outdoor ceremony... and followed it with "lunch" at Tahoe Joe's.

For those of you that are unfamiliar, it's a casual dining steakhouse with a Lake Tahoe theme and atmosphere - lots of wood-carved bears, and the food has always been to our liking - never a bad meal. My wife worked with the restaurant manager a few months in advance to get everything prepared for our group of about 50 guests.

For having so much advance notice, they were very poorly prepared. The manager wound up being on vacation for the entire week, and I can't fault him for that, but he should have made sure that someone capable would pick up the slack.

I'll summarize the meal - one waitress (nice, but seemingly somewhat inexperienced), and a couple "helpers" to assist in bringing things out. We had specific instructions on what appetizers we needed, and where to serve them, so that everyone could have a little of everything. Once they came out, it kind of turned into a family-style "pass the food around" sort of deal, and I'd estimate that a third of the guests barely got any.

The drinks went a little smoother, but she didn't know "who had what", so there was lots of beverage passing as well.

The food started coming out, and sure enough, waitress "a" didn't know where any of the dishes were going, so most guests wound up having to pass the food around the table until they got what seemed like their own dish.

I came to find out afterwards, no one got any of the "extras" that they had ordered, and a number of guests simply settled for the plate that they were given as to not make a scene.

Shortly after everyone had already ordered their food, another waitress (she definitely knew what she was doing) showed up, and promptly started tending to us. Waitress "b" handled dessert, and it was handled without a single problem. If she hadn't shown up, I can pretty much guarantee that the meal would have been a complete disaster.

We're pretty easy-going people by nature, but we felt that the manager should be aware of just how poorly most everything was handled that day, and that he should also recognize waitress "b" for the exceptional job she did in pulling their collective butts out of the fire. He apologized profusely, stated that he would speak with his staff to find out what happened, and get back to us in a few days.

This was during the last week of June (08). Two weeks go by, and we haven't heard from him, so we call - he's gone for the day, but if we call back earlier on any other day, we should be able to catch him - we leave a simple message that we called. Another week or so goes by, and we call earlier, and after checking, we're told that he's unavailable. We leave him yet another message to call us back at his earliest convenience. No word.

All I wanted was for him to let us know what happened. We're "over it" at this point, and it has pretty much become a memory, but I still felt that I needed some closure - I wanted to know why everything went so poorly. After one last attempt to make phone contact with him, I decided to contact their corporate offices in Fresno, CA. I wrote a two-page letter, that detailed pretty much everything above, and sent it off in the mail mid-August.

Within a few days, we receive a next-day air envelope from Tahoe Joe's corporate. My letter had been sent to a "district manager" kind of guy as far as I could tell, and he had forwarded it to the president of the company. The president hand-wrote a letter of apology, indicating that he had not yet contacted the manager of the restaurant to find out why things had gone so terribly, but that he knew that he needed to address the matter immediately, and that he would let me know what came of it. He also included a $250 gift card for the chain as a token of apology.

I appreciated the token - we spent a significant amount of money for the meal, and we still enjoy their food very much. I certainly appreciate action from an executive on a personal level - it shows me that he really does value what customers have to say, though I doubt many people mail in that many complaints about the place. I am a little disappointed that I haven't heard from him since. I'll likely get back in touch with him soon, just to satiate my own curiosity.

In short, I'll applaud the executives at Tahoe Joe's for seemingly taking action. We've already returned to the restaurant for dinner since then, and we'll be back again sometime.

PS: The hand-written letter does make a huge difference.

Correction: the handwritten letter accompanied by a $250 gift certificate makes a huge difference.

I was reading your article about how some Subways were instituting a $0.75 refill policy when I remembered that I had a Scrabble peice that said I had won a free 'Any Reg. 6" Fresh Fit OR Reg. 6" Sub.'

So, I decided to head down to the Subway in Kansas City, MO (it's walking distance away from me) and tried to redeem my coupon.

Upon walking in, the Zombie-Employee told me that they were out of half of their ingredients. I found this odd, seeing as it was 6:30 at night on a Friday, but none of the items listed were what I was going to get on my sandwich anyways. I ordered a 6" Meatball sub (considered a "Reg. Sub", I'm assuming) and a Sweet Onion Terriaki 6" (that way, I get a footlong for about half the price).

I went to check out and showed my coupon. She replied "Um, sorry, this only works for your next order." This struck me as odd, seeing as the last time I ordered and got the coupon was over a week ago.

I informed the employee politely and she responded with "Well, we still can't take it. It only works certain times of the day." I pointed out to her that the coupon read "GOOD ON NEXT ORDER. NO SUBSTITUTES. MAY NOT BE COMBINED WITH ANY OTHER OFFERS. EXPIRES 10/13/08" and wanted her to point on where on that tiny piece of paper that it says it has to be certain times of the day.

The lady gave up, and confessed that she can't redeem it because there has to be a manager there to redeem their own coupon.

