Have you ever not tipped?

[quote name='praxus07']Is that why on all those celebrity chef shows, especially anything with Ramsay, they always have blood coming out of their red meats? I'm always yelling at the tv that they're going to give their customers food poisoning. To me if it's not cooked through it's raw, which equals not cooked, which equals getting the squirts from bacteria in the raw meat.[/QUOTE]

Dude... I'm honestly baffled. Simply baffled. A little "blood" (which is probably mostly other juices and perhaps some marinades depending on what the meat is) isn't going to get anyone sick. I mean, haven't you ever noticed for beefs you have your degrees of cooking (rare, medium rare, medium, medium-well, well done)? People aren't getting sick eating it rare. You can eat beef raw and be fine provided its agreeable to you. It's not like poultry where you could get salmonella from it if its undercooked. To cook something like prime rib or filet mignon above medium is to essentially nuke those types of meat. Some beef enthusiasts would even say medium is overcooking those cuts. Some people like their meat well done but I think most people would say meat tastes the best when you cook it properly around medium rare or rare. You can literally taste the difference. The internet is your friend. Read up about beef and how its best cooked. Don't pay attention to that Red Robin nonsense of "pink" or "not pink." They're probably just heating up frozen beef patties anyway so its probably not very tasty beef to begin with. But go to a restaurant and order a burger or a steak medium or medium rare next time. You won't die and it'll probably taste better than what you've been eating all of these years.
 
[quote name='kodave']Dude... I'm honestly baffled. Simply baffled. A little "blood" (which is probably mostly other juices and perhaps some marinades depending on what the meat is) isn't going to get anyone sick. I mean, haven't you ever noticed for beefs you have your degrees of cooking (rare, medium rare, medium, medium-well, well done)? People aren't getting sick eating it rare. You can eat beef raw and be fine provided its agreeable to you. It's not like poultry where you could get salmonella from it if its undercooked. To cook something like prime rib or filet mignon above medium is to essentially nuke those types of meat. Some beef enthusiasts would even say medium is overcooking those cuts. Some people like their meat well done but I think most people would say meat tastes the best when you cook it properly around medium rare or rare. You can literally taste the difference. The internet is your friend. Read up about beef and how its best cooked. Don't pay attention to that Red Robin nonsense of "pink" or "not pink." They're probably just heating up frozen beef patties anyway so its probably not very tasty beef to begin with. But go to a restaurant and order a burger or a steak medium or medium rare next time. You won't die and it'll probably taste better than what you've been eating all of these years.[/QUOTE]

I don't care who says beef should be undercooked, I'd never eat it if it wasn't brown all the way through (preferably just this side of becoming charcoal), I don't care what cut it is. Just the thought of eating undercooked (any pink or red at all) beef turns my stomach, it's disgusting.
 
[quote name='Habbler']Also, your mailman and the garbage men expect a gift of cash for Christmas. FYI[/QUOTE]

We use to have an EXCELLENT mailman...first name basis, sit and chat for 10 to 20 mins when he would deliver on some days....it got to the point where we gave him booze and cigars at xmas.

When we found out he was retiring, he told us to be careful because people were begging for his route because we werent the only ones tipping him etc...Needless to say service went to shit when he left.
 
[quote name='praxus07']I don't care who says beef should be undercooked, I'd never eat it if it wasn't brown all the way through (preferably just this side of becoming charcoal), I don't care what cut it is. Just the thought of eating undercooked (any pink or red at all) beef turns my stomach, it's disgusting.[/QUOTE]

Get medium-well and work down. If you get used to it but still don't like it, then stop. I was never a big fan of undercooked meat either, but I worked myself down. I don't like the taste and texture below medium though -- it has a taurine/sour taste.

As for burgers, you're supposed to get them medium-well/well, because grinding beef introduces bacteria otherwise not there in steak. In steak, you just have to cook the outside to be relatively safe, though some people eat them "blue" but are still fine.
 
Raw horse is served as steak tartare, sometimes with a raw quail egg on top. Considered a delicacy.

