WHT

It happens to be one of the best restaurant web sites I have seen. Sure makes me want to eat there!

Thank you for your recent inquiry. Unfortunately at the present time we do not have a distributor in your area but if you would like to order our products on-line please visit our distributors at: www.pirylis.com click on NY Flavor Link or www.foodsofnewyork.com Sincerely, Sabrett Internet Services info@sabrett.com

Are you refering to a test like the Iowa Test? Or something else?

As I mentioned, it was from one advertisement. Joe's Crab Shack seems to use Snow crab and Dungeness while Red Lobster uses both Snow and King. There may be other factors too. Like the area of the country etc. I think the basic point is this guy under estimated how much people would eat.

yeah but are they more powerful than really really really big magnets? I guess for some reading comprehension is a weak point? I gave a basic explanation in my last post. Anything else I leave to the reader.

So they're more powerful than the giant electromagnets that are used to pick up cars or direct the path of subatomic particles in particle accelerators? By weight they are more powerful. I have several of them as tools and they do better than larger composite or iron magnates. If compared gram for gram they are far superior. Any claims as to improving wine or getting better gas mileage may be suspect.

This has been suggested earlier. My opinion is that it's one of the costs of doing business, like the cost of someone eating more bread than his share--or accidentally making a mess. If you're not willing to split the check among a group of diners, post that fact prominently at the door. My guess is that the extra transaction fees will be more than worth the extra business. But that's me; maybe people like dining at a only-one-diner-pays restaurant. Bruce I think it depends on a number of factors. What sort of restaurant it is be it a small place or company chain. How the POS or register is set up along with other bookkeeping and loss prevention factors. I have seen a lot of reasons over the years for not doing it. From both sides of the table and in other business. While I agree with the reason for the thread that psychologically it might yield more tips. It can throw other problems in some situations. Small operations pay exorbitant fees to take credit cards. I am sure you have seen signs that refer to a Minimum order amount for charges, even though it is against the rules of most card providers to do so. I have seen other places that try and surcharge credit card transactions even though it’s a violation of law to do so. Keeping that in mind dealing with a place that may average less than $15.00 per person including tax (the percentage is charged against the total transaction amount.) It is not in the owner’s interest to take charge cards. I have seen an alternate strategy where a business will put in an ATM unit where they get a cut of the fees and no longer take cards directly. It is not a “cost of business.” Like you suggest so much as a profit margin issue in such cases. Taking charge cards can cost an operation some serious cash. Not only in fees but how quickly the money is available to the merchant. Strangely enough it is not as quick as most people think. In some cases it can be as long as 14 days. Too much float in a business is not good. Especially in a small one. If you are talking about chains things get a lot murkier. Besides being paranoid most companies like a cookie cutter approach to things in a one size fits all. If the request to split the bill is made when the tab is presented all kinds of red flags go up. Companies do not like transaction voids. The POS may not be set up to handle less than total transactions. In helping to design a system for a large retailer back in 1984 it took some talking to convince them to add this feature to the system. As a electronics store they did not see why anyone would want to pay using more than one method of payment or multiple cards. Just write smaller tickets were the response. This works great on small items but not well on large price systems. Hence they finally agreed to it and it worked well for them. In a restaurant the same thinking may apply. If you void a large ticket and break it into smaller ones it should work. Maybe all the items don’t make it to the smaller tickets? Maybe a dishonest employee voids tickets and pockets cash out of the transaction. It also can make it hard to balance out the register at the end of the night depending on how the accounting is done. Some systems separate cash, check and charge transactions some just lump aspects together. Cash and checks are one and credit is the other. Or they all may be lumped together. Nothing like hunting for a missing charge slip to balance out a day or person. Without the signed slip there is no way to prove the transaction took place. In truth there may be depending on the system. But if the charge is ever contested a signed slip is always the best protection from chargebacks. Besides any arguments of what is reasonable to do in any situation companies have other ideas and quirks. Some companies have rules that haven’t changed in 20 years even if everything around them has. Card fees are referred to as controllable costs on a P&L statement. Managers and up get paid bonuses based on profitability. This leads to some shortsighted strategies. If labor is a factor have less people do more work. Paper costs too high? Make sure that that take out order has only on napkin per sandwich and hand them out in the dinning room don’t put out dispensers. Make people ask for the condiment packages and than only give them at the most two. Never mind that the savings to food costs will be eaten by the labor of keeping up with requests from frustrated customer. All shortsighted and will drive people away in the long run but everyone from the GM to Div. VP get the bigger bonus check that month, quarter or whatever. One of the metric in use in most of retail is dollar per hour and dollar per transaction. You want both to be as high as possible. People have been fired for doing the exact opposite of what you suggest is “creating more business.” Its called “stacking” voiding out small transactions to re-ring as larger ones. From managements standpoint one $100.00 sale is better than five $20.00 sales. In cash that makes sense but credit cards, we get back to the controlled cost argument. When fewer people eat there letting go a cook or two and some front-end staff will fix that right up. People will have to wait longer for service or food but… I could go on much longer with the examples but I think I made my basic point. It can be shortsighted not to do some things or do them for reasons that may not make sense to others. Maybe by splitting the table into five $20.00 sales seems like more business but unless they gat a kick for traffic in the unit the only thing Management can hope is it may pay in repeat business. It may or may not. There have been places people go to eat as a group that they would not normally go to for other reasons. I’m not saying your opinion is wrong but it may be based on some wrong assumptions.

