Not a big shocker: Restaurants choosing to sell cheap fish during recession

I've seen it done.. Tilapia crusted with some form of lemon or other flavoring.. Tilapia being one of the cheapest fish to buy still selling for over 10 bucks a meal at restaurants.. Same thing with haddock dinners: They are being replaced by cod, cod, and more cod. Tastes the same, butter and lemon added and few notice--the price can stay the same too, even though cod is reasonably priced and much lower than fresh haddock.

The new world of dining out in restaurants offering up cheap ocean meals--good luck on trying to find fish without the high amounts of mercury or chemicals added. Farm fresh? Gag me with a fishing hook!

An NBC affiliate is detailing out more about the fishy story. The news station says that Kansas City restaurants are not selling the fish that they say they are on their menus..

The station even caught restaurants serving red snapper.. but it wasn't that at all.

You are what you eat--but not always what you think you're paying for.

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300 prom kids tonight..

oh boy.. I'm sighing just thinking about the dysfunction serving this party is going to cause..

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Skyrocketing sodium..

Should come as no shocker..
Simply take a peak at your restaurant's powdered grazy mixture.. Normally about 600 mg of sodium or so per tea spoon---TEA SPOON!

And now a health group is focusing on sodium levels in chain restaurants ..

Red Lobster doesn't fair so well, neither does Olive Garden (6,176 mg of salt!?!?!?)

Jack in the Box should stay in the box..

Here's the full study..

The winner of the saltiest by the way? Red Lobster's Admiral's feast.. Over 7,000 mg of sodium in one sitting.

Don't stroke out.

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Did it.. made it through..

Mother's Day 2009 actually went off without a major hitch at the restaurant. Surprising, especially with the fact we did 400 people in a little under 3 hours at brunch--with only about 5 tables of 20 people waiting for more than 30 minutes for their reserved table to be cleaned.

I still don't take back my anti-Mother's Day tirade..

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I CAN'T SLEEP..

The tension is building. We're almost there: The worst day in the world of restaurants .. or the best, depending on your thought..
I have written about this before..

We'll do it.. It may be rough. But before we know it, it will be over.

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...The eve of destruction..

Prepped for 4 hours today for tomorrow.. majorly busy day coming for all.

May God be with you all -- and prepare tonight.. Drink the night away .. but not enough to miss work.

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When the country clubber loses his club

..It's a sad state of mind. When everything you once knew that was steady is now shaky--and often times gone..

The country clubber, once donned with golf clubs and fancy sweaters, sipped away at his highballs and Manhattans as he gossipped with other rich white alpha males throughout the club. The waitresses could have been dead behind the bar and they'd still ask for a drink.. The bartenders could have passed out and the country clubber would have thought the fallen comrade was a simple area rug, just something to be walked on -- and God forbid tipped.

But the country clubber has lost his club.. They are a dying art. Fewer and fewer places are members only.. more and more places are opening to the public. Yes, the masses, those asses.

You can tell when the former country clubber enters the room.. He looks glaringly at the commoners eating dinner--forgetting for a second that they are allowed in the room now .. The 20th century members only late night smokey filled bars are gone.. Enter the new generation of allowing those of different races and genders to eat at the tables that were once reserved for only the privileged and powerful.

The country clubber often gets confused.. The attention is not only on him at the bar anymore. Now there are more customers.. people are coming from all walks of life. And with them, the riff raff.. the problems.. the middle class! eeek!!

The country clubbers are a dying breed.. Once mighty and powerful on earth, now they scatter like rats in a cornfield.. desperate to swallow that last gulp of liquor with friends.. very rich, white friends.

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...the dreaded weekend...

Get ready..
Prepare..
It's almost here.
Mother's Day 2009 is going to come in with a bang and go out with a blast.. tables will wait, customers will line up. Moms with oxygen tanks and walkers, wheel chairs and sons with Dockers.. All in line for prime rib and fine wine..
They'll go to the home,
to pick up their moms..
They'll bring her back after dinner..
And pat themselves on the back.

But mom doesn't want prime rib..
She doesn't want soup..
She doesn't want wine..
Guess what she wants? Attention.. and thanks. And praise..

As a server, I will tell you the worst day to be a customer is Mother's Day .. Do mom a favor, see her more than just one day a year. And if you can't, make sure the one day you see her don't spend it in a loud and crowded restaurant..

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..Just a quick thought..

Why do hot dog and food truck vendors look so shady?

Not saying they are.. Just saying most look it.

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The swine flu food

I've been updating constantly all weekend about the swine flu outbreak at the Schmuckraker site, and I'm about ready to go nuts from just reading about it. See, I'm a little bit of a hypochondriac.. So the outbreak of a global pandemic is probably enough to send me soaring into a state of personal panic.

But one interesting aspect a little related to the point of the Soup on my Fly blog: Food. And in this matter, pork.

It appears, according to the government, that you can't get the swine flu from eating pork. Just as, I suppose you can't get the bird flu from eating bird..?

I guess.

But I can almost think a drop off on pork sales will occur.. Good thing the news of the swine flu didn't really start getting covered until after Easter, when hams across America were prepped with the finest drizzles of pineapples and brown sugar..

I think there is also a good question as to whether something like this, if it continues to dominate the news this week, will start to make even more people consider staying home from restaurants..?

Too early to tell. Not too early to take precautions.. And never too late to eat a pork sandwich.

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