Also, throw a buck at ToGo people. Its usually a waiter or (I forget what they're called) the person taking the plates from the cooks and putting final touches on presentation before handing off to servers that is taking extra time to package as ToGo and get it to the pickup location that is normally spent on dine in customers. (They ARE going out of the way for you is my point)
 
I understand if you're queasy about ground beef, especially how it's pre-processed and sold in this country. I barely eat hamburgers anymore.

But if you eat your steaks well done, you're completely missing out and are a victim of (how do I say this without sounding as douchey as kodave did..) poor advice as a kid or as an adult. I imagine if you ordered a well done steak in a good steak house (yeah, not outback), the entire kitchen sneers and the owner punches a kitten.

Beef isn't like pork or chicken, it can be safely eaten raw, especially the finer cuts. The worst is when you buy good steak for the bbq and someone tells you to cook it well done. Well fuck, that was $15/lb. If I'd known you'd want it well done, I'd have bought you london broil.

Same with sushi. Sushi chefs are trained to spot parasites and raw fish is totally safe. I prefer it to cooked fish. (Of course, the kid preparing it at your supermarket counter might not be as trained.)
 
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Comes down to this for me:

I almost never tip at a place that has the lame tip jar (like a coffee shop). I only order black coffee anyway.

Restaurants: I start at 20% usually. It's a sliding scale. If the wait staff is friendly, timely and does their job correctly, it can go up. Likewise, if they take a long time, are rude or just don't care, the tip goes down.

Bars: I will leave a dollar or two behind every now and then. Tipping at bars usually nets free drinks or preferred service when it's crowded.

Casinos: I tip the wait staff every other drink or so. And I definitely throw the dealer a chip or two every now and then.

At a restaurant where the service is absolutely lousy, I leave them a little pocket change...just so they know I'm a tipper (and maybe they'll realize their service warranted practically no tip). And, I do not penalize wait staff for cold or under/overcooked food. That's not really their fault. (Exception: If I can see the food on the counter, and for some reason it sits there for a while, that's the server's fault.)
 
Do you know the difference between a well-done filet and well-done chuck meat?

About $15.
:D

I had to work my gf and her brother down from well-done to medium. They didn't grow up eating steak and thought it was disgusting too. I can't take all the credit though because my gf discovered rare at Fogo De Chao and her brother had steak tartare with his friends, but I'll be damned if I have to microwave another cut of rib-eye because they're squeamish about a little red.
 
If it's truly awful service I tip .01. That lets them know I'm not forgetting to tip just that their service sucked.
 
[quote name='elessar123']As for burgers, you're supposed to get them medium-well/well, because grinding beef introduces bacteria otherwise not there in steak.[/QUOTE]

That's not entirely true. It all depends on how the meat is processed (and what it's processed with), packaged and cared for. Beef doesn't suddenly become chicken once you grind it. You can still cook the meat at a temperature that kills any harmful bacteria but doesn't nuke the meat from pink to nearly all brown all the way through. Think about how many millions of Americans order their burgers cooked medium or even medium rare. There's no epidemic of people getting sick from e. coli from medium-cooked hamburgers. Or if there is, its certainly being covered up. Conspiracy. I'd imagine people are more likely to get sick from someone mishandling ground beef, or from a poor quality of beef, rather than from not having it cooked medium-well. But if you're not putting the ground beef together for a patty of some sort, like if its for meat loaf or just ground beef to go in something like tacos or stuffed peppers, then you definitely cook it all the way through like the recipes call for.


[quote name='confoosious']But if you eat your steaks well done, you're completely missing out and are a victim of (how do I say this without sounding as douchey as kodave did..) poor advice as a kid or as an adult. I imagine if you ordered a well done steak in a good steak house (yeah, not outback), the entire kitchen sneers and the owner punches a kitten.[/QUOTE]

Please people, think of the kittens.


And if you're watching TV shows where legitimate high level or "master" chefs who spent years studying and honing their craft, years in school, years running their own kitchens and restaurants... Don't you think they know how to safely cook a piece of meat that's not well done? It's their job. It's their passion. It's their expertise. They're not poisoning people.

And absolutely, eating no red meat or less red meat is the way to go.
 
