# Do you refuse to say gimmick names for chain restaurant food? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 17, 2019, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-refuse-to-say-gimmick-names-for-chain-restaurant-food/831280 "2019-03-17T23:45:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2019, 7:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-refuse-to-say-gimmick-names-for-chain-restaurant-food/831280/61 "2019-03-19T07:24:13Z")
At Red Robin, I never had a problem uttering “Burnin’ Love (veggie) burger.” The one with jalapeños, which I in fact love. Beyond that, my exposure to such fare is limited to nonexistent. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2019, 11:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-refuse-to-say-gimmick-names-for-chain-restaurant-food/831280/62 "2019-03-19T11:35:54Z")
I won’t order the Chicken Scampi at Olive Garden. Not because I don’t like garlicky chicken, but because if it doesn’t have shrimp in it, it CAN’T be scampi. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2019, 11:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-refuse-to-say-gimmick-names-for-chain-restaurant-food/831280/63 "2019-03-19T11:38:00Z")
> [@Infovore](#): > > Reminds me of another stupid thing about Cold Stone - they make their employees sing when you tip them. It would get to the point where I’d either say, “I’ll tip you if you promise not to sing,” or wait until their backs were all turned and then slip the tip into the cup. I do \*\*not \*\*like random people singing to me because they’re forced to by their stupid corporate overlords. > [@customdistro](#): > > ive never been to a noisier ice cream place, and the noise had me try it out about three times before giving up on it. > > when parents have kids that make that much noise, people complain. but with cold stone it was the people behind the counter, and i felt bad for them-- still worse for my ears. im not sure what they got right-- the ice cream itself was okay? theres no ice cream place more in need of a drive-through. Coldstone Creamery — the Forever 21 of ice cream stores. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2019, 11:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-refuse-to-say-gimmick-names-for-chain-restaurant-food/831280/64 "2019-03-19T11:39:50Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > I won’t order the Chicken Scampi at Olive Garden. Not because I don’t like garlicky chicken, but because if it doesn’t have shrimp in it, it CAN’T be scampi. From Wiki. > [@](#): > > The word “shrimp scampi” is construed as a style of preparation, and with variants such as “chicken scampi”, “lobster scampi” and “scallop scampi”. Why deprive yourself of garlicky chicken? ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2019, 11:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-refuse-to-say-gimmick-names-for-chain-restaurant-food/831280/65 "2019-03-19T11:46:47Z")
> [@D\_Anconia](#): > > Huh. No counter ordering, at all, just the kiosks? Yeah, all the ones I’ve seen around here have both kiosks and counter ordering. I kind of liked the kiosk idea in theory, but I found the interface a bit laggy and annoying to me. When ordering for me and my family (three other people), I just found it loads faster to go to the counter. Maybe if I used it enough to know where everything is, but, unless I’m doing a custom order (sometimes I like to get a Quarter Pounder w/cheese with tomatoes, lettuce, and Big Mac sauce), I just go to the counter. And with the family in tow, it’s not even a question: the person behind the counter will do a much faster job than I can. Last time I tried using the kiosk with the family (I think the line was like two or three deep, so I thought I could do it faster on the kiosk), I gave up midway and ended up at the counter, as they had processed the queue. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2019, 11:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-refuse-to-say-gimmick-names-for-chain-restaurant-food/831280/66 "2019-03-19T11:48:56Z")
> [@Spud](#): > > This confused me because I’ve always ordered a medium. I just checked their menu on-line and they very clearly have S, M, or L next to the prices. This was 15 years or so ago and I’ve never ordered from them since, let alone online. In fact, 10 or so years ago a group of friends were going out to eat and the majority wanted Firehouse, so I tagged along but got my food from a local Chinese takeout instead. They still didn’t have the sizes to their subs listed (and these were three different Firehouses.) This isn’t the only reason I don’t go there: they were snarky to me in other ways as well, and one thing they did was outright _dangerous_. They had an advertiser on the side of the road. Now, some places have people holding signs while they are standing still and I guess that is legitimate advertising. Some places have people spin their signs or dance and maybe it’s just me but I am somewhat distracted by even _that_ much flamboyance in sidewalk ads. But on several occasions Firehouse has one-upped all of them: they had an advertiser clad in a firefighter’s outfit stand several feet from the side of the road, then _run up to the curb_ like they are going to jump into traffic only to back off at the curb while their hands wave across the rightmost lane. I’m not going to patronize a place that almost causes accidents in the name of advertising. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2019, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-refuse-to-say-gimmick-names-for-chain-restaurant-food/831280/67 "2019-03-19T15:10:19Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > From Wiki. > > Why deprive yourself of garlicky chicken? I don’t. I just refuse to buy into the incorrect usage of the Italian word for “shrimp.” So I buy my garlicky chicken from people who don’t do that. I also refuse to call drinks [”martinis”](http://www.beedlesbar.com/martinis-specialty-drink-menu/) just because of the shape of the glass they’re served in. ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2019, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-refuse-to-say-gimmick-names-for-chain-restaurant-food/831280/68 "2019-03-19T15:43:40Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > I don’t. I just refuse to buy into the incorrect usage of the Italian word for “shrimp.” So I buy my garlicky chicken from people who don’t do that. > > I also refuse to call drinks [”martinis”](http://www.beedlesbar.com/martinis-specialty-drink-menu/) just because of the shape of the glass they’re served in. “Scampi” is not the Italian word for “shrimp”, it’s the Italian word for “langoustine”. “Shrimp“ is “gambero” or “gamberetto” Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk ---
**Author:** ![DaveRaver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/daveraver/32/1078_2.png) [@DaveRaver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DaveRaver)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2019, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-refuse-to-say-gimmick-names-for-chain-restaurant-food/831280/69 "2019-03-19T15:55:25Z")
I wonder how much money Starbucks has lost over the years because people are hesitant to say “Venti”. ---
