Help Me Collect Menus!

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

Hi everyone! Here’s the deal:

I’m collecting menus to make a collage for my kitchen. I’m writing to my favorite restaurants from around the US, but that won’t be enough for my collage. Plus, my collage will be more interesting if it has menus from all over the US, nay the world. A great conversation piece!

So here’s what I’m asking: if you would like to help out, go to a restaurant (see conditions below), sweet talk them out of a copy of their menu, and mail it to me. I can’t offer anything in return, unless there’s something in central Illinois that really interests you. Nor can I re-imburse you for postage.

Here are the conditions:
[ul]
[li]It has to be a sit-down restaurant, with waiters and all that.[/li][li]It has to be a local place (or a chain with only one or two franchises - no Applebee’s, TGI Fridays, etc.).[/li][li]I don’t care how fancy it is or how good it is, nor do I care about how off-the-beaten path it is.[/li][li]You have to be able to get an actual meal there, not just snacks or pastries or soups or whatnot.[/li][li]Ethnic places are OK, but please keep in mind that I don’t want to be deluged with menus from Chinese or Mexican restaurants (unless, of course, the restaurant is IN China or Mexico!). Hard-to-get-in-small-cities-in-the-Midwestern-US ethnic food, like Polish or Vietnamese or whatever, is OK.[/li][li]If the menu is in a language that uses a non-Romance alphabet, please write on a slip of paper the name of the place, its address, what kind of food it serves, etc.[/li][/ul]

If you’d like to participate, please post to this thread to keep it on or near page 1 of MPSIMS. Then, e-mail me off boards and I’ll give you my physical address. My e-mail address is rastahomie@hotmail.com.

Thanks everyone! I’m looking forward to having fun with this.

NOTE TO MODERATORS: I’m collecting menus strictly for decorating my kitchen. I do not intend to photocopy, distribute, or do anything else with them. I do not intend to try to find the recipes or use the menu items to create my own menu. I don’t plan to do anything illegal or immoral or do anything that will violate copyright, yada yada yada. It’s just for my kitchen decorations.

2

No takers, eh? That’s too bad; I was hoping this idea would get more response.

3

Hmm… if I go to a restaurant like that I will work my charms :slight_smile:

Sounds like cool kitchen decor!

4

Damn, I just threw out the paper copy of the lunch menu where my boyfriend works. I’ll have to ask him to pick up another one.

5

I got you one!
It’s nifty lookging, too.
Expect an email from harmless. :slight_smile:

6

Thanks!

7

I’ll see what I can do to help, but I’m not in the city right now so it’s hard, and i don’t eat out much. But I’ll see about a place or two around here that I eat at quite often at work, and there’s a place nearby I really want to go to again (best fish I’ve had in my life!), so if I get to go again soon, I’ll see about a menu there as well.

8

I am assuming you mean the “Take-out” menus, as opposed to the “Dine-In” menus correct? OR does it matter?

There are a few places here that we frequent alot, I am pretty sure we can obtain these for you. So count me in. I will e-mail you as soon as I have enough to just send at one time!! :smiley:

We eat out alot :o

9

I travel a bit, so I’ll try to remember to get you some! And include some Seattle-area ones.

But, if you need bulk, look to ebay. They have a ton of antique ones and so forth. Like this one: 2 VINTAGE 30’-40’s CHICAGO MENUS-HENRICI’S & HEIDELBERG Item number: 2247274110

and go all retro.

Are you interested in wine lists or just food?

10

I work at a local mexican restaurant and I’ll see if I can’t sneak you out a menu. They’re not real attractive, just white with a chili pepper border on a plain sized sheet of paper. But no guarantees, because the owner is a total tightwad. She yelled at me for 15 MINUTES because I found a dime on the counter (not even by the register) and gave it to a kid who wanted a cup of water (for 10 cents). Because I should have known that it was her dime and had no right to say it was mine and to give it away.

So if I can get a menu without her knowing then I’ll gladly get you one!

11

No, just food thanks. And thanks for the e-bay suggestion. I’ll try it!

And store-clerk-slacker - take-out or dine-in menus are OK. I’m pretty sure the staff will be more than willing to let go of a take-out menu, so that’s fine.

12

Virtually all the menus at the sit down restaurants I am familar with are the sealed in a folder kind of things, or the laminated kind, and usually the waitress is very possessive of them and definitely wants them back. 99% of all the interesting menus are not the giveaway kind. Some have cheap paper take out single page tri-folded menus but these are usually pretty uninteresting.

Is it these cheap paper takeout menus you want, because I’m guessing the other kind cost the restaurant at least a few bucks each, and they’re definitely not parting with them.

13

I’ll play. I’ll send you a menu from the sponsor of our softball team. If you ever make it to NEPA, I recomend the rigatoni with chicken, spinach, and sundried tomatoes. Mmmmm…the garlic wine sauce…

sending e-mail shortly.

14

Really, I don’t mind if they’re the cheap paper takeout menus. Obviously I’d prefer the nice ones, but obviously those are going to be rare. I’m not so much interested in beautiful calligraphy and graphic design as I’m interested in lists of foodstuffs and their prices. And so I can tell my guests “This one came from a place in Tallhassee, Florida. And this one came from a place in Ypsilanti, Michigan,” … and so on.

15

I’ll see what I can do for ya. :slight_smile:

16

I’m in. I’ll see what minions I can put to work on it as well.

17

HeyHomie - check your hotmail. You gots one from me.

18

HeyHomie, I’m still waiting on that addy!
Be on the look out for harmless@hotmail.com, as I’m email again now.
If you’ve already mailed me, let me know.
It might’ve been refused.

19

I’m in too. I can find some interesting menus from around these parts.

20

I’m leaving for Ireland on Saturday so I’ll see what I can do. If that fails, I can always pick some up for you from Baton Rouge. :slight_smile: