# Restaurants that don't serve essential dishes/items **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** food-cooking\ **Created:** [February 18, 2025, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurants-that-dont-serve-essential-dishes-items/1014451 "2025-02-18T13:21:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 13
**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:** [February 27, 2025, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurants-that-dont-serve-essential-dishes-items/1014451/241 "2025-02-27T23:26:16Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Perhaps the best tacos I’ve ever had, though his cochinita pibil tacos are very close. Ooo, I’ve never had cochinita pibil in a taco. What toppings do you usually use? ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2025, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurants-that-dont-serve-essential-dishes-items/1014451/242 "2025-02-27T23:29:39Z")
Pickled red onions and a habanero salsa, if you’d like. ---
**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:** [February 27, 2025, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurants-that-dont-serve-essential-dishes-items/1014451/243 "2025-02-27T23:32:17Z")
I do, yum! ---
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2025, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurants-that-dont-serve-essential-dishes-items/1014451/244 "2025-02-27T23:37:20Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > The whole point of waffles is to hold more butter than pancakes. Pancakes are simply the delivery system for butter - hell, I don’t even put syrup on mine. ---
**Author:** ![mixdenny](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mixdenny/32/2962_2.png) [@mixdenny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mixdenny)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2025, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurants-that-dont-serve-essential-dishes-items/1014451/245 "2025-02-28T00:27:37Z")
Ohio has a decent maple syrup belt. I have even made some using my own trees. Looks like we are 7th in production. [https://www.reddit.com/r/MapPorn/comments/1hgejjt/maple\_syrup\_production\_map\_by\_state\_usa/#lightbox](https://www.reddit.com/r/MapPorn/comments/1hgejjt/maple_syrup_production_map_by_state_usa/#lightbox) ---
**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:** [February 28, 2025, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurants-that-dont-serve-essential-dishes-items/1014451/246 "2025-02-28T03:23:22Z")
> [@solost](#): > > A Chinese restaurant in the town I grew up in used to take the uneaten white rice that customers left on the table and turn it into fried rice. This according to my sisters who both worked there for a time. Oh, wow. That was a plot point on an episode of _Great White North._ Except it was an Italian restaurant that would take uneaten spaghetti noodles, wash them, and serve them to new customers the next day. ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2025, 11:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurants-that-dont-serve-essential-dishes-items/1014451/247 "2025-02-28T11:40:54Z")
> [@jnglmassiv](#): > > Disposable bamboo chopsticks are something I’d only expect to see at lower end restaurants. There are different grades of disposable chopsticks, and in nice restaurants you can get really good ones. They are made from Japanese cedar, hinoki cypress or willow and have various finishes and shapes. [https://miyaco.jp/column/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/column-85-12.jpg](https://miyaco.jp/column/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/column-85-12.jpg) I have had melamine ones in Japanese restaurants, but mostly disposable ones. In Taiwan, they have disposable wood, metal and melamine ones. ---
**Author:** ![jnglmassiv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f07891/32.png) [@jnglmassiv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jnglmassiv)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2025, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurants-that-dont-serve-essential-dishes-items/1014451/248 "2025-02-28T17:00:30Z")
> [@jnglmassiv](#): > > Disposable bamboo chopsticks Correction: I’d meant those split-apart bamboo ones that were being discussed at the time. The middle ground ones @Elmer_J.Fudd posted better illustrate the difference I was trying to make. Polished & adequate length = suitable for these tender lips. I kind of like the satisfying split, make a wish!, but really, really dislike the rough, splintery texture. Skewers, too. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2025, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurants-that-dont-serve-essential-dishes-items/1014451/249 "2025-03-07T22:20:23Z")
I like the split-apart bamboo chopsticks well enough. What i don’t like are the softer, split-apart pine chop sticks. They impart too much pine flavor to my food. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2025, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurants-that-dont-serve-essential-dishes-items/1014451/250 "2025-03-12T14:11:07Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > > [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > > > As I understand it, it is illegal to resell unused food once served to a customer. If they don’t eat their cookie, it goes in the bin. Or the staff can take it. > > I’m not sure that applies to food in sealed packaging, so long as the seal hasn’t been broken. I’ve seen plenty of still-sealed stuff go into the trash, including butter, sugar, ketchup, mayo, and so on. I don’t know if that’s a legal requirement, or just not worth the effort to recover them. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2025, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurants-that-dont-serve-essential-dishes-items/1014451/251 "2025-03-12T14:25:50Z")
