# Restaurants that can't do a specific thing well **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** food-cooking\ **Created:** [May 30, 2022, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurants-that-cant-do-a-specific-thing-well/965335 "2022-05-30T02:25:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2022, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurants-that-cant-do-a-specific-thing-well/965335/61 "2022-06-02T13:56:57Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > A hot dog with chili sauce sounds terrible? Sounds perfectly fine to me. Sorry, I should have made it clearer that I was speaking subjectively not objectively. _Personally_, I wouldn’t care for it. I don’t like anything on my hot dogs, with the occasional exception of onions. While I have nothing against meat based chili, (or black bean chili) I draw the line at mustard. I know I’m an outlier on that. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2022, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurants-that-cant-do-a-specific-thing-well/965335/62 "2022-06-03T14:23:59Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > WTH? There is nothing wrong with a good Coney. What’s it doing, precious? You ruins it! ---
**Author:** ![Sauron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce7236/32.png) [@Sauron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sauron)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2022, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurants-that-cant-do-a-specific-thing-well/965335/63 "2022-06-03T20:05:01Z")
> [@Ludovic](#): > > What’s it doing, precious? You ruins it! Captain America: “I understood that reference.” ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2022, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurants-that-cant-do-a-specific-thing-well/965335/64 "2022-06-03T20:05:08Z")
I could mention a few places in Canada, but this would be of limited interest. Instead, I will focus on a variation to the thread. Places that serve a thing that is okay, but is no longer okay because it has been sitting around too long - food is better hot and fresh. My pet peeve was going to a restaurant and ordering onion rings with the meal. They gave me an enormous amount of rings, many times the usual quantity, which were unpleasant and cold. Maybe they thought the generous portion would make up for it. But I made them make me some fresh ones. Does anyone else do this? ---
**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:** [June 3, 2022, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurants-that-cant-do-a-specific-thing-well/965335/65 "2022-06-03T20:18:17Z")
I always order my fries “well done.” It helps get them to me hot and fresh. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2022, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurants-that-cant-do-a-specific-thing-well/965335/66 "2022-06-03T21:45:19Z")
> [@Dr\_Paprika](#): > > I made them make me some fresh ones. Does anyone else do this? Nope. We eat out a lot. There are many restaurants to choose from. If I get food that isn’t good, I eat it anyways but I never return. ---
**Author:** ![kitap](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b9e5f3/32.png) [@kitap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kitap)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2022, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurants-that-cant-do-a-specific-thing-well/965335/67 "2022-06-04T15:00:10Z")
I like steamed broccoli. Unfortunately many restaurants can’t consistently do it right. ---
**Author:** ![Hakushon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hakushon/32/5503_2.png) [@Hakushon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hakushon)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2022, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurants-that-cant-do-a-specific-thing-well/965335/68 "2022-06-05T22:26:35Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > A hot dog with chili sauce sounds terrible? Sounds perfectly fine to me. Perfectly nomulent. ---
**Author:** ![Hakushon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hakushon/32/5503_2.png) [@Hakushon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hakushon)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2022, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurants-that-cant-do-a-specific-thing-well/965335/69 "2022-06-05T22:49:06Z")
There’s a gelato shop in AZ that does a fantastic job with most flavors of gelato, but consistently fails in the proper execution of certain flavors. Case in point: Banana. They make this with under-ripe green bananas. Why? I have asked, but the people who work there don’t know (they’re just hired scoopers, not gelato-masters). I suspect green bananas are used because it makes a nicer-looking product (yellow instead of gray, with smaller, less visible seeds). But I find the result inedible. More examples from the same place: any seasonal flavor that involves nutmeg (pumpkin, apple pie, etc.) they will dump in vast quantities of nutmeg, ruining the batch. BTW, what I’m describing is very different from “not liking” a certain flavor. I happen to dislike licorice gelato, but they do a fine job with it for people who are fond of that sort of thing. It tastes exactly like licorice, is a good texture, etc. Just not my preference. ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2022, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurants-that-cant-do-a-specific-thing-well/965335/70 "2022-06-05T22:53:01Z")
> [@Hakushon](#): > > Perfectly nomulent. And that’s a perfect neologism. ---