I didn't want to argue with her anymore so I walked off paying twice what I wanted to. I mean, I know it's only like $4, but it still irks me that they aren't able to redeem their coupons at anytime. I just wanted to put the word out that these things are pretty much useless since they aren't honoring them. First the refill and now this? Things must be going rough for them, eh?

(Photo: Mags D)

Many restaurants are trying to sate diners and give them a sense of plenty for the lowest price possible.

“You have to be smart as a restaurateur and a chef and say, what’s the most value I can put on this plate so it looks like a lot of food and still appears to be a value and doesn’t anger anyone?” Ms. Taras Wallach of Little Giant said.

“I serve a lot of grits,” she added.

And many restaurants are trying harder than ever not to let any seats go to waste. Ms. Arpaia said that at Mia Dona she is accepting more reservations between 7 and 9 p.m. rather than steering diners toward early and late times that they might reject. Even if this means lengthening diners’ waits for reserved tables, she, like other restaurateurs, wants to make sure that no-shows don’t cost the restaurant money.

“I’d rather have people wait at the bar and buy them a free drink than not get them in the door,” she said, adding that she knows of other restaurants acting in a similar, extra-cautious fashion.

“You should see, when [the Europeans] come in the door, the shopping bags they hand off to the coat check,” said Graceanne Jordan, the general manager at the Modern, which is part of the Union Square group and is near the shopping corridors of Madison and Fifth Avenues.

“I mean, they’re just spending. It’s Monopoly money to them.”

So if you want that prime-time reservation, break out your best cash-happy faux-Euro accent and ask: "Sir? SIR! Ver eez my täbel, monsieur?"

As Belts Tighten, Lobsters Shrink and Bar Menus Grow [The New York Times]
(Photo: Sherry's Rose Cottage)

Dr. Vino says:

[Robin] Goldstein, the author of The Wine Trials has a posting up on his new website describing how he invented a restaurant name, Osteria l’Intrepido, a riff on “fearless.” Then he typed up a menu (”a fun amalgamation of somewhat bumbling nouvelle-Italian recipes”) and then put together a wine list, and submitted both to Wine Spectator–along with the $250 fee. The list was approved and given an Award of Excellence.

The best part is that Mr. Goldstein included "the lowest-scoring Italian wines in Wine Spectator over the past 20 years."

"I didn’t have any empirical evidence of the quality of the restaurants other than my own impressions,” he said. “I wanted to see what the standards of the Awards of Excellence were. The results speak for themselves."

Dr. Vino also notes that in a Times article from 2003, a reporter estimated that Wine Spectator was bringing in $625,275 from the award each year— and that was when the application fee was only $175.

Fictitious restaurant wins Wine Spectator Award of Excellence [Dr.Vino]

Here's Brian's letter:

I thought you might be interested in an unbelievable experience I recently had at a restaurant.

Last night I went to Friendly's restaurant in Norristown, PA to get ice cream. My wife and I each ordered a sundae with butter crunch ice cream. After we paid for them, the cashier realized that they were out of butter crunch. My wife is pregnant and has dietary restrictions that prevent her from eating chocolate or nuts - which rule out almost all of the other flavors. So, since they didn't have butter crunch, we just asked for our money back.

However, she told us that she isn't allowed to give refunds. The cashier explained that their manager had been giving too many refunds recently, and that the manager would get in trouble if she issued any more. So because they didn't want the manager to "get in trouble", they refused to give back our money - despite the fact that we had paid for two sundaes that they couldn't give us.

We then asked if we could speak to the manager about a refund. After a worker disappeared into the back for a few minutes, we were told that the manager was in the back and on the phone, so she couldn't come out. I was astonished that the manager refused to come out and help us deal with this issue. After waiting another 5-10 minutes, the employees told us that the manager would not be coming out from the back. I suspect that the manager was not even in the store and the "on the phone" excuse was just used to cover up for her.

We asked for the manager's name, and were told by three different employees that they aren't allowed to tell anyone her name. So not only did they refuse to let us speak to a manager, but they wouldn't give us her name! However, I managed to overhear one of the other workers mention the first name of the manager [redacted.] The employee looked terrified after realizing that the manager's name slipped in front of customers.

By the time we had been waiting at the counter for about twenty minutes, the cashier said that she would be willing to return the cost of one sundae. This was completely unacceptable, since we had paid for two sundaes that we never got!

Eventually, after about thirty minutes, one of the employees agreed to get one of the half gallons of butter crunch from the take-out freezer to make our sundaes. Finally we got the food we paid for and left.

So apparently the manager at this Friendly's restaurant:

— has instructed her employees not to issue refunds - even when they are fully justified - because she doesn't want to "get in trouble".

— has strictly forbidden her employees from even telling customers what her name is.

— refuses to talk to customers, even if they specifically ask to speak to her. In fact, I strongly suspect that she was not even in the restaurant, but told her employees to say she is "on the phone" to cover for her if she is not there

I tried contacting the store's general manager about this, but his business card only lists the phone number of the restaurant. I've put out an "email carpet bomb", but haven't yet gotten a response. Maybe getting the story out on your site will encourage them to do something about this.

