Jaymes

In Kansas City & Memphis, you can take a cab. In Austin, the only places you'll want to visit are miles from the city. US mass transit in this part of the country varies from terrible to non-existent. You could hire a cab, but it'd be very very expensive. Yep, you'd best take me up on my offer.

As for Texas, you should plan to spend one day in the Austin area. Central Texas was settled by Germans (among others) around the turn of the last century and their love of smoked meats, including sausage, is what made this area the home of the best barbecue in the world. The Austin airport is on the side of town that you need to visit. I'd suggest you plan to arrive early, rent a car, and hit Elgin (the brisket and ribs aren't worth eating, but the sausage is legendary and a great many other bbq joints serve it), Taylor, Lockhart and Luling. You can google "Elgin sausage" and get lots of info. Elgin is the name of a town and there are two places there that constantly battle it out as to who's best - Meyer's and Southside Market. So visits to Lockhart, Luling, Elgin and Taylor are really all you'd need to do in Texas and you could do that in one day, flying back out that evening. There are local folks that would happy to show you around. Including me.

$5.95? Wow, it's really gone up. ← Yeah, wow. You know, at $3.99, it was a large amount of disgusting, almost inedible food for a small amount of money. At $5.95, I may have to think twice. ←

$5.95? Wow, it's really gone up.

Who knew? So, what raw vegan restaurants have you been to? ← You know, I can't remember the names. Often something in close proximity to a hotel where I'm staying. I really more strongly remember the outfits of the waitstaff. And I'm serious.

True that.

Maybe it's just me, but I'm not a hard-core "either or" kinda gal. In most larger cities, there are vegetarian/vegan/New Age etc. restaurants, many of them quite famous, that do wonderful things. I'll admit I usually find that sort of menu more appealing for lunch than dinner, but I definitely seek them out and patronize them. I can't imagine I'm the only one that would appreciate a nice salad or gazpacho at a restaurant like that. So I repeat, in my opinion she did indeed insult a large portion of her potential customer base.

I agree that "she made her point loud and clear." And a large part of her point may not have insulted her "intended" customer base, but it definitely insulted a large percentage of her potential customer base. As a former retail business owner, my main goal was not to insult, lecture or preach to potential customers. It was to attract a large enough customer base to keep my doors open, pay my overhead, and meet a payroll. But perhaps Ms. Becknell and I don't have that in common. Her insulting and condescending statement that "overweight, unhealthy individuals would NEVER find what we do pleasurable because they are accustomed to eating grease, meat, toxic waste and sugar" would definitely turn me off, should I fall into that category today, but be considering trying a new lifestyle tomorrow. Very stupid, arrogant and shortsighted comment from a business perspective. Especially during these difficult economic times.

Yep, but Ms. Becknell would have done herself more good had she figured out a way to insult the reviewer without also insulting a good 50% of her potential customer base.

Yes, which is why it's the cut of choice to prepare what we call fajitas. Although the term fajitas, in the US anyway, has changed from its original Spanish meaning and now refers to any sort of grilled meat strips, in actuality, 'fajitas' means 'little belts, or sashes' and refers specifically to those long beef skirt steaks because of the way they look. They are tender enough that you can cook them quickly and eat them that way with no further tenderizing needed. You'd be hard pressed to do that with flank steak. And btw, if you tried to order "chicken fajitas" anywhere in Mexico except along the border or in tourist areas, they'd have no idea what you're talking about. It would be like ordering "chicken skirt steak" here. The response would be, "What?"

Skirt steak and flank steak are different.

And here is my recipe for traditional New Mexico-style stacked green enchiladas. Great topic. Having lived many years in New Mexico, I'll agree that the food is one of the most enchanting things about the Land of Enchantment.

Susan, I can just see that lovely table with all those precious family treasures. This completely captures what the holidays are all about.

Just as baroness suggests, much depends upon the time of day. Primarily, is this going to be a full meal at lunchtime or dinnertime? That's where you start to figure out how many pieces per person. And since it's a college graduation party, will there be lots of college-age men? Because they really eat a lot.

There is always going to be considerable argument over which brisket is "best." Only fools will tell you there is any such thing. Wise folks divide the various BBQ joints into tiers, and Louie Mueller is definitely top tier. It's almost always in everybody's Top Five. So you did indeed start at the top of the list. But from there on, it's all subjective. And it's a wonderful and revelatory trip.

Not unprofessional, just Roman. Most places will leave you alone with a digestif (or the whole bottle, if they liked you) until you ask for the check. ← Right. Getting the bill is an area where there is a huge cultural divide. In some countries, receiving the bill before one asks for it is considered an insult. As in, "They were trying to push me out the door." While in others, namely the US, we expect to arrive in a timely manner, without having to ask for it. Best plan is to inquire into this and other local customs before you leave home.

I just came back from time in Mexico. I was utterly amazed at how many Mexicans think ceviche is "Mexican food." And they do often serve it on crispy tortillas. I thought about correcting them for their own sake, but I was really way too busy eating the ceviche tostadas and downing the pitchers of beer.

