RedTop's Profile
Wine "mark ups" in restaurants
Both of my daughters liked the wine. DD#1 said it was nicely balanced--not super sweet.
I sipped on a Merlot. Not yet met one I did not like.
Upper Peninsula Road Trip
Be sure to pass through Munising this trip and stop for a meal at Johnny Dogs. I'm serious, this is a destination diner.
And a short ride away is Rock River Cafe in Chatham. Just re-opened for the season.
Wine "mark ups" in restaurants
Thank you for your reply, JB.
Unfortunately, a $150 bottle would be wasted on our palates.
Wine "mark ups" in restaurants
Forgive me, I couldn't find a similar discussion so am starting this thread.
Yesterday I took my two daughters out to lunch at a restaurant featuring a Mediterranean menu.
DD#1 asked if she and her sister could share a bottle of wine "because we'll both probably want more than one glass each."
"Sure", I said. They settled on a Ste Chapelle Riesling priced at $24. They liked the wine. Our meals were tasty and we enjoyed a nice leisurely visit.
Later yesterday, I guess I started experiencing buyers remorse, because I googled the wine brand to see if it was worthy of the price I paid. Info back is that, at retail, this wine would be priced $9.99 to $10.99 per bottle. I was a bit taken aback that I had paid well more than 100% markup on the wine and began to wonder what is the typical restaurant mark up on a wine. Or, what is a fair mark up on a wine to assure profitability for a restaurant.
Hospital Food----My how it's changed>>>For the better
I'm glad you had a terrific experience! But I have a far different take on hospital meals than you did.
My MIL was hospitalized at a premier facility here in SE Michigan when she was experiencing end of life symptoms. The food sent to her bedside was far less than palatable. And the price attached to these meals was worthy of a five star restaurant.
Sorry. I think the Health Care Industry is playing a Game of Mirrors with us all as we age into their clutches.
"He's baaaaaack." DTW
Part owner of Sweet Georgia Brown a shuttered restaurant in the same space as his new place.
Full owner and COO of the majority of Pizza Hut restaurants in the states of Michigan, Ohio and PA. Full owner and COO of scores of Burger King franchises in the same states.
Ran afoul of the Feds:
http://www.mlive.com/news/detroit/index.ssf/2009/07/exdetroitarea_pizza_man_lavan.html
Two of my grown children worked for this guy for too long a time. I heard much more entertaining stories than were ever published
"He's baaaaaack." DTW
An "old friend" wants to have you for dinner...
http://www.freep.com/article/20120428/ENT08/204280330/La-Van-Hawkins-to-open-restaurant-in-Greektown
Restaurants and Bars around the world you would love to clone..
Blackfriar Tavern on the Thames in central London, UK.
What would Emily Post do? [moved from New Orleans]
I applaud your courage sanglier.
But me being a long-time denizen of dive bars with out-of-control drinking, I can confidently say, this could have turned out tragically bad for you. And I'm glad it didn't.
DTW: Cloverleaf Pizza "spokes" are gone
It appears that Shawn Randazzo want to carve his own niche in the metro pizza market.
As far as I've been able to tell, his Cloverleaf "franchise" stores always did well. So it's not a business rescue plan he's attempting..
Oscoda Michigan area eats?
Have you had any experience with the Ausable Inn?
Two of us only had one dinner there last fall: Bar-b-que, but it was quite good.
DTW: A new entrant in the Burger Wars?
The burger roll is a Corn Kaiser according to the server who waited us, VTB. And each day is a different offering. I thnk the Fire Alarm is only offered once per week...
DTW: Cloverleaf Pizza "spokes" are gone
Eastsiders recognize the Cloverleaf pizza as among the best offered in Metro Detroit...
But beginning next month, the two franchise locations of the iconic pie will be no more.
Shawn Randazzo, who ran the stores in St Clair Shores and Clinton Township with his Mom, Linda Michaels, is shuttering the shops in May.
Randazzo, winner of the 2012 World Pizza competition held in Las Vegas in March, has formed a new company: Detroit Style Pizza Co. He'll reopen the two stores under that brand name. He also has plans to expand and franchise the fledgling business.
According to a press release not yet widely circulated, Randazzo has developed a unique dough for his pizza that is a significant departure from that offered by the Gus Guerra inspired, Cloverleaf brand.
Del Taco
I think I might have stopped into a local Del Taco in an Alternate Universe.
Just spent about 20 minutes going through the menu listed on the corporate website. Well, my "local" Del Taco menu is about half the breath of what the website shows. No 49 cent tacos there. No Burgers there (Although why, if you're in a taco joint would you buy a burger?) No breakfast biscuits, no...
My report is this: I opted for a Steak Tacos Del Carbon Combo, paying over $6 for two of the smallest tacos I have yet seen. The steak pieces (one inch by a quarter inch) were five pieces to a taco. Steak quality? Only fair. What sealed the deal in turning me off to another visit was the cilantro add, so forward it overpowered everything else in the taco. Of the two tacos, I finished about 1 and a third. The cilantro was a huge turnoff.
I hit this store Thursday at Noon. I was one of four people in the dining room during my lunch. Very telling.
