sounds about right for me.
when i go to cheesecake factory and order the full size caesar salad it takes TWO full size salads to fill me up.

can you remember the name/location of the place?
my beef with "normal" salad places is that their "normal-sized" portions are way too small to fill me up.
this place sounds like the solution.

i adore veined cheeses.
when using a veined cheese in a salad, iceberg is my go-to lettuce.

since, to me, every container of ice cream is a single serving, i dare not try costco.

hopefully the brand i now favor, Three Twins, doesn't sell out.
crossing my fingers here....

i had dinner there tonight.
the food was wonderful as usual.

what do you mean by "good sushi place?"

if you would consider going a little bit east of santa monica toward west LA, you can have a great omakase sushi lunch at kiriko $$$.
you can have a "good" sushi lunch special at mori (it is good for the money, but definitely NOT even close to the league of the omakase dinners served there or, if you have the bucks you could have the regular omakase meal at the sushi bar.)

haven't been there for a couple of years.
was, imho, not really good in those days.
nowhere near the quality of k-zo in culver city nor of hide on sawtelle.
but definitely better than supermarket sushi.

wasn't there a big lawsuit when the managers at starbucks shared in the tips?

at any rate, around Los Angeles it's very common for servers to tip out anyone who helps: runners, bussers, bartenders, etc.

whatever the underlying reason may be, i'm all for the restaurant having policies in place to assure the waitstaff of being properly tipped.

fidhkybnva:
so did she say that the store thinks it's ok for you to break off the mushroom stems and discard them before they weigh and charge you for the remainder? after all, since they are there to please you, that should please you, right?

what about the brocolli stems?

<< is it legitimate to ask them to weigh it afterwards?>>

not in my book.
not at all.

thanks for the heads up.

fwiw
i can't imagine going to tea at the peninsula with a bunch of girls without having a large budget.
<<I don't have a large budget>>

fwiw,
i wouldn't categorize yogurt, ham slices, and most fruit platters as finger food.
for items like that i would have plates and utensils and napkins available.

saw it once in a french restaurant in orange county, ca.
can't say i cared one way or another about it.

can't recommend quartz countertops enough.
changed my life.
should have installed them years ago

can't say that it has wrecked my house in any way (probably because i NEVER do any deep fat frying), but i can say that it has wrecked much of my wardrobe over the years.

after two nights on call, someone should be babysitting you.

it was good until the end of the 90's

in the 1990's l liked ben and jerry's.
somewhere in the early 2000's it got lousy

vanilla flavor that's not made from vanilla is a non-starter for me.

Three Twins

don't recall Saddle Peak Lodge being open on Mondays.

fig, is not normally open on mondays

<<surely any capable and well regarded kitchen could accommodate her>>

actually, no.

gjelina, one of my favorite restaurants, has a very strict NO MODIFICATIONS, NO SUBSTITUTIONS policy.
so, if you plan on going there, be sure your sister would be happy with the existing menu items BEFORE you walk in the door.
your mom will find TONS of terrific vegetarian food at gjelina--no worries there.

<< if you walk down the isle of a supermarket>>

most of the food you see in supermarkets is produced by huge multinational corporations.
these corporations make often make decisions based on what market research companies say.
among my personal friends, not one has any interest in eating soup from a can, chunky or smooth.
i'm american. most of my friends are americans.

<<Texture to me is always mushy>>
well what do you think happens to all vegetables that are subjected to the high heat and pressure involved in commercial canning. if you want crisp, you have been looking for it on wrong aisle in the supermarket. try going to the produce section.

my only speculation about your question is that when buying processed food from large conglomerates, if you get the chunky stuff you at least can see if any real vegetables were used as opposed to the food being something whipped up by the legions of food scientists that work for them.

imho, the taste of yellow mangos is superior to the taste of the larger, more typical mangos.

most of us have areas where we are willing to "settle" for price or convenience.

for me, i'm never willing to "settle" when it comes to high-calorie foods: if i'm going to spend the calories, it's gotta be terrific. so, i'm with you latindancer about croissants.
no "average" croissant crosses my lips.

i WILL OFTEN settle, though, for low-calorie food that is convenient, or inexpensive, or vegan.
there was a period of time when several meals a week were eaten at Daichan Kaiten Sushi because of their cheap tofu maki and convenience.

dunno if they even exist anymore or if they still serve those rolls.

i, too, have enjoyed U-Zen many times.
also, i like Hide very much, but i try to time my visits to avoid crowds (i.e. avoid the very peak meal times). remember, too, that Hide only takes cash.

i don't know because i haven't been to MC in years.
also, it's conceivable that you just prefer MC's food.