"At Jewish Delis, Times Are as Lean as Good Corned Beef" [more inside]
posted by Joe Beese on Oct 7, 2009 - 62 comments

An expose of non-vegan ingredients in pancakes at LA Vegan Thai inspired the QuarryGirl.Com writers to conduct their own extremely thorough investigation of LA vegan restaurants, testing their meals for traces of casein, egg, and shellfish. Over $1000 and a chain of interviews up to Taiwan later, they find that half the restaurants aren't as vegan as they claim, with half registering Positive or High and one registering Overload. Some restaurants vowed to conduct their own tests or requested further assistance; one banned them from the establishment.
posted by divabat on Jul 5, 2009 - 260 comments

David Fishman, 12-year-old food critic, takes himself out to dinner.
posted by ThePinkSuperhero on Nov 17, 2008 - 90 comments

Pocketful of dough - an article on where the art of, er, tipping up front can get you. Originally printed in a year 2000 edition of Gourmet. Via Juicy Tidbits.
posted by nthdegx on Oct 10, 2008 - 59 comments

What's the hardest dining reservation to score? French Laundry? Nope. El Bulli? Non. D.C.'s minibar? Not even close. [more inside]
posted by shiu mai baby on Oct 1, 2008 - 54 comments

Sysco : whether it's Wendy's, Applebee's, the local diner, a fancy restaurant, the cafeteria, or Guantanamo Bay, it's what you eat. Serving over 400,000 businesses, the "Wal-Mart of Food Service" has all the bases covered, from "Unique 3-D technology gives you the look and texture of a solid muscle chicken breast, at a fraction of the cost" to more gourmet offerings.
posted by TheOnlyCoolTim on Jul 30, 2008 - 135 comments

The history of the humble fortune cookie is in dispute.
posted by Xurando on Jan 16, 2008 - 16 comments

Suicide food. Yep, some animals just have an inexplicable death wish. Classic. Creepy. Cute. Sporty. Disturbingly sexy. Just plain confusing. These animals all have one thing in common. They're freakin' tasty.
posted by miss lynnster on Apr 18, 2007 - 43 comments

My favorite entree is the salmon sandwich on foccacia bread. Water is served with a slice of cucumber which is very refreshing. Which profession dines out the most? Whose judgements can be counted on for honesty and straightforwardness? The truckers'.
posted by ardgedee on Mar 28, 2007 - 60 comments

Oakland's Taco Trucks: cool site featuring their menus, art, reviews, and locations!
posted by fandango_matt on Aug 29, 2006 - 11 comments

FoodCandy. A foodie hang.
posted by liam on Jul 13, 2006 - 18 comments

The world's most expensive restaurants, though even these eateries pale in comparison to the $37,000 lunch and the $10,000 Martini on the Rock, poured over a diamond. As a New York Times food critic defends pricey meals, it is clear that times have changed since another famous Times critic drew letters of condemnation from the Vatican for his expensive dinner in 1975, which itself was a pale shadow of the most legendary costly meal ever, that of Antony and Cleopatra.
posted by blahblahblah on Nov 16, 2005 - 38 comments

The Epicurean online. Charles Ranhofer's 1893 book The Epicurean is available online from the Michigan State University Library and the Museum as part of their Feeding America digital project. Ranhofer was the head chef at Delmonico's Restaurant from 1862 to 1894; he popularized the Escoffier version of French cooking to America, modifying it to take advantage of American foods such as turkey, squash, corn, and Pacific salmon. Besides thousands of recipes, The Epicurean discusses table settings, menus, various methods of presentation, and kitchen management. The book may be downloaded as a PDF in two parts.
posted by watsondog on Sep 11, 2005 - 7 comments

A new food blog! Slashfood. Looks like a good one. They seem to be covering pretty much everything. Instant bookmark!
posted by braun_richard on Aug 19, 2005 - 25 comments

Revenge is a dish best served cold. The NY Times [bugmenot ] tables a tasty selection of vindictive waitstaff blogs. MeFi (ahem) servers, past and present, who were your worst customers? And did they get their just desserts?
posted by stonerose on Feb 1, 2005 - 102 comments

The Food Of Love: Oh, forget about music already. What should you cook if you want to woo a lover? According to Lisa Hilton, it all depends on what nationality (s)he is and what country you're living in... P.S. Shame on The Observer for choosing the inflammatory but incidental title I've Never Had Good Sex With A Vegetarian!
posted by MiguelCardoso on May 15, 2004 - 23 comments

The Hundred Dollar Hamburger. A pilot's guide to fly-in restaurants.
posted by gottabefunky on Feb 5, 2004 - 16 comments

Do Most People Even Know What They're Eating? Pork is served as veal; tilapia as red snapper and who knows what goes into sausages and other processed meat and fish products? You don't have to be an observant Jew or Muslim to be worried. How many years have those chicken pieces been frozen? How much pork and beef have been added to them? As food is increasingly disguised (fish fingers, chicken nuggets, beefburgers) to hide its origins, feeding on hypocritical popular revulsion with animals' existence, death - and carcasses! - aren't consumers setting themselves up for an ever greater measure of food fraud? That is, if they still care. (And no, it's not just an American phenomenon.) [Via The Daily Gullet. ]
posted by MiguelCardoso on Jan 23, 2004 - 49 comments

