Restaurant Menu Tricks

[straydog]

Just picked this up on Yahoo Financial. I no longer go to restaurants because I am restricted to a low sodium diet, but for those who do, you may want to read this article.

"Tricks of the Restaurant Trade: 7 Ways Menus Make You Spend"

financiallyfit.yahoo.com/finance/article-112574-9381-3-7-ways-restaurant-menus-make-you-spend?ywaad=ad0035&nc

[Deleted]

Salt is good for you. You just need to eat real salt... That doesn't really help with the whole restaurant thing, but if you actually want to go out, i'm sure there are some local restaurants that don't use a lot of processed sodium...

[Savoir Faire-Demogague in NJ]

Oped,

You just need to eat real salt...

I've never heard of salt being referred to in this manner.
You've piqued my interest.... being that I am into food.

[Deleted]

Well, Real Salt is actually a 'brand', and its a pretty good one, but i meant the generic, like mined salt, sea salt, still with its intact trace minerals. We actually like Celtic and Himalayan. You can look them up online, and we buy at the natural food store generally. Our salt is in a grinder like fresh pepper...

[Deleted]

Here is a link to Real Salt, comparing itself to himalayan and celtic... with links to health benefits, its a starting place anyway... blog.realsalt.com/2010/08/comparing-real-salt-to-himalayan-celtic/

[Deleted]

Another trick I've read is that the wines with the highest markup are just abive the cheapest in price. Nobody wants to look like a skinflint by ordering the cheapest one on the list so they go for one a few $$ more.

Interesting article, though. I'd already read that restaurants were doing more with pasta and lesser-known (cheaper) meat ingredients. I'll have to keep it in mind next time DH and I go out to eat!

[formerexpat]

You just need to eat real salt...

Well, Real Salt is actually a 'brand', and its a pretty good one, but i meant the generic, like mined salt, sea salt, still with its intact trace minerals. We actually like Celtic and Himalayan.

Code for getting middle class to pay more for salt.

Hurry up, you can get 7.5 oz for $15: www.saltworks.us/himalayan-sea-salt-cork-jar.html

[Deleted]

Well, if you can't read the difference between natural salt and the morton types, go ahead and keep eating them.
Himalayan is more expensive because it comes from Pakistan. Real Salt is mined in the US, and is not as expensive... although more expensive than Morton type 'salt' ...

Do me a favor though.... go to your salt container and look up the ingredients...

[Deleted]

Most of that comes from eating processed foods. We try to avoid as much of that as possible.

But those systems also need real salt to work properly. From the Real Salt Page: A 2006 study published in The American Journal of Medicine tells us that “sodium intake of less than 2300 mg (the daily recommended allowance) was associated with a 37% increase in cardiovascular disease mortality and a 28% increase of all-cause mortality." Also: when you consume chemically treated or de-mineralized salt, your body’s mineral balance doesn’t always respond gracefully. When people started consuming chemically altered salts 100 years ago, we started seeing high blood pressure and water retention that had never been associated with salt before.

They actually add sugar to processed 'table salt' ...

fwiw, i find we don't use as much if we are using natural salts.

[Tiny]

There's a reason table salt is "iodized' -- so you get some iodide to prevent iodine deficiency. Of course here in the 21st Century US everyone probably takes a Vitamin Supliment(s) daily so it's probably not that much of an issue if you stop using iodized salt in cooking and you are avoiding sodium in other ways (like little/no processed foods). Salt in moderation isn't necessarily bad for you...

Kinda like how all that filtered water people drink is removing the flouride from their city water... and it sometimes leads to problems with kids teeth... The flouride got put in the water to help insure everyone had better oral health...
The vitamin D in Milk... the same thing.

Vitamin deficiency diseases are such fun!

[Tiny]

Don't get me wrong - I'm not arguing that people shouldn't cut back on salt consumption... and I'm not even gonna wade into the debate on the different 'flavors' of salt depending on where it came from. Just saying to look at the whole picture rather than the focusing in on one 'issue'....

I have a hair brained friend who would do something like buy a specialty salt to use in the home cooking she rarely does and then proclaiming how 'proud' and "happy" she is eating healthy - all while still consuming frozen dinners, prepacked side dishes, chips, and restaurant food, and assorted 'sport drinks' (because her electrolytes get low- she doesn't work out, she doesn't have any life threatening healthproblems, and she eats regularly - so I'm not sure how that happens...)

