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Restaurants....How do you choose
During this ongoing Covid epidemic I know many have not gone to their favorite restaurants or perhaps some don’t routinely frequent many due to dietary restrictions or are just not interested in dining out. In my state of Florida, we opened early and had access again to some of our favorite places to eat.
I wonder if anyone would like to discuss how they choose an eatery, what makes a particular place your favorite or why you don’t normally eat out or do so only on special occasions and share the best and the worst food you have ever eaten.
We have an amazing array of eateries to choose from in the Tampa Bay and Orlando Area and, while we have favorite ones, we are always on the lookout for new places. We do rely on customer reviews but also research the background of the establishment and where their food is sourced and recommendations from friends.
My family are big restaurant goers and we don’t need to have an excuse to eat out.
I know @jakedduck1 is waiting with baited breath to hear what I ate on my recent trip to New Jersey and this Easter weekend here in Florida.. Just know Leonard that Baby grilled octopus and escargot were consumed. I only eat escargot at a good French restaurant and the octopus has to be from Spain.
That’s all for now
FL Mary
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@gingerw
Hi
I grew up in a simple food environment also and actually follow that today at home. Eating out was a rare occasion. I usually just cook for me so it is easy and fast to cook basic non elaborate meals. It’s actually healthier I think. While I don’t know the dietary restrictions of a renal diet I can understand the difficulty of eating out.
I see more and more smaller eateries opening up that advertise local sourced food, gluten free and vegan foods etc so that might be an
option for many with dietary concerns.
And I applaud you for sticking to your limited diet. My daughter in laws mom passed away late last year. Her mom, who I absolutely loved, was a diabetic who didn’t follow her diet. She traveled and ate whatever she wanted and sadly passed away from health complications.
Take care
FL Mary
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2 ReactionsI like this pizza place because their crust is thin, crunchy, sweet tasting. A Rueben looks like a cheese pizza, lots of mozzerella ontop. A banbino sized pizza is a personal size, about the same size as a dinner plate.
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1 Reaction@Erinmfs
Ah...it’s the mozzzarella that keeps everything on...didn’t realize . I would try one now. Bambino pizzas are called personal size pizzas or personal pan pizzas here but I like bambino name better.
FL Mary
@Erinmfs We have one eat-in restaurant in town. It is a Mexican food restaurant with great food. He also has a few hamburger+fries choices and pizzas on his menu. We have tried his Philly cheese-steak pizza, and it was really tasty. Never saw that offered anywhere else. The crust has cumin and garlic salt in it, which mixes well with the other flavors.
Ginger
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2 Reactions@gingerw , recently, I've had to wait at restaurants, because the employees aren't showing up for work, everyone has their stimulus check and just not coming in. Have you come across that? I hit it everyday trying to accomplish things, like the plumber I called. Nobody in at work, all at home with stimulus money! I had to wait an hour for a table at a restaurant last week because the workers didn't come in, that's the excuse I was told.
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1 Reaction@Erinmfs We have only been to a couple of restaurants recently. Since so many places let staff go while on lock-down, those people found other jobs, or truthfully, found they made more money on unemployment. I believe many businesses are suffering, trying to get employees back.
Ginger
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1 Reaction@imallears Hi and you pose an interesting topic. My wife and I have now pretty much not been inside a restaurant in over a year but mostly what we do now take out. We will usually order online or at a drive-up curbside situation, then either eat in our car or at a nice scenic spot to eat. Depending on the venue it may be right there outside, or drive to another location. But we have taken it home also. My guess would be going forward that drive up service and a nice outdoor seating areas will start being a lot more popular again. I remember one of my favorite eateries from my youth was called the redwood and they were like a car hop setup. You could drive up and someone would come to the car and get our order then they had these trays that hooked onto the car window. But they also had picnic tables along this treeline that was available and a pleasure to eat at also. Being from Massachusetts originally Cape Cod was famous for walk up eateries along the beaches. Then a blanket on the sand and watch the ocean waves. I can see those types of places coming back.
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1 Reaction@colleenyoung here's an example, of where @gingerw is commenting to me using the @, I received a notification, but not an email. I believe I have the email settings to email me if somebody identifies me with the @.
@Erinmfs and @gingerw
We have no shortage of restaurants or workers here in Florida. At least this is my experience in the Tampa Bay Area. There are no unusual wait times. I had the same experience in a small New Jersey town also...right across from NY City.
The only place I see a shortage of staff is in the big department stores...hard to find a cashier open or a sales person. Other than that you would not know there was a pandemic here. Our county just lifted its mask mandate for public places except for government buildings and schools. Most businesses are still requiring it so far.
Stores are crowded , restaurants are crowded and few people were adhering to the mask mandate anyway.
FL Mary
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1 ReactionErin, did you check your spam or your Promotions or Forums tab in gmail?