# Why can't I get decent toast in restaurants? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 10, 2019, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-i-get-decent-toast-in-restaurants/830870 "2019-03-10T03:17:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**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:** [March 10, 2019, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-i-get-decent-toast-in-restaurants/830870/21 "2019-03-10T21:27:47Z")
And another thing - how come I can’t get no Tang 'round here? ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2019, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-i-get-decent-toast-in-restaurants/830870/22 "2019-03-10T23:24:29Z")
My admiration grows, Dopers, 20 responses and almost all straight answers with no allusion to [Jack Nicholson](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hdIXrF34Bz0). ---
**Author:** ![Mike\_Mabes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mike_mabes/32/1782_2.png) [@Mike\_Mabes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mike_Mabes)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2019, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-i-get-decent-toast-in-restaurants/830870/23 "2019-03-11T00:28:10Z")
[![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/hdIXrF34Bz0/maxresdefault.jpg "Hold the Chicken - Five Easy Pieces (3/8) Movie CLIP (1970) HD") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hdIXrF34Bz0) "You have bread, and a toaster of some kind? Why can’t I get a decent order of scrambled eggs? They are always some sheet of eggs, dry and tastless. How hard is it to make scrambled eggs? Or fried eggs, I like them so that the yolk is just about to set, a little runny. They are always overdone, not runny at all, or completely runny. ---
**Author:** ![Mike\_Mabes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mike_mabes/32/1782_2.png) [@Mike\_Mabes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mike_Mabes)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2019, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-i-get-decent-toast-in-restaurants/830870/24 "2019-03-11T00:33:09Z")
> [@JRDelirious](#): > > My admiration grows, Dopers, 20 responses and almost all straight answers with no allusion to [Jack Nicholson](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hdIXrF34Bz0). Well damn, I just saw that. So does that mean you don’t hold me in admiration? ---
**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:** [March 11, 2019, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-i-get-decent-toast-in-restaurants/830870/25 "2019-03-11T00:49:05Z")
> [@nightshadea](#): > > in most places you don’t get to be specific although you can mention youd like it light or dark ….same for English muffins… As soon as I read the OP I thought of English muffins…which I _always_ request be **well toasted**. ---
**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:** [March 11, 2019, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-i-get-decent-toast-in-restaurants/830870/26 "2019-03-11T00:52:22Z")
> [@Periwinkle](#): > > I am the same way about bacon. I always tell them to burn it. > > At home I usually have twice toasted toast. I put it through the second short cycle right before eating so it’s buttery hot. Too bad diners don’t put toasters on the table. The late, lamented Ship’s coffee shops had toasters on the table! Aside from the Shipshape burger, there best asset. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2019, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-i-get-decent-toast-in-restaurants/830870/27 "2019-03-11T02:09:10Z")
> [@peccavi](#): > > I like my toast dark. The perfect toast, to me is a uniform dark brown, though I’m fine with a little black if that is what it takes to get the rest of the slice dark.\*\* Right now, only 6.41% of your fellow Dopers are happy with toast that dark, so I’m guessing restaurants don’t like having your favorite toast getting sent back. ---
**Author:** ![Dale\_Sams](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/779978/32.png) [@Dale\_Sams](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dale_Sams)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2019, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-i-get-decent-toast-in-restaurants/830870/28 "2019-03-11T02:11:18Z")
Actually its usually only in restaurants you can get utterly soggy soaked in butter toast that takes two seconds to eat. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2019, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-i-get-decent-toast-in-restaurants/830870/29 "2019-03-11T02:55:49Z")
> [@Mike\_Mabes](#): > > Well damn, I just saw that. So does that mean you don’t hold me in admiration? I was fully expecting it to happen soon so I decided to step in first to break the suspense 😃 You admirably took another whole hour! ---
**Author:** ![Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de053/32.png) [@Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackknifed_Juggernaut)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2019, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-i-get-decent-toast-in-restaurants/830870/30 "2019-03-11T03:17:53Z")
I can’t say I agree with the premise. I live in an area with numerous diners, and toast is pretty much perfect everywhere I go. It’s almost a given. Besides diners, I can’t think of any other restaurant at which I would even order toast. ---
