# Sick of racist ethnic restaurants **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 16, 2013, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sick-of-racist-ethnic-restaurants/655805 "2013-04-16T01:30:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2013, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sick-of-racist-ethnic-restaurants/655805/41 "2013-04-16T14:24:45Z")
I’ve seen this happen a couple of times at Chinese restaurants with my friend. At one, they refused to translate some of the specials posted on the wall (“Those are for Chinese!”). At the other, they repeatedly refused to serve my friend the lamb casserole before finally giving in (“You won’t like it…”). In the end, he didn’t really like it; that “lamb” apparently lived to a ripe old age before its casserolification. ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2013, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sick-of-racist-ethnic-restaurants/655805/42 "2013-04-16T14:28:37Z")
> [@Johnny\_Bravo](#): > > If you have Netflix, check out the documentary _Jiro Dreams of Sushi._ It may give some insight about why the sushi chef felt the way he did when he saw you cutting into the sushi. Video clip (not from that movie): [Anthony Bourdain visits Sukiyabashi Jiro](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=asH4jhr8E20) (~6 min) ---
**Author:** ![anu-la1979](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/47e85d/32.png) [@anu-la1979](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anu-la1979)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2013, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sick-of-racist-ethnic-restaurants/655805/43 "2013-04-16T14:47:26Z")
We are HUGE fans of [SriPraPhai]([http://www.newyo](http://www.newyo) [rker.com/arts/reviews/tables/2007/04/02/070402gota\_GOAT\_tables\_julian](http://rker.com/arts/reviews/tables/2007/04/02/070402gota_GOAT_tables_julian)) and routinely take visiting guests there for awesome Thai food. They definitely steer you away from dishes, like the time I tried to order “sour curry,” but we don’t get as many arguments as non-Asians do when we ask for the dish to be spicy. I’m more amused than offended but this is how it usually breaks down when we’ve gone by ourselves or with other people; Non-Asian: you can’t handle Thai spicy + you probably don’t want to eat that, it’s for Thai people South Asian (us): We trust you on asking for Thai spicy but you probably don’t want to eat that, it’s for Thai people East Asian: we’ll give you recommendations and not argue with you about your order I’m sure it’s because they don’t want to argue with guests or eat the cost when someone orders something more likely to be enjoyed by people familiar with the taste, on account of having grown up eating it. Also, if you are ever in the area, try SriPraPhai!! ---
**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:** [April 16, 2013, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sick-of-racist-ethnic-restaurants/655805/44 "2013-04-16T14:54:11Z")
It took us several visits to our favorite Thai place, insisting on “More Spicy!” every time until they stopped white-spicing us. Now they routinely amp up the food to Thai levels when we walk through the door. ---
**Author:** ![Dogzilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e480ec/32.png) [@Dogzilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dogzilla)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2013, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sick-of-racist-ethnic-restaurants/655805/45 "2013-04-16T15:07:12Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > It took us several visits to our favorite Thai place, insisting on “More Spicy!” every time until they stopped white-spicing us. Now they routinely amp up the food to Thai levels when we walk through the door. I’ve had the same experience. I make hot pepper jams with habaneros. I can handle spicy. With any new Indian or Thai place, I start with a medium-spicy benchmark dish, like a pad thai or something. When I decide the quality is good, then I’ll jack up the heat/spicy on my next visit. If I get to “hot” and I think I could go a little more, it usually takes some convincing that yes, I really want the Thai hot, and no, I’m not going to pick at it and complain and yes, the tears streaming down my face are tears of joy because I do love the Hawt. ---
**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:** [April 16, 2013, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sick-of-racist-ethnic-restaurants/655805/46 "2013-04-16T15:19:49Z")
I think the waitress at our place picked up very quickly on the “more spicy = more tip” paradigm. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![ministryman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f6c823/32.png) [@ministryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ministryman)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2013, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sick-of-racist-ethnic-restaurants/655805/47 "2013-04-16T15:24:39Z")