[quote name='confoosious']anyone got a steak tartare recipe?[/QUOTE]
The only way I've had it is with soy sauce, sesame oil, and scallions with a side of seaweed salad.

Oh, and one place made it with some lemon sauce, but I didn't like it one bit. This was a fusion restaurant though.

edit: Or a simpler one would be to do it Vietnamese style with Sriracha and fresh limes.
 
I'll only not tip if service is awful. In that case I usually complain to a manager and don't eat there again. I think that's only happened twice.

I pretty much always tip 20% for good service, and more for great service. If service is a little substandard I'll drop down to 10-15%.

Coffee shops etc. I usually just through my change and maybe a $1 in the jar. Haircuts I tip 20% or a tad more (usually tip $3 on my $14 hair cuts).


As for steaks/beefs, I usually get my steaks medium, burgers medium well. Also love sushi.
 
[quote name='praxus07']To me when you tell a server there's a problem, the answer is not to nuke it. Same happened there with a burger cooked right, it was just really cold, when I complained the server just nuked it again.[/QUOTE]


I got news for you, you likely eat nuked food 100x more often than you think you do in a restaurant. It's just that you only realize it when it comes back super quick or some idiot over does it and dries out the food. A microwave is one of the most used tools in a restaurant kitchen, despite whatever the shows on Food Network want to let you believe.

I used to work in a gourmet restaurant that did a prime rib special on the weekend. Thirty dollars a plate and foodies would come in and constantly want to speak to the head chef so they could tell him how utterly amazing the prime rib was. What they didn't know was that the entire rib was cooked in the oven the day before to just below rare temperatures and put in the fridge. When an order came in, the piece of prime rib was microwaved for a length of time that was appropriate for to the temperature the customer wanted (I think I microwaved one for 8 minutes one time because a customer wanted WELL done) and then seared on a hot cast iron skillet for a minute or two.

That's just one example, there's ways you can use it for just about anything. Potatoes, rice, lots of things were done in the microwave to save time and space. The two other restaurants I worked at weren't as nice but they used the microwave just as much. I was surprised at first by how much it was used and asked the other cooks/chefs and it's pretty much common practice.
 
[quote name='blindinglights']I got news for you, you likely eat nuked food 100x more often than you think you do in a restaurant. It's just that you only realize it when it comes back super quick or some idiot over does it and dries out the food. A microwave is one of the most used tools in a restaurant kitchen, despite whatever the shows on Food Network want to let you believe.

I used to work in a gourmet restaurant that did a prime rib special on the weekend. Thirty dollars a plate and foodies would come in and constantly want to speak to the head chef so they could tell him how utterly amazing the prime rib was. What they didn't know was that the entire rib was cooked in the oven the day before to just below rare temperatures and put in the fridge. When an order came in, the piece of prime rib was microwaved for a length of time that was appropriate for to the temperature the customer wanted (I think I microwaved one for 8 minutes one time because a customer wanted WELL done) and then seared on a hot cast iron skillet for a minute or two.

That's just one example, there's ways you can use it for just about anything. Potatoes, rice, lots of things were done in the microwave to save time and space. The two other restaurants I worked at weren't as nice but they used the microwave just as much. I was surprised at first by how much it was used and asked the other cooks/chefs and it's pretty much common practice.[/QUOTE]

Yep, and pretty much anything from any kind of chain restaurant like TGIFridays, Applebees, Red Robin, etc. is pretty much pre-cooked and frozen in a bag, then heated up by boiling or microwaving. Even stuff like the burger patties often are frozen then heated up. Small diners are often big on the microwaving stuff too. That's why they can basically hire anyone to be a "cook" instead of having a trained "head chef" or whatever you want to call it. That's also why everything in those places is salted beyond belief and the calorie count for dishes is through the roof, because of all of the preservatives. It also helps uniformity across the brand. The cheese burger you order at Red Robin is going to taste the same in California as it does in Texas as it does in New York.

Usually you can just ask your server how the food is prepared in the kitchen (fresh or pre-prepared) and they'll tell you.