Michigan: In search of the best Coney
This is a trip I would take!
http://www.annarbor.com/entertainment/food-drink/can-a-local-contestant-capture-the-crown-for/?cmpid=RSS_link_food_drink
DTW: A new entrant in the Burger Wars?
Ordered and ate a Fire Alarm Burger at Bogart'z in Grosse Pointe Park last week. Hand pressed, fresh ground beef topped with sliced Jalapeno peppers, hot sauce, sliced red onion and tomato and Romaine on a custom bakery roll. Very, very good.
Heard by rumor that this tavern is fixin' to offer signature burgers as they get the ingredient mixes right. Not intent on producing a Miller Burger, or a Sidetrack Burger or a Red Coat Burger, per se, just a unique hamburger special each separate day they are open.
Could be a nice niche approach to peddling one of Detroit's favorite meals.
Bob E's Super Chief @ Pontiac (DTW)
Being that I'm a .99 Coney Dog hound I just can't see paying more anywhere on the eastside. Just me.
DTW - Oakland County recs for out of towners
If your family's from Buffalo, then they know Michigans. Take 'em to a diner for a Coney or three, so they can do a comparison.
DTW Chow alert: Hankuk Oriental Grocery & Restaurant (long)
Thanks for tempering my view a bit, VTB. Being new to Korean foods I've come away from my experiences here with more exhuberance than knowledge of the cuisine. I'll have to go a bit farther afield to discover a few comparisons.
But I sure do like those homemade dumplings!
DTW Chow alert: Hankuk Oriental Grocery & Restaurant (long)
Discovered this little gem on the eastside in Clinton Township, several months ago.
I'd been reading online reviews of Korean Bar-b-que for days, and out during a drive, noticed the small shop.
On that first visit, I studied the 19 item menu and settled on a soup called Duk Mandoo Guk--a Korean Dumpling soup with rice cakes, sea weed, and well-chopped fried egg in a beef broth. Gawd, that was a revelation. Now in my Top Five restaurant soups ever consumed. After that lunch I went from the spartan dining room into the grocery and asked a cheerful clerk to set me up with the ingredients that went into the soup so I could try to duplicate it at home.
Second visit back for lunch, I brought the dear wife. I had zeroed in on the DoaeGi-Bulgoki, Hot Spicy Barbequed Pork, my wife opted for the Soon-Tofu, Soft Bean Curd Soup. The four top we were sitting at resembled a rainbow explosion after the mains and the sides were set before us. "Pul-eese, this is too much food!" Have to make an aside here: this was only the second time I had eaten kimchi, and Hankuk's was terrific. My hot spicy barbequed pork was delightful, a couple of different flavor notes playing out with each bite. But...the dish wasn't spicy! I only surmized that the Halmuni in the kitchen took a look at me and decided I couldn't take the heat. So, next time...
My wife is a soup maven, so she delighted in the soft bean curd soup. She confessed that she was looking to go safe in her first venture at a Korean table, and she came away very pleased with her choice.
So today I appeared at Hankuk's door intent on sampling the restaurant's Bibim-bab. This Korean, almost Signature dish came to me eye appealing in every way. And again, the go-withs flooded the table space. I liked everything about this dish, described in english on the menu as Vegetables to mix w/Rice. The three standout components (of eight total) were a most sprightly cucumber, a sampling of fern braken, and red pepper paste. Definitely deserves a re-order from me.
The grocery side of the storefront is chock-a-block with Korean and Oriental staples and refrigerated and freezer items. While browsing the aisles, you're sure to think that this place is The Real Deal based on the ethnicity of the other shoppers here.
The store and restaurant are owned and run by a most pleasant couple and their extended family. Anyone working the grocery is sure to offer great advice to novice hounds looking to take up Korean foods for at home consumption.
Hankuk Oriental Grocery & Restaurant
33717 S. Gratiot Ave.
Clinton Township, MI 48035
586-791-8877
That Crockpot Meatball Recipe that Has Grape Jelly In It
Made these about two weeks ago to serve over egg noodles for dinner.
Universally panned in our household.
What Did You Cook Today? Part 2
84 degrees here yesterday so I fired up the Weber. Earliest start to grilling ever for me.
Grilled hamburgers. Thick hamburgers seasoned (for the first time) with McCormick's GOURMET BURGER Seasoning. Was a miss on this seasoning--never again. But sure enjoyed the smoke of the grill.
Flavoring coffee without flavored creamer
Hershey's Powdered Cocoa added before brewing?
Jack-in-the-Box Tacos -- 50 years of skid-marked cardboard
Fun read!
Thanks for starting the thread, puzzler.
Funniest thing you seen in a restaurant?
Something similar and truly hilarious in the novel, A Tree Grows In Brooklyn.
Trader Joe's Yea/Nay Thread - 1st quarter 2012 [old]
Opened myself up to that. For sure!
Trader Joe's Yea/Nay Thread - 1st quarter 2012 [old]
It would be great if, on or after March 31st someone could do a summary of this thread that listed the Top 10 Yea products and the Top 10 Nay products...
