Showing posts with label restaurant. Show all posts
Showing posts with label restaurant. Show all posts

Monday, August 4, 2008

Getting 'saucy' at Subway

You usually learn in kindergarten what is and is not grounds to call 911, but one Florida man apparently didn't learn that lesson.

Police said that Reginald Peterson called 911 multiple times when he felt his sandwich order was not being properly prepared at his local Subway restaurant.

The first time he called was because employees did not put sauce on his spicy Italian sub. The second call to 911 was because police had not arrived in what the 42-year-old believed was appropriate response time.
Workers at the restaurant said Peterson became belligerent and yelled while they were fixing his order. They reportedly locked him out of the store when he left to call police the second time.

[UPDATE] See below for real audio from calls! I seriously cannot believe they entertained this for this long...



Officers responding to the scene said they tried to calm Peterson down and explain the proper use of 911. When he did not cooperate, he was arrested on a charge of making false 911 calls.

Tuesday, July 29, 2008

Say cheeeese!

Just a heads up for your deal seekers--and cheesecake lovers--Tomorrow is National Cheesecake Day!

To celebrate The Cheesecake Factory's 30 years, the restaurant is offering individual slices of cheesecake at 1978 prices tomorrow, July 30, 2008.

The $1.50-per-slice special is limited to one per guest and it's only for dine-in orders, but come on... take one look at this menu and tell me that it's not totally worth it. Adam's Peanut Butter Cup Fudget Ripple cheesecake, described as "creamy cheesecake swirled with caramel, peanut butter, Butterfingers and Reeses Peanut Butter Cups"? I guess this was a bad week to crack down on my dieting...

A limited edition cheesecake --the 30th Anniversary Chocolate Cake Cheesecake-- will be introduced tomorrow, too. The company will offer $0.25 from the sale of each slice sold this year to benefit America’s Second Harvest – The Nation’s Food Bank Network.

Friday, May 23, 2008

Put your mouth where the money is...?

Subliminal messages may only have proven worthwhile for Zack Morris, but apparently KFC is giving the technique a try.

Check out this video by a Consumerist reader who discovered that KFC slipped a dollar bill into the lettuce of its Snacker sandwich. Pretty interesting.


Monday, May 19, 2008

'When the moon hits your eye, like a big pizza line...'

A Florida pizza parlor has set the Guinness World Record for longest line of pizzas. Delicioso!

Scott Van Duzer and employees of Big Apple Pizza and Pasta created a chain of pizza on Saturday that reached just over 722 feet. A judge believes it broke a previous Guinness World Record of just over 611 feet that was set in Italy in 2006.

The record-breaking event was also for a good cause: The parlor raised money for a St. Lucie County firefighter and his family who had their home destroyed by fire earlier in the week.

I still question where people come up with this stuff? Longest line of pizza? Like, what? But I love how Florida steals this record away from Italy. That's just messed up.

Teams of people turned out for the pizza line, which I'm sure had nothing to do with the fact that it was free pizza all around once the length had been tallied.

RELATED LINKS
Who wants to break stuff?

Wednesday, May 14, 2008

Free this time, I swear!

Okay, no joke this time: Tomorrow (May 15) is Dunkin Donuts Free Iced Coffee Day!


For some reason, the chain set the first day of spring as its annual giveaway day, but backed out at the last minute, leaving freebie-seekers feeling stupid at the counter and awkwardly paying for a drink they were only ordering because they thought it was free.

But tomorrow we will all be given the opportunity to imbibe some delicious and free iced coffee--regular or flavored! [click here to find a D&D location near you]. Enjoy!

UPDATE: After the original entry was posted, I saw a commercial for a free McDonalds giveaway today (May 15), as well.

Between 7 a.m. and 10:30 a.m., McDonalds will be giving away a free Southern Style Chicken Biscuit--new this month--with purchase of any medium or large drink. Nothing like fried chicken between two buttery (and fatty) biscuits to start your day!

From 10:30 a.m. til 7 p.m., the chain will give away free Southern Style Chicken Sandwich (I think it's got pickles on it or something) with purchase of medium or large beverages.