I want to say "You get what you pay for" but you really don't. Prices are outrageous for the quality of food you get at most chain places. Just like red meat, its probably better not to eat at those places often if at all. But often you don't have a lot of choice, or hell, maybe you do like them and that's fine too. America.
 
Yeah, I pretty much avoid chain places like the plague.

Get better food at local joints, and support a local business instead of a big corporation.
 
[quote name='kodave']Yep, and pretty much anything from any kind of chain restaurant like TGIFridays, Applebees, Red Robin, etc. is pretty much pre-cooked and frozen in a bag, then heated up by boiling or microwaving. Even stuff like the burger patties often are frozen then heated up. Small diners are often big on the microwaving stuff too. That's why they can basically hire anyone to be a "cook" instead of having a trained "head chef" or whatever you want to call it. That's also why everything in those places is salted beyond belief and the calorie count for dishes is through the roof, because of all of the preservatives. It also helps uniformity across the brand. The cheese burger you order at Red Robin is going to taste the same in California as it does in Texas as it does in New York.

Usually you can just ask your server how the food is prepared in the kitchen (fresh or pre-prepared) and they'll tell you.

I want to say "You get what you pay for" but you really don't. Prices are outrageous for the quality of food you get at most chain places. Just like red meat, its probably better not to eat at those places often if at all. But often you don't have a lot of choice, or hell, maybe you do like them and that's fine too. America.[/QUOTE]
Thanks for ruining the fantasy, asshole!:lol:

But yeah, I can't think of any chain that doesn't have their food frozen and their sauce out of large pre-packaged tubs..
 
[quote name='dohdough']The only way I've had it is with soy sauce, sesame oil, and scallions with a side of seaweed salad.

Oh, and one place made it with some lemon sauce, but I didn't like it one bit. This was a fusion restaurant though.

edit: Or a simpler one would be to do it Vietnamese style with Sriracha and fresh limes.[/QUOTE]

fuck it, I'm going out to dinner tonight.


[quote name='blindinglights']

I used to work in a gourmet restaurant that did a prime rib special on the weekend. Thirty dollars a plate and foodies would come in and constantly want to speak to the head chef so they could tell him how utterly amazing the prime rib was. What they didn't know was that the entire rib was cooked in the oven the day before to just below rare temperatures and put in the fridge. When an order came in, the piece of prime rib was microwaved for a length of time that was appropriate for to the temperature the customer wanted (I think I microwaved one for 8 minutes one time because a customer wanted WELL done) and then seared on a hot cast iron skillet for a minute or two.
[/QUOTE]

Is this how Outback does it? I went to outback once and ordered the prime rib medium rare and they told me they were out of medium rare but I could have medium well. I didn't understand how what was possible but the above explanation might solve it.

@kodave - this is why I avoid chain restaurants like TGIF, Applebees, Chilis, Shenanigans, etc. For fast food, I only do Chickfila. I do like Buffalo Wild Wings though -- anyone know if their wings are prepared in the kitchen?
 
Well I'll never eat steak tartar now i guess.:puke:

I mean I like my steaks cooked medium, but I do like them cooked. Just as an example though, my mother won't eat beef unless it's charred like a briquette basically. Actually that goes for pretty much any meat.
 
My wife overtips. She has a $1 tip per drink rule. For things like a $4 mocha from those ubiquitous coffee carts. Just seems excessive to me. (And I'm cheap)
 
[quote name='Habbler']Also, your mailman and the garbage men expect a gift of cash for Christmas. FYI[/QUOTE]

I never knew this. As a CAG regular if that's true then I'm long overdue as I've ordered tons of games over the years yikes....
 
[quote name='Clak']Well I'll never eat steak tartar now i guess.:puke:

I mean I like my steaks cooked medium, but I do like them cooked. Just as an example though, my mother won't eat beef unless it's charred like a briquette basically. Actually that goes for pretty much any meat.[/QUOTE]
It's worth a try. You might be surprised by it in a good way. Lot's of places do it with a quick sear too. I'm not a huge fan of steak tartare either, but I have no problem with tuna. I'd stay away from kobe-style tartare as a first try unless you don't have a problem with cold fat.
 