[Deleted]

Kind of like the way they have to enrich bread once they strip the grains of anything nutrious? ...

Honestly, the idea that 'salt isn't necessary bad' ... is a problem. Salt is GOOD for you if you eat natural salt. Yes, everything in moderation... but if you are eating natural salt, you actually dont' crave it as much, use as much, because you are getting what you need...

People get WAY TOO MUCH floride in the United States...

[Deleted]

Its amazing how when you eat raw milk, intolerance and allergy to milk goes away.... how when you eat natural salt, it does not cause the health conditions we see with processed salt... etc. Its amazing how when you just eat real food, lots of health problems just go away...

etc.

[illinicheme]

I'm sure I've fallen victim to plenty of menu engineering in my day, but I had to laugh at the part about draw a line around it and people will order it. DH and I were at one of the local Irish pubs a couple of weeks ago and I couldn't find the fish and chips, which I knew they serve. Me: "Where the hell is the fish and chips?" DH: (pointing at the first page of my menu) "It's right there in giant font with the big green line around it." Me: "Oh - I didn't even notice that. I thought it was a heading or something. They should put the fish and chips with the rest of the entrees."

[TheOtherMe]

I've only eaten sea salt for years. I don't do much cooking, so it is used rarely. I never add salt to anything I eat. I just wish we could get my father to stop pouring salt on his food.

[Deleted]

Apr 23, 2011 10:25:01 GMT -5 Tiny said:

There's a reason table salt is "iodized' -- so you get some iodide to prevent iodine deficiency.

There's so much salt added to everyday stuff from the grocery store that I would never worry about not getting enough iodine. One of the few processed foods I eat regularly is canned soup. That alone should get me enough iodine.

[Deleted]

The body can't store iodine effectively though, so unless you eat soup often ?... but a few kelp flakes in seasoning are fine...

Interestingly enough... floride depletes iodine, so too much floride increases the need for iodine...

[Tiny]

As for the iodide in salt - if you were religiously following some diet where you really did cut out all salt by actually doing the work and research necessary to do so - you might have a problem... but then if you are doing all the work and research necessary to remove ALL salt (except the salt you add) from your diet then you're probably already aware of/thinking of your nutritional needs and working out menu plans and such...

FWIW: I come from a family that routinely "restricts" some food or additive without really doing the research/work - so it's mostly 'lip service'. Kinda like when someone's on a 'diet' and not eating potato chips but everyday still consumes an grande Frappe Mocha Carmel coffee drink with an extra shop of syrup and cream (over 1000 calories per drink). Whatever...

[2kids10horses]

Hey! Wendy's is now serving french fries with "Natural Sea Salt"!

That should solve everyone's problems!

[Mad Dawg Wiccan]

<<You will never suffer from low sodium unless you are on diuretics, and possibly not even then.>>


Not true, you can lose too much sodium by sweating a lot. I once landed in the ER from a salt cramp in my abdomen, and I've had lesser ones in my legs.

[Deleted]

Apr 23, 2011 11:20:23 GMT -5 oped said:

The body can't store iodine effectively though, so unless you eat soup often ?... but a few kelp flakes in seasoning are fine...

I also snack on salted pumpkin seeds and sunfllower seeds and take a daily multivitamin with 100% of the MDR of iodine. (My blood pressure is fine so I don't really worry about salt intake).

I still maintain that if the average person switched to uniodized salt they'd get plenty of iodine from the salt in their purchased foods. Canned vegetables. Canned soups. Frozen french fries. Baked goods. Crackers, pretzels and chips. I just checked the oatmeal packets DH likes. 170 mg of sodium per serving. Salt is everywhere, including places it shouldn't be.

[tiredturkey]

"Salt is everywhere, including places it shouldn't be."

You are so right on this. Label reading has been a real eyeopener for DH and me. Canned soup and processed cheese can be very high, as are some brands of yogurt and, yes, oatmeal. I rarely use salt when cooking and we use a very coarse grey salt at the table because just a tiny amount satisfies our salt craving. Switching from canned to frozen veggies helped us cut back on our salt consumption and when I use canned veggies like chickpeas I rinse and rinse them.

