Sadly, there aren’t a lot of non-chain restaurants around here. The Japanese and Chinese places don’t serve bread. The Mexican places do chips and salsa. The local seafood places don’t seem to do bread as I recall. I can’t remember if the one really nice place does bread or not - haven’t been there in years. Maybe they’re the ones who had the warm brown bread served on a cutting board? I have vague memories of that bliss…
I think you’re thinking of Outback, and you’re right it’s bliss. I don’t think it’s warm any more, or at least it wasn’t when I went the other day (unless they stop warming it at some point in the day - I went at 8:30 at night).
Our local family-run Italian place still does bread baskets. With packets of butter that are too cold so you either need to warm them up in your hands or not be greedy and wait a bit for your butter to warm before you stuff your gob with bread (mmmm).
Longhorn Steakhouse is the same target demographic as Outback and also serves a hot mini loaf of brown wheat bread on a small cutting board with a big knife and a crock of honey butter. Or did every time I’ve been to any of their stores up through the last time; probably 2 years ago.
My school’s cafeteria had very good homemade rolls. Served hot
That’s probably gone now.
Several local restaurants have a basket of crackers on the table. It’s usually a mix of Saltine and Captains Wafers.
Panera includes fresh bread with Soup orders. I had their broccoli cheddar soup three days ago. I break up the bread and put in the soup.
Outback serves bread with meals.
Does Olive Garden have bread on the table?
I remember being in nice restaurants and watching the waiter refill the bread basket with rolls he picked up with two forks used as a pair of tongs.
I think they’re pretty famous for their unlimited breadsticks. Been ~3 years since I was last in one, but I’m pretty sure they’re not gonna cut that off after decades of expensively building brand awareness about their breadsticks.
The only item on the menu I get there (and rarely do I even go there any more) is the bread sticks, soup, and salad offer. They can keep every other menu item.
I haven’t been to Olive Garden since Covid.
My parents liked it and I went with them.
Speaking of shared food - does anybody remember “San Francisco Steakhouse”? They used to plop a HUGE slab of Swiss cheese right in the middle of the table with a cheese carver for the guests to cut some off and eat. Once one table was finished it was carted off to the next table, then the next, and then the next. It was absolutely delicious and a highlight of our trips there when I was in High School. That along with the girls on the swing sets. Thinking back, I can just imagine all the grimy fingers and sneezes those cheese slabs endured. Good times though!
I’m too much of a germaphobe to enjoy a shared bread basket.
Did the cloth get changed from the last table it was on?
Does an errant roll or bread get left in my basket from the previous table?
Did they use tongs or gloved hands to put rolls in?
Did the hostess(who handles money and people’s cards) do it with her ink pen in her hand, just behind the curtain?
Yeah. Not for me.
But, Crackerbarrel brings bread (biscuits?) and cornbread with a dinner plate order.
Is there a cite that supports this, or just personal opinion?
FDA Food Code 3-306.14(B):
“Any food that has been served to a consumer shall not be offered again as food for human consumption.”
I saw that written in a book written by someone in the industry. Shouldn’t be that hard to find some anecdotal evidence. But it is not a common and accepted practice in the 21st century. Even though I never witnessed it I’m sure some restaurant staff have spit on customer’s food. However that doesn’t support a blanket statement that ‘your food has been spit on’ by cooks or waiters.
Yeah, the Italian restaurant local to my in-laws always brings one. Last time was last month. Theyre usually sourdough knotted rolls.
I have feeling here @Stranger_On_A_Train might have been being sarcastic.
Hmmm, just running down my usual Sunday places..
Texas Roadhouse–dinner rolls, large, usually hot, and buttery.
Olive Garden–breadsticks, usually no more than two per person and not a lot of taste.
Longhorn–as mentioned above, a small loaf of brown bread, when it’s warm from the oven it’s my preferred bread.
Logan’s Roadhouse–2-3 Rolls, nothing special but usually warm and good eating.
Golden Corral–you have to server yourself, but they are acceptable with your meal there.
Press on.
I have worked in restaurants, have watched it happen, and know that regardless of FDA and local health codes restaurants are marginally profitable businesses where owners and managers will cut costs wherever they can get away with it regardless of health and sanitation codes. Of the restaurants I worked in (admittedly over thirty years ago) only one would have actually met health codes in terms of kitchen cleanliness and conduct, and I’ve talked to a number of cooks and servers in the intervening years to know that this hasn’t really changed. Guess what, your servers also haven’t washed their hands between removing a tableful of used dishes and glasses, and almost no restaurant follows minimum wage tip law to compensate servers correctly (in states where tips are counted as part of compensation for the purpose of wage calculation).
Stranger
Ted’s Montana Grill serves a bowl of pickle slices, which are very good.
The biscuits at Red Lobster are pretty good, unlike the rest of their food. We recently succumbed to temptation and went to a local outlet because they were offering lobster rolls. Not even Red Lobster can ruin lobster rolls, now can they?
Yes, they can, and did. Probable frozen lobster meat heated and served with melted butter, instead of chilled with mayo. And bad rolls to boot.
As for a chain with quality seafood, Pappadeaux’s offers good bread, with real butter.
Nothing can be done about the abomination of frozen lobster meat.
Many people are unaware there are three very distinct traditions in the USA for what constitutes a lobster roll. A bit like New England vs. Manhattan clam chowder the geographical boundaries are so sharp that folks from one area may be clueless the other options even exist.
This article talks about the Big Three first, then goes on with a dozen modern variations.
So now we all know.
Chick and Ruth’s Delly in Annapolis used to have bowls of pickle chunks on the tables. Then Chick died (Ruth had died some years ago) and their son took over. Prices went up and pickles disappeared. We quit going there.
After graduating with my first degree, my wealthy friends mother took us out to dinner to a fancy restaurant. They had a “bread bowl” that contained a mixture of fruit scones, grissini, cheese straws, pappadom, sourdough and rye buns - all hot and seemingly freshly made. Now that was a bread bowl.
A lot of professional chefs really like Red Lobster. It is mainly frozen stuff and has become pricey in Canada. But the biscuits are pretty good.