I wonder if there's been any sort of national outcry in Italy over the changing of this near-sacred formula. Anyone heard?

Here's my number one tip for cooking while on vacation. I'm always the only one doing the cooking and cleanup, so if that's not your situation, this might not be so important, but the first thing I do after figuring out what I'm going to make is to make a list of cooking/serving dishes and go to the store and buy disposable ones. I've made lasagna and roast meats etc., and being able to toss that aluminum pan rather than scrubbing it puts a big smile on my face.

Wish I could help. I don't remember the place, but I'll do a little detective work. ← Boy, I'd really appreciate it. It started out as a very small, family-run place in a strip mall on the far east side. It was wildly successful and after a year or so, they built a large stand-alone building, also far east. The last time my son drove through Tucson (a couple of years ago), he went to eat at O Sole Mio, but said that the restaurant now in that building was Macayo's.

Some years back - about twenty or so - there was an Italian restaurant called O Sole Mio. They had an absolutely wonderful Cream of Spinach soup. Does anyone know when they closed, and whether or not the owners are still in the restaurant business somewhere in Tucson? And some way I might be able to get the recipe for that fabulous soup?

I said that. And it's not unkind or unfair or insulting. It's simply a matter of fact, and something that all retail management should take into account when they are weighing the pros and cons of pissing off customers. I learned that in a management class years ago. I was not in the restaurant business - I owned a travel agency. But dealing with the public in any sort of retail or service industry is the same thing. Whether you own a shoe store or a travel agency or a restaurant, when you've had it right up to here with a difficult customer and you're considering your options and the ramifications of each choice, you need to understand that the consequences will go much further than simply you and he and that one moment. Sometimes, it's worth it. Some customers take up so much of your time and energy for little or no reward, or are beligerant and abusive to your staff, or otherwise make themselves such a pain in the butt that it's easily worth it to tell them to take their business elsewhere. But there is an additional cost that you had better understand. As I said, and I repeat, "an unhappy customer tells everybody." They most certainly do. As a manager you have to take that into account when you're deciding whether you should continue to try to fix the problem and appease them, or not. It probably matters far less if your business is in downtown Manhattan and you've got a potential customer base of literally millions from which to draw. But if your business is in a small town with a limited and gossipy customer base, you'd sure better understand the principle and potential result of bad word-of-mouth. I will say that in the eight years I owned that agency, every single time I told a miserably difficult customer to go elsewhere (which happened only about four times in all those years), it turned out that they did indeed tell everyone they knew. One even wrote a letter to the editor of the local newspaper, but their acquaintances and "friends" didn't care because they knew all too well the personalities involved. As one supposed "friend" said, "'Mr. Jerk' was telling everybody at duplicate bridge the other night what happened, but nobody pays any attention to him. We know he can be a kind of a jerk. In fact, we won't even go out to dinner with him any more. If you think he's bad in your agency, you should see him when he's upset with a waiter." Although you might not care for the "tone" of this thread, what we're having here is a frank and clinical discussion regarding the the benefits and drawbacks of confronting customers about a lousy tip. The fact that an angry customer will indeed tell everyone they know certainly should figure into any such discussion. And definitely should be a consideration when management is deciding how best to handle a problem.

It's obvious that from now on, restaurants should make customers sign a 'release of liability' form should customers refuse to check coats.

Sometimes, don't you wish there was a site where you could tell the other side of the story? And not just a thread on eG ← There is, isn't there? A kind of "pissed off servers bitch" site?

That's really too bad about the St. Louis Silver School. That was one of our favorite stops, and I still treasure the many things I got there. One of my favorites is a silver and ebony baby rattle that's just gorgeous. I still have it, now complete with tiny teeth marks from my three children. And your story about the convent also brought back memories. When I moved to the Philippines, I was a young, single woman, and had a bunch of friends that I ran with. We had few responsibilities...most of us were college kids...and we explored the length and breadth of Luzon. One of us had some sort of connection with the convent - maybe her aunt was a nun or something - so on one of our trips on the Rabbit Bus up to the high mountains and the rice terraces, we stopped by the convent for a visit. There were five of us, I think, and we were all ushered into a large receiving room. Several of the nuns were there to welcome us, and to chat and visit. After we were seated, Mother Superior graciously inquired as to whether we might like something to drink. She looked at us meaningfully and asked if, in particular, we might care for some "fruit juice" with a particular emphasis on the "juice." It initially went right over our heads. So we spoke of water and soft drinks and calamansi-ade. Puzzled, she repeated..."You don't want to try any of our fruit juice"? Which finally got our attention. "Well," one of our party said, "The 'juice' does sound interesting. What kind of 'juice' is it?" "Oh, it's something we make and keep on hand for when the fathers come to visit." Sure enough, the nuns were turning out absolutely delicious strawberry wine! So what had begun as a somewhat dreaded obligatory visit turned into an hour or so in a delightful little slice o' heaven sipping strawberry wine and giggling with the sisters. And probably much like the "fathers that come to visit," we left the convent far happier than when we had arrived.