Thank you.

-Brian

You might want to also give your local consumer affairs department a heads up about this new "policy." Selling a product they don't have and then refusing to issue a refund isn't, um, cool. Ya know? Come to think of it... it's not exactly friendly, either.

(Photo: *nomad* )

Under a Chowhound post titled "Nectarine Dessert at Zuni Is Just That," the poster praised Zuni's "ethos of simplicity in flavors and cooking," but thought that this was going too far. We agree. It's no $55 mac and cheese, but it seems a bit ridiculous to charge $8 for a piece of fruit that isn't a mangosteen.

UPDATE: Commenter Michael Belisle writes that someone from Zuni left a comment on a message board claiming the nectarine should have only been $4.50, which is less ludicrous, although still fairly pricey for a food whose only preparation was putting it on a plate. Thanks, Michael!
Nectarine Dessert At Zuni Is Just That [Chowhound via Serious Eats]

A representative of Lettuce Entertain You denies Franz's allegations, but documents filed with Franz's lawsuit indicate that a pathologist found that the tapeworm could have only come from undercooked fish.

Man Says 9-Foot Tapeworm Came From Undercooked Salmon Salad [Chicago Sun-Times]

Thanks to Mark!

F1.4 says:

This morning I went to one of my favorite restaurants in northern VA for breakfast – it’s a very classy joint, and the food and service is always spectacular. I was sitting outside finishing up my steak and eggs and had just put away my first cup of coffee. As most of my friends know, I generally avoid caffeine so even a little bit is like liquid crack for me, and the first cup had cleared my head and made an already beautiful morning that much better.
The ever attentive waiter noticed my empty cup and promptly topped me off – by now I was rockin the caffeine, the birds were chirping, the sun was smiling, so I gulped down another mouthful and……and something is really wrong here – what the hell did I just drink – It looks like coffee, but I don’t think it is, as a matter of fact it tasted like hot Soy Sauce?! Suddenly I wasn’t sure if I just drank coffee, soy sauce, or maybe some cleaning chemical ended up in the coffee. I am almost instantly nauseous, probably not from what I drank, but my mind and body running in overdrive trying to figure out if I should hurl, because whatever I just drank sure as hell wasn’t coffee.

I call the maitre de over and explain they had a serious problem with their coffee. About two minutes later the manager stops by to tell me they had a mix-up, and that I had indeed just enjoyed a steaming mouthful of Soy Sauce. Apparently they keep heated Soy Sauce in a coffee carafe for fish dishes, and somehow the carafe of Soy Sauce was mixed in with the carafes of regular coffee. The manager was mortified, and comped my breakfast and acknowledged that I was probably not pleased at the moment and she hoped I would be enticed to come back with a fifty dollar gift card.

I felt the restaurant responded appropriately so I won't post its name, and I am glad I didn’t boot my breakfast in a classy joint, but doesn’t Soy Sauce look a little too much like coffee to be putting it in a coffee carafe – nobody saw this coming?

We agree, the restaurant responded completely appropriately, but still, the story was too funny not to share. Hot soy sauce. Eeeeeeeewww! Time for someone at that restaurant to buy one of these.

(Photo: F1.4 )

UPDATE: The name of the mysterious soy-coffee restaurant has been revealed on DCist!

For children between 4 and 8 years of age, the recommended amount of calories per meal, assuming three meals a day, is 430. If the child is active, the amount goes up to 565. Using these numbers as a guide, the CSPI looked at the biggest restaurant chains in the country, then whittled their list down to the ones that offer dedicated kids' menus and provide nutritional info. This meant the following were left out of the study because they won't provide nutritional info:

We don't need no stinkin' nutrition
• Applebee's
• T.G.I. Friday's
• Outback Steakhouse
• Olive Garden
• Red Lobster
• IHOP

Here's what the CSPI has to say about those restaurants that do provide nutritional info:

Chili's has 700 possible kids’ meal combinations, but 658, or 94 percent, of those are too high in calories, including one comprised of country-fried chicken crispers, cinnamon apples, and chocolate milk (1,020 calories) and another comprised of cheese pizza, homestyle fries, and lemonade (1,000 calories).

Burger King has a “Big Kids” meal with a double cheeseburger, fries, and chocolate milk (910 calories)

Sonic has a “Wacky Pack” with 830 calories worth of grilled cheese, fries, and a slushie.

KFC has a wide variety of side items, but there are few meal combinations that keep a reasonable ceiling on calories, according to the study. One example of a high-cal combo KFC kid’s meal (the chain calls them “Laptop Meals”) has popcorn chicken, baked beans, biscuit, Teddy Grahams, and fruit punch, which has 940 calories. (KFC has since dropped Baked Cheetos from its kids’ meals, and some outlets vary the number of chicken strips or sides.)