> [@Isamu](#): > > Would she get the “real” menu if she was a Chinese-looking Japanese person? > > What kind of sense would that make? It wouldn’t - it would just be racist assumptions. Not cool. It makes sense if you assume that one ethnic group doesn’t know squat about another’s cuisine (and based on some of our uglier brethren, that would be a fair assumption). The restaurant is protecting themselves and you, in case you are not a well-rounded diner. For example, I work with what essentially a Pan-Asian work group (and I am not Asian). When we go to a restaurant, they always order things I don’t see on the menu. When we order hot food (and I can take up Ghost peppers for my heat), they explain to the server that I can take it. They then tell me how I can order the same dishes at the same heat level if they are not there. Am I offended? No. They are helping the restaurant from serving a dish that will come back and might cost them a customer. And they are helping me expand my culinary chops. Everyone makes assumptions about that people they encounter. It’s called prejudice, and it isn’t always a bad thing. But sometimes, it causes the problem the OP described. You look like you don’t eat here, so why give you a menu that you probably won’t like? ---
**Author:** ![ministryman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f6c823/32.png) [@ministryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ministryman)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2013, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sick-of-racist-ethnic-restaurants/655805/48 "2013-04-16T15:28:08Z")
> [@orcenio](#): > > Just try getting [sugared green tea in Kyoto](http://www.ted.com/talks/sheena_iyengar_on_the_art_of_choosing.html). I cringe when my stepson does this. I told him that one day, I am going to disown him… ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2013, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sick-of-racist-ethnic-restaurants/655805/49 "2013-04-16T16:22:58Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > Yes, it was like watching you cut his heart out with a knife. At least she didn’t add ketchup. > [@](#): > > I often skip the soy sauce and the wasabi, because I want to taste the quality of the fish and the rice by itself. Same here, but only if I’m at a proper sushi place. Generic sushi with generic sauce is fine for a quick lunch. > [@](#): > > So far as I know, an Americano is an espresso diluted with hot water. If you want milk, you have to add it yourself. It depends, as you noted. Sometimes “Americano” is filter coffee, sometimes diluted espresso, and milk/no milk varies as well. But “espresso” is pretty straightforward, especially when you’re getting it in a cardboard cup. Of course, I’ve also been to places where “espresso” means “regular coffee in a small cup for twice the price” but I tend not to go back to those places. ---
**Author:** ![pancakes3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ba9def/32.png) [@pancakes3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pancakes3)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2013, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sick-of-racist-ethnic-restaurants/655805/50 "2013-04-16T16:53:02Z")
This may be debating semantics but as far as I know, coffee/espresso and milk/no milk is not up for debate. Coffee+water is just… coffee made weak or strong. Coffee + milk is just coffee with milk. Espresso + water is an Americano. Espresso + milk = late. Espresso + milk + foam = cappuccino. Also, I don’t think this is a first world problem. It’s definitely a race problem. On one hand, the restauranteurs could be making assumptions based off generalizations. On the other hand, they’re just trying to cover they bases… off of assumptions based off generalizations. Either way, intent is irrelevant - they’re generalizing based on race. Is it malicious? Maybe, maybe not. Is it racially motivated? Yes. ---
**Author:** ![Svejk\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ea666f/32.png) [@Svejk\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Svejk_1)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2013, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sick-of-racist-ethnic-restaurants/655805/51 "2013-04-16T17:25:29Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > This is not racism. It’s because they’ve had too many experiences of people ordering something without knowing what it is and then fussing when they get it. Just because it might be somehow benevolent, and just because there might be some factual basis to a certain stereotype, does not mean that what this lady did is not racist. I wouldn’t use too much sleep over it myself but it seems pretty clear to me that the OP is being treated differently because of the color