[quote name='Donut2922']I never knew this. As a CAG regular if that's true then I'm long overdue as I've ordered tons of games over the years yikes....[/QUOTE]

Where I live, the mail carrier is changed at least a few times a year. It hasn't been the same person consistently for a very long time. They're really not supposed to accept the tips either from what I've read other postal workers say. I had the same UPS delivery woman for years (and she got Christmas tips) and now its always someone different. If you think your mail carrier is doing exceptional or going the extra mile for you, then just tip them shortly thereafter. Why wait until Christmas?

And as far as trash men go, where I live, we put our stuff into giant trash cans. The trash trucks drive around, extend a robotic arm, and dump the trash into the back. They only ever get out of the truck if they knock a bin over when putting it back down. I don't think they expect tips and I certainly don't think anyone gives them tips. But that's a very different set up compared to the "old" style of trash men where they hang off the back of trucks and have to manually throw your trash into the back. Especially in areas where it snows, I'm sure that job is even shittier. I'm sure tipping is more common with that style of service versus some random dude just driving the truck with a robot arm.
 
mailmen can accept tips. But not over $20.

Every year I give our guy a $20 target card.

[quote name='Clak']Well I'll never eat steak tartar now i guess.:puke:

I mean I like my steaks cooked medium, but I do like them cooked. Just as an example though, my mother won't eat beef unless it's charred like a briquette basically. Actually that goes for pretty much any meat.[/QUOTE]


have you ever had ceviche? same thing. it's "cooked" in spices and lemon juice and other acids.

----

this has been a great thread. I pray it doesn't get ruined by the "I never tip" jerks.
 
[quote name='Clak']Well I'll never eat steak tartar now i guess.:puke:

I mean I like my steaks cooked medium, but I do like them cooked. Just as an example though, my mother won't eat beef unless it's charred like a briquette basically. Actually that goes for pretty much any meat.[/QUOTE]


have you ever had ceviche? same thing. it's "cooked" in spices and lemon juice and other acids.
 
[quote name='kodave']Where I live, the mail carrier is changed at least a few times a year. It hasn't been the same person consistently for a very long time. They're really not supposed to accept the tips either from what I've read other postal workers say. I had the same UPS delivery woman for years (and she got Christmas tips) and now its always someone different. If you think your mail carrier is doing exceptional or going the extra mile for you, then just tip them shortly thereafter. Why wait until Christmas?

And as far as trash men go, where I live, we put our stuff into giant trash cans. The trash trucks drive around, extend a robotic arm, and dump the trash into the back. They only ever get out of the truck if they knock a bin over when putting it back down. I don't think they expect tips and I certainly don't think anyone gives them tips. But that's a very different set up compared to the "old" style of trash men where they hang off the back of trucks and have to manually throw your trash into the back. Especially in areas where it snows, I'm sure that job is even shittier. I'm sure tipping is more common with that style of service versus some random dude just driving the truck with a robot arm.[/QUOTE]

Yeah the times have changed. Those two items were examples I grew up watching my parents do. We had the same mailman for years, and it was the metal cans with 2 guys hanging on the back until about 2000 when they switched to bins.

I tip my current UPS driver. I have the amazon prime and we joke around about how much he comes over. When I am not home he will place packages in my screened in porch instead of on the steps outside. Never had a soggy box yet.
 
[quote name='confoosious']I understand if you're queasy about ground beef, especially how it's pre-processed and sold in this country. I barely eat hamburgers anymore.

But if you eat your steaks well done, you're completely missing out and are a victim of (how do I say this without sounding as douchey as kodave did..) poor advice as a kid or as an adult. I imagine if you ordered a well done steak in a good steak house (yeah, not outback), the entire kitchen sneers and the owner punches a kitten.

Beef isn't like pork or chicken, it can be safely eaten raw, especially the finer cuts. The worst is when you buy good steak for the bbq and someone tells you to cook it well done. Well fuck, that was $15/lb. If I'd known you'd want it well done, I'd have bought you london broil.