Most of the kids’meals (93 percent) at McDonald’s and Wendy’s are too high in calories, as are the possibilities at Burger King (92 percent), Dairy Queen (89 percent), Arby’s (69 percent), and Denny’s (60 percent—though its kids’ meals don’t include drinks). (Since CSPI’s study was completed, Burger King has introduced one new children’s meal with macaroni and cheese, apple “fries,” and 1 percent milk, which has a reasonable 420 calories.)

Subway’s kids’ meals came out on top. Only a third of its Fresh Fit for Kids meals, which include a mini-sub, juice box, and one of several healthful side items (apple slices, raisins, or yogurt), exceed the 430-calorie threshold. Subway is the only chain that doesn’t offer soft drinks with kids’ meals.

So how do you improve the nutrition of your kid's meal the next time you eat at a restaurant? A spokeswoman for the American Dietetic Association gave the following advice:

"Don't be too alarmed even when [studies] come out and seem hopeless," said Dawn Jackson Blatner, an American Dietetic Ass>ociation spokeswoman. "With a few swaps and switches, people really can make healthier choices at these fast-food joints, especially when the decisions are made before going in.

"Many of these restaurants have the nutrition information online that you can print out and go over with your kids even before you go, so that everybody is on the same page before they pull up to the drive-through or [head] to the counter," Blatner said.

She also suggested that "instead of getting the fries, go with the apple slices. Many [restaurants] offer carrot sticks or apple slices or no-sugar-added applesauce or oranges, which make a big difference over deep-fried fries."

And pay attention to how food is cooked. "Instead of the deep-fried nuggets, go for something like the grilled chicken, and you will save fat grams and calories," Blatner said. You'll also save calories by switching the soda, she added: "You can't go wrong with unsweetened iced tea, water or a skim milk."

As for the restaurants that refuse to provide nutritional info, maybe you should just eat elsewhere.

Click here for some specific replacement suggestions from the Chicago Tribune.

You can download a copy of the full CSPI report here.
(Photo: Getty)

"360 Steak N Shake" [NCCSites.com] (Thanks to Eric!)

Reader Neal's receipt:

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"He asked if I was kidding," said Sima Verzino, co-owner of the restaurant. "And I asked, 'Where are you?' I told my husband and he grabbed the keys and he ran out of the door."

Despite already closing their kitchen, Sima and her husband, Marcellino, left their restaurant and met Montemurro with some of Marcellino's dry clothes for a quick change.

When they arrived at the restaurant, the Verzinos reopened the kitchen and served Montemurro and his friend antipasti salad, green salad, Italian bread with dipping sauce, pinot grigio, espresso and tiramisu.

"It was just pretty extraordinary. Not only from a customer-service standpoint, but just from a human-being standpoint and having compassion for somebody," Montemurro said.

After dinner, the Verzinos drove Montemurro back to the site of his accident to meet the tow truck driver.

Wow! We expect that sort of kindness from our parents, not the local Italian restaurant.

Molto bene, Marcellino!

Owners make sure stranded, wet diner gets his meal [The Arizona Republic]

2. There are almost never any sick days in the restaurant business. A busboy with a kid to support isn't going to stay home and miss out on $100 because he's got strep throat. And these are the people handling your food.

3. When customers' dissatisfaction devolves into personal attacks, adulterating food or drink is a convenient way for servers to exact covert vengeance. Waiters can and do spit in people's food.

4. Never say "I'm friends with the owner." Restaurant owners don't have friends. This marks you as a clueless poseur the moment you walk in the door.

13. Never, ever come in 15 minutes before closing time. The cooks are tired and will cook your dinner right away. So while you're chitchatting over salads, your entrées will be languishing under the heat lamp while the dishwasher is spraying industrial-strength, carcinogenic cleaning solvents in their immediate vicinity.

Check out Readers Digest's article for the full list.

We can think of no better time to abide by the Golden Rule then when eating at a restaurant. On two occasions, I actually exited a restaurant before the food was served because I felt that I had displeased the staff and feared their retribution. After reading these confessions, I think my instincts were dead-on.

13 Things Your Waiter Won't Tell You [Reader's Digest]
(Photo: Getty)

Checkers/Rally's, whose fatalistic slogan "You Gotta Eat!" apparently justifies its menu of triple cheeseburger Nascar meals, double Philly cheese steak burgers (that's a double cheeseburger with a cheese steak on top) and thirty-two ounce medium sodas, has over 800 locations across 28 states, more than such chains as Boston Market and Roy Rogers. Unlike most fast food restaurants, which make nutrition information available on their website or in store, Checkers/Rally's is oblivious to such concerns (see picture above). Worse, inquiries by customers have been met with the same canned response:

"Thank you for your interest in the nutritional value of our menu items. We are currently reviewing our nutrition information due to several recent menu changes. We do not have a set date for the release of this information. You can find general information on this topic at www.Nutrition.gov or Food and Nutrition Information Center www.fns.usda.gov/fns or Healthfinder-Gateway to Reliable Consumer Health Information www.healthfinder.gov.
Thank you,
Checkers Drive-In Restaurants"

We emailed the company's PR person and asked why it didn't make this information available, but received no response.
For those wondering if some law requires Checkers/Rally's to make this information available, the answer is, probably not. According to the FDA, restaurants are generally exempt from any requirements to publish nutritional information. The exception to this rule is that whenever a company makes a health claim, such as low calorie, less fat, and so on, they are required to make available nutritional information sufficient to back up this claim. These types of health claims are becoming more common in fast food advertising, but are noticeably absent from Checkers/Rally's; perhaps this is intentional?