**Author:** ![Mike\_Mabes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mike_mabes/32/1782_2.png) [@Mike\_Mabes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mike_Mabes)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2019, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-i-get-decent-toast-in-restaurants/830870/31 "2019-03-11T03:29:44Z")
> [@JRDelirious](#): > > I was fully expecting it to happen soon so I decided to step in first to break the suspense 😃 You admirably took another whole hour! Still working on my Nicholson impersonation - “You and Jack have a lot of middle class dreams for a couple of radicals”… from Reds. “I’m a goddamn marvel of modern science” from Cuckoo’s Nest. Gotta add “I want you to hold it between your knees.” ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2019, 11:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-i-get-decent-toast-in-restaurants/830870/32 "2019-03-11T11:22:39Z")
My mother used to refer to very dark brown toast verging on burnt as “healthy toast.” Don’t know why. That’s the way I like my toast. But when eating brekkies out, I usually ask for the biscuits. ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2019, 11:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-i-get-decent-toast-in-restaurants/830870/33 "2019-03-11T11:34:52Z")
The issue I have is they butter the toast, the it sits in the window and by the time it gets to you, it’s soggy. ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanub/32/132_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2019, 11:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-i-get-decent-toast-in-restaurants/830870/34 "2019-03-11T11:41:33Z")
> [@Grrr](#): > > The issue I have is they butter the toast, the it sits in the window and by the time it gets to you, it’s soggy. Exactly what I wanted to say. Why do they presume I want butter on my toast? That’s just weird. I mean, I realize probably the majority of people _do_like butter on it but that seems something the eater would want to do for himself. 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Doug\_K](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b5ac83/32.png) [@Doug\_K](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doug_K)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2019, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-i-get-decent-toast-in-restaurants/830870/35 "2019-03-11T17:48:06Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > When I eat toast at home, I like to butter it while it’s still warm from the toaster, and then eat it immediately. In a restaurant, it takes way too long to get it to me, so it’s room temperature by the time it hits the table. (I have the same problem when visiting my parents. My father will kindly make toast for me, but often he’ll start it while I’m still in the shower or getting dressed. I eat it, but don’t enjoy it as much as really fresh toast.) Another vote for this. The only way to get decent toast is to sit right by the toaster with plate and butter ready to go. Pop, butter, eat. Preferably faster than you can say it. ---
**Author:** ![InsomniaMama](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/ad7895/32.png) [@InsomniaMama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/InsomniaMama)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2019, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-i-get-decent-toast-in-restaurants/830870/36 "2019-03-11T23:49:17Z")
I order my toast dry, because I’ve seen that slop they put on it. That ain’t butter. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2019, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-i-get-decent-toast-in-restaurants/830870/37 "2019-03-11T23:56:54Z")
nvm ---
**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 12, 2019, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-i-get-decent-toast-in-restaurants/830870/38 "2019-03-12T00:40:24Z")
> [@kunilou](#): > > Right now, only 6.41% of your fellow Dopers are happy with toast that dark, so I’m guessing restaurants don’t like having your favorite toast getting sent back. That’s not what I voted for, but I’d like it way more than the dry bread I sometimes get. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2019, 11:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-i-get-decent-toast-in-restaurants/830870/39 "2019-03-12T11:56:46Z")
I mostly am happy with a light brown. However, this is on gluten free bread, which seems to brown differently, and is closer to light brown with some dark bits in normal bread, so I went with that. I’d rather it err on the side of too light, though. But not just dry and warm. If you’re going to just warm the bread, it’s better when it’s not dried out. ---
**Author:** ![kanicbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2019, 12:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-i-get-decent-toast-in-restaurants/830870/40 "2019-03-12T12:12:51Z")
You can try the phrase double toasted. Other than that I like it crispy/not hard and not black but besides that the color doesn’t matter. Really it’s no biggie. From your pole it appears like light brown would satisfy the best, though slightly less then ideal for most, it is acceptable for most. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-i-get-decent-toast-in-restaurants/830870.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-i-get-decent-toast-in-restaurants/830870.md?page=3)