The only time I've had to watch for salt depletion issues was on a couple of week long working vacations in the Mexican desert where temps exceeded 100. I just drank 1/2 strength Gatorade which gave me all the electrolytes I needed.

[gsbrq]

Apr 23, 2011 12:00:58 GMT -5 Tiny said:

FWIW: I come from a family that routinely "restricts" some food or additive without really doing the research/work - so it's mostly 'lip service'. Kinda like when someone's on a 'diet' and not eating potato chips but everyday still consumes an grande Frappe Mocha Carmel coffee drink with an extra shop of syrup and cream (over 1000 calories per drink). Whatever...

LOL...my old roommate used to tell me about her grandma making fried apple pies but using sweet-n-low instead of sugar...to make them "healthier".

[gsbrq]

Regarding the OP article...the author is incorrect about chicken wings being huge profit items. While this was true for years, wings have become so popular that you can't buy them for "pennies", as you could when they were considered a less-desirable part of the chicken.

www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2010-02-28-chicken-wings_N.htm

[lisaa]

Apr 23, 2011 14:56:00 GMT -5 @athena53 said:

I still maintain that if the average person switched to uniodized salt and iodine were taken out of the water supply they'd get plenty of iodine from the salt in their purchased foods.

Not necessarily. Iodine is not a natural ingredient in salt. Iodine has to be added to salt in the manufacturing process. This costs money. There might not be a cost difference when you buy Morton's, but if you are a food manufacturer buying your salt hundreds of pounds at a time, the cost will be noticeable. And we all know what is most important for manufacturers: the bottom line. There is no law saying that food manufacturers have to use iodized salt, when they use salt as an ingredient, so most do not. Most will use the less expensive non-iodized.

[Deleted]

Apr 23, 2011 12:37:04 GMT -5 @wrongsideof30 said:

Oped, do you drink raw milk? We've thought about it, but I'm too scared to give it to the kids.

We have, but I live in PA, one of the few states that certifies raw milk, so there is an extra layer of 'safety' here...

Honestly, i don't use much daiy at all any more, because the co-op i used to go through doesn't delive locally, and we've never been big milk people. I use mostly almond milk (nonsweetened) at this point, if i'm baking or something. Occasionally if i'm somewere i can get it, i will still get raw... Raw sour cream is awesome!

[midjd]

I spent my college summers waitressing and had one coworker swear up and down that the fried cheesecake was healthy because it was battered in corn flakes, which apparently negated the cheesecake, egg, and vegetable oil.

Interesting article in the OP, I'm going to start paying more attention to menus...

[straydog]

Apr 23, 2011 8:03:48 GMT -5 oped said:

Salt is good for you. You just need to eat real salt... That doesn't really help with the whole restaurant thing, but if you actually want to go out, i'm sure there are some local restaurants that don't use a lot of processed sodium...

Right now I'm trying to start a business, so I may end up having to 'invite' potential partners or investors to lunch. I will definitely start looking for restaurants that offer 'healthy' menus.

As far as eating 'real salt', I read the article that you posted but I am still afraid. If I eat something that can act as a trigger, along with other factors such as a change in the weather, I will be in so much pain that I will not be able to get behind the wheel of a car.

[Deleted]

Apr 24, 2011 4:00:26 GMT -5 @straydog said:

I will definitely start looking for restaurants that offer 'healthy' menus.

Fortunately, most restaurants post their menus on-line now. I'd also recommend that you find a small, non-franchise place where you can talk to the chef beforehand. A really good chef considers any dietary restrictions to be a challenge and will make suggestions as to what you can eat, or will tweak the preparation of regular menu items. If you go to a chain restaurant, a lot of the menu has been prepared somewhere else and shipped to the place, so no one can tell you for sure what is or isn't in it.

[Deleted]

We have several smaller places that offer local, sustainably raised produce and meats in their food. This means a lot of things are seasonal (i've learned that 'creamed veggie soup' in the spring is code for spinach... but on the other hand the fall soups are to die for.. ) and my favorite has vegitarian, vegan, heart healthy, and gluten free marked on the menu, and will always work with you to make something to fit your needs...