What ethnic food should be the basis of a chain restaurant...

[JVS]

Poll question: What ethnic food should be the basis of a chain restaurant...

that sells food at roughly the same price as the Olive Garden.

Suggestions for the restaurant's name would be good too.

I'm not putting Mexican or Australian on the list as both of these have already been done

[jpgray]

1. Thai-call it "Wok Bottom"

[bluethruandthru]

5. How about Thai a Yellow Ribbon?

or Thai me Kangaroo Down?
or Thai Pennington's
or Thai one on

...I kill me! :rofl:

[Telly Savalas]

13. Vietnamese: Pho Your Eyes Only

[tigereye]

92. there is a Thai restaurant here called Thai Me Up

[DBoon]

16. "Wok Lobster"?

[DBoon]

17. dupe

dupe

[DBoon]

18. dupe

dupe

[JVS]

19. No way, you can get rotkohl here and it rules

[dysfunctional press]

74. how about : Phuket All

nt

[TheFriendlyAnarchist]

104. In Oxford, Ohio, there's a stir-fry place called "Wok This Way"

[Floogeldy]

2. You are seriously saying that Chinese hasn't already been done?

:shrug:

[JVS]

4. Not by one chain of restaurants offering olive garden type quality/price

Italian--Olive Garden
Mexican--Chi-chi's, Don Pablos
Australian--Outback Steakhouse
Chinese-- a whole shitload of independent places, the only national Chinese chain I can think of is Manchu Wok which is Arby's prices, not Olive Garden prices.

[Floogeldy]

8. Maybe it is geographical.

http://www.pfchangs.com/

[JVS]

9. Oh shit, I forgot about them. I concede the point and have changed...

Chinese to North African

[Floogeldy]

10. And here I thought all along that you were perfect.

:cry:

You do have a point. :)

[JVS]

11. I am infallible on matters of opinion, factual data however might be...

incorrect.

[JVS]

12. Fuck North African food, I changed that to Quebecois

We need a place to eat poutine in the us

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

25. Diners in Jersey have it, except we call it "Disco Fries"

:shrug:

[Gormy Cuss]

33. self delete

[Metta]

3. Haggis. The world needs more haggis.

That should get it.

[jmowreader]

58. Christ, man, we're trying to get people IN the place!

"No, really! It doesn't taste half as bad as it looks!" is not a real good tagline for any restaurant.

[Metta]

94. You have a point.

Will haggis ever get its true props?

[jmowreader]

101. If people didn't know what it was, maybe

Unfortunately, most people know what's in this. And it doesn't sound good.

My dad would probably eat it, but he eats unusual meats anyway--right now, he's got ten elk livers sitting in his freezer. He's kinda infamous at the Forest Service for eating elk-liver sandwiches, so all the guys who work at the Forest Service bring him livers when they kill elk. No one else in town will eat them.

I keep telling him, leave the damn liver in the woods, the bears will appreciate his generosity. "But they're good!" Uhhh...that's okay, dad, knock yourself out.

[Metta]

108. When we were kids ...,

my mom used to get all kinds of non-scheduled organs because they were cheaper. We ate lots of tongue, spleen and lungs. I remember shying away from stomach. Or, maybe it was lungs which are not part of the food supply anymore as I understand.

Happy eating to your dad. Given his rare tastes, are you more inclined to have adventurous food tastes, or less? I'm in the more category myself.

[jmowreader]

109. I tend to stay away from vital organs

I do eat things the rest of my family, and my wife, wonder why anyone would ever eat them.

You guys are gonna laugh, but one of the things they thought I was nuts for serving them is this salad:

leaf spinach
romaine lettuce
shredded Asian cabbage
shredded carrots
cherry tomatoes
crabmeat
balsamic oil & extra virgin olive oil vinaigrette with fresh-ground black pepper, fresh basil, fresh oregano and garlic

Looks pretty tame, right? To my family, a salad is iceberg lettuce, radishes, cucumbers and sometimes green onions with bottled dressing poured over it. But they tried this, and now they eat it a lot--albeit usually with no crabmeat or Asian cabbage, two ingredients you can't get in St. Maries, Idaho.

Last time I was up there I made eastern North Carolina pulled pork and they liked that a lot. Don't try making THAT in St. Maries, either--I went to both grocery stores and the meat market, and the town was completely out of pork roasts. I had to drive to Spokane with an ice chest in the back seat of the car to get the meat. One of my sisters found some brotchen at the Albertsons in Lewiston, so now everyone over there is well versed in making British gut-truck food. However, I'm not going to foist upon them the sorry-ass concoction that is British gut-truck tea--which is like actual British tea only because there's milk in it. Even British people say that tea isn't good. I'm pretty sure they make it with Lipton's.

I also made a lemon meringue pie with Actual Lemon Juice. Once again they thought I was insane--doesn't lemon pudding come in boxes? Well, yeah, and it's like suckin' down a car battery, it's so sour. Homemade lemon pudding is pleasantly tart.