of his skin. ---
**Author:** ![ministryman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f6c823/32.png) [@ministryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ministryman)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2013, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sick-of-racist-ethnic-restaurants/655805/52 "2013-04-16T17:37:25Z")
> [@grude](#): > > I happened to be close to a suya place(Nigerian food) I’ve enjoyed before, its a small hole in the wall place that is a combo take out and Nigerian DVD shop. > > I walk in and a new woman is working the counter, she has a Nigerian accent. I tell her let me get the lamb suya combo and I want moi moi as the side. > > She proceeds to ask me if I know what suya and moi moi are, I answer yes I’ve had them before. Then she says I probably wouldn’t like it, I say I do and I’VE HAD IT BEFORE! She proceeds to the kitchen and when she returns with the clam shell container before I pay she calls me to the counter and opens it, saying this is suya and this is moi moi :smack: I know! > > She still looks unsure, then starts staring at my son who has an afro and then her face lights up and she says oh your wife must be Nigerian. You know what yea I say you got it, she goes oh yes you’re ordering for her.:smack: > > (My wife is black but from the Caribbean) > > Seriously WTF? I’ve had this same experience now in two different countries, everything from Japanese to Serbian places and Indian places, even a Brit place when I was buying black pudding. Seriously just cuz a white guy marches in and orders specific items they have to wonder what exactly? Are there a lot of people just walking in and ordering specific dishes and then what? Getting mad it isn’t McDonalds? > > It is really annoying! I looked up suya and moi moi, I have to say damn! Looks tasty. I have to find one in California. And if I do, I will send my stepson in and see if he gets hassled. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2013, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sick-of-racist-ethnic-restaurants/655805/53 "2013-04-16T17:41:20Z")
Amusing story, about asuumptions. In 1976, while I was in the Army, I was stationed is South Korea. I’d had Korean language training that enabled me to get by in most day to day things off post. So While on a trip to Seoul I go into a restaurant. It was a sort of family looking place, not a chain but think Denny’s in prices and style. I was the only Westerner I could see in the place. I was seated, I made my order(I’d learned to love Korean food). When my order was brought out to me they gave me Western style tableware, so I asked for chopsticks It seemed to surprise them but they brought them out. And from the kitchen, through the round window in the swinging door, I could see the staff watching as the American woman ate with chopsticks. I did pretty good too. God, I miss even now eating good Korean food in Korea. No Korean restaurants in my city. ---
**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:** [April 16, 2013, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sick-of-racist-ethnic-restaurants/655805/54 "2013-04-16T17:42:42Z")
> [@Svejk\_1](#): > > Just because it might be somehow benevolent, and just because there might be some factual basis to a certain stereotype, does not mean that what this lady did is not racist. I wouldn’t use too much sleep over it myself but it seems pretty clear to me that the OP is being treated differently because of the color of his skin. Is that [racism](http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/racism)? I’m not convinced. ---
**Author:** ![Taomist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/53a042/32.png) [@Taomist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Taomist)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2013, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sick-of-racist-ethnic-restaurants/655805/55 "2013-04-16T17:44:33Z")
This thread makes me want to go to a restaurant with no english translations, point out something randomly, and if they try to dissuade me reply, “Why? Do you serve bad food?” ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2013, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sick-of-racist-ethnic-restaurants/655805/56 "2013-04-16T17:51:26Z")
> [@grude](#): > > In my lifetime of food adventurism I’ve had one time where I said “omg I can’t eat this”. > > It was at an authentic Chinese buffet in Houston, none of the item signs on the buffet were in English. I tried one item which appeared to be boiled skinned starfish? Holy crap it tasted like pickled anus, I can’t take more than one bite. When questioning a worker before leaving they said it was in fact pickled pig stomach, blech now that ladies and gentlemen was an acquired taste. If that’s going to happen anywhere in the US, Houston’s a more likely place than maybe a handful of others. There’s a Sino-Vietnamese place my family and I eat when I’m in town, and just about every time, we have to say that we’d like the “other menu”, which is the one with the good stuff like salt & pepper crab, not the sweet & sour pork with fried rice and an eggroll type menu. No biggie; I don’t think it’s racist at all, just trying to serve their customers better, who apparently when not Asian, order the #1 plate or the #2 plate, not family-style like the Asian families. ---