The customs and regulations certainly vary by country or even state. But yeah overall. Many eateries have a small caddie containing sealed sugar & sweetener packets. If it’s breakfast there might be another caddy of jams while at lunch there’ll be one of condiments like ketchup, mustard, etc. The packets still in the caddy after a meal are universally left there for the next customer. Packets the customer pulled out of the caddy and left on the table mingled amongst the rest of their meal detritus, even if unused, tend to be grabbed up with the rest of the dishes and trash and carried away. IMO the management concludes they’re not worth picking out, inspecting, wiping down if necessary, and putting back in the caddy(ies) for the next customers. ---
**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:** [July 2, 2025, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurants-that-dont-serve-essential-dishes-items/1014451/252 "2025-07-02T18:25:47Z")
> [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](#): > > That’s what I’ve been calling a spring roll. You get them in Thai places as well. I stopped eating American Chinese food decades ago in favor of South Asian cusine. And, then, there’s lumpias. But Phillipino restaurants seem to be fairly rare – even here in L.A. where you can get almost any ethnic cuisine you can think of. I’ve only eaten in a Phillipino restaurant once (in the San Gabriel Valley). Mostly, I’ve eaten it at friends’ homes or at potlucks. One of my friends once said “don’t ask for lumpias – they’re _so_ much work!” ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2025, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurants-that-dont-serve-essential-dishes-items/1014451/253 "2025-07-02T18:49:00Z")
Expecting liquid cheese at your table for an authentic Mexican experience has to be the most American thing I’ve heard all week. ---
**Author:** ![WildaBeast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wildabeast/32/6_2.png) [@WildaBeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildaBeast)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2025, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurants-that-dont-serve-essential-dishes-items/1014451/254 "2025-07-02T19:53:13Z")
> [@Omar\_Little](#): > > Fortune cookies are only authentic to the US market. On that note, Sam Wo in San Francisco famously did not serve fortune cookies. > **[Sam Wo](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sam_Wo)** > > Sam Wo (traditional Chinese: 三和粥粉麵; simplified Chinese: 三和粥粉面; Jyutping: Saam1wo4 zuk1 fan2min6; pinyin: Sānhé zhōu fěnmiàn, literally "Three Harmonies Porridge and Noodles") was a Chinese restaurant located in San Francisco, California. The restaurant's first location on 813 Washington Street was famous for being a venerable mainstay in the local Chinatown area, having been in the same location since 1912. Sam Wo gained notoriety in the 1960’s for being the employer of Edsel Ford Fung, who was... ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2025, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurants-that-dont-serve-essential-dishes-items/1014451/255 "2025-07-02T19:53:55Z")
> [@Sitnam](#): > > Expecting liquid cheese at your table for an authentic Mexican experience has to be the most American thing I’ve heard all week. Did you forget the quote marks around “cheese” there? 😇 I hate that stuff. Has any poster made this claim? ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2025, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurants-that-dont-serve-essential-dishes-items/1014451/256 "2025-07-02T20:29:42Z")
It’s in the OP. His taste is Mexican food was apparently shaped in Ohio, not the Southwest. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2025, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurants-that-dont-serve-essential-dishes-items/1014451/257 "2025-07-03T00:46:40Z")
> [@Marvin\_the\_Martian](#): > > The OP is referring to _chile con queso_, which is definitely Tex-Mex. Possible derived from the more “authentic” _queso fundido_ (aka _choriqueso_), a mix of melted cheese and chorizo which is definitely not a dip - much too heavy, usually made with a mixture of stringy Mexican cheeses. I do get royally pissed off when I go to a restaurant that has queso fundido on the menu but is actually serving queso dip. > [@LSLGuy](#): > > It’s in the OP. His taste is Mexican food was apparently shaped in Ohio, not the Southwest. Ah, I thought he was talking about _queso fundido_, which is great, not “pasteurized product cheese food” melted into a kinda dip- that is just plain horrible. Pardon my confusion. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2025, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurants-that-dont-serve-essential-dishes-items/1014451/258 "2025-07-03T00:57:14Z")
Americans: wrecking Mexican food since 1812. On purpose. As revenge. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Zoobi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/13edae/32.png) [@Zoobi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zoobi)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2025, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurants-that-dont-serve-essential-dishes-items/1014451/259 "2025-07-03T01:21:27Z")
I don’t think queso fundido are choriqueso are the same thing, so it’s not an aka situation. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2025, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurants-that-dont-serve-essential-dishes-items/1014451/260 "2025-07-03T02:38:57Z")
Choriqueso is a specific type of queso fundido, IIRC. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurants-that-dont-serve-essential-dishes-items/1014451.md?page=12) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurants-that-dont-serve-essential-dishes-items/1014451.md?page=14)