Gimicky Restaurants

[luvs]

sorry 'bout your disappointment, Geebs.
we have 2 similar restaurants, one which is pretty good- but they did recently changed name, which kind of worries me. Health Dept. reasons? or tax reasons?
second is a horrible one that i wouldn't eat again for love nor money. we literally each took a bite and asked for a refund, exxxplaining that the food was not up to par. they refunded most of the cash.

 

[luvs]

How about those "King Arthur" types of places where you have to eat everything with your hands like "ye dayes of olde"? Never been to one.

I went to one of those a few years back. It actually was a very good time. Sort of dinner theater type entertainment. The food was ok. Nothing special, but not bad. The atmosphere was a blast though. You had to ask the kings permission to go to the bathroom. He would always let the ladies go, but the guys had to perform to get permission. Thankfully I can hold it for a long time

That is one gimmicky place that I would go to again. We had a really great time and it was certainly unique.

we had a blast there as kids down in florida.

 

[norgeskog]

I too think this sounds like Manchurian BBQ which I have not seen around for 20 years but I enjoyed it then. Never been to the Rain Forrest, but my daughter has. Up here I cannot think of any restaurants which fall into that category. I used to go to a place in Long Beach where you picked your own raw steak and BBQ'd/grilled it yourself, then went to a buffet line for the salad, potatoes, vegies, dessert, etc. They served drinks and water. But only the salad was eat as much as you wanted. It soon lost its glamor as people were always taking the wrong steak so you had to stand guard. Boring

 

[Haggis]

and what if there is a large bug on your plate?

Well you won't know until it is in your mouth, and you might mistake it for a random crunchy vegetable :P.

That is until the lights come on and you see a cockroaches leg on your plate.

 

[norgeskog]

and what if there is a large bug on your plate?

Well you won't know until it is in your mouth, and you might mistake it for a random crunchy vegetable :P.

That is until the lights come on and you see a cockroaches leg on your plate.

Finding a large bug on your plate is far better than finding half of one.

 

[AllenOK]

I've never been to a Mongolian BBQ, but, at the club I work at, we do a similar type buffet usually about once a month. I'm the guy that cooks for it. Yee haa! Actually, it is kind of fun. I only have four burners to work with, and I have a pretty good system down, and if I get really swamped, I can call for help.

We also do a pasta bar, similar to the Mongolian thing. You pick your toppings, I'll saute it, add your sauce and pasta of choice, and away we go!

I've only been to a couple "gimick" places, a place down in OK called Casa Bonita, which is rather large, and has many, many rooms to sit in, each room with a different theme, such as a rain-forest/waterfall room, a room that looks like a market street, a room that resembles a the inner courtyard of a Hacienda, etc. The food's ok, and the atmosphere is great.

The other place is a Joe's Crab Shack. I wasn't terribly impressed with the concept. I went there a couple times. The first time was a Friday night. I had to sit and wait about an hour before I could get a seat. While I was waiting, I could see the bus staff and wait staff trying to clear tables, then everybody dropped everything to go do a line dance where everyone could see. I'm hungry, and they're all dancing for entertainment. Sheesh. The food didn't impress me much, either. I can meet or beat most of what they made.

 

[Lugaru]

I totally agree with you about Fire and Ice… we have a couple in Boston and despite every one telling me its their favorite restaurant the idea comes off as unappealing and counter intuitive. Bucca di Peppo sounds great… I need to look into that. Those “Ye olde” style places sound a little over the top but might be fun. One place I want to try around here is “Dicks last resort” where the food has obscene names, comes in buckets, the waitresses are trained to be rude and they play old southern music all the time.

Personally I worked for a restaurant called Marche Movenpick. I usually don’t badmouth ex-employers as Im the loyal till death sort but the marche was a death trap! Bad pay, poor training, sometimes they tried to make you work for stock instead of money (who wants stock when you can see the place crumble around you?!) and all in all they ripped the employees off really bad (for example taking 15 from your salary a week to pay for your meals in the store… of course this only counted for your meals during a shift and even then they tried to keep track of your portions).

On to the gimmicks though… the place was set up like an “European market” which I guess means that you walk around with a tray and ask the chefs at each station (salad station, pasta station, grill station, generic asian station, sushi station, etc) for whatever catches your eye and they stamp a cardboard “menu” that you have depending on the price. After eating your meal in one of the 8 themed areas (6 of them are usually closed, reserved or packed) such as the “French sidewalk cafe” or the “Spanish hacienda” you go to the register on your way out and realize that this system enables you to spend a lot of money on food without realizing it until its too late! Woo hoo! Not only that, but there’s a 15% “gratuity” charge that is also added at the register, regardless of good, bad or even no service. The managers keept 99% of the “tip” money intended for the chefs and when I finally pulled out the number sheets (I stole a password from a manager) my manager threatened to get me fired and then offered me a decent cut. I got him fired instead (safety issues, racial harassment, theft, etc) and got out immediately. Last time I went there 70 percent of their ornamental stuff (such as the waterfall) where shut off and they where super understaffed and empty.

 

[Ishbel]

A few years ago, I used to live near this place in Hatfield...

http://www.zf89.dial.pipex.com/banquets/index.htm

At one time, every SINGLE birthday celebration, office event, wedding etc seemed to be celebrated with an Elizabethan banquet at Hatfield House.... Serving wenches, etc.... First time: fun.... but once would certainly have been enough, in my opinion!

 

[Catseye]

Crewsk, haven't seen or heard of your experience, but it reminded me of a place in Sikeston, Missouri. It was sort of a Cracker Barrel type of place, with similar decor and food. The difference was the waiters and waitresses all made wisecracks (to an elderly gentleman and his wife: "And what will your daughter be having?") They also walked around the room with a basket of dinner rolls and would only throw them to you if you wanted more. Wish I could remember the name of the place - it was advertised on the highway for miles before you got there (The Home of Throwed Rolls").

Lambert's Cafe. It's written up in a wonderful cookbook I have by food writers Jane and Michael Stern called A Taste of America. Here's what they say in the opening:

"Heads up! Here it comes: You've got one second, maybe two, to look up from the table once the Lambert's roll boy calls to you, before he begins throwing rolls your way. They come sailing across the dining room one at a time, high over the heads of other tables who have already gotten theirs.

"Careful! As soon as you catch that roll, put it down. It's hot, so you want to let it rest before you bite. But pretty soon, before you have a chance to tear it open and let some steam escape, along comes Ol' Norm Lambert with his bucket of sorghum molasses and a ladle. He whisks your roll off the table, pulls it open and dollops sweet sorghum inside.

"Now the roll is impossible: hot and dripping sticky amber goo, oozing all over the oilcloth covered table (at this early point during dinner, there aren't yet any plates). But somehow you manage to heft the roll and the sorghum to your mouth -- and it's swell."

They also provide the recipe for the throwed rolls.


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