RELATED LINKS
Paying for your free iced coffee
Forgiveness, please

Monday, February 11, 2008

Heart attack ala mode

I actually came across this list about two months ago, but I've been on a health food kick lately and looking at this list and not craving one thing on it makes me feel a little bit better about myself. Check and see how many of the Top 20 Worst Foods in America via Men's Health you've had...

To see the calories, fat, carbs and sodium, click on the links below...IF YOU DARE.

THE WORST:
20. Fast-food chicken meal: McDonald's Chicken Select Premium Strips w/Ranch
19. Drink: Jamba Juice Chocolate Moo'd Power Smoothie
18. Supermarket meal: Pepperidge Farm Roasted Chicken Pot Pie
17. "Healthy" burger: Ruby Tuesday Bella Turkey Burger
16. Mexican entree: Chipotle Mexican Grilled Chicken Burrito
15. Kids' meal: Macaroni Grill Double Macaroni n' Cheese
14. Sandwich: Quizno's Classic Italian
13. Salad: On the Border Grande Taco Salad with Taco Beef
12. Burger: Carls Jr. Double Six Dollard Burger
11. Steak: Lonestar 20-oz T-bone steak
10. Breakfast: Bob Evans Caramel Banana Pecan Cream Stacked & Stuffed Hotcakes
9. Dessert: Chili's Chocolate Chip Paradise Pie with Vanilla Ice Cream
8. Chinese Entree: Pf Chang's Pork Lo Mein
7. Chicken Entree: Chili's Honey Chipotle Crispers
6. Fish Entree: On the Border XX Fish Tacos
5. Pizza: Uno Chicago Grill Chicago Classic Deep Dish Pizza
4. Pasta: Macaroni Grill Spaghetti and Meatballs With Meat Sauce
3. Nachos: On the Border Stacked Border Nachos
2. Starter: Chili's Awesome Blossom
1. Food in America: Outback Steakhouse Aussie Cheese Fries w/Ranch Dressing

So... don't eat Chili's, On the Border or Macaroni Grill?

Tuesday, February 5, 2008

My own Consumerist story

My boyfriend and I recently had dinner at a Bennigan's restaurant, which is never really high on the list of dining destinations, but we wanted a change.

On the way in, we saw a sign for the Triple Dare dessert, which features some combination of fried Twinkies and brownies and vanilla ice cream; the tagline on the sign said was something to the effect of punching the Surgeon General in the face [click here for photo and description]. Still, we decided to save room for this artery-clogging confection.

Now, in an effort to eat on the relatively 'lighter' side, I opted for a cup of soup and half a sandwich. "Oh, half a Monte Cristo? Sure, that looks pretty good," I said as I looked at the picture featured on the menu. Yeah, it says it's lightly fried, but I'm looking at the photo (below) and thinking, "Oh, okay, crispy bread."
But what appeared on my plate was the most abhorrent thing I'd ever seen.

The picture to the left is not mine, but boy do I wish I had a camera that day, because even this does not do it justice. When I say the server brought me two triangular lunch meat-filled donuts, that's an understatement. I could barely even pick up the sandwich because its greasy inch-thick fried covering was slipping out of my hands. I understand those pictures on the menu are just a "suggestion" of what you are to be served, but that picture was a boldfaced lie!

When I returned home, I did some research on the sandwich and found that I am in the vast minority of American's who tried the sandwich I now affectionately refer to as coronary on a plate. Nearly everyone in this country freaking loves this sandwich! I couldn't believe it. I felt I needed to expose it for all its dietary detriment.

Anyway, back at the restaurant, I ate about five bites of the sandwich and held off for the Triple Dare, which yes, was much more disgusting than the Monte Cristo, but at least they weren't trying to cover up its fried, chocolatey, Twinkie goodness.

Feeling absolutely awful, I went home and wrote to Bennigan's. I told them the drinks we ordered were phenomenal, and our server was quite pleasant...but that their irresponsibility in menu artwork left me considering a post-meal run around the block to try and "reverse my fortune" of dining at Bennigan's.

The story does not end there, though, because had Bennigan's not written me back, I would have posted this story anyway, encouraging all readers to boycott the restaurant.

