Wheel of Lunch
May 5, 2015 9:55 AM   Subscribe

Wheel of Lunch For those days when you do not know what you want to eat.
posted by Stewriffic (67 comments total) 24 users marked this as a favorite
 
Lunch today (which I will never be able to finish!):

The Spanish Inquisition
Our Signature Potato Chips dusted with Spanish Paprika,
Manchego Cheese, Chorizo, Roasted Garlic Oil, Scallions, and Kalamata Olives served
with Shallot Sour Cream

Mattie Melt
Grilled Cheese on White Bread with a Burger Patty, Caramelized Onions, Bacon,
Pimento Cheese, and Chipotle Ranch
posted by Stewriffic at 9:57 AM on May 5, 2015 [1 favorite]


It told me to skip lunch. Good thing I forgot to pack lunch.
posted by pemberkins at 10:02 AM on May 5, 2015 [1 favorite]


This wouldn't happen if you had WEEK LONG PREPARED MEAL PLANS WHAT IM NOT CRAZY ITS LOGICAL AND SENSIBLE YOURE CRAZY SHUT UP.
posted by The Whelk at 10:03 AM on May 5, 2015 [13 favorites]


YES! YES. A few coworkers and I try to get out of the office once a week for a morale boost, and I swear I'm the only one coming up with ideas. Fantastic.

THE WHEEL HAS SPOKEN.
posted by erratic meatsack at 10:07 AM on May 5, 2015 [1 favorite]


This wouldn't happen if you had WEEK LONG PREPARED MEAL PLANS WHAT IM NOT CRAZY ITS LOGICAL AND SENSIBLE YOURE CRAZY SHUT UP.

This is basically a necessity for me. There is, quite literally, nothing to eat around here. The one sandwich shop within a reasonable walk from my building shut down for nine months while its building was being renovated; the next closest place to eat is five miles away.
posted by backseatpilot at 10:09 AM on May 5, 2015


I still like WTFSIGTE. NOT SAFE FOR WORK. F WORD.
posted by deezil at 10:09 AM on May 5, 2015 [5 favorites]


Hungarian it is!
posted by Duffington at 10:10 AM on May 5, 2015


City Barbeque? My first spin and I get punished?

Paging Dr. Adler
posted by hal9k at 10:14 AM on May 5, 2015 [1 favorite]


Mine told me to go to a place called Mr. Wonderful's Chicken and Waffles, which I have never heard of in my life but will be visiting ASAP. Mr. Wonderful's!
posted by something something at 10:14 AM on May 5, 2015 [9 favorites]


We have a similar system. All the more-or-less acceptable lunch places are written on the whiteboard wall. Someone throws a tennis ball at the wall. We either go there or keep throwing until we settle on something we'll all accept. I want an actual wheel for the office now (no, not that wheel).
posted by zachlipton at 10:15 AM on May 5, 2015


Yeah, what I found particularly valuable was that I discovered a new place that turned out to be AMAZING, and in an area I had previously dismissed as being too far away.
posted by Stewriffic at 10:17 AM on May 5, 2015 [1 favorite]


All of the recommendations are like 6-7 blocks away and there are literally 100 other restaurants along the way.

this is about as helpful as me asking "what should i have for lunch" and someone saying "have you considered food?"
posted by poffin boffin at 10:20 AM on May 5, 2015 [4 favorites]


Why is there no twangy pointy clicky thing that points to the result? I have to think this just a bug that only happens to my browser, because it would be completely absurd to make something like this without making the twangy pointy clicky thing that points to the result.

Also Urbanspoon's restaurant slot machine is better looking and has some actually useful features (like you can set the price or cuisine). I think their app also has this feature.
posted by aubilenon at 10:23 AM on May 5, 2015 [5 favorites]


It's also really hard to decide what to eat once you actually get there.