Yes it is. I was born In Manhatan and lived in Montclair NJ for my first 8 years.

I think they use snow crab legs. Probably frozen and dumped into a vat of salt water or...something. If I remember the advertisment it is Alaskan King Crab.

yeah, out of the 3 million people in NYC, i'm guessing that at least a few thousand would probably like the red lobster. maybe more. although varmint is in town, so add 1 to that total. Chicago is about 3 Million people. NYC is closer to 9 Million.

It might be Managment does not want to incure the extra transaction cost. Some card systems bill a pecent on top of the tansaction fee. Some are just a percentile of the amount.

The whole point.

i can't help but think this comment was designed to get a rise out of people. No Tommy it was not. I guess I grew up in different times and with different social norms than a lot of you. Infants where not taken to restaurants or museums for the most part. Children where expected to behave not run around like pack animals. You dressed for dinner as well as some other traditions that indicated a level of civility.

Isn't the charge a percentage plus a small base charge? I assume with a reasonable-sized check, the base charge is basically lost in the noise and you're paying a percentage of the check. Bruce It’s the base charge that kills the profit. If each transaction is subject to a $0.14 fee plus 1.2% of the transaction it would be in the owners interest not to split checks. An oversimplification but…

Baby food for a baby? Yes, it is okay to do that. What possible reason could there be to oppose that? I would take it one step further. Why didn’t the parents hire a sitter? In my opinion children in general do not belong in restaurants. If they can have smoke free and Cell phone free restaurants… To many times parents bring children to places where they become a disruption. I blame the parents and not the child. They aren’t exercising good judgment or control of the situation. Especially older toddlers that are allowed to run around and be disruptive. Management is often too hesitant to interject into these situations. So worried about how the parents will react rather than the majority of there other clients. The problem in this case seems to be a number of factors. We are not given enough information to truly make any real judgment. The article seems to have a bit of a slant to it making the owner look bad. Too many people feel that they have the right to dictate terms in another’s business; this leads to situations like this. I feel no pity for this woman and the assumption she made. I guess the old saw about assume is relevant here. The restaurant is under no obligation to allow outside food or utensils to be used. That should be the main point of this whole thing. Not what type of joint it is or any other factor.

Thanks for the return post. Solomon’s post is a good basic explanation. You would have to have a perfectly mad and preserved bottle from that time (I would think that to be rare.) to try and do any form of detailed testing. To many wild factors in just coming across a bottle of anything and being able to test it and have the results mean something. Or another way of looking at it is the way some drug tests work. They look for remainders of chemicals. Ones that occur in other things besides drugs. Poppy seeds or VICODIN show as opium on some of the testes. Yes, people do abuse prescription medicine but if the test is not followed up on or the right questions asked beforehand the test is useless. I will have to dig out my pharmacopoeia and get the properties and decay rates just to back this up. Your comment about rehashing and selective quotes rings true. Hence some of my questions as to what and why. Welcome and have a good time.

Boars Head is good beef. If you care to ruin it Chicago style might I suggest some garlic and black pepper along with some oregano and sage. This seems to be a close match.

I would be happy with a close call. Too bad it does not happen.

Wow, I wish I was a MOM. That gives it better weight. Point well stated. We should anticipate certain guest needs and be gracious host/ess. Being a door matt is not in the equation. That is why I do buffets for the most part. If you don’t want it don’t take it.

I will take minor requests on menu changes for my guests. Providing they do not interfere with the main dish and how it is cooked. If you don’t like an item, please don’t take it. If you are allergic to something I will advise you of the ingredients but the risk is to the guest at that point. I would never invite a friend with religious dietary restrictions to a pork-based meal. That would be rude on my part. The same thing for vegetarians but I will make small accommodations. Since I post a menu connected with the invitation it is on the guest to make the prudent decision. I would never think of making demands on my host and expect the same. People that gripe over ingredients in a meal may not be asked back. I had some friends over for diner and the guest of honor was allergic to Nightshades and I planned accordingly. If you don’t like mushrooms I’ll see what I can do but…

Who ever said they where "important"?

Or if in fact the thujone concentrations where higher than thought. Thujone degrades over time so testing old bottles would yield poor results.

Mama is a big girl. If she can’t take the heat or stress she should leave. So Guidoesq in his “made mama cry.” Speech. He is the one that should be ashamed, as he is the exploiter. Not only of his staff and himself but Dear ol’ Mama. I would start with the state and see what they can do. I seem to remember they have laws as to how long it can take to get paid. 14 days if weekly, etc. Federal wage and hour if there is overtime pay involved. It could put a big dent in his ability to remain open. Fines for violations can be steep. I hope all works out for you.

I am surprised that people did not file complaints with the Labor Board. Unless there was something in the contract for the show forbidding it. His whole tirade at the end was unprofessional and pathetic.

I have been trying to find a link to post showing the whole HIPAA. Some of it seems to go off the deep end.