Chips and Salsa

[DanM]

My wife had a pregnancy craving for food from a local southwestern restaurant. Like most restaurants of this genre, they give you chips and salsa with your meal. I asked them to include them with our takeout order only to discover that I was being charged $2 for about a quart of chips... and they forgot the salsa. Am I alone in thinking this is odd? Has anyone else seen this before?

Dan

[Chris Hennes]

I think the reason they give them to you "free" at the restaurant is to encourage you to drink more (hopefully alcoholic and/or expensive in nature). So from their perspective it makes good sense to charge for them in takeout. I don't know if the places around here do it, though.

[heidih]

I had a similar "huh?" moment at the local place. I can eat a basket or more and unlimited salsa with a meal, but it was over $4 to get chips and salsa as a take-out!!!! This place does not serve booze so that rationale does not fit. Granted I did not order a meal with the salsa and chips take-away order. I should see if that makes a difference.

[threestars]

I think the reason they give them to you "free" at the restaurant is to encourage you to drink more (hopefully alcoholic and/or expensive in nature). So from their perspective it makes good sense to charge for them in takeout. I don't know if the places around here do it, though.

I agree on this. I think they do that to sell more.

But I think it is not right to just charge you automatically without confronting you or telling you that you will be charged for takeouts. I never experienced this scene yet. Hope I won't.

[Chris Hennes]

I had a similar "huh?" moment at the local place. I can eat a basket or more and unlimited salsa with a meal, but it was over $4 to get chips and salsa as a take-out!!!! This place does not serve booze so that rationale does not fit. Granted I did not order a meal with the salsa and chips take-away order. I should see if that makes a difference.

So you think that because they are "free" when you dine in, they should just give them away at the takeout counter as well?

[heidih]

I had a similar "huh?" moment at the local place. I can eat a basket or more and unlimited salsa with a meal, but it was over $4 to get chips and salsa as a take-out!!!! This place does not serve booze so that rationale does not fit. Granted I did not order a meal with the salsa and chips take-away order. I should see if that makes a difference.

So you think that because they are "free" when you dine in, they should just give them away at the takeout counter as well?

I thought about what I wrote later and realized it made no sense. What I meant to say was that I was shocked at the price of just the chips and salsa compared to the regular full plate meals which include them when dining in, and that I wondered if or what they charged if you got them with take-away.

[Chris Hennes]

Yeah, at $4 that better have been a big tub of salsa!

[heidih]

Yeah, at $4 that better have been a big tub of salsa!

It was about the amount one would get at the table plus one re-fill - maybe a 1/2 cup, and the chips were just the amount they put in the basket on the table.

[Jaymes]

Yeah, at $4 that better have been a big tub of salsa!

It was about the amount one would get at the table plus one re-fill - maybe a 1/2 cup, and the chips were just the amount they put in the basket on the table.

Um.... Have I ever given you my quick & easy salsa recipe?

It's all that. And you buy a bag of chips.

[heidih]

Yeah, at $4 that better have been a big tub of salsa!

It was about the amount one would get at the table plus one re-fill - maybe a 1/2 cup, and the chips were just the amount they put in the basket on the table.

Um.... Have I ever given you my quick & easy salsa recipe?

It's all that. And you buy a bag of chips.

Yes Jaymes, your salsa is indeed tasty. It was one of those days where even the thought of pulling out the FP and cleaning it was more than I could stand, and I wanted cilantro in it - none at home. I usually just buy chips and make my own salsa. This was my first time buying them from this particular restaurant which I can walk to in 5 minutes. The quality was good - just seemed awfully pricey.

[Chris Hennes]

However, +1 on Jaymes' salsa recipe, which is the only way I have made salsa since seeing it here at eG. Naturally I have been known to doctor it in various ways depending on the day, but it's awesome.

[Jaymes]

Thanks!

[JAZ]

At my neighborhood taqueria in San Francisco, they'd throw a handful of chips in with all the orders (it was counter service only) and you could get several little salsa containers along with your order (I don't know if there was a limit, but if so it was more than three), all for free. If you ordered "chips and salsa" or "chips and guacamole" you got a whole bag of chips with a small deli container of the salsa of your choice (in the case of guacamole, it was a smaller container). I can't remember what they charged for either, but I think it was pretty reasonable.

[JAZ]

Another easy recipe for salsa at home:

1 14-oz. can tomatoes (I use Hunt's "fire roasted" tomatoes, but mostly because I like the flecks of blackened skin)

1 pepper from a jar of roasted red peppers (if they're not whole, wing it -- you want about a third of a cup)

1 very small onion (like 2" in diameter), cut into chunks

1-2 chipotle peppers in adobo (if you use dried, reconstitute in boiling water for 5-10 mintues)

Put all of that into a blender and pulse until pureed. A few chunks are okay, but you want a pretty smooth product.

Heat a couple tablespoons of olive, grapeseed, or vegetable oil in a saute pan. Carefully pour in the salsa (it will splatter) and simmer for 5 minutes or so. Turn the heat off and add:

1 tablespoon cider vinegar

2 teaspoons ground cumin

1 teaspoon kosher salt

Stir and let cool.

I used to roast tomatoes and peppers for this, and, depending on the tomatoes, it can be great. But overall, the canned ingredients work just as well and are so much easier I never make it the original way anymore.

Also, it freezes fine, if you don't eat salsa as fast as I do.

[Chris Hennes]

OK, Janet, that sounded interesting (and very different from my usual), so I just gave it a go. I had to roast up a fresh red bell pepper because I don't have any canned ones, and I used Muir Glen Fire Roasted tomatoes instead of Hunts. Also, in retrospect my onion was much bigger than that, so I probably at least doubled up on the onion, and maybe more. Still, I thought it turned out quite well. The aggressive use of cumin really sets it apart from a fresh (or in my case "fresh") salsa. I'll be interested to see how it is once it's chilled down overnight (if any of it lasts that long).

[Toliver]

Perhaps a charge for chips & salsa for takeout is to cover packaging/handling expense. I'm sure such packaging costs them very little if they buy it in bulk, but it could be gross mark-up.

[LindaK]

I had a similar "huh?" moment at the local place. I can eat a basket or more and unlimited salsa with a meal, but it was over $4 to get chips and salsa as a take-out!!!! This place does not serve booze so that rationale does not fit. Granted I did not order a meal with the salsa and chips take-away order. I should see if that makes a difference.

So you think that because they are "free" when you dine in, they should just give them away at the takeout counter as well?

This point has been puzzling me since this topic began. I don't see a similar quarrel when a high priced restaurant sends out a free amuse bouche before the meal. I had a lovely one last weekend, and would love to stop by the same restaurant and say, "hey, can I have a little plate of risotto with Ipswich clams? Gratis, of course." You may say, well, Linda, you dropped $80 on food and drink at that restaurant that night, you covered the cost of that amuse. Most likely. I assume that chips and salsa are a cost-effective amuse for many of the Mexican or Tex-Mex restaurants that do the same.

It's all relative. No such thing as a free lunch.

[ScoopKW]

A "divierta la boca," then...