Just Because They're Celebrity Chefs Doesn't Mean They Aren't Damn Fine Cooks: We're all supposed to yawn when it comes to TV Chefs, but that's just as silly as ignoring a writer or an actress because they're famous. Wolfgang Puck's website, for instance, is generously full of the most enticing recipes. On another note, my favourite TV chef, Rick Stein, has online a superb list of UK suppliers. Do you know of any other cuisine auteurs on the Web who are as generous with their savvy? Which chef wouldn't you mind having as your own private cook?
posted by MiguelCardoso on Jun 28, 2003 - 36 comments

The French Laundry serves dinner seven days a week, with reservations available between the hours of 5:30 pm and 9:30 pm. For the rest of us, there's finally their website, available 24/7.
posted by dchase on Jun 2, 2003 - 20 comments

"I explain to them that they are in my restaurant. And they must have the flounder the way I make it."
One of Washington's top chefs draws the line with picky diners. Welcome rebellion or self-important rant? Discuss.
(This is a Washington Post "Live Online" chat. The chef's letter is the first entry; scroll down further for reactions on both sides.)
posted by PrinceValium on Apr 30, 2003 - 174 comments

Oklahoma's state senator has made a prolific move for all of humanity He wants to require Oklahoma barbacue restaurants to offer napkins. Yes, seriously.

No confirmation if he was paid off by the napkin lobby.
posted by RobbieFal on Feb 10, 2003 - 23 comments

The Year In Pizza is a review of the happenings in one of the worst years ever for the pizza industry; what's touching, and quirky about this corporate industry wrap up is the inclusion of brief memorials for pizza murder victims, those workers slain by hungry robbers for whatever little cash they had on them. It's hard to imagine a "year in printing & bindery" review listing all the victims of industrial press manglings.
posted by jonson on Jan 6, 2003 - 34 comments

The Stained Apron is "dedicated to the venting of food servers' frustrations and a harsh education of the dining public." I always try to tip generously, now.
posted by moz on May 14, 2002 - 24 comments

Where are your limits? Inspired in part by mikhail's earlier post on the gelatin used in Guinness (and Bass), for those with voluntary diet restrictions (kosher, halal, vegetarian, etc.), what unexpected choices have you faced? Does it go beyond food? Toothpaste? Collagen injections? Silk? Buying a car with leather seats? A used car with leather seats?
posted by NortonDC on Mar 18, 2002 - 59 comments

Forget the Anthrax, Honey: Eat your Apple Pie According to the NYT's restaurant critic William Grimes, comfort food is making a comeback in the wake of WTC. Mine is cream and butter-loaded mashed potatoes with garlicky lamb chops. What's yours? And what does it all mean? (This is No. 629 in the All-American Anti-Terrorist Counter-Measures Series) Reg: rebarba/pachacha
posted by MiguelCardoso on Oct 24, 2001 - 47 comments

I like to eat. Chowhound has regional restaurant message boards with varying degrees of detail. The New York Boards are particularly active with dozens of people offering their favorite soup dumpling purveyor/ramen shack/barbecue hut. What other regional or cuisine-specific food sites / online communities have you found?
posted by sfz on Jul 9, 2001 - 11 comments

Ewwwwww. Every reason I never eat at those deli salad bars, wrapped into one arrest ... and hey, there might be copycat crimes at other delis in the area! Ewwwww.
posted by maura on Apr 9, 2001 - 11 comments

Tipping at McDonalds *this* is what a private citizen does? This entire "spontaneous" stop seems awfully contrived to produce warm fuzzies on the part of the public. I mean, how often does one of us 'normal' folk leave a twenty dollar tip or go behind the counter for pictures at a fast food place?
posted by tsitzlar on Aug 16, 2000 - 18 comments

Top Secret Recipes is a site that aims to reveal the secrets of almost any popular restaurant's items. They have McDonalds Shakes, Orange Julius, Hot Dog on a Stick (complete with video), and Girl Scout Cookie Thin Mints. Oh my god, they actually reverse-engineered McDonalds' Secret Sauce. Be careful with the knowledge of that last one, you could be killed just for possessing it. If food is considered a restaurant's intellectual property, how does this site continue without being sued silly?
posted by mathowie on Jun 26, 2000 - 22 comments

fast(er) food in so-cal. looks like we'll all be able to get our big macs a whopping 15 seconds faster at orange county drive throughs. why haven't they done this *inside* their stores, where it usually takes the cashier at least a minute to do the math, after the people in front of me spend 3 minutes digging through their pockets/wallets/purses to find their money and change.(disclosure: i was once a mcdonald's cashier)
posted by mmanning on Jan 28, 2000 - 10 comments