I made this flowchart for myself a while back to help with that.
posted by phunniemee at 10:24 AM on May 5, 2015 [26 favorites]


I like the tomato /mozzarella/eggplant sandwhich from the place around the corner cause I can pretend I'm not eating pizza even though that is basically pizza.
posted by The Whelk at 10:25 AM on May 5, 2015 [1 favorite]


The wheel lied and told me one of my favorite sandwiches was now less than a mile from my office. I am now sad. Maybe I can have one tomorrow, since it is less than a mile from my house. Where I will be tomorrow.
posted by crush-onastick at 10:27 AM on May 5, 2015


Mine said I should eat leftover chicken gyro, and also that I should scrape around in the big bucket of yogurt to try to extract the center part that doesn't seem to have grown any mold yet. It said it was either that or brave that one Easter egg still in the fridge that we haven't thrown out yet why? we just don't know. These may have been subliminal suggestions because Wheel of Lunch doesn't seem to directly service my area why? we just don't know.
posted by taz at 10:30 AM on May 5, 2015 [2 favorites]


The Wheel of Lunch should always come up fish.
posted by delfin at 10:35 AM on May 5, 2015 [4 favorites]


red-snapper, very tasty!
posted by k5.user at 10:38 AM on May 5, 2015 [4 favorites]


poffin boffin: this is about as helpful as me asking "what should i have for lunch" and someone saying "have you considered food?"

At my house, there's often the request to "watch something." The options start with paint dry, grass grow, and dust settle. My son doesn't think this is funny, but he's not even four. One day, he'll appreciate the humor in this being a response I provide every time he asks to watch something.
posted by filthy light thief at 10:41 AM on May 5, 2015 [3 favorites]


I got McDonald's. I'm glad I packed something!
posted by ArbitraryAndCapricious at 10:46 AM on May 5, 2015


HI! WITCHEN IS ON METAFILTER AND HE CAN OVERTHINK A PLATE OF BEANS.
posted by zachlipton at 10:48 AM on May 5, 2015


I've spun the wheel THREE times now and it keeps sending me to sandwich places......

WHAT IF I DON'T FEEL LIKE A SANDWICH TODAY???????????????
posted by JenThePro at 10:50 AM on May 5, 2015


Plugin disabled!

It's Flash ... boo!!!
posted by freecellwizard at 10:51 AM on May 5, 2015


OBEY
posted by Kabanos at 10:51 AM on May 5, 2015


The lunch wheel of fortune told me to eat the chipotle pumpkin soup with beans and corn that I made like a month ago and hauled into work in the form of a frozen soup brick last Friday. It was delicious.

Seriously, the Whelk has it right. Just make enormous portions every time you cook, then rummage around in the freezer and grab a random selection of lunch bricks in the morning! NO MUSS NO FUSS.
posted by sciatrix at 10:51 AM on May 5, 2015 [2 favorites]


I'm just pleasantly surprised that this works for Canadian postal codes as well! I was ready to plunk in the ol' "90210" standby just to see how the thingy worked.
posted by Kabanos at 10:52 AM on May 5, 2015 [1 favorite]


How can I tell them that the place they picked is crap food?
posted by Splunge at 10:53 AM on May 5, 2015


It urged me towards a delightful looking Mexican/Peruvian place that doesn't know what the word "vegetarian" means.
posted by Drinky Die at 10:59 AM on May 5, 2015


This just so happens to have pointed me towards a calamari sandwich on a grilled Portuguese bun with red cabbage slaw and a lemon and smoked paprika aioli. Who am I to argue?
posted by northernish at 11:01 AM on May 5, 2015 [1 favorite]


Just make enormous portions every time you cook, then rummage around in the freezer and grab a random selection of lunch bricks in the morning! NO MUSS NO FUSS.

my kitchen is the size of my shower and legitimately has less counter space. "cooking" means "make a protein shake" or "eat peanut butter out of the jar".

fortunately we have a $700 vitamix at work and plenty of peanut butter
posted by poffin boffin at 11:03 AM on May 5, 2015


I just can't get over how this never got posted to MetaFilter in the 8 years since KrazyDad posted it. This place is a mystery sometimes.
posted by ob1quixote at 11:08 AM on May 5, 2015 [2 favorites]