Instead, this weekend I received a friendly letter from the corporation, saying they valued me as a customer and would bring up my concerns with management. And while that could be standard protocol for the company, I appreciated the response and the $10 gift card to give them another shot.

So the moral of the story is: If you want to die an early death, order the Monte Cristo sandwich at Bennigan's. And if not, go there anyway - they appreciate their customers. And their drinks (alcoholic and non-) are fan-freaking-tastic.

Thursday, January 10, 2008

Update: Hot for teacher, err, waitress?

Updating a previous item:

Debra Lafave, the 27-year-old teacher accused of having sex with a 14-year-old boy in Nov. 2005, was found in violation of her probation in a Florida courtroom Thursday after having contact with minors, but the judge did not send her to jail.

Lafave was arrested after a 17-year-old female coworker claimed to have had one-on-one and group conversations with Lafave about "non-work related issues such as family problems, friends, high school, personal life, boyfriend issues and sexual issues."

She also had physical contact with the girl, but claimed that it was "innocent" hugging because the work staff was almost like family. Lafave also said that she did not speak about her personal life in the aforementioned conversations, but that the teenager was very forthright "in a group setting" about her sexual life.

Lafave was forced to quit her job at the restaurant and is now working at her mother's beauty salon, where hopefully no one under the age of 18 comes in, because the judge actually told the woman, "Please don't come back."

Monday, December 17, 2007

King campaign

Maybe it's just me, but I feel like Burger King gets lost in the mix of fast food restaurants; it's like, seventh on my list. But yet another viral video advertising campaign has hit the scene ala BK: whopperfreakout.com.

The video is an extended version of a Burger King commercial, which shows customers freaking out after hearing the fast food chain has discontinued the Whopper. No tears are spilled, but the video shows the elicited anger and/or (bizarre) emotional attachment some people have to BK's signature sandwich.

One user who watched the video via youtube, said:
"I swear to god if I heard that the whopper is no longer available... I would start killin' people... even the joke of this is not funny !!!! A world without a Whopper is a world without air & water !!!"--Terfen

I'm not sure if this really makes me want to go to Burger King, but at least it reminds people that the place exists, and the . I also don't know if I completely believe the veracity of this being 'actual footage,' but it is pretty clever, and the ending is phenomenal.

If you like this or this, check out whopperfreakout.com.

Thanks, Matt!

Sunday, November 18, 2007

That's not haute

Going back to Nov. 7's record-breaking dessert...


Serendipity 3, New York's acclaimed dessert cafe to the stars, has been temporarily shut down after failing its second consecutive health inspection in one month.

Health officials found a live mouse, mouse droppings in multiple places, flies and dozens of live cockroaches, the Heath Department said.

Let the little guys go; I'm sure they were just trying to get in on that edible gold.

Friday, November 9, 2007

That's haute

New York's Serendipity 3 is a famous dessert boutique located on the upper east side, known for its famous frozen hot chocolate. Their menu is incredible and everyone from Bill Clinton to Paula Abdul visits the joint.

And then they outdid their $1,000 Golden Opulence Sundae this week by unveiling the the Frrozen Haute Chocolate (a playon the haute couture), their $25,000 dessert drink. They also set the Guinness World Record for most expensive dessert, in the spirit of GWR Day yesterday.

So why is it 25 gs?? Well it's a blend of 28 cocoas, including 14 of the most expensive and exotic from around the globe, BUT--the thing is is infused with 5 grams of edible 23-karat gold and topped with whipped cream covered with more gold and a side of La Madeline au Truffle from Knipschildt Chocolatier, which sells for $2,600 a pound. It's also served in a goblet lined with edible gold, and at the base of the goblet is an 18-karat gold bracelet with 1 carat of white diamonds.

And don't forget to eat your unnecessarily lavish dessert with the golden spoon decorated with white and chocolate-colored diamonds, which can also be taken home.

...Is this serious? You're basically paying to drink out of the Holy Grail and eat your way through chocolate to get a diamond bracelet.

Oh, and be sure to give the staff of Serendipity 3 at least 48 hours notice if you plan on stopping in. This waste of 28 paychecks takes time to craft.