Category: food

Non-free Pizza Delivery?!

Ashley Bischoff2 Comments

From this Chicago-Tribune story, some pizza outlets are now charging delivery fees. And, it’s not just the fly-by-night pizza places, but even the big guys like Pizza Hut, Papa John’s and Domino’s. Luckily, it’s only in a few markets at the moment (including LA and San Diego), but I hope that it doesn’t come to Dallas.

To offset slowing revenue growth and soaring labor, utility and other operating costs, Pizza Hut, Papa John’s International Inc. and even Domino’s Pizza Inc., the pioneer of free delivery, are increasingly tacking on delivery fees of up to $1.50 in selected markets, including Los Angeles, San Diego and Orange counties. Some experts think that it will soon be standard practice nationwide.

The companies say consumer opposition has been limited. But drivers complain they receive only a portion of the so-called delivery fees and that their tips have plummeted since their introduction. They argue that it would be far more honest to simply raise prices across the board so customers wouldn't mistakenly believe drivers are profiting from new charges. […]

(Link from ObscureStore)

TGI Friday’s

Ashley BischoffLeave a comment

As I was looking around for some TGI Friday’s links for yesterday’s entry on the MetaFilter Meetup, I came across this history/critique of TGI Friday’s:

The result is bland food, hyped like the Second Coming, and delivered by an absurd cheerleader. Portions are huge, and up-selling suggestions from servers and table trees encourage you to pile on the extras. After a couple of beers, it all starts to make sense, and it's a lot of fun to drop $6.49 on a half-pound “Tuesday Burger” within a stone’s throw of McDonald’s (another chain famous for its consistency). […]

In some ways, I think TGI Friday’s gets a bad rap. Sure, their prices aren’t always cheap, and sometimes you can get better tasting food elsewhere. But, it’s still pretty tasty, and I know what to expect there.

Also on ArborFood — where I got that earlier link — is this article titled “Chain Gang”, comparing various chains in the Ann Arbor area (including TGI Friday’s, Applebee’s, and Chili’s. According to that article, it looks like Max & Erma’s came out on top, so I’ll have to keep that in mind (for instance) when voting on future Meetups.

Juicy Lucy

Ashley BischoffLeave a comment

The e-mail discussion list for the American Dialect Society offers this description for a food apparently known as a “Juicy Lucy”:

Juicy Lucy—This is a cheeseburger, but with the cheese inside the burger. It appears to be the product of Matt's Bar, 3500 Cedar Avenue, Minneapolis, MN, but several other places in that town also offer it. Not recorded in Mariani’s Encyclopedia of American Food & Drink or in DARE.

To be honest, the idea of having cheese inside my burger initially sounded a bit gross to me. But, perhaps I was just thinking in an American-cheese state of mind. And, come to think of it, I would imagine that a “Juicy Lucy” made with blue cheese could be quite delicious!

European Elvis

Ashley Bischoff1 Comment

I was talking with my brother the other day about peanut butter and banana sandwiches. And, after reading about them, he had the urge to have one again.

Specifically, my brother had a craving for what’s apparently known as a “Velvet Elvis”, which is a peanut-butter-and-banana sandwich, except that it’s grilled as if like a grilled-cheese sandwich (with each slice buttered on the outside).

So, he set out to buy the necessary ingredients. And, normally, this wouldn’t be a problem, except that he’s interning in Germany for the summer. So, while the bread and bananas were easy enough to find, he just couldn’t find any peanut-butter at his local grocery store.

However, like any good European food-store, his local store had plenty of Nutella. Now, in case you’ve been living under a rock, Nutella is a chocolate-flavored spread made with hazelnuts. It’s very much delicious, but can hard to find in this country (at least at reasonable prices). So, at any rate, he picked up some Nutella as a substitute for the peanut butter.

He assembled and grilled the sandwich: bread + bananas + Nutella. He tells me that, though it was definitely tasty, it still didn’t live up to the full potential of a genuine Velvet Elvis. Nonetheless, he named this new sandwich as a “European Elvis” (a good name, I think). And, though I'm still a big fan of ordinary peanut butter and banana sandwiches, I look forward to consuming a European Elvis sometime.

ObJulie: Yes, I'm aware that Central Market probably has Nutella for sale ;).