Same with sushi. Sushi chefs are trained to spot parasites and raw fish is totally safe. I prefer it to cooked fish. (Of course, the kid preparing it at your supermarket counter might not be as trained.)[/QUOTE]

lol the kitten comment made me bust out loud in front of my coworkers. Shit.
 
[quote name='confoosious']Is this how Outback does it? I went to outback once and ordered the prime rib medium rare and they told me they were out of medium rare but I could have medium well. I didn't understand how what was possible but the above explanation might solve it.[/QUOTE]


I've never worked in any chain restaurant, so I can't say for certain that's how Outback does it, but they probably do. During busier months the head chef would cook multiple ribs in the oven the day before to different temperatures to make things more efficient during service and I remember we ran out of rare prime rib once or twice. I can't think of any other explanation that would fit. Although instead of letting the customers in on the secret by saying we were out of lower temperature steaks (which should set off a few warning lights that the stuff isn't prepared on the spot) we would just 86 prime rib and save what was left for the next day.
 
[quote name='confoosious']mailmen can accept tips. But not over $20.

Every year I give our guy a $20 target card.




have you ever had ceviche? same thing. it's "cooked" in spices and lemon juice and other acids.

----

this has been a great thread. I pray it doesn't get ruined by the "I never tip" jerks.[/QUOTE]I can take raw fish, but I couldn't eat raw beef, I just couldn't.
 
how "gourmet" would you say your restaurant was?

If I'm eating at a fancy steak house, I would not want this treatment of my beef.

(obviously at outback, I'm not expecting much.)
 
[quote name='confoosious']how "gourmet" would you say your restaurant was?

If I'm eating at a fancy steak house, I would not want this treatment of my beef.

(obviously at outback, I'm not expecting much.)[/QUOTE]
At the old Morton's in Boston, you'd be able to watch the cooks broil the steaks depending on which section you were sitting in. Fleming's in Boston also has an open steak preparation area as well. The thing with prime rib is that the only way you can keep a fresh slice hot/warm is by keeping it over heat, so unless they're selling like hot cakes, there's bound to be some re-heating done somewhere along the line. I have no clue as to how they even keep that shit pink all the way through.
 
maybe i'm naive but I expected that when i place my order for the manliest prime rib in the house, they go to the dry aged room and pick out my cut, then just cook it to my liking.
 
[quote name='confoosious']maybe i'm naive but I expected that when i place my order for the manliest prime rib in the house, they go to the dry aged room and pick out my cut, then just cook it to my liking.[/QUOTE]
Well, that's kinda what happens, but the aging room is where they keep the uncooked meat and they cook the entire rack at once. What they do is season the whole rack up, put it in whatever they use to slow cook it for a few/several hours and slice the part according to your level of done-ness. Assuming that you're at a busy enough restaurant, they'll be pulling them from the cooker constantly and you won't have to worry about it. If you've seen the buffets in Vegas with prime rib, you'll know what I'm talking about. It's the places like Outback or Longhorn that I'd worry more about. Places with prime rib specials, I also wouldn't worry too much about.

edit: It's actually extremely simple to prepare at home. Morton charges maybe $50 for a king cut which is maybe 20 oz, but for $50, you can get a 6lb+ rib roast and cook it up yourself.
 
yeah but you can't dry age it at home. Unless you're telling me I can get it from the butcher that way?

I like two things: cooking up a supermarket steak on the grill at home or spending an obscene amount at a quality steak house. I was going to be pretty upset if that obscene amount still bought me outback type pre-prepped steak, you know what i mean?

That's why i was asking blindinglights how gourmet his place was. Are we talking $30 steaks or $60?
 
[quote name='Clak']You guys need to stop shitting on Outback, I love those blooming onions.;)[/QUOTE]

I think they were voted the most dangerous (healthwise) food at any restaurant ever.

love the batter.
 
Normally tip about 20%, 10-15% for bad service depending on the severity.

What ticks me off is pretty much everyone expects a tip now. Some of the gas stations in town have tip cups. Really? For turning on a gas pump or taking my money for a candy bar? I was at a ghetto BK and there was a tip cup on the counter. If I'm sitting on my ass and you're going above and beyond your job description to provide me service, I'm more than happy to give a tip. If you're just doing what you are being paid to do, why would a gratuity come into play?