I'd like this more if I didn't work near an airport. I don't care what the wheel says, I'm not going to the airport for lunch.
posted by zinon at 11:12 AM on May 5, 2015


We had a web 1.0 version of the Wheel of Lunch, with the very same name in my place of work in the late 90s. It was populated with our favorite places manually and lacked animation (other than, perhaps, a link to the hamster dance). But since it had been populated by us intead of by Yelp, it always produced delightful results.
posted by ursus_comiter at 11:16 AM on May 5, 2015


SKIP LUNCH
posted by vibrotronica at 11:19 AM on May 5, 2015


Holy crap, it works for UK post codes. Was not expecting that.
posted by Emperor SnooKloze at 11:22 AM on May 5, 2015


I wish there were other wheels, or better yet, auto-generated wheels depending on some terms added to the URL - WheelOf.com/lunch could become WheelOf.com/entertainment or WheelOf.com/dogparks.
posted by filthy light thief at 11:24 AM on May 5, 2015


Oh hey, I spun the place I eat at least twice a week.

Tacos El Asador ftw!
posted by Beardman at 11:26 AM on May 5, 2015


I wish there were other wheels

WheelOf.com/career
posted by Beardman at 11:27 AM on May 5, 2015


It recommended somewhere inexpensive I haven't been that looked pretty good when I looked at Yelp! Sandwiches!

Sadly, wtfsigte.com/ only knows about the somewhat meager on-campus food options. :\
posted by epersonae at 11:27 AM on May 5, 2015


i need a wheel of pants, otherwise i will just wear whichever ones are on the kitchen island chairs from yesterday.
posted by poffin boffin at 11:32 AM on May 5, 2015 [2 favorites]


Mine is giving me options that include the scooter repair shop, the dive bar on the next block, the nearby co-working space, "Smog Queen", the theater make-up store, and the Guitar Center. None of which have actual food.
posted by gingerbeer at 11:35 AM on May 5, 2015 [3 favorites]


This sent me to a really fancy fish place but it turns out there's a reasonable lunch set menu so I'm there now eating salmon
posted by The Whelk at 11:36 AM on May 5, 2015 [4 favorites]


I used a re-spin and now I have to eat shit. Whose house do I burn down?
posted by snuffleupagus at 11:46 AM on May 5, 2015 [1 favorite]


Gingerbeer, don't be too hasty; those places might have unadvertised specials. Smog Queen sounds promising. Or maybe a Guitar hero?
posted by taz at 11:47 AM on May 5, 2015


Live by the wheel, die by the wheel: Wheelof.com/houses
posted by ursus_comiter at 11:48 AM on May 5, 2015


i need a wheel of pants, otherwise i will just wear whichever ones are on the kitchen island chairs from yesterday.

The Wheel of Pants just has two options "Yes" and "No".
posted by aubilenon at 11:55 AM on May 5, 2015 [3 favorites]


Nothing near me, which is odd because I can think of about 12 places in walking distance.
posted by jeather at 11:58 AM on May 5, 2015


Good grief, it sent me to Eleven Madison Park. Does the Wheel have a couple hundred extra dollars to give me and also the ability to go back in time to make a reservation?
posted by Liesl at 11:59 AM on May 5, 2015


what do we say to the god of pants? not today
posted by The Whelk at 12:05 PM on May 5, 2015 [5 favorites]


With my iPad I didn't get any result. I guess I will have to go back to sleep and continue searching for that chicken breast, mozzarella, marinara sandwich.
posted by rankfreudlite at 12:09 PM on May 5, 2015


WHAT IF I DON'T FEEL LIKE A SANDWICH TODAY???????????????