**Author:** ![Hakushon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hakushon/32/5503_2.png) [@Hakushon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hakushon)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2022, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurants-that-cant-do-a-specific-thing-well/965335/71 "2022-06-06T00:46:10Z")
@carrps, Thanks, but it looks like someone else beat me to the coinage of that…by about 11 years: > **[Urban Dictionary: nomulent](https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=nomulent)** > > Very tasty, delicious; ready to be eaten with aplomb. Origin: portmanteau of "nom" (as in "nom nom nom") and scrumptious or delicious. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2022, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurants-that-cant-do-a-specific-thing-well/965335/72 "2022-06-06T00:51:46Z")
Yep. Mushy is bad. ---
**Author:** ![I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/i_love_me_vol.i/32/521_2.png) [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_Love_Me_Vol.I)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2022, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurants-that-cant-do-a-specific-thing-well/965335/73 "2022-06-06T02:24:11Z")
> [@griffin1977](#): > > The upscale hipster bbq place (4505 BBQ\*) that replaced the awesome hole in the wall place over the road from me in San Francisco. The sides were what took it from _meh_ to wtf is this crap? That’s the one on Divisadero, right? If so, yeah, there was a genuine (as genuine as one gets in the Bay Area) place there before that was good. The hipster “upgrade” is not great. In San Francisco, try [Memphis Minnie’s](https://www.memphisminnies.com/) BBQ. The Q and the sides are super-duper yum yum. * * * > [@pulykamell](#): > > They always have that board there telling you exactly where the potatoes being used that day were sourced, and probably the names of each individual spud cast into the deep fryer for your dining pleasure. No thanks!! I don’t want to know the names or family histories of the potatoes I’m about to eat, geeez! * * * > [@Ludovic](#): > > > [@pulykamell](#): > > > > WTH? There is nothing wrong with a good Coney. > > What’s it doing, precious? You ruins it! [Jame Gumb] _“It puts the mustard on the bun or else it gets ketchup again!”_ [/Jame Gumb] ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2022, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurants-that-cant-do-a-specific-thing-well/965335/74 "2022-06-06T02:39:52Z")
McDonald’s desserts. Why don’t they offer a premium brownie or cookie? Heat the brownie and serve with their ice cream. They could sell it for $4.50. Maybe $5.50. Their fried apple pie is always soggy. They never have a proper crunchy crust. ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2022, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurants-that-cant-do-a-specific-thing-well/965335/75 "2022-06-06T02:51:27Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > Their fried apple pie is always soggy. They never have a proper crunchy crust. I don’t believe their pies have been fried for almost 30 years now. They’re baked. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2022, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurants-that-cant-do-a-specific-thing-well/965335/76 "2022-06-06T02:58:30Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > McDonald’s desserts. Why don’t they offer a premium brownie or cookie? Heat the brownie and serve with their ice cream. You mean the ice cream from the machine that’s always broken? ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2022, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurants-that-cant-do-a-specific-thing-well/965335/77 "2022-06-06T03:01:10Z")
😉 They need to fix the iice cream machine. I know they’ve been a maintenance problem for years. ---
**Author:** ![nightshadea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7ba0ec/32.png) [@nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightshadea)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2022, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurants-that-cant-do-a-specific-thing-well/965335/78 "2022-06-06T03:45:45Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > McDonald’s desserts. Why don’t they offer a premium brownie or cookie? Heat the brownie and serve with their ice cream. They could sell it for $4.50. Maybe $5.50. actually, they tried this out years ago as a "managers special " here in so cal …no one could get the temp of the brownie right so it was usually overbaked and became hard as a rock if you didn’t wolf it down … . ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2022, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurants-that-cant-do-a-specific-thing-well/965335/79 "2022-06-06T03:56:19Z")
I guess McDonald’s doesn’t do desserts very well. It probably doesn’t fit their fast food business model. It does require some training and attention. Like heating a frozen brownie. You have to watch it, pay attention, and don’t overheat. It gets pretty hectic for their staff. ---
**Author:** ![griffin1977](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@griffin1977](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/griffin1977)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2022, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurants-that-cant-do-a-specific-thing-well/965335/80 "2022-06-06T04:17:19Z")
> [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](#): > > In San Francisco, try [Memphis Minnie’s](https://www.memphisminnies.com/) BBQ. The Q and the sides are super-duper yum yum. Yeah it says a lot about SF that Minnie’s was the upscale over priced option when I moved to SF but the regular budget option when I left. Cats Head was my go to after Da Pitt closed but I hear they did not survive Covid. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurants-that-cant-do-a-specific-thing-well/965335.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurants-that-cant-do-a-specific-thing-well/965335.md?page=5)