Odd restaurant policies?!?

[Molalla1]

Rent in NYC for a downtown restaurant could be over $50 a square foot! I knew deli's that cleared millions each year, but until recently, rents kept going up, putting them under stress, then enter covid and Deblasio as mayor from **** and , here we are.....
I saw a lot of smaller restaurants closing last year where I work in mid-town.

Thank God our little hamburger joint (like back in th 50's) is still operating, limited hours and take out only . . . old friend of mine, he own's the property/land et al.

 

[Industrial Toys]

Kind of like saying prostitutes in some places are SAFE because they are "regularly" tested. I never quite understood that.

For some reason, I saw that Schnizel (sp?) haus in NYC is being evicted. Is that some kind of popular old place?

 

[Big Barn]

I know , just terrible.

Molalla,please clarify. Do you mean they TASTE terrible?

 

[Molalla1]

Molalla,please clarify. Do you mean they TASTE terrible?

NOPE . . . saw it 1/3 of a time . . .

 

[Fuddy1952]

Not sure what you mean by cafeteria. Never heard of a cafeteria restaurant before.
For whatever reason, buffet restaurants (other than Chinese) don't seem to exist here in New England. I don't know if they're too expensive to run, or if no one wants to go there. The Chinese ones seem to do well. Not every entree is Chinese though...I've seen mac & cheese, fries and (not very good) pizza at "Chinese" buffets.
Can't think of any issues with ill-behaved children at any of the ones I've been to.

Most of the Chinese ones offer takeout only now, though there is one in Vt. that has a buffet with limited selection. I hope they reopen again...the wife and I enjoy going every now and then.



I put that solidly in the "urban myth" category. From what I've read, cat is pretty tough and stringy...you'd have to be really hungry to want to eat it. They do eat dog in the Orient though...

Not an urban myth, although whatever you want to believe is ok with me. Here's why. I had a friend in high school who after college became a city health inspector. One Chinese restaurant he inspected had 13 cats in bread bags in their freezer. He told me this with his business partner who affirmed the story. This friend was highly credible and had no reason to lie or exaggerate. That restaurant was a different one, closed also.
On that surprise inspection people were also cutting up/ preparing vegetables on the floor.
I personally worked for a company that installed intercom and alarm systems in the mid 70s. At a well known buffet restaurant we installed an alarm system. The freezer was overrun with huge cockroaches, I saw a worker mop the bathroom floors then wash that filthy mop in a kitchen sink, and saw a worker drop a large salad bowl on the floor...scoop it up by hand before going outside with it placing it on the salad bar.
I know the health inspector, he was a good friend and I believe him.

 

[Industrial Toys]

Why does that surprise anyone? A restaurant business is generally very tight financially. Throw in totally different cultural values, (NOT the slightest thing to do with racism!) and there you have it.

 

[Fuddy1952]

Here's a link to a great cafeteria chain we have down south here...K&W...

K&W Cafeterias | Catering Services | Family Restaurant

At the link are pictures. They have (had?) this special two days a week, two could fine for $15.95. That included two entrees each with two vegetables, bread and drink. Amazing deal. Food is really good.

 

[Fuddy1952]

I forgot...two for $15.95 includes dessert. Homemade cakes, pies, etc.

 

[Industrial Toys]

Funny. Grocery prices in the States always seemed low compared to ours, yet fast food prices there always seemed higher. And, I think we had higher minimum wages then many states for a long time.

 

[3Ts]

I was on a business trip with a few Chinese that are US citizens in a town none of us had been to before. They wanted to go to a Chinese restaurant, so OK. The waitress brought out the menu and they said they'd order from the "special menu" and proceeded to tell her what they wanted. Most of it was not on the printed menu and the Walleye fish was quite good.

I was visiting my son's family, he had to work so I took the rest of the family out for pizza. The largest was 16", she wanted more than that and was going to order 2 so I suggested we get a bigger one. She said that's the biggest they make. Waitress came and I asked for a bigger one, waitress asked if 20" was big enough.

Point is that there are menu options available in restaurants that are not listed on their menu so you have to ask for them.

 

[Industrial Toys]

I had an Indian Friend, worlds best machinist but couldn't read very well. I remember how he used to point at the pictures in a menu when ordering. Come to think of it, maybe that's why he always insisted on certain far away restaurants. Ones with lots of pictures in the menu! lol

 

[two_bit_score]

The L&C Cafeteria in Houston from 1952-1984 was once called the "Worlds Largest Cafeteria". It was underground in Downtown Houston. Took up a full block I believe. Had 4 serving lines and you could enter from four different corners of the block.

The dining area was very nice as I recall. Started going there in the mid 1960's with my Dad. It was a real experience.



Houston had some other great locally owner cafeterias that I remember. Albrittons was one and Cleaburne Cafeteria was another that were very well known.

