Top 11 Annoying Restaurant Trends

Annoying Restaurant Trends

We Could Do Without...

Hey, we're pretty easy customers to please. We don't get wacky with special order demands, and always tip pretty darned well. Still, we can't help wishing a few restaurants trends were permanently off the menu. Read on for our thoughts on daily specials, bottled water and the ubiquity of freshly ground black pepper.




Recitation of the Specials

Would it really be so hard to print it out or write it on a board? That way we'd actually remember if the beet 'n chive compote came with the lamb or the duck, and wouldn't have to feel like such a stingy nincompoop for asking the server to say the price out loud.

I'm Sorry, We Just Sold the Last One

Yet you taunted us with the five-minute description just now?


Bottled Water Up-selling

Putting aside the negative environmental impact of all that excess glass & plastic, are restaurateurs implying that the H20 they're using to cleanse the veggies and cook the pasta is some how sub-palatable, or are they just trying to dunk the customer? We'd rather splash our cash on desserts and apps than pour it out on something that should just flow freely from the tap.

Up-selling In General

While we're certainly sympathetic to waitstaff who, due to the untenable circumstance of sub-minimum wage base pay, rely on percentage-based tips, but really -- if we wanted to start with an appetizer, we would have ordered one.

Listing the Birthplace of Every Ingredient

"Organic Peruvian Tangelo Seared Aged Newark Wildebeest on a Bed of Wilted Gowanus Farms Pre-Natal Endive"

We're loco for locavorism and super-psyched for sustainable organic farming, but it doesn't taste any better just 'cause we know the name of our tenderloin's first cousin and where it went to summer camp.

The 'Tini Suffix

Flirtini. Chocotini. PB&Jtini. Just 'cause it's in the V-shaped glass does not a martini make it. Certainly we're huge fans of the mixological madmen shaking up Lavender Wonderbread Fizzes and Cranberry Clorox Collinses at our favorite gastro-boites, but if there's anything other than gin*, vermouth and an olive or a twist in the glass, it may be a drink, or even a cocktail, but it ain't a 'Tini. (We blame Sex and the City, but that's a whole 'nother story.)

*Vodka martinis are vodka martinis. A plain ol' martini is gin-based. Harrumph.

Would You Like Freshly Ground Black Pepper On That?

No. No we wouldn't. And you're scaring us with that Louisville Slugger of a spice grinder.

Trios & Duos

"Heirloom Pork Prepared Two Ways with a Roulette of Seasonal Carrots"

Is the chef hedging his bets? Did he or she run short of some critical ingredient and have to go halvsies? One of the bunch is bound to outshine the other, making you wish you'd gotten a stab at a full-sized portion of that instead.

Over-pouring

Attentive service is certainly something to be celebrated, but the slow 'n steady sippers among us are kinda getting corked when we're sharing a bottle of wine with someone who's quicker on the chug than us. If our servers would just give us a chance to catch up instead of topping off after every couple of sips, the whole party might stand a chance of staying sober through dessert.