EDIT: The bloomin' onion is 1950 calories of greasy bliss if you take one down by yourself.
http://www.outback.com/menu/nutritionitem.aspx?id=2115
The salads aren't too healthy either.
 
[quote name='praxus07']Horse? OMG...I won't even eat sushi...or venison...let alone...OMG.....[/QUOTE]

Yeah, that's the normal reaction I get when I tell people this and it's understandable. First time I had it I didn't even know what I was eating. My wife's family took me out to eat (in Japan) and was putting plate after plate on the table. I ate it not asking what it was, then they told me horse. It was just too good there's no way I could get grossed out.
 
[quote name='confoosious']how "gourmet" would you say your restaurant was?

If I'm eating at a fancy steak house, I would not want this treatment of my beef.[/QUOTE]


I'm assuming you're talking to me, I'd say moderately gourmet if you want to try to scale it. Not like a black tie type place, but the food was up there. To give you an idea: the absolute cheapest entrees were $20 and the prices probably could have increased 50% or more had it been located in a metropolitan area instead of a smaller suburb, we had one of those snooty wine professionals come in and help the chef pair wines with the food, new specials daily (not like $5 burger special, like we just got our hands on fresh tuna and made some tuna tartare with different flavors inspired by 3 different countries type specials), people would wait 2 hours to get a seat and not complain at all, seemed like every month we'd get some food blogger or magazine reviewer come in and order a bunch of stuff to try out and write about, and a table of 8 adults with a $600 bill from wine and food wasn't uncommon so it was definitely above chains and family restaurant type places.

Despite all that, the customers were still paying out the ass for prime rib that we cooked the day before, microwaved almost to temperature when ordered, and then finished it by searing it for a minute or two. There's really nothing wrong with that way of preparing it if done correctly because no one could really tell the difference unless a line cook was dumb enough to microwave it for too long and dry it out. It's just that a lot of people have a problem with the idea that they just paid $35+ for a plate of food and half the food on the plate was partially or totally cooked in a microwave.

Even if you ask the chef at your local fancy restaurant and he vehemently denies using a microwave, he probably just uses a salamander broiler and blasts the shit out of whatever he's trying to heat up real fast that way, which isn't a whole lot different IMO. It still has the potential to really dry something out and you can even burn it up if you're not careful.

Maybe really high end places that charge $60+ for a steak cook it on the spot, but from my experience which ranges from what I described above down to bar food, a lot of places love using the microwave whenever they can to make stuff easier.



Edit: Just to clarify, I'm not suggesting that all places use the microwave for anything and everything all the time, I'm just chiming in to say it's used a lot more than most people would think in reply to that original post I quoted and how that poster seemed peeved that something was microwaved at a restaurant.
 
[quote name='confoosious']yeah but you can't dry age it at home. Unless you're telling me I can get it from the butcher that way?[/quote]
I'm glad you asked...because the answer is YES YOU CAN and HELL YES.

I like two things: cooking up a supermarket steak on the grill at home or spending an obscene amount at a quality steak house. I was going to be pretty upset if that obscene amount still bought me outback type pre-prepped steak, you know what i mean?

That's why i was asking blindinglights how gourmet his place was. Are we talking $30 steaks or $60?
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Yeah, I totally get where you're coming from. I find it ludicrous that the prime rib would be seared like blindinglights described, but that's one way to disguise a piece of meat that was nuked and no one would really know the difference. Before his last post, I had never heard of searing prime rib. It just sounds like blasphemy to me. At that rate, you might as well just have a broiled bone-in rib eye steak with a red wine mushroom sauce or jus. Just my opinion of course.
 
I'm a chef at a restaurant here in Pittsburgh, and we legally cannot sell a burger that is not fully cooked. We sometimes get people that ask for a medium burger, and we can't legally make it that way.

I like my steak medium well, with just a bit of pink.

In all of my time as a chef, I have never seen anyone mess with someone's food.
 