Later came the Picadilly chain and Furr's and Luby's chains. My favorite was the Luby's on Post Oak and San Felipe. They had great Gumbo for a chain cafeteria - rivaled many seafood restaurants. Also really good chicken salad and coleslaw. Bush 41 was known to stop in on occasion.


TBS

 

[Industrial Toys]

I like the guy in the suit. Now you would see people heading down in sweat pants and flip flops! lol

 

[two_bit_score]

I like the guy in the suit. Now you would see people heading down in sweat pants and flip flops! lol

In Houston it would be shorts and flip flops.

 

[Industrial Toys]

Nothing like seeing Fred Flintstone with his hairy toes poking around the food you want to eat.

 

[Frankenkubota]

Saw a documentary of the Rat harvesting industry. Guy riding his bike with cages piled high with rats. At the end, some students are enjoying the rats on a sidewalk patio.

Meanwhile in Korea, a mother is lovingly preparing a dog dish for her children. Often the dogs are tortured prior to death to make the meat sweeter! No myths!

It's all about programming and belief systems.

Exactly. Just after Nam we saved the Moung? I believe they were locals who fought on the side of USA? They would have been butchered so we brought them here.

Fast forward to Appleton Wi in the 80s. Dogs disappearing, peoples pets. Yup. Found a garage converted to an industrial dog butcher shop. I know exactly what I would do if I caught them with one of my dogs.

On the other hand, I often thought about Indians, the ones who don稚 eat meat. What they must think about our eating habits. And for all you horse lovers out there, in southern Europe horses are raised just like cows, to be butchered. Cavallo?

Best steaks Ive ever had were in Italy. Some cow, some horse. And yes, I been to the Chicago and NY steak houses too, Italy better, IMHO.

Mark Twain said, anything seems normal if you are raised with it. I think he was talking about slavery.

IMHO, the eating habits of some cultures are, to me, repulsive. But I understand that痴 me, not them. The one that got me the worst was, taking a live monkey to the dinner table, smashing his skull and eating the brain. My buddy saw it in Asia. Who thinks of this stuff?

Many people around the world think American eating habits are repulsive. The other side of that coin is, some of the busiest restaurants I saw in western Europe were McDonalds, Pizza Hut and KFC.

 

[Industrial Toys]

Hypocrites we are. Many, not all. As long as our cleanly packaged meat has no history attached to it. What a violent little planet!

 

[Dftodd]

Not an urban myth, although whatever you want to believe is ok with me. Here's why. I had a friend in high school who after college became a city health inspector. One Chinese restaurant he inspected had 13 cats in bread bags in their freezer. He told me this with his business partner who affirmed the story. This friend was highly credible and had no reason to lie or exaggerate. That restaurant was a different one, closed also.
On that surprise inspection people were also cutting up/ preparing vegetables on the floor.
I personally worked for a company that installed intercom and alarm systems in the mid 70s. At a well known buffet restaurant we installed an alarm system. The freezer was overrun with huge cockroaches, I saw a worker mop the bathroom floors then wash that filthy mop in a kitchen sink, and saw a worker drop a large salad bowl on the floor...scoop it up by hand before going outside with it placing it on the salad bar.
I know the health inspector, he was a good friend and I believe him.

I too installed alarm systems. Handled most of the restaraunts in town. My friend put two and two together one day when all I ordered was a bottle of beer at the restaraunt we were in, and refused to look at a menu

After that, it was "which restaraunts do you suggest??"

 

[mark02tj]

Around here, back in the early 80's, there were a couple of "high end" Chinese restaurants - the kind of places you took a date to if you wanted to impress her. There was one in particular that I liked to go to called "Keeng Wha". They were located at the corner of a fairly busy intersection. Their back parking lot backed up to the rear parking lot of a "Pondarosa Steak House" (or maybe it was "Bonanza"?) that was around the corner from them. One night the local PD were investigating a call and found the owner/chef of Keeng Wha fishing around in the dumpster of the steak house looking for discarded meat. That hit the papers and within a week Keeng Wha was closed permanently.

An old client of mine had a business cleaning acoustic ceiling tiles. Restaurants and offices were his main clientele. Said that the kitchens in Chinese restaurants were awful. Turned him off from eating out.

In the Atlanta area (and maybe statewide in GA) it's required that restaurants post the results of their latest inspections conspicuously by the entrance. A numeric score is written in large numbers in the upper right corner. A score in the 90's and you're generally good. A score in the 80's would be suspect. 70's? I'm outta there! I think it's a great practice as the report also shows the specific violations so you can make up your own mind.

 

[kenmbz]

Kind of like saying prostitutes in some places are SAFE because they are "regularly" tested. I never quite understood that.

For some reason, I saw that Schnizel (sp?) haus in NYC is being evicted. Is that some kind of popular old place?

Scared me , I thought this was the place I go to in Manhattan-this is brooklyn, never been.