A Labeling Guide for Restaurants and Other Retail Establishments Selling Away-From-Home Foods [U.S. F.D.A.]
Checkers' Nutrition Info Missing: What Is Checkers Hiding?
Checkers Drive-In (Nutrition Information Is Not Available)

A doctor at the hospital, William T. Kumprey, was tired of seeing Farnam.

Farnam had been to the hospital several times in the last month or so. He had used his fake heart attack routine at Silk — an exotic lounge — at several restaurants and while getting out of various cabs.

The doctor told Farnam he would call the police the next time he caught him faking the clutch of death to avoid paying his bills.

Farnam let it slip that he had, earlier that very day, after a hearty meal for which he did not pay, absconded to Froedtert Hospital.

The doctor called police.

The 52-year-old faces nine months in jail and a $10,000 fine if convicted.

Cardiac arrest: Man faked heart attack when dinner bill arrived [Milwaukee Journal Sentinel]

T writes:

I wrote a letter to the Cheesecake Factory HQ and it basically tells the story of a miserable experience at the Cheesecake Factory in Columbus, Ohio and here is a copy of it:

My wife and I were using a gift card that was given to us at your Cheesecake Factory Fine Dining Restaurant. The food was superb.

There was one major annoyance that several customers including our party had to endure. It was the drill-sgt that you placed in the kitchen which isn't separated from the rest of restaurant. This person attacked the cooks with such acrimony it made me sick. Continuous, unrelenting, verbal assaults. Other patrons were standing up wondering what was all the yelling about. I finally went over and told him to "Shut up, there are people trying to eat". Only after that, could I actually hear my wife talking when she was only sitting arm's length. A lady came to our table and apologized, but I come to find out that this belligerent brow-beating is normal protocol and it wasn't a one time occurrence. I got word from several of your people as we were making our way out of your restaurant that they had been waiting for a customer to finally speak up as I did. They thanked me. How can you continue to offer a fine dining experience? You need to do something about your restaurant because if I were you, I would be embarrassed. My wife and I eat out when we can and our first impression of the Cheesecake Factory was terrible to say the least.

Sincerely,
T

What I want to know is are all Cheesecake Factories like the one we have? Management must of known about this Drill Sgt., how could they not? It was a disaster dining experience. I don't expect to hear anything back from the Cheesecake Factory people after getting an empty apology from management.

Well, we've only been to the Cheesecake Factory once, but we didn't notice Sergeant Hulka running the kitchen. What gives?

Save money, eat smaller portions... this woman might just be a hero.

(Thanks, missdona!)

From Jared's blog,

Since today was Katie’s last day at Levelland ISD she wanted to go out for a quick dinner and drinks. We went to Chilis because she had a few coupons for free chips and salsa. Well, we were both munching on the chips and we picked one up and lo and behold what do we find? This “volume” knob, or at least what I thought was a volume knob.

Once our waiter came back we pointed it out to him not wanting them to have to forgo listening to music in the back. Their manager pointed out that it was one of the temperature control knobs for the the chip warmer.

I guess it was ok since we didn’t pay for the chips anyways.

We imagine that Chili's knob-chips would taste great with their funky chunky sour cream. Ask your server for details.

My husband and I went to Chili's in Killeen, TX to eat lunch yesterday. We ordered appetizers, and 2 big meals. The chips and dip came out, and everything seemed to be okay until my plate came. My plate came with loaded mashed potatoes so I asked the server for sour cream. No big deal.

The server comes back with the sour cream and I dump it on to my loaded mashed potatoes, only to discover that chunks of tomato and some sort of green chunks I can only assume might have been edible at some point in time. I was totally disgusted. It was apparent that they had not washed the small cup that this sour cream dip came in, as it was not used prior to me dumping it on the baked potato.

My husband and I were totally grossed out and disgusted. If they can't even take the time to wash a small cup like this, we can only imagine how clean the plates are our meals and appetizers came on were. After explaining to the server what had happened, he asked if I would like my meal replaced. I told him just to bring me my check. He didn't even suggest taking the meal off of the receipt, I had to ask for a manager just to get this done. Neither me nor my husband ate hardly any of the appetizer or meals we were given, and were only refunded for the one meal. Eww.

Chili's, please try to remember to wash the dishes, you are a restaurant after all. You should understand the psychological impact that a few loose bits of chunky debris smothered in thick sour cream can have on your customers. Shame....

