If they make it to Southwest Harbor, I would recommend Red Sky or Fiddler’s Green as upscale choices. Otherwise, they really need to make the trip down to Thurston’s Lobster Pound if they want to do the whole rip and tear thing.
I’m not sure why an isolated instance of food poisoning would indicate anything other than a fluke at one of the country’s premier hotel and dining establishments. I can say without reservations that I would not consider a missed opportunity to eat at the Ritz buffet as a anything approaching a “good call”, though it seems as though it would have been for acsenray.
I won’t eat places where they advertise for a specific religion (Chick-fil-a, I’m talking to you) and I won’t eat places that don’t give much option in their menu. For instance, the really nice, expensive place near me that offers only 4 items on their menu and it is at least $50 a plate no matter what you choose doesn’t get my business. Not because they are expensive necessarily but because I like to have some variety in my options. Also I will not eat at the Little Ceasars across the street because my ex works there and I found out towards the end of our relationship he was stealing from people. Not even small time candy from the checkout stand which still would be wrong, but walking out of resturants and leaving the waitstaff to cover the cost of his meal and stealing money from his dad’s girlfriend. We ended our relationship soon after that and I will not give him access to my credit card information because I know this about him and I have no doubt he would have a card in my name not long after.
Besides the aforementioned staffing issues, it would be a shame to miss out on Rick Bayless’ Frontera Grill/Topolobampo just because he’s a white guy. He goes to Mexico every year with his kitchen staff to travel around the back roads and learn more authentic recipes.
I do like the fact that they back up their Christian theme by not being open on Sunday. Unless you count all the female employees wearing Pentecostal skirts, my local franchise doesn’t have anything outwardly Christian about it. The service is excellent and the manager there is extremely friendly. And if they mess up my order they give me a coupon for a free meal there (not discount but free) without fail. So, I haven’t got many complaints about them.
Different countries, but in case you’re ever Over Here: around here, often the individual restaurants (heck, even the bars that serve sandwiches and little more) have a bigger selection than most chains. And almost always a much, much bigger one than any hotel.
That’s another one I avoid when I can, now that I think about it: hotel food. If the hotel has a restaurant where non-guests can and do eat, then it may be decent. I remember a Hilton where they took over one hour to serve a club sandwich, a burger (which was only half-nuked and still half-frozen) and three salads; a Ritz where the whole menu was 12 dishes long and had more desserts than mains dishes…
As the coworker who’d asked for the burger told the Hilton’s manager “next time maybe you should hop over to the Burger King across the square, it would take less time and actually be cooked!”
A kosher rule (which I learned about on the Dope, fancy that). Can’t mix meat with dairy. So, you can eat spaghetti with tomato sauce and grated cheese OR spaghetti bolognese without cheese, but not spaghetti bolognese with cheese.
Oh, I am sure there are plenty of exceptions, specially when it comes to line cooks and large cities. I was mostly referring to small corner joints. I have had a couple of Seinfieldish moments (when Abu opened an italian restaurant) that still give me nightmares.
After four instances of food poisoning between me and my wife, what I’ve learned is that regardless of the reputation and “premier-ness” of the establishment, one should never eat fish or shellfish from a buffet. Period. Especially on a Sunday or a Monday. Especially a Sunday brunch buffet. Even on Mother’s Day. Even at the Ritz.
This I understand, and I suspect Jodi does as well. What I found curious was the suggestion that there are separate “dairy” delis and “meat” delis. I’ve been to a few delis, some of them absolutely fantastic (such as Katzinger’s in Columbus, Ohio), and they’ve all served both meat and dairy items.
The worst Italian meal I’ve ever had was actually in Florence, and it wasn’t even in the primary tourist area. I thought it was a little odd that the entire staff was Asian, but told myself not to be so judgmental. As I was eating the “supreme” calzone, I noticed little meat discs that looked like sliced hot dog but thought, “couldn’t be”. Eventually I came across the slice with the little crinkly end and there was no denying that the primary meat was indeed hot dog. I shudder to think what the ground meat was.
It varies quite a bit regionally, here. In the Bay Area, a small, locally-owned restaurant is likely to have a good selection of stuff I can have. In, say, a small town in the Appalachians, like where my parents live, that’s not necessarily the case.
I generally go to chain restaurants only when I’m eating with my parents. If they want to go to a small local restaurant, it’s likely to be one that has little or nothing that I could have.
Delis in the US originated with Jewish immigrants. A lot of historically Jewish delis are kosher-style or kosher (neither would be likely to serve meat and dairy together, though a kosher-style deli might serve both meat dishes and dairy dishes), and parsnip may be thinking that delis that serve one or the other but not both are more authentic.
On my honeymoon in Italy, I figured out a rule for identifying tourist-trap restaurants: Any restaurant with menus in four languages (generally English, French, German, and Italian) is likely to be overpriced and the food won’t be as good as it would be at a less tourist-oriented place.
My experience differs greatly. There is no reason for shellfish to be any more or less prone to spoilage on a buffet, so long as it is prepared and presented correctly, but you’ve obviously had some prettybad experiences.
It’s not only that it’s prone to spoilage on a buffet, but also that – even at expensive places – the buffet is often the last stop for unused ingredients before they grugingly finally toss them, especially on weekends. In most cities, fresh fish is available to restaurants from Tuesday to Friday, so what you’re getting on Sunday and Monday has most likely been sitting around for a while.
“Authentic” to the point of being nearly nonexistent, in my admittedly non-Jewish experience. It was not my understanding that kosher rules required that meat and cheese not even been given house-room together; just they then cannot be eaten together, or even off the same dishes, etc. I have been to kosher delis that sell kosher meat (out of the meat case) and kosher cheese (out of the cheese case) and even delis (which Anne might deem “kosher style”) that would make me a meat-and-cheese sandwich even if the sandwich was then obviously not kosher and the people working there wouldn’t dream of eating it themselves.
I guess I can see how a vigilantly kosher-keeping Jew would consider even selling meat and cheese in the same shop to be an indication of a less-than-100% commitment to kosher. But for me as a non-Jew, it is amazing to think that a deli would not be worth patronizing just for selling both meat and cheese products, even if not sold or served together. Those are some pretty high standards, right there.
People who are into deli cuisine (I’m not one of them) can be a wee bit picky about what constitutes a “real” deli and what doesn’t. In the sense that Siberia can be a wee bit chilly this time of year. If you do go to a deli with someone who’s really into delis, don’t order mayonnaise on your sandwich. That upsets them, as does you ordering anything they don’t consider to be “real” deli food. I don’t entirely understand why they are so passionate about deli food (though I’m married to one of them), but I think it’s that they feel an emotional attachment to that sort of food.
Oh, you’d be going hungry in SF, then. There are mexican cooks EVERYWHERE. Some awesome food, too. shakes maracas
I’ll probably avoid a restaurant that’s being picketed, at least until I have a chance to research it.
Places that mess up apostrophes or use ‘alot’ on signs or menus - I don’t think I could bring myself to eat at those places.
If any employees are rude to us straight off or ignore us on a calm night (maybe thinking young people don’t tip well?) I’ll walk out in good humor.
I generally avoid fusion food, though I’ll make an exception here and there.
I won’t say ‘can’t be ghetto’ because my favorite bbq place is decidedly ghetto, but visible roaches are out.
I went there six years ago; there used to be a restaurant called “The Quarterdeck,” which had really nice early-bird lobster specials: $4.95 for a very filling meal.
There are mexican cooks EVERYWHERE. Some awesome food, too. shakes maracas