You can get 'em interested in some ethnic foods if you work at it, and they're not too bizarre. Most Korean food doesn't work, of course, but my nieces really like currywursts mit pommes (although they're still trying to get a handle on puttin' mayo on fries) and I even bought a little handful of imbiss forks from Ali's Imbiss across the street from Andrews Barracks in Berlin so they could eat them in proper German style. I did find a package of yakimandu at a supermarket in Spokane, and my little sister thought that was pretty good. (Then again, my little sister's in China six weeks out of the year buying for Kmart, so she's getting very heavily into Oriental cuisine.) And I made a great schweinshaxe the year I graduated from BNCOC, and naturally they liked that--it's just a pork roast.

Short answer: most of the rest of my family won't eat half the shit I do.

[Kellanved]

111. Neat

Should you need more authentic Currywurst gear: tell me, I'll send it to you.

[Metta]

112. I salute your eclectic tastes, brother.

You're a man after my own heart. :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :donut: :donut: :)

[grace0418]

6. None.

Chain restaurants never get it right. Ethnic food especially.

[JVS]

7. Yes that's something to consider, it's not going to be perfect Indian, etc

but rather a reasonable facsimile of whatever kind of food is chosen. One should consider this when voting.

[Telly Savalas]

14. C'mon, McPad Thai is delicious.

[JVS]

15. Wow, it looks like the demand for inauthentic Indian food is through the..

roof.

[Beware the Beast Man]

21. I've had it before- Saffron in the mall food court.

Lousy. :puke:

[DBoon]

20. Call it "Deutsche Imbiss"

German sausage properly grilled with potato salad and cole-slaw

[JVS]

22. How about "Sausage Fest"

[jmowreader]

56. And doner kebabs! Gotta have doner kebabs!

Plus, we'll play Alamaailman Vasarat's "Kebab Tai Henki!" on a loop. It's a fun little instrumental number, and people will like it until they find out that its title is Finnish for "your kebab or your life."

Yes, a chain of Imbisses would be great. But that's Burger King pricing, not Olive Garden.

(Unfortunately for the grand plan to open a nationwide chain of Imbisses, someone has to come up with a LOT of Doner Mystery Meat machines.)

[flygal]

82. or gesund heit

I've actually daydreamed about having a little luncheon place called gesundheit where I serve healthy-ish food. Lots of salads and whole grain stuff.

[jakefrep]

91. German would be awesome....

...I could go for a good Schnitzel right now, and I'm pissed that the Berghoff in Chicago closed.

And on a separate note, I think it's high time for a German-themed casino on the Las Vegas Strip. We have American (New York New York), Roman (Caesar's Palace), Egyptian (Luxor), Italian (Bellagio, Venetian), and French (Paris), so why not German? Call it the Baden-Baden or something, with lots of Bavarian gingerbread architecture and a miniature Brandenburg gate at the front.

[NoPasaran]

23. Quebecois: I can't believe it's rabbit! n/t

[JVS]

24. Is that going to be with gravy and cheese curds, ot with maple syrup?

[XNASA]

26. Vinda Lou's -nt

[DainBramaged]

27. Japanese, fried eel, YUM YUM

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

38. I like eel. It's yummy.

Mmm...eel....

[dysfunctional press]

75. unagi is one of my favourites too...

YUM!

[BluePatriot]

107. mmm...unagi-box...*drool* (nt)

[Throd]

28. Korean

Korean BBQ is a carnivorous orgy of delicious flavor. Just stay away from me for 48 hours after I've had kimchi.

[Nickster]

105. Oh yeah! Korean is awesome, so many little bowls of side dishes and so

little time.

[yellowdogintexas]

29. Greek, although there is a mall chain called Oopah! that

does a nice gyro and greek salad.

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

30. German or Thai would work okay. For the concept you've outlined, I

think German would kick ass, and do very well in America, too.

[JVS]

34. Germany already has a chain called Wienerwald, maybe we could...

get them to start opening here

www.wienerwald.de
www.wienerwald.at

[noonwitch]

31. I would say lebanese food, but we already have a couple of local chains

La Shish and La Pita in Detroit. La Shish has the most restaurants, but their owner is currently under indictment for tax fraud. La Pita is slowly expanding around the Detroit area and their food is really good, too.

One of them should go national, though, or at least, state-wide. The food is good, it costs about as much as Olive Garden, and it is very healthy.

[Magrittes Pipe]

32. English.

Mmmmm... I could go for a steak and kidney pie from T.G.I. McSamuel T. Boileyshire & Erma's right now. :9

[Xipe Totec]

40. Sorry, the category is food, as in edible

:hide:

[LSK]

35. Greek!!!

[Xipe Totec]

42. Argentina - Gaucho Chow

Nothing but beef and cheese on the menu.

And Yerba Mate instead of tea for drink.


Meant to post on main thread, Sorry!

Oh well, this is just as good.

[Common Sense Party]

120. Argentine gets my vote, as well.

They could even do a drive-thru window for empanadas.