(Photo: ninjapoodles)

The internal emails are particularly weird. Back in January, two messages were sent from a single Hotmail account through Burger King's servers, one to a journalist and one to a pro-farm workers group. The emails criticized Burger King and offered to provide assistance and information about the restaurant company's plans. Were the Hotmail messages legit? Is there a traitor within Burger King HQ? Or was somebody trying to set up the farm workers group for future accusations of dirty tricks?

As expected, BK gives the standard corporate spin about the investigation without actually saying anything of substance:

"Senior management of the company had no knowledge of Grover's postings. These comments were not sanctioned by the company and they do not reflect the opinion of the company," Burger King spokeswoman Denise Wilson said in a statement. "We are conducting an internal investigation, and appropriate disciplinary action will be taken."

We'd like to think that means Grover will have to wear the Duke costume at the next corporate retreat, but more likely it just means he'll get a few sympathetic back slaps by his C-level buddies. Oh well—we'll always know you're a jackass, Grover.
 
"Burger King investigates e-mails slamming farmworker group" [Florida Times-Union]
(Photo: malias)

The L.A. Times says the move is driven by pure greed on the part of brick-and-mortar restaurants, and that the new legislation attacks an L.A. institution:

Forget the Getty — it's the taco trucks, and their crowds, that are the true culture of L.A. Attacking the trucks is like New York going after its hot dog stands or Memphis banning barbecue pits.
 
And other than raw greed, I can't see any reason for it. Ron Mukai, an East L.A. developer, says the trucks are unfair competition, edging out the "legitimate brick-and-mortar businesses." But the county's 14,000 registered catering trucks seem just as legitimate as restaurants—they're just providing a different service. Restaurants provide meals, and a table to eat them at, and walls to eat them within. Taco trucks provide food, pure and simple. They charge less because they're selling less.

Arbol Cafe does give tips to the employees, and was giving tips at that time 'John Smith' was in training. John Smith was in training and she received $25 for each of her three, 3 hour shifts. We opened in January and she worked a few days in February. If people think that we do not tip employees, they are only feeding off of one of our first employees in training as well as repeat bloggers/posters who now seems out to slander us at every chance they have. While we can't continue forever defending ourselves without further criticizim from people who like to post negative comments, we do feel that it's important for our customers and future customers to know that our employees are, and have been, and will continue to be treated with respect and the tips have been, are currently, certainly will continue to be forwarded to them as they pass the training period and can competantly work the front desk.

Here's the quick back story: tomato pickers in the U.S. are paid ridiculously low wages and treated badly, and some people are talking to fast food companies about increasing their pay by a penny per pound in order to help solve the problem. There was an agreement on the penny pay increase—McDonald's and Taco Bell were okay with it—but that fell through after Burger King joined up with some Florida tomato growers to claim that the low-wage claims were false and the workers were treated just fine.

It's gotten so bad that earlier this month, farm workers and their advocates testified before the Senate that claims of $12.50/hour wages were false, and that the industry has a history of worker abuse:

"It may not sound like much, but for the tomato pickers, it means the difference between poverty and decent wages," Kennedy said. He invoked Edward R. Murrow's landmark 1960 documentary "Harvest of Shame," which detailed the grim plight of migrant workers in Immokalee and elsewhere.
 
"Too little has changed over the years," he said. The fact that there's a need for hearings today shows "how far we have to go to provide genuine fairness and justice for this vulnerable workforce," he said.
 
"Do the math with me," Durbin said in his opening statement. Workers would have to fill and empty a 32-pound bucket of tomatoes, each worth some 45 cents, about every two minutes all day long to earn the $12.50, he said.
 
"Is that possible?" he asked. "I don't think it is."
 
Sanders also decried conditions in Immokalee, pointing out that when he visited in January, a 17-count indictment was handed down for enslavement of tomato workers.
 
"In America, in the year 2008, it is not acceptable that workers producing the food we eat should live in these conditions," he said.
 
Workers face seven-day work weeks, physical and psychological abuse, and debt bondage to their employers, said Lucas Benitez, co-founder of the Coalition of Immokalee Workers.

At one point, Burger King Vice President Stephen Grover told reporters he was concerned the coalition was pocketing the extra money. After several independent groups that verified the agreements dismissed the allegations, Burger King officials stopped repeating them.
 
But the allegations were repeated on blog posts, according to a story published Monday in The News-Press in Fort Myers. The paper traced those posts to the online user name of Grover's daughter. The girl, who is in middle school, later confirmed to the paper her father had used her online screen name.
 
In a post still available Monday on YouTube, an individual with the girl's screen name wrote: "The CIW is an attack organization lining the leaders pockets by attacking restaurant companies. They make up issues and collect money from dupes that believe their story...."
 
Messages left for Grover at work and at home by The Associated Press on Monday were not immediately returned.

His wife, Susan Grover, confirmed the screen name was their daughter's but said she didn't know if her husband had used it. She accused the News-Press reporter of not identifying herself as a journalist to their daughter.
 