**Author:** ![Zakalwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zakalwe/32/270_2.png) [@Zakalwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zakalwe)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2019, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-refuse-to-say-gimmick-names-for-chain-restaurant-food/831280/70 "2019-03-19T16:13:18Z")
The one place I always use the ‘cutesy’ name is Waffle House for how I like my hashbrowns\*, but I go one better and order “eggs on horseback over medium” instead of steak and eggs as listed on the menu.\*\* - Scattered, smothered, covered, FYI. \*\* Anecdotal of course, but I have never had this order questioned or prepared incorrectly. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2019, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-refuse-to-say-gimmick-names-for-chain-restaurant-food/831280/71 "2019-03-19T16:30:56Z")
> [@DaveRaver](#): > > I wonder how much money Starbucks has lost over the years because people are hesitant to say “Venti”. They do understand the word “large.” ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2019, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-refuse-to-say-gimmick-names-for-chain-restaurant-food/831280/72 "2019-03-19T16:34:53Z")
> [@D\_Anconia](#): > > Huh. No counter ordering, at all, just the kiosks? Very discouraged. Not that it works well. You enter your order at the kiosk and take one of those numbered triangle things so they can - theoretically - bring your order to where you sit. Except they don’t. You still have to go to the counter and wait to get your empty drink and they never actually bring food to the table. You have to go get it defeating the point of the standee number thing entirely. I’m not impressed and am really avoiding going there if I can at all help it. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2019, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-refuse-to-say-gimmick-names-for-chain-restaurant-food/831280/73 "2019-03-19T16:43:54Z")
\*Venti \*isn’t a gimmick any more than _pizza, pasta, tiramisù, allegro, piano_, etc. Italian is an awesome, beautiful language and the more we have of it the better. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2019, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-refuse-to-say-gimmick-names-for-chain-restaurant-food/831280/74 "2019-03-19T16:49:36Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > I also refuse to call drinks [”martinis”](http://www.beedlesbar.com/martinis-specialty-drink-menu/) just because of the shape of the glass they’re served in. Now in _this_ you are absolutely correct. Now at someplace like Denny’s I’ll order “a Rooty-Tooty Fresh and Fruity with extra Tooty, please” just to see the expression on the face of the server. I’m easily amused. ---
**Author:** ![Ulfreida](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ulfreida/32/8014_2.png) [@Ulfreida](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulfreida)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2019, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-refuse-to-say-gimmick-names-for-chain-restaurant-food/831280/75 "2019-03-19T16:55:32Z")
This whole thread is fascinating. I probably buy food in a restaurant three or four times a year and it is always a local place with ordinary names.This is a whole world I do not encounter. I cook my food at home. ---
**Author:** ![Red\_Wiggler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/red_wiggler/32/13190_2.png) [@Red\_Wiggler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Red_Wiggler)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2019, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-refuse-to-say-gimmick-names-for-chain-restaurant-food/831280/76 "2019-03-19T17:20:32Z")
> [@Ulfreida](#): > > This whole thread is fascinating. I probably buy food in a restaurant three or four times a year and it is always a local place with ordinary names.This is a whole world I do not encounter. I cook my food at home. Wait untill we begin debating “flair.” ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2019, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-refuse-to-say-gimmick-names-for-chain-restaurant-food/831280/77 "2019-03-19T17:27:10Z")
Yes, but… do you tip? And how much? ---
**Author:** ![Royal\_Nonesutch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ecb155/32.png) [@Royal\_Nonesutch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Royal_Nonesutch)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2019, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-refuse-to-say-gimmick-names-for-chain-restaurant-food/831280/78 "2019-03-19T17:41:33Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > Yes, but… do you tip? And how much? Anxiously awaiting the “Smartest, Hippest”, smug and distainful gourmet krewe to haughtily, condescendingly savage the equally smug and distainful (yet totally misinformed) Olive Garden-loving language purist, and then pat themselves on the back as they enjoy a $17.00 bottle of Belgian Trappist ale that has been sitting on their local liquor store shelf gathering dust for 3 years because no one else was fool enough to buy it. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2019, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-refuse-to-say-gimmick-names-for-chain-restaurant-food/831280/79 "2019-03-19T17:46:55Z")
… that’s the same person who shames us for not eating natural peanut butter, the kind which is ground by organic elves from organic peanuts and only contains organic ingredients and is SO MUCH BETTER than that “store bought stuff”? Not a big fan of that guy. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Ulfreida](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ulfreida/32/8014_2.png) [@Ulfreida](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulfreida)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2019, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-refuse-to-say-gimmick-names-for-chain-restaurant-food/831280/80 "2019-03-19T19:25:50Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > … that’s the same person who shames us for not eating natural peanut butter, the kind which is ground by organic elves from organic peanuts and only contains organic ingredients and is SO MUCH BETTER than that “store bought stuff”? > > Not a big fan of that guy. 😉 I guess I should just keep my enslaved peanut butter grinding elves under wraps then. I’m hardly the smartest on this board and my hipness began its descent in about 1979 – but I do eat organic food whenever I can. Not for the taste, or the personal health benefits, but as a pathetic useless gesture toward a sustainable human-dominated earth, which of course will never happen. Still, gestures are important, if that’s all you have. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-refuse-to-say-gimmick-names-for-chain-restaurant-food/831280.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-refuse-to-say-gimmick-names-for-chain-restaurant-food/831280.md?page=5)