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2013, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sick-of-racist-ethnic-restaurants/655805/57 "2013-04-16T17:53:32Z")
> [@Baker](#): > > God, I miss even now eating good Korean food in Korea. No Korean restaurants in my city. Dublin now thankfully has a whole district chockful of Korean restaurants. ---
**Author:** ![Svejk\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ea666f/32.png) [@Svejk\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Svejk_1)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2013, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sick-of-racist-ethnic-restaurants/655805/58 "2013-04-16T18:04:04Z")
> [@Procrustus](#): > > Is that [racism](http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/racism)? I’m not convinced. Not sure what the issue is here, or what you’re trying to prove with your link to a dictionary, which 1) is just some kind of internet dictionary, so, like, :rolleyes:, and 2) does not even contradict or undermine what I’m saying. I’m just going to assume this is some sort of whoosh that I’m not getting. [QUOTE=bump] No biggie; I don’t think it’s racist at all, just trying to serve their customers better, who apparently when not Asian, order the #1 plate or the #2 plate, not family-style like the Asian families. [/QUOTE] Again, I don’t think that being helpful and being racist are necessarily mutually exclusive. A lot of colonialist thought is premised on the notion that Europeans are in a position and under an obligation to bring civilization, progress, etc., to the rest of the world, which in and of itself can be seen as a benevolent attempt to be helpful but is also based on condescending and racist assumptions. I don’t think that what this Nigerian lady did is the equivalent of colonizing entire continents wholesale, it’s not a very big deal at all. But it does not logically follow that it was an attempt to serve customers better so it can’t be racist. ---
**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:** [April 16, 2013, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sick-of-racist-ethnic-restaurants/655805/59 "2013-04-16T19:13:55Z")
> [@Svejk\_1](#): > > Not sure what the issue is here, or what you’re trying to prove with your link to a dictionary, which 1) is just some kind of internet dictionary, so, like, :rolleyes:, and 2) does not even contradict or undermine what I’m saying. I’m just going to assume this is some sort of whoosh that I’m not getting. > > Again, I don’t think that being helpful and being racist are necessarily mutually exclusive. A lot of colonialist thought is premised on the notion that Europeans are in a position and under an obligation to bring civilization, progress, etc., to the rest of the world, which in and of itself can be seen as a benevolent attempt to be helpful but is also based on condescending and racist assumptions. I don’t think that what this Nigerian lady did is the equivalent of colonizing entire continents wholesale, it’s not a very big deal at all. But it does not logically follow that it was an attempt to serve customers better so it can’t be racist. Yes, being benevolent negates being racist. It can be wrong in a lot of other ways, but assuming white people don’t like certain foods is not a racist act. It may be prejudiced, it may be ignorant, it may be stereotyping. It is not, however, racism. Let’s save that word for the real stuff. ---
**Author:** ![Sister\_Vigilante](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de0a6/32.png) [@Sister\_Vigilante](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sister_Vigilante)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2013, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sick-of-racist-ethnic-restaurants/655805/60 "2013-04-16T19:22:57Z")
I wouldn’t say it was racist, but I have been discriminated against in Mexican restaurants. When my now-husband (Mexican) and I first started going to Mexican restaurants, he would order in Spanish. This gave our servers full license to completely ignore me for the rest of the service. Asking if he’s doing okay or needs a refill (in Spanish) while passing me by completely. I had to force him to order in English so the servers would talk to me. Not a problem since. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sick-of-racist-ethnic-restaurants/655805.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sick-of-racist-ethnic-restaurants/655805.md?page=4)