When you go out to eat, do you really look at the menu/want to know what the specials are before ordering?
I usually don’t. Generally I only eat one dish at each place. It’s not a good sign if I don’t; that generally means I won’t like anything there, at least not much.
That sounds insane. Or one of those picky eaters I avoid socializing with.
Every place I go I look at the menu and listen to the specials even if I been there a thousand times.
There are times when I want something I’ve had before. There are times I discover something in the menu and decide to try it.
There are times the only thing I want to eat is something I didn’t even know was food before I saw it in the menu.
Occasionally there’s a restaurant that makes only one thing well, but that’s the rare exception.
The only time I don’t look at a menu is at the the dozen or so places that I’m a regular and have it memorized already.
Does it come with a word search and maze?
It depends on whether or not it’s a place I visit regularly, and why.
There are places I go to occasionally, specifically for a particular dish; if I didn’t want that particular thing, I wouldn’t be there, so there’s not much point in looking at the menu. Places I visit regularly generally have more than one thing I like, though. Sometimes, I will have already picked something by the time I get there, other times, actually seeing them listed helps me pick one, even if I already know everything on the list. (“That looks good right now” or “Hey, I haven’t had that in a while”.)
I’m always game to hear about specials, for the same reason I would always check the menu at a new place, or a changed menu at a familiar place: there might be something new there that I want.
I always check the menu. Sole exception is one restaurant where it’s a tradition that I always get the same dish there. Even then, I’ll check the specials, at the very least.
So every place you ever go, they either have only one thing you like, or zero things you like? Yeah, that sounds picky (or hard to please, or unadventurous).
I almost always study the menu, even if it’s someplace I’ve been often before.
Always. I like variety even at places I go regularly. If there’s only one thing I am at all interested in on the menu the odds of me going there often are very slim.
Always want to check the menu, and often want to hear the specials, sometimes it really shows how well the waiter is in tune with the kitchen, and food prep in general.
I never eat out, unless I’m traveling, where I am almost by definition unfamiliar with the fare in the restaurant and often even the cuisine of the culture. If I like the first place I go, I will generally keep going there, and after maybe two or three orders, keep ordering the same thing. Being frugal, that is usually the special. In the kinds of establishments I go to, there is rarely a menu, I just look in the pots and point to something that looks good.
I generally pick the place based on what I want. I don’t go out often, but when I do, its for something specific.
Now, my sushi bar? They see me comin’ and just start makin’ shit! They shovel it at me as fast as they can, I don’t even ask what it is. Its all good!
I eat out seldom enough that I always need to be sure my favorite thing is still there.
I thought this was going to be a thread about people who look the menu up online ahead of time vs. those who wait to see it at the restaurant, like civilized people. My husband is the former and I’m the latter. Almost nine years on and he still hasn’t learned not to ask me what I’m getting before we’ve gotten there.
When eating out locally, I tend to order the same item if it’s fast food; otherwise, I’ll order something I’ve never had before.
My favorite time to eat out is while traveling in a country whose language I don’t speak. Then I find something on the menu that’s in my price range, and order it. Or I’ll just tell them to bring me something good. I’ve often been very surprised, but rarely disappointed.
I don’t consider myself a picky eater in that I’m not fussy and will happily try and usually like everything. I’ll cite my about to end Chinese trip as evidence of that.
But I am a creature of habit, and in restaurants that are in my regular rotation at home I typically order exactly the same favorite dish every time. A few of my lunch work spots will start preparing my food as soon as they see me coming 
Moving to CS.`
I almost always check the menu, but not very closely.
One restaurant I go to very often, The Stone of Accord (owned by Sean Kelly’s), has a specials menu I always check, and almost always order off of.
The nice restaurants in town all have changing menus, often seasonal to some extent, with a few standbys, so it’s worthwhile to check those menus as well.
I can’t imagine always getting the same thing every single time.
I wouldn’t have much interest in a restaurant that only has one dish I like. After trying a variety of dishes at a place I might end up ordering just one of them very often but eventually I’ll change it up. No final decision until I’ve read the menu and checked the specials, even if I was thinking of a particular dish before I got there.
Regular restaurants I agree, but there are a few places, mainly bar types that I know what I’m getting as soon as the decision is made to go there. For instance, the Ale House is known for their (hot) roast beef, smothered in gravy. If I go there, I’m getting a beef, & make damn sure you bring a horseradish container if there’s not already one on my table. OTOH, when the waitress first comes over, I order my beef & ask for a beer list, since the taps change, when she tries to hand me the food menu.
What kind of restaurant lets you look in the pots?
Oh yeah, I usually even peruse the menu at fast food restaurants. At sit-down places, I generally pare my choices down to 2 or 3 possibilities before the server comes to the table to take my order. When they get there, I panic and pick at random from the choices I have left myself.