Something that I’ve wondered about occasionally, and which I see occasionally on the Dope, is the notion that the worse sort of chain restaurants (say, Applebee’s, IHOP, Denny’s etc.) serve microwaved foods to their patrons. I’ve seen this claim made about everything from IHOP serving microwaved omelets to TGI Friday’s just literally peeling back the plastic cellophane lid on a 3-course shrimp pasta meal and nuking the whole thing like a Lean Cuisine.
A different sort of kettle is the possibility of microwaving frozen plastic bags of gravy and other sauces, but that’s somewhat different than actually microwaving a meat entree.
Has anybody seen this sort of thing first hand? I’m looking for direct experience and personal anecdotes from those who’ve worked in the back in various restaurants.
I haven’t worked in the back of a restaurant, but it has happened to me. This was at a BJ’s Brewhouse.
It’s pretty obvious when half your meat entree is cold (as in refrigerator cold) and the other half is hot. And the green beans are a single frozen lump. Somebody was sleeping on the quality control big time.
At Disneyland, the veggie (Boca) burgers are not a big seller. We don’t keep patties of them out unthawed so that people ordering them can get a freshly heated one. Plus, our grill’s temp and speed is calibrated for the raw frozen meat patties. The only way we can heat them up is in the microwave.
Sometimes too, when we heat up our grilled chicken patties, we use the microwave because its faster. Its not much of an improvement. Unlike the fried patties or meat patties, there’s no cooking involved, just heating. Our normal procedure was to throw grilled patties in the oven for about 12-15 minutes
I know I’m coming at this from ignorance but, from an efficiency standpoint, that doesn’t seem to make much sense. I would think that because the soup (e.g., clam chowder, lobster bisque, etc.) is ordered so often as a side dish or as part of the “Endless Soup, Salad, and Cheese Biscuit” that it would be kept in a large stock pot or soup kettle.
It was in fact ordered very rarely. This was like 15 years ago, so maybe predating their endless option. I forgot that it was so long ago and therefore my comment was really sort of irrelevant- when did I get all old?
Microwaves are used in most restaurants for various purposes, but rarely for cooking food, just heating. Some of the meals are precooked and packaged as the OP suggests, and the extent of that varies. It’s not the best way to heat a meal, and expensive if your already maintaining a kitchen with lots of cooking devices on and using gas and electricity already. But you could also see a microwave in the best of kitchens just to help in the prep of some items. However many chefs would never have one in their kitchen based on principle. The principle that your snobbiness is limited if there’s a microwave in your kitchen.
I was at Olive Garden when a member of our party asked if they could have extra shrimp in their meal. The server explained that this was impossible as the meals were prepared offsite and reheated on location. She did not state if a microwave was involved.
There’s a local restaurant that has such a broad menu, and such low prices, that I pretty strongly suspect that they must be microwaving a lot. If so, though, they do a good job of it.
Out of all the chain restaurants out there, Cheddars has to be one of the highest quality joints out there. at least with the one I eat at here in Dallas.
Their cheddar potato soup is the best!!
I worked at Long John Silver’s back in High School (mid-90s). We used the microwave to heat up the grilled fish and rice pilaf.
Also if someone ordered a fish sandwich, we would nuke the buns.
Not quite what the OP was talking about, but at numerous bars I’ve been to they serve pasta that’s been placed in a microwave. Since these places have little space to cook food they often throw it in the microwave right in front of you. Funny thing is they still taste way better that what I eat at home.
The OP mentioned Denny’s. I know they’re often the butt of jokes, but I do have to say that every meal I’ve had at one of their restaurants has been freshly made, though perhaps otherwise unremarkable. They offer an honest breakfast.
I worked as a waitress for Olive Garden. This was many years ago, but I can attest to the fact that all of their entrees were prepped and cooked on site. I’m not a huge fan of OG, but from my experience, the food is never microwaved. I can’t see why they would have changed to this practice 15 years later.