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February 8, 2012 3:29 AM Subscribe
How do people read menus? [More] Apparently we read them top-to-bottom and left-to-right, just like books! For your reading pleasure, here's a selection of menu items from the New York Public Library, the University of Washington, the CIA, Derrick Bostrom, Rusty Thomas, Johnson & Wales, Mark, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Colorado, Italy, and other places...
APPETIZERS
Beluga Malossol Caviar, in the Russian Tea Room
Lagoon Onion Rings, $4.95 at Harrah's in Laughlin, NV
Aiquilettes of Fresh Mahimahi, Saute, aux la Amandines, a l'Outrigger Canoe Club. $3.75 at the Outrigger Canoe Club 1967
Arrosto promiscuo, from Tagliatelle Fatte In Casa Il 1909
ENTREES
A 72 oz. steak at the Old Country Kitchen
Broiled Chicken Livers, from Harry's Cafe
The Green Turtle served at a Banquet of the National Hardware Association
O'possum and Sweet Potatoes, in Alexander's Hotel 1884
L'Escalopes De Foie Gras De Canard Grillée Aux Navets Carmelises (Grilled Foie Gras with Carmelized Turnips) is a specialty at The Ryland Inn
The bacon and tomato sandwich is delicious at the Out West Cafe Soused Mackarel and Smoked Beeftongue, for a Luncheon held by the Holland-American Line 1899
Grilled Eel with Orange Slices, for your Last Supper
Roast Filet of Beef, served on the Hindenburg
DESSERTS
Port Wine Jelly, a popular favorite in 1883 at The Cozzens
Apple Pie, direct from the White House
Peaches in Chartreuse Jelly, a final course on the Titanic
Previously: Planes, trains, and ships
APPETIZERS
ENTREES
DESSERTS
Previously: Planes, trains, and ships
COCKTAILS (TIKI EDITION)
Northern Lights Cocktail at the South Seas Club - Anchorage, Alaska
Dr. Funk at The Tropics
Suffering Bastard at the Tiki Bar (5.8MB)
Fog Cutter at the Hawaiian Village - Tampa, Florida (4.0MB)
Navy Grog at Crowntiki
posted by lemuring at 4:27 AM on February 8, 2012
posted by lemuring at 4:27 AM on February 8, 2012
I'm partial to the
Frozen Babboon, from Don Drysdale's Club 53
And the order I placed for the Outrigger Canoe Club showed up with something else. I want my money back.
posted by twoleftfeet at 4:56 AM on February 8, 2012
And the order I placed for the Outrigger Canoe Club showed up with something else. I want my money back.
posted by twoleftfeet at 4:56 AM on February 8, 2012
Welcome to GRILL !
A few things you should know
posted by carsonb at 4:56 AM on February 8, 2012 [1 favorite]
A few things you should know
posted by carsonb at 4:56 AM on February 8, 2012 [1 favorite]
Broiled Chicken Livers, from Harry's Cafe
I have a newfound obsession with chicken livers. When I was a kid, they were something my grandma would cook sometimes because they were cheap, and we were broke. From age 10 until last year, I don't think I so much as sniffed a chicken liver, except once or twice chopped on a cracker.
Last winter we visited some friends in Portland, ME, apparently during restaurant week, and had a nice prix fixe dinner where one of the salad options was an arugula salad with chicken livers. Turns out it was three pieces of arugula and six or seven fried chicken livers.
It was like coming home. I couldn't believe it had been so many years since I'd eaten a liver. Sweet, metallic ... fried. What could be better?
posted by uncleozzy at 5:17 AM on February 8, 2012 [3 favorites]
I have a newfound obsession with chicken livers. When I was a kid, they were something my grandma would cook sometimes because they were cheap, and we were broke. From age 10 until last year, I don't think I so much as sniffed a chicken liver, except once or twice chopped on a cracker.
Last winter we visited some friends in Portland, ME, apparently during restaurant week, and had a nice prix fixe dinner where one of the salad options was an arugula salad with chicken livers. Turns out it was three pieces of arugula and six or seven fried chicken livers.
