This is not about your normal life experience.
There are little things I learned along the way that make me crazy. I change menus. That’s not news to anyone who knows me, but now I have a whole new way to customize my order.
I ask things like “What batter do you use on your fried zucchini?” If it’s tempura, I’m good. If it’s panko, not so good because it tastes like sand.
And how about croutons? Are they made in the restaurant? That’s good. Store bought not so good.
Ask for a small baked potato and you will get a football. Sour cream, chives, bacon, two kinds of cheeses and occasionally extra stuff I never heard of before you can place it on top. Most of the time it’s pretty good but I have learned to ask first just in case.
If you like Caesar salad with anchovies, ask if they are white or brown. The blanched anchovies are very strange to me. I prefer the fish bait ones.
Sometimes the better the restaurant, the weirder the food. No one serves anything that doesn’t have a secret chef creation and everyone is a foodie. When McDonalds advertised its secret sauce, it was thousand island dressing. I could deal with that.
Now I feel like an idiot asking what’s in my dinner and I certainly don’t want to insult anyone. I imagine the server will walk away dreading my return.
While we’re at it, let’s address side dishes and add-ons. You wouldn’t think a little extra feta or blue cheese would cost extra but it’s been known to happen.
A drink can cost anywhere from $2.50 to $7.50 so when you say “water please” you can see the server stop smiling. There want that extra charge to bump up your bill. And you can have soup or salad only on the specials, not the regular menu items. Back to the bump!
We do go to places where orders are huge and need take-out boxes. Then I start stacking them in the fridge until trash day. I admit it’s not a very good use of leftovers.
