WHEN BANG FOR THE BUCK IS OUTRIGHT DISGUSTING

Have you ever been told by people you worked with or friends that there's a "great place" that gives you a lot of food? Ever been led down that path? Have you ever been informed of "really good steaks" at the local "hole in the wall"?

I work pretty far from where I live, and where I live ..? Eh some good places but not as many as you'd hope for. But the place I work has a lot of places -- minus the adjective "good" before "places" ..

One such place, which will remain nameless, was attended the other evening for my birthday dinner with my wife Tara and a friend.. I was told, of course, of reasonable prices and really great steak--and a bang for the buck.

Besides the dead flies on the table my wife noted existing when we got there, it was dark and bar-like. I had hope still, though.. even though I swept dust and debris from the table in front of me.

The waitress was overly giddy--almost to a point where it appeared she was on a hallucinogen. No joke, it even appeared that she floated with a tray in her hand.

I ordered my NY Strip steak medium well.. My wife got a steak with mushroom and onions, and my friend got baked fish..

The salads were first. It appeared as though each of us had a head of lettuce along with 15 sliced carrots on top. By the time we got the meals the only thing from the salads eaten were the carrots. We never even got to the lettuce.

My friend's fish was a sizable portion, it looked OK. My steak was gigantic to the point where it was disgusting. It had the slight appearance of a horse's appendage. And finally, my wife's Delmonico, as noted by her, had so many mushrooms and onions on it that it looked like a severed head with a wig on top!

We tried plowing through the steaks..we attempted to get halfway done. The food was so-so.. but the over sized portions got to the point where each of us got sick.. It was so much that it was pointless to even keep eating. It stop being quaint. The cocaine-waitress stopped by cute. The flies stopped being funny. It all became way too much and too disgusting..

While I'll admit I'm cheap and can appreciate a bang for the buck, there's something to be said about correct portion sizes.

Incidentally, Tuesday night (the night I went) was all you can eat crab legs night. The table next to me was being served their crab legs in gigantic red buckets along with hot mugs of melted butter.

Way too much for the buck. If there is a such thing. This *nameless* restaurant had just that.

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ANNOUNCEMENT..

SOUPONMYFLY.COM is here..

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It's been a bit..

Took a few weeks off from the restaurant scene.. it is a second job after all. Came back swinging tonight with another wedding ..

A few notes of randomness with past and present on the mind:

1) Owners and managers: If you write a note for employees to do something *since you're too afraid of confrontation to say it to their faces* make sure it's spelled right. Also, don't use slang.. it's a little tacky. For example, don't say "If you're gonna start a wash load finish it" .. The proper English may be: "Please make sure all laundry is completed before leaving." That's a little better, eh?

2) Workers, employees, bartenders: Stop sneaking drinks behind the backs of owners. Seriously, you're that much of lushes that you can't wait until either a) the shift ends or b) you get home and pay for your own? You're that desperate that you have to steal from the employer?

3) Wedding planners: Please, seriously, what's with this new fad of chair covers? I know, it's been a while since this has come about.. but it's hardly helpful to servers that are tripping on gigantic oversized pink bows on the backs of chairs with covers that hang too low to the floor that you're almost tripping your way to spilled coffee or a tray of broken dishes.

Just a few thoughts..
Also .. another note: Where exactly did summer go and why didn't it want to stay just a little longer..?

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Liquor licenses in Utah down to 1!!

Ahh, yes, the fun world of government-controlled bad habits..

From the Deseret News:

New Utah restaurants hoping to offer patrons a full selection of beer, wine and spirits will soon be lining up for that privilege as only a single license of that type remains available.

The Utah Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control Commission issued seven full-service liquor licenses Thursday and will likely have to start a waiting list at its next scheduled meeting in September. Commission spokeswoman Sharon Mackay said while businesses committed to the full-service license may have to wait, there is a fallback plan when the count goes to zero.

"We'll be asking applicants to opt for a limited-service license in the event no full-service licenses are available," Mackay said. "We have eleven of those … when they're out, they can still get a beer license."

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GUEST BLOG ON BANQUET MANAGER SITE

SCHMUCKRAKER SOUP ON MY FLY: "WHEN THE FLOWERS DRY"

Thanks for the opportunity to pen a few thoughts..

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TROUBLED TIMES HAVE COME TO GORDON RAMSAY

He is replacing rib eye steak with cheaper meat in his restaurants as part of a cost-cutting drive that could cast doubt over his Melbourne venture..

The Australian HERALD SUN reporting that the restaurants are also going to carry less of a financial risk for Ramsay, who is not going to outright own them but instead lend his name..

Meanwhile, Ramsay moved into Katie Price's old home in Los Angeles

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No dancing..

Just drinking.. Interesting wedding party. Really.

Why does a wedding party have to wait until total intoxication before they choose to have fun? Isn't fun something you should have drunk or not drunk..? Just a thought..

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Been a while..

..but I'll have something later hopefully..

Wedding season continues..

Plus, will be guest-posting an entry on So You Want to be A Banquet Manager

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HELL'S KITCHEN no failure

According to the New York TIMES: The two-hour premiere of the sixth season of “Hell’s Kitchen” helped Fox finish No.1 in the ratings on Tuesday in the demographic of adults 18 to 49. According to Nielsen’s estimates, the reality show attracted a modest audience in total viewers of 6.5 million. In the 18-to-49 set, however, the show easily led the 8 p.m. hour and at 9 finished just slightly behind “America’s Got Talent” on NBC, the night’s most watched show over all (13.6 million).

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Must read: FasterTimes: When the chef is trying to kill you

Scott Gold describes his experience with a Foie gras jelly donut for $16..

"When my appetizer arrived, it was both exactly and absolutely nothing like I’d expected. The fatty liver wasn’t incorporated into the donut — it wasn’t a foie-filled pastry — nor was it some sort of mousse cleverly disguised as chocolate frosting. There was no subtlety about the dish at all, which made it that much more brazen. It was, quite literally, a house made jelly donut topped with a generous lobe of seared foie gras, with yet another lobe of foie on the side. It was fried fat topped with seared fat, plain as can be"

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