Greenhouse Tavern

Also what about that diner that was in the first few seasons of ER. It was a little silver trailer type diner across the street from the hospital. Name slips my mind. Was that Doc McGee's? Or was that a bar.

I want to be free to spend a couple of hours in Willy Wonka's chocolate factory, especially that big room with the mushrooms with whipped cream and the edible teacups. I am SO not a sweets person but I could really get behind that.

I'd also like to eat at Gasteau's, from Ratatouille.

He's at a loss? Um, they're his parents, he needs to tell them "We won't be home, we'll leave a note on the door explaining that as we indicated in graduation announcements, we are not having a party, and leave your phone number on the note in case they have any questions."

She can't MAKE you do it, you know? She's not your boss.

I gave fast food up years ago. I never go. Really, never.

I do go to chains once and awhile as a lot of my friends have get togethers there and I don't always want to direct the activity. But if someone tried to get me to go to Subway I'd be like, no, I don't eat there.

Broiler

I've eaten there twice and thought it was horrible. YMMV.

Yes, I get all kinds of food-related questions, like how to prepare something or what something is on a menu if we are out together, as well as asked regularly for restaurant recommendations, both where I live and elsewhere. I like providing this information and being asked; it's something I know a lot about and I'm happy to share. I wish others were more interested in learning about food instead of just ordering the grilled chicken caesar because they don't know what langoustine is or something.

I would never, never approach the other diners. As someone pointed out below, you never know anymore who is carrying a firearm, and while drunk, they could intend to just show you the weapon to tell you to STFU and they'll do what they want, and instead end up shooting someone, even killing them. People who are drinking have lowered inhibitions, you have to remember that, and they're not going to take kindly to anyone telling them to tone it down unless it's their spouse or SO sitting next to them or someone within their own group.

I just leave when it's like this. I make it clear to the server that we are done, NOW, bring the bill for whatever we have already received and consumed because we are out of there.

Caterers often charge a service fee and then tack on a mandatory gratuity, when catering things like weddings, I found this out when I was shopping for caterers and wedding stuff many years ago. I find it appalling, but there isn't much you can do about it.

I don't think attempting to bridge a cultural gap is bending over backwards or "earning a right" to be somewhere. YMMV.

I shop in a lot of ethnic markets. A smile and an earnest desire to learn about or buy products from them is really all it takes. People go to different countries all the time and don't speak much of the language at all, and you can get by with gestures and pictures and a friendly desire to communicate. That's really all it takes at ethnic markets too.

Stop perceiving "them" as "the enemy" and instead as a gateway to a new and different food. You just might cross some bridges instead of putting up more walls.

+1

I'd say 90/10 in favor of needs.

+1

*moves to Boston*

That might be good for an offshoot discussion. I definitely think it does send a message. Don't interpret that to mean I think you should dress up all the time, quite the contrary. But it does send a message. A lot of people think it "shouldn't" and I hear that a lot, but it does, whether you think it does or not.

It really, really varies depending on WHERE the hotel is. I live in a decent sized city and our Marriott restaurant is horribly, horribly slow ALL THE TIME. They are not understaffed. I work in an attached building so at times when I started here I would try to have lunch there and every time it was 2 hours for lunch for not even Denny's quality food.

In my travels, hotel restaurants in smaller cities are much the same.

In BIG cities, no way is it like that. They do cater to traveling business professionals (as opposed to leisure lodgers, which I think most suburban hotels focus on) and the pace is very different.

Truth

And I'm late to this, but another vote for "it's just you." There are COUNTLESS situations like this in retail and restaurant dealings between the customer and the employee where the customer gets pissed off because they think the employee is being obstinate or dumb, when in fact they are following the rules. And so is the department manager. And the store manager. And so on and so on.

La Campagna in Westlake. VERY tiny, reservations required. VERY good food.

I don't think they're saying they dont' have a PIN, they're saying they choose to use the card as credit, not debit (the latter requiring you to input a PIN). My bank charges a fee for every transaction with the card used as debit (inputting a PIN) but not when used as credit (no pin required), even though the money comes out of the account the same way. But places that require cash or debit, I have to put in the PIN to use it or pay cash or write a check. I don't shop at Aldi's so I don't know their policy, just explaining the PIN comment above.

I would just not do this. It's not that hard to stop somewhere like a grocery store the day before and run in and get a ready to eat sandwich or salad that you can take with you the next day. Airplane food, pre-ordered or not, is horrid. You could buy a few things Thurs night - snacks, a sandwich, whatever, or make them even, and then just take them with you. You could take a packet of tuna and crackers or something if you're worried about spoilage. Anything is better than airplane food, seriously.

That is fantastic. It's as good as seeing someone getting a ticket who blew by you on the freeway a few minutes prior.

I doubt they even had brussels sprouts in the town I grew up in. Too "exotic." I think I only had them from a bag and then boiled, which is pretty bad.

Indeed. I still can't eat them boiled, though I rarely see them that way.

I think they're bitter almost to the point of sour and always have. But after trying them majorly roasted and with a lot of strong flavors with them (capers, anchovies, lots of salt, bacon, whatever), I started to like them more. I still can't eat them just boiled and plain, but I can eat them roasted. I think it's something that's an acquired taste for some people and you have to work pretty hard to get your palate to like them. I worked on it and now I really do like them, but I can still taste the bitter and sour taste in them, it's just that my taste buds became acclimated to the taste and now I enjoy it.

Chinato is a good choice!

Agreed. The hovering is just dumb to me. You'll get more germs by handling the menu or sitting at the table in the restaurant than you will from the toilet unless you are leaning your face into it and flushing and taking in a big, open mouth of wet toilet air/water.

And all the malls by us do as well. The family restroom includes private nursing stalls and usually a microwave, recessed changing area with lots of sink counter next to it to put stuff on, a family bathroom with a small sized toilet and an adult sized toilet plus their own sink, and cartoons in the brightly-colored waiting area. I got so spoiled taking my infant in there that I still use those restrooms in malls and my kid is almost 4.