Reporter Amy Bennett Williams said she did identify herself and told the girl she was taking notes. She also said she left all of her contact information, which the girl's mother later used to call and complain.

The "servers" comment:

The owners of the Arbol cafe do not allow their workers to keep their tips. While getting paid 7 dollars an hour to bus, clean, set, take orders, run food, do dishes, and bleach bathroom/floors, the tips from customers are kept by the owners. Tipping the owner is considered rude and telling servers that they can't is poor practice.
After a four hour shift (28 bucks) with no tips, which one time a server made 30 dollars in tips I was unable to keep it.
The place has all the potential, but has bad policies. NEVER TIP! Your server doesn't see it.

The "cafe" responded:

We regret and apologize at having to respond to such a base, unfair and inaccurate comment made by the waitress, "John Smith". The cafe has been open all of three months and is undergoing drastic rennovations. Prior to our hiring any person, we make it quite clear that they will be paid above minimum wage to start. It is also our clear intent to not have waiters or waitresses but rather, persons who are interested in working and growing as a team and excelling in the project's full potential. Many of our customers have offered their time and skills, free of charge, because they too share in the same spirit of what we have to offer to the community.As newcomers into the Northern Liberties community, we feel a true responsibility to complete a project that is long overdue. A quaint cafe with attached garden seating. Our goal is to bring to the community a relaxed, casual, family atmosphere where tipping is optional for the customers and not needed by the staff. All money generated goes towards financing the rennovations as well as aiding us in being able to pay the workers well above minimum wage in respect to their ability and contributions.We want to thank everyone for their support, generousity and interest in Arbol Cafe. This is a true gift that has been placed in our hands and we vow to remain true to our purpose and sincerity no matter the resistance from those we may never be able to please. Our vision is clear and exspansive, we do hope that you will know Arbol Cafe first hand and understand how the impossible can be overcome against all odds. Thank you again and we apologize for any doubts that may have surfaced, yet we are certain that our heart, actions and intentions are whole and just.

wowwww the fact that you would even attempt to justify this must be one of the most pathetic things I have ever heard. I have been here a handful of times and enjoyed the atmosphere but knowing this my friends and I shall make sure never to step foot into this place. I gave my waiters healthy tips because they were nice and did a great job, not because I believe my food was worth more than menu price. disgraceful

Profit sharing arrangement, Serious Please? What % share of Arbol does a worker receive? When you're at any restaurant or cafe with table service, and you receive the bill from the server, it's an assumption that the tab goes to the house and the tip goes to the server. If patrons knew tips were being seized to benefit the house, people likely wouldn't tip.

If the owners provide the bulk of the service, they're more than welcome to put their tips back toward the house, but operating under the myth that a server is somehow eventually 'profit sharing' in the 'enterprise' is the sort b.s. that I was now the exclusive province of Internet startups trolling Craigslist for content producers.

Even the claim that they'll pay minimum wage at the expense of tips belies their knowledge that the value patrons perceives in a server collectively exceeds minimum wage. Arbol's exploiting that assumption to benefit themselves.

Other posters got it right, there's no way Arbol will be able to maintain servers in Philly's or even Northern Liberties' restaurant worker market.

UPDATE: And in response to this post, Arbol Cafe wrote us:

Arbol Cafe does give tips to the employees, and was giving tips at that time 'John Smith' was in training. John Smith was in training and she received $25 for each of her three, 3 hour shifts. We opened in January and she worked a few days in February. If people think that we do not tip employees, they are only feeding off of one of our first employees in training as well as repeat bloggers/posters who now seems out to slander us at every chance they have. While we can't continue forever defending ourselves without further criticizim from people who like to post negative comments, we do feel that it's important for our customers and future customers to know that our employees are, and have been, and will continue to be treated with respect and the tips have been, are currently, certainly will continue to be forwarded to them as they pass the training period and can competantly work the front desk."


Thank You,
Beth

Arbol Cafe [City Paper] (Thanks, Maurice!)
(Photo:Tracy O)

This Saturday night a friend of mine was turning 30 and one of our group of friends made reservations for 12 at a new Sushi restaurant in Raleigh called Sono.
 
I had not been there before - but in the email that let everyone one know where and when to meet we were told that everyone had to be there before they could seat us all. I understand this policy (sort of). When we arrived there was one couple missing and thus there were ten of us at the small bar waiting. We received a call from the missing couple saying that they were having trouble parking but they were on their way.
 
While we were waiting I talked to my friend who had made there reservations and said we should be asked to be seated since we are taking up room at this small bar (which was and also badly managed since only about 4 of us got served a drink) and blocking the way for people who were being seated since the bar was between the door and the dinning area. My friend said that when she made the reservations she was asked to give her credit card number and that she would be charged $20 for every person who did not show up. This seemed like a contradiction.
 