It was like coming home. I couldn't believe it had been so many years since I'd eaten a liver. Sweet, metallic ... fried. What could be better?
posted by uncleozzy at 5:17 AM on February 8, 2012 [3 favorites]
I didn't take a photo at Jose Andres' minibar, but I did take notes.
posted by MrMoonPie at 5:26 AM on February 8, 2012
posted by MrMoonPie at 5:26 AM on February 8, 2012
Well aren't all menus designed that way? Appetizers on the upper left to deserts and beverages on the lower right. It would just make sense to read them that way.
posted by Splunge at 5:27 AM on February 8, 2012 [1 favorite]
posted by Splunge at 5:27 AM on February 8, 2012 [1 favorite]
"The good news [for restaurants] is that people are reading the menus carefully, and that they seem to be choosing an entrée and then building a meal around it," she said.
This sense, would you say it is common?
posted by chavenet at 5:29 AM on February 8, 2012 [2 favorites]
This sense, would you say it is common?
posted by chavenet at 5:29 AM on February 8, 2012 [2 favorites]
This looks like a good place to sneak in Art of the menu
posted by brappi at 5:59 AM on February 8, 2012
posted by brappi at 5:59 AM on February 8, 2012
We read menus just like books? Then this must mean my wife is secretly Jewish or Arab because she always starts reading from the back of the menu - where the deserts are.
posted by three blind mice at 6:18 AM on February 8, 2012
posted by three blind mice at 6:18 AM on February 8, 2012
You know what, this is as good a place to ask as any: do any other left-handers read magazines and browse catalogs back-to-front? I've been doing it as long as I can remember, and I suspect it's a left-handed thing, but I'm only weakly left-handed, so I don't really know.
posted by uncleozzy at 6:28 AM on February 8, 2012
posted by uncleozzy at 6:28 AM on February 8, 2012
do any other left-handers read magazines and browse catalogs back-to-front?
I do with catalogs, but not with magazines. I'm pretty sure that I read from the front of magazines because that's where all the short articles are, and I have the attention span of a gnat. Half the time I never get around to reading the long articles...
posted by pemberkins at 6:50 AM on February 8, 2012
I do with catalogs, but not with magazines. I'm pretty sure that I read from the front of magazines because that's where all the short articles are, and I have the attention span of a gnat. Half the time I never get around to reading the long articles...
posted by pemberkins at 6:50 AM on February 8, 2012
This looks like a good place to sneak in Art of the menu
My wife and I have a small but growing collection of menus we love from places we have eaten framed on the wall of our dining room. That blog is making me think about future travel plans just so we can add some of those menus.
posted by Rock Steady at 6:59 AM on February 8, 2012
My wife and I have a small but growing collection of menus we love from places we have eaten framed on the wall of our dining room. That blog is making me think about future travel plans just so we can add some of those menus.
posted by Rock Steady at 6:59 AM on February 8, 2012
"Then this must mean my wife is secretly Jewish or Arab because she always starts reading from the back of the menu - where the deserts are."
Arab, I'm thinking, because they're closer to the Sahara, although given the proximity of the Sinai, she could still go either way. Tell me, when she goes out for a walk, is she gone for 40 years? Knowing that would help narrow it down somewhat.
posted by Mike D at 7:01 AM on February 8, 2012 [1 favorite]
Arab, I'm thinking, because they're closer to the Sahara, although given the proximity of the Sinai, she could still go either way. Tell me, when she goes out for a walk, is she gone for 40 years? Knowing that would help narrow it down somewhat.
posted by Mike D at 7:01 AM on February 8, 2012 [1 favorite]
A 72 oz. steak at the Old Country Kitchen
That's Sayler's in East Portland. They get pissed if you try to steal their menus. They are still steak shaped. They still sell a 72oz steak. The place is a vegan's nightmare. Even the fries are cooked in beef fat.
It is also one of my favorite places in Portland.
posted by Mister Fabulous at 7:09 AM on February 8, 2012
That's Sayler's in East Portland. They get pissed if you try to steal their menus. They are still steak shaped. They still sell a 72oz steak. The place is a vegan's nightmare. Even the fries are cooked in beef fat.
It is also one of my favorite places in Portland.
posted by Mister Fabulous at 7:09 AM on February 8, 2012
do any other left-handers read magazines and browse catalogs back-to-front?
I do this as a right-hander (who tried to train myself to be ambidextrous) - and with menus as well... In fact, pretty much anything not a book.
