Do you ever order "The Usual"?

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GB

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By my office lunch choices are pretty limited if you don't eat fast food. There are a handful of places to eat, some of which are very good, but not enough that I can go a long time without hitting the same places. Because of this I have become somewhat of a regular at some restaurants. very rarely do I order the same thing every time I go somewhere, but at the local Thai place I have been ordering the same dish prepared the same way every time I go there. It has gotten to the point that one of the waitresses, who I usually get, now just asks me "the usual?" when I sit down. I have always seen that on TV, but never experienced it myself. i kind of like it. Have any of you ever had the same situation?
 
Yup - I have a local take out place in my town that has great Korean food. I often call and order a number 44 and a number 10. They almost always ask if "this is Janet....."
 
I used to, at a Mexican Restaurant, before it closed...
Beef Burrito, enchilda style and a plate of refried beans.

these days, I try to vary things, but the above was Mexican perfection!
 
Sort of. The local chineese take away makes a decent roast pork lo mein that I alway order.
 
I guess my question was not so much if you order the same thing every time, but more if you or the waitstaff actually say "the usual" and know what that means for you.
 
I lived in an itty bitty town and was a block away from our local diner, I could see the shop front from my doorstep. If I wanted something else for breakfast I couldn't turn on my porch light. Once the porch light came on I was having 2 eggs up, ham and hashbrowns with sourdough...it hit the table by the time I sat down. This began happening about two weeks after I started eating breakfast there. But, the waitress nor I ever got to say, "The Usual."
 
Theres a restaurant in town here that has one entree titled "the Usual" heeeheeeheee! I think thats funny.

The only place I had anything "usual" was the local Rose and Crown pub. My friend and I went every Saturday night and always had the same drinks. It got so that they even knew which of us was the DD that week! :rolleyes:
 
That is pretty damn cool PF60.

Yeah, it was. I was sad when we moved away. Of course in the coffee shop I visit I don't have to say a word or even grunt for my coffee. It's just ready for me when I hand over the money. I guess I do get stuck in a rut with some things. But, I only buy what I really like!
 
Well, GB, the waiter at this one Italian Restaurant when I worked in Vancouver didn't actually say "the usual", but he might as well have. I would look at the menu and listen to the specials and say that sounds good or what's in that and he would answer and nod and then say "so Tortellini Alfredo with mushrooms"? and I would nod and say yeah, I'll try something new next time, to which he would reply as he walked away "sure you will!".

About 6 years later I went with my husband to another Italian Restaurant and my previous waiter was the maitre d' there. He smiled when we came in and asked how I was as he took us to the table. I then saw him talking to the waiter. The waiter came to the table as we were still looking at the menu and said to me "Ma'am, your usual is not on the menu but I am sure the chef will make it for you...(not stopping to let me say a word) sir, what will you be having?" I still have my tortellini Alfredo with mushrooms, though I am usually making it myself these days.
 
Well, GB, the waiter at this one Italian Restaurant when I worked in Vancouver didn't actually say "the usual", but he might as well have. I would look at the menu and listen to the specials and say that sounds good or what's in that and he would answer and nod and then say "so Tortellini Alfredo with mushrooms"? and I would nod and say yeah, I'll try something new next time, to which he would reply as he walked away "sure you will!".

About 6 years later I went with my husband to another Italian Restaurant and my previous waiter was the maitre d' there. He smiled when we came in and asked how I was as he took us to the table. I then saw him talking to the waiter. The waiter came to the table as we were still looking at the menu and said to me "Ma'am, your usual is not on the menu but I am sure the chef will make it for you...(not stopping to let me say a word) sir, what will you be having?" I still have my tortellini Alfredo with mushrooms, though I am usually making it myself these days.

Now THAT is cool! :LOL:
 
I don't say "The Usual", but I get asked if I want my usual.

It's the comfortable and friendly atmosphere that draws me to this particular cafe on the town square. They know me by name, and I know them... and their husband's names, and their kid's names. It's certainly not the food, but I overlook that. And when I glance around at the other patrons, I not only see familiar faces, but quite often people I know, from church, from work, neighbors, clerks from other stores, etc. It's a nice feeling, one of belonging to a community, unlike days when I lived in other places on either coast, where after having been there for three years or more, I wouldn't recognize my next door neighbors if I bumped into them on the street!

Give me a "Usual" place any day!!!
 
During the summer I eat breakfast at a little diner near the boat quite a bit. When I walk in the conversation typically goes:

Waitress; The usual?
Me: Yes, thank you.
Waitress: Good because it is already cooking.

I can not even sneak up on them. :D
 
Just don't order "The Usual" so much that they bring you that no matter what you order.
 
Just don't order "The Usual" so much that they bring you that no matter what you order.

I have no idea what you're talking about. I've never had that happen... I've never seen that happen... I don't know of anyone that has had that happen to... :glare: If that has happened to you, then maybe they just don't listen to you, and then you can answer them with your feet by walking out.
 
Not with food. My local restauranteurs may know that I like my beef rare, but I don't order the same thing every time. Maybe because I can't afford to eat out more than once a week or so. But they DO know what I'm looking for, and they DO know that I'm bring friends who may bring more business their way. And they DO know my drink, and that of my husband and my friends. But none of us eat the same food at the same time every day.
 
they usually pour my drinks before i get food & they're usually correct. be that a sprite from mcD's or a draft from a sammich place.
 
I once lived in an apartment in Arlington, VA (suburban DC for those who aren't familiar). It was a gracious old building and there were a couple of old men who hung out in the lobby. I would always joke with them on my way in and out and in (it was the kind of place that had a manager sitting behind a desk who handed you your mail). For months this man would tell me I was beautiful (not even close) and he wished he was younger so he could take me on a date. Well, one day I turned to him and said I hadn't had a date in months, maybe years, and if he wanted to take me on a date, take me. We went to an Italian restaurant in the neighborhood and the man ordered his usual which wasn't on the menu. I think it was called veal a la Francaise. It was a very elegant evening, and it was the first time I'd ever known anyone to order something that wasn't on the menu. It was a pretty fancy restaurant and I was impressed. I was in my early 20s and he was pushing 80 and we had a grand time.
 
Being a vegetarian, its difficult for me to find a restaurant that serves vegetarian hot and sour soup. About 20 years ago I found this one place that makes it incredible. Ive been ordering 3 quarts of vegetarian hot and sour soup from this place on a monthly basis ever since i moved back to new york ( about 15 years ago). Now, when I go to pick it up, I am referred to as " Mr. Hot and Sour soup" and have almost reached celebrity status there when I bring my family to eat dinner there. And on the phone, once they hear the " can I have 3 veg hot and sour soups to go" I get the "oh, how are you, hows the family ...."

Oh yeah, and also I buy a block of feta cheese from the deli every sunday morning at about 7am ( i get there early because i hate waiting on lines, so Im always the first one). Now its to the point that when they see me enter the store, they yell across the store " the usual" and I reply, of course. Last year, one guy actually wished me a ' happy greek easter" . He assumed I ws greek because of all the feta i order. I didnt have the heart to tell him that i wasnt.
 
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