So I went up to the front of house and asked that we be seated - I explained that 10 out of the 12 were there and that the other couple where on their way. The bored response I received was "this is not our policy" - you must have the total number of people to be present before we could be seated.I pointed out that we were talking up valuable bar real estate and blocking the way for the rest of the customers and it would make more sense to have up seated out the empty table that was set up for us. Again the same bored response. I then suggested that they follow their other policy which was to charge my credit card $40 if the couple did not show up, I was willing to risk it. They said they could not do that either. I asked them if that made sense - I was hoping they would answer that it was not their policy. But instead I was told that again I would have to wait for all members of our party to show up etc etc... There is really nothing to say after that and so I went back to our party, the couple arrived and eventually we were seated.
 
My wife wrote on their feedback ticket this issue - but I just found the issue funny and annoying - especially in this economy and especially if you are a restaurant - when you are new you are busy but 4 months down the road it will only be repeat business that keeps these places open and I will not visit there again.

"Restaurant gives 25 percent discount for bugs" [Reuters]
(Illustration: Getty)

Meat scraps that used to be ground into hamburger are now used in pricey appetizers, says the Wall Street Journal. We hope you like pasta and stir fry because these dishes are cheaper for restaurants to prepare...

Meat scraps that used to get ground into hamburger are now listed as a $12.95 steak tartare at Murray's steakhouse in Minneapolis. At Gramercy Tavern in New York, the caviar-topped hamachi appetizer has been replaced with a tuna-and-beet tartare topped with sliced radishes. Uptown at Isabella's, a pasta dish is squeezing out a sirloin.

Restaurateurs plain and fancy are counting on dishes with bigger profit margins to stay afloat. Pink's hot dog stand in Hollywood introduced a $6.75 dog that's more topping than wiener. Others are shrinking portions or increasing prices. The Dollar Menu at some McDonald's restaurants is now the "Dollar Menu & More."

Pampered diners at New York's Blue Water Grill sit in plush fabric seats, surrounded by yards of pressed white tablecloths. But in the cramped stainless-steel kitchen, a sous chef engages in some culinary penny-pinching, cleaning up a piece of beef he has just cut from a slab of tenderloin. The trimmings, left after slicing the tenderloin into center-cut filet mignon steaks, used to be eaten by the staff. Now they go to a sushi chef for the $12 chipotle-marinated beef roll.

Cutback Cuisine [Wall Street Journal via BuzzFeed]
(Photo:Wall Street Journal)

So we took our five year old to an Applebees in Charlotte, NC last night for his fifth birthday. He ordered their "mac & cheese" and when it arrived we noticed that it did not have the usual breadstick. We asked why and were told that corporate felt that "they weren't healthy for kids" so they have been dropped from the menu. So the dinner cost the same as before, just that the kids get less. Very nice.

Then the real kicker. He wanted chocolate cake for dessert. I told the waitress that it was his birthday but when they started coming out with the cake there was no candle. I asked that they put one in. They went back into the kitchen and came back out five minutes later - again no candle. They sang the song and he ate his cake. I asked "why no candle?" and was told that "Applebees doesn't supply birthday candles anymore. If you want a candle in your cake, you have to bring your own." Amazing. Things are so tight that they can't put a candle in a five-year olds' cake. I guess every penny counts today.

(Thanks to Glenn!)

UPDATE: After reading the negative vitrol posted in the comments, Glenn sent in the following clarification:

Chris, it appears the my original post yesterday was completely taken out of context by the vast majority of those that posted comments in response. I was not upset that we didn't get a candle. My five year old was not upset. It was simply a candle. Not a big deal. I didn't feel that Applebee's "owed" us a candle. We stuck one in a cupcake for him at home and there was no issue. The point I was trying to make was that chains such as Applebee's must be hurting financially if they are cutting back on things such as bread and candles. They told me that they used to supply them and now they aren't - I just found that interesting that a chain as big as Applebee's is looking so closely at small things, such as candles, to save a few dollars. I understand that every expense impacts their bottom line, but things must be worse than we thought if they are proactively removing candles from their kitchens.

And as far as the bread, again, I just found it interesting that it used to be part of the kids meal, but now they have removed it, while keeping the price the same. If McDonald's removed fries from their "Happy Meals" but didn't drop the price, I am sure that people would complain that they are paying the same but getting less. That was all I was trying to say. My son got along just fine without the breadstick. He wasn't upset.

As for taking my kid to Applebee's for his birthday - he turned five. He likes their "mac & cheese." As a parent, I just wanted my kid to be happy on this birthday. Nothing more, nothing less. It certainly doesn't make me a bad parent. Is Applebee's the best restaurant in the world? No. Are there better places to go? Yes. But he asked to go there, and it wasn't a big deal. It was his birthday. I wish the people that posted responses would either remember what it was like to be 5, or had a 5 year old of their own. When you have a young kid, you do end up going to restaurants like this. That is why they are called "family friendly."

(Photo: jemsweb)

My last decent sized company had a "food@company" email. They opted into everyone deals and menu emails and when we wanted to order something we hit that email and searched for what we wanted. Worked out so well I set the same thing up for myself with gmail.

(Photo: jason.kaechler)