This turned out to be pretty entertaining when I was flipping through a "things you never knew existed" catalog as a kid many many years ago, and found some REALLY unusual items -- think antigrav and the like, except more believable. This kept continuing with more and more unusual items that seemed to defy what I knew as correct, and blew my middle school mind. The catalog was known for having odd things, but they had seemed to really go above and beyond this time.
It was only when I got to the front that I found the blurb about spotting the fake items - If I had found a credit card back then, I would have likely tried to order the lead-to-gold alchemists kit (or something equally absurd.)
My brother has the same back-to-front habit as me, and the same practical joker spirit as me as well - he intentionally left the catalog out for me knowing it would screw with my brain.
posted by MysticMCJ at 7:36 AM on February 8, 2012 [1 favorite]
I do this as a right-hander (who tried to train myself to be ambidextrous) - and with menus as well... In fact, pretty much anything not a book.
This turned out to be pretty entertaining when I was flipping through a "things you never knew existed" catalog as a kid many many years ago, and found some REALLY unusual items -- think antigrav and the like, except more believable. This kept continuing with more and more unusual items that seemed to defy what I knew as correct, and blew my middle school mind. The catalog was known for having odd things, but they had seemed to really go above and beyond this time.
It was only when I got to the front that I found the blurb about spotting the fake items - If I had found a credit card back then, I would have likely tried to order the lead-to-gold alchemists kit (or something equally absurd.)
My brother has the same back-to-front habit as me, and the same practical joker spirit as me as well - he intentionally left the catalog out for me knowing it would screw with my brain.
posted by MysticMCJ at 7:36 AM on February 8, 2012 [1 favorite]
as a vegetarian i just skim menus looking for meat words, remember the few items on the menu that don't have meat words and choose between those.
posted by cristinacristinacristina at 9:14 AM on February 8, 2012 [1 favorite]
posted by cristinacristinacristina at 9:14 AM on February 8, 2012 [1 favorite]
How do people read menus? Apparently we read them top-to-bottom and left-to-right, just like books!
Is this surprising? This is how we've been trained to read, so it seems only natural that we'd read menus in a similar manner.
We read menus just like books? Then this must mean my wife is secretly Jewish or Arab because she always starts reading from the back of the menu - where the deserts are.
I have a bad habit of skipping to the end of a book and reading the last sentence before I start reading the whole thing. The dessert is the end of the meal and your wife is just peeking at the ending of the story.
Also: I tend to jump right to the drinks because the first thing most servers ask is what you'd like to drink.
posted by asnider at 9:18 AM on February 8, 2012
Is this surprising? This is how we've been trained to read, so it seems only natural that we'd read menus in a similar manner.
We read menus just like books? Then this must mean my wife is secretly Jewish or Arab because she always starts reading from the back of the menu - where the deserts are.
I have a bad habit of skipping to the end of a book and reading the last sentence before I start reading the whole thing. The dessert is the end of the meal and your wife is just peeking at the ending of the story.
Also: I tend to jump right to the drinks because the first thing most servers ask is what you'd like to drink.
posted by asnider at 9:18 AM on February 8, 2012
15% is still the standard if the customer is adding the tip on the check. Often the restaurant will add the gratuity automatically for large parties, presumably so the server doesn't get stiffed by multiple parties splitting the check on their own. And often enough then, the automatic tip is 18%.
posted by carsonb at 11:23 AM on February 8, 2012 [1 favorite]
posted by carsonb at 11:23 AM on February 8, 2012 [1 favorite]
Is 18% really the standard in the US now?
As someone who tries to be a Good Tipper, I usually tip between 18% and 20%, but I don't often eat at the kind of expensive places where those percentage points make much of a difference.
posted by Rock Steady at 1:19 PM on February 8, 2012
As someone who tries to be a Good Tipper, I usually tip between 18% and 20%, but I don't often eat at the kind of expensive places where those percentage points make much of a difference.
posted by Rock Steady at 1:19 PM on February 8, 2012
do any other left-handers read magazines and browse catalogs back-to-front?
I also do this, but am not left-handed.
posted by coolguymichael at 2:35 PM on February 8, 2012
I also do this, but am not left-handed.
posted by coolguymichael at 2:35 PM on February 8, 2012
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posted by Mike D at 4:15 AM on February 8, 2012