Pssst, over on the left in that box labeled "Query:" and the default is "lunch?" You can change that. And not just to "breakfast" or "dinner," you can do things like "Mexican" or "lobster." Looks like it's pulling info from Yelp. While I regret to inform you that "not sandwiches" does not seem to be an effective search term, with a judicious choice of term you can significantly reduce the chance of spinning a sandwich place.
posted by DevilsAdvocate at 12:13 PM on May 5, 2015 [1 favorite]


I'm annoyed by the 'skip lunch' option. If I wanted to skip lunch I wouldn't be here spinning your silly wheel !
posted by Confess, Fletch at 12:41 PM on May 5, 2015 [1 favorite]


Reasonable!

(In retrospect it's not that fancy but it is super touristy but it was totally empty so win win)
posted by The Whelk at 12:42 PM on May 5, 2015


I'll be eating at Chase Bank today, apparently.
posted by SLC Mom at 12:52 PM on May 5, 2015


I'd like this more if I didn't work near an airport. I don't care what the wheel says, I'm not going to the airport for lunch.

I don't know. . . That might be just the thing you need. Go to the airport and randomly select a destination. Several hours later phone your boss and explain why you failed to show up the rest of the day because you're having lunch in Buenos Aires.
posted by rankfreudlite at 12:57 PM on May 5, 2015 [4 favorites]


OMG OTHER PEOPLE DO LUNCH BRICKS?

I AM NOT A SLOVENLY ANIMAL MAYBE?!
posted by indubitable at 1:11 PM on May 5, 2015 [3 favorites]


It's powered by Yelp although it doesn't say if they take ratings into account or not.
posted by tommasz at 1:21 PM on May 5, 2015


For the record, I ate leftovers at home. Suck it, Wheel Of Lunch!
posted by vibrotronica at 2:17 PM on May 5, 2015 [1 favorite]


I totally do lunch bricks. Even brought one in today (brown rice & chickpeas with feta, nom), but coworkers wanted to move our regular Wednesday lunch to Tuesday, so I went out for Indian buffet instead. Tasty!
posted by suelac at 2:27 PM on May 5, 2015 [1 favorite]


My first spin said Franklin Barbecue. (Pause while all the Austin folks laugh our asses off at the idea of being able to go to Franklin for lunch on a whim.)
posted by immlass at 2:35 PM on May 5, 2015 [1 favorite]


I don't understand Franklin's. It is undeniably good barbecue, but not remotely "stand around waiting in line for hours for a chance to eat it" good. It's like that cronuts thing from a few summers ago but without the novelty.
posted by sciatrix at 2:39 PM on May 5, 2015


Skip lunch! I mean, that's what I did, I don't need a wheel to tell me that.
posted by betweenthebars at 5:13 PM on May 5, 2015


It works for Singapore postal codes...sorta. Keeps pointing me to places that are well outside the 2 mile radius I set.
posted by Alnedra at 7:11 PM on May 5, 2015


It kind of works for England postcodes too, but in a similar way that it works for Singapore. Most of the places are pretty far away.
posted by Ms. Moonlight at 11:13 AM on May 6, 2015


It urged me towards a delightful looking Mexican/Peruvian place that doesn't know what the word "vegetarian" means.

If it helps, I've found over the years that, at many restaurants, that sort of label means they're willing to make a vegetarian version of that dish.

But I have also found that some Asian restaurants think vegetarian means "No chunks of beef, chicken, or pork" and are happy to labels soups and stir-fries with pork broth or fish sauce in them as "vegetarian." Many years ago when I asked a proprietor of a Chinese restaurant about this, she looked annoyed and asked, "Why are you so worried about it - are you a monk or something?"
posted by aught at 12:22 PM on May 6, 2015


About the FPP happy fun lunch wheel, it's pretty clear the app is scraping Yelp for listings, because a couple of the places on the wheel for my town are no longer restaurants (one is now just a deli / butcher, the other a dessert-only) and I've actually tried without success to get Yelp to stop listing them as viable lunch options.

On the other hand when I spun a couple times for fun, I got a pho place and and Indian buffet I would happily have lunch at any day of the week. Although for tomorrow I already have plans for Ethiopian with a friend. (Yes, we have a college town's ethnic-restaurant-embarrassment-of-riches going on here.)
posted by aught at 12:26 PM on May 6, 2015


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