[quote name='dohdough']Yeah, I totally get where you're coming from. I find it ludicrous that the prime rib would be seared like blindinglights described, but that's one way to disguise a piece of meat that was nuked and no one would really know the difference. Before his last post, I had never heard of searing prime rib. It just sounds like blasphemy to me. At that rate, you might as well just have a broiled bone-in rib eye steak with a red wine mushroom sauce or jus. Just my opinion of course.[/QUOTE]


The searing was done basically the same way you might do blackened tuna steak. Get the pan hot as hell and throw it on each side for a short period of time while trying not to die from smoke inhalation :hot:.

I'm not sure if that's done other places or not but I assume the head chef had to have picked it up in his decades of experience working up through various places. Also, confoosious' story from Outback and being "out" of lower temps would lead me to believe it's done other places. If not seared on a hot pan, then on a hot grill because even though you can do a great deal of cooking with the microwave (or salamander broiler as I mentioned), getting a good crust or grill marks is not really possible by those means.

I also never saw anyone mess with someones food as most people worry about. We would mock and talk shit about assholes that sent food back (read: not people who sent food back in general, but assholes who sent food back), but never mess with their food. That's just gross.
 
[quote name='masked lemon']I'm a chef at a restaurant here in Pittsburgh, and we legally cannot sell a burger that is not fully cooked. We sometimes get people that ask for a medium burger, and we can't legally make it that way.[/QUOTE]

For a minute there I was like "No way, this restaurant is just trying to cover its ass by telling you and customers its the law." Then I Googled Pennsylvania law and (assuming the page was up to date) saw it was actually the law you have to cook it well done. At least there is an exception for beef steak to not have to be well done.

Next thing you know you won't be able to get a burger cooked anything less than well done AND you can't have a soda over a 20 oz soda.
 
[quote name='masked lemon']I'm a chef at a restaurant here in Pittsburgh, and we legally cannot sell a burger that is not fully cooked. We sometimes get people that ask for a medium burger, and we can't legally make it that way.

I like my steak medium well, with just a bit of pink.

In all of my time as a chef, I have never seen anyone mess with someone's food.[/QUOTE]


No shit, where at? I was born in Southside, but ended up moving south.

I actually grew up under the impression that well-done was the only way to even consume most meats, given the area. Thankfully, I've been able to broaden my horizons since then.

Also, I second the notion of having spent more than my fair share of time in food service and never once seeing someone's meal tampered with.
 
I've had my food fucked with once in my life. Some of my friends used to hang with this ex-cop because he was a bit of a mentor to them and about a year after he died, we went back to one of his regular spots: an Irish pub. It was a group of maybe six of us and when we got our salads, there was freshly cut hair in it. I'm not talking a couple stray strands, but literally a pinch of hair in every one of our salads that was about 1.5 inches long and several strands. Being not that young but still very naive and more than a bit of a pushover, I didn't raise a stink and kept it to myself not wanting to fuck everyone's experiences up or cause a crazy scene especially since the boss of one of our friends was eating on the other side of the restaurant. Every time I'm reminded of that place, I always get pissed and it was 12 years ago. If it happened to me today, I would've raised hell, caused a huge fucking scene, and called the health department amongst other things.

It simply boggles the mind as to why they decided to fuck with our food that night because we've eaten there a few times prior and there was never a problem. edit: And yes, we tipped 20% all those times.

This is the place: http://www.yelp.com/biz/galway-house-jamaica-plain
 
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For tipping I usually tip at least 15% maybe more, depends on how close to the dollar it is (I don't like giving physical change as a tip, I would rather just throw them an extra buck). So if I ordered a $12 meal I would tip $2 because it's whatever 15% of 12 is rounded up. Unless my bill is like $17.50 and I hand him a $20, I will just let him keep the change. Now if the service is shitty (as of a bad/lazy waiter) then I wont tip. I know sometimes food takes awhile or comes out wrong, and well shit happens.

Mailman I would consider tipping but our current mailman fucking sucks. Lost/wrong mail is always happening and well while mistakes happen, mistakes should not happen every week.
 
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