Churrascos, bife de loma, milanesas, tortas fritas, ensalada de tomate y cebolla. Some nice facturas for dessert.

And lots and lots of yerba mate!

[JohnKleeb]

36. General Central European I guess you could call it

Kielbasa, Pierogi, etc

[livetohike]

48. Good choice John - we could call it "Baba's"

add halushki and Old Country Pie (it's fried cabbage in sort of a calzone dough). Got to serve beer to wash it all down, though :-).

[JohnKleeb]

73. Baba's would be great

When I was a little kid I called my grandma, baba. There's this picnic of some sort at the local Byzantine Catholic Church I think every labor day or so and my grandparents invited me. Beer too would be great.

[DainBramaged]

37. Anyone thought about good ole American food?

Oh wait, foreign cuisine for the elite, I forgot.:eyes:

[Xipe Totec]

39. Luby's

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luby's

Love it.

[jmowreader]

60. Lose the backslash

The problem with going nationwide with Luby's is that every place setting would have to include knife, fork, spoon, bread plate, coffee cup and revolver. I figure if you can't hit the sumbitch in six shots he doesn't need killin'.

[Xipe Totec]

61. Ha!

They'll never live down Killeen.

Sorry about the backslash, I'll try to fix it if it's not too late.

[jmowreader]

86. I've eaten in that Luby's

They tell me it's a Chinese restaurant now.

I don't know about you, but I think I would have torn the Luby's down and built something different there. People will remember when someplace is the site of the worst massacre in American history.

[DainBramaged]

65. Denny's, Pancake House, yup.

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

41. Umm...American food already has McCrap and Denny's and assorted

shit places like that.

Then, we also have the slightly tolerable places like Bennigan's and TGIF.

If that opinion makes me elitest, then I'm proud to be an elitest.

[Momgonepostal]

49. Agreed, we have tons of American restaurants like that...

already. The ones you mentioned, plus Chilis, Tony Romas, Red Lobster, Shownies (sp?) etc. To me this thread is about what restaurant theme HASN'T been done, but should.

I love Greek food, so I'd certainly give a new Greek restaurant a go.

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

51. I only like one chain place...

Qdoba and they're more like a Mexican panera in style than a sit-down place. However, they make absolutely awesome burritos to order. Everything is always really fresh and made exactly how you want it. Their burritos are HUGE. They weigh over a pound. It's like a two day supply of food for me and they only cost $5.

[DainBramaged]

63. You cannot be more wrong, but if that's what you think

maybe that's what you were brought up on. Not even worth debating.

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

64. Actually, I was brought up on real restaurants and real food.

What's your favorite American chain?

[DainBramaged]

66. I don't eat chains, I don't eat meat, I don't eat fast food anymore

And since I don't eat fine food, I guess I'm just gutter trash.

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

67. Whatever. Those are your words not mine.

I wouldn't declare you gutter trash. I don't even know you, but if you feel that you're gutter trash than whatever. Have fun.

[Redstone]

43. Lebanese. I'd eat there every day.Call it "Bei-Roots."

Redstone

[Xipe Totec]

44. Good one!

We have two local Lebanese restaurants near us, Biblos, and Tall Cedars.

Both excellent, but you're right, there are no Lebanese chain restaurants that I know of.

[Redstone]

46. If I had to spend the rest of my life eating ONE "ethnic food," it would

be Eastern Mediterranean.

Redstone

[txwhitedove]

81. Yummm, Fadi's Mediterranean Grill on Westheimer in Houston...

the favorite restaurant for my youngest daughter and I.

[livetohike]

45. Me too, I love Lebanese food and I love your suggested name!

:-)

[ScreamingMeemie]

47. Olive Garden is too expensive. I don't get the point of this thread?

Are we supposed to believe that Olive Garden is expensive? Or Cheap? :shrug: We don't go often because the four of us can't get out of there for less than $75...

[jmowreader]

85. Call it "almost fine" dining

Places like Olive Garden live between the "fancy burger joints" of which there are too many to name, and the fancy restaurants that are owned by the chef.

Yes, they're a little too expensive, but they're popular. It's the right price level for the places we're discussing.

[ScreamingMeemie]

89. My opinion wouldn't count then...because they are too expensive

for a family to go to. :hi:

[Orangepeel]

116. The industry term is "casual dining restaurant"

FWIW

[jmowreader]

117. Oh, I know

The industry term for a burger joint is "quick service restaurant."

And then there's the "fine dining restaurant" which is often Jacket Required.

I wonder...how about a chain of fine dining restaurants? Cook everything fresh, nice furniture, maybe live piano music. It hasn't been done before and I think that's because the technology to create menus on-the-fly wasn't there...let me think about this and get back to you.

[JVS]

90. I'm not saying anything about price, I'm just asking what kind of food...

people would want to see done in olive-garden style. $75 for four is not cheap, but on the other hand $40 for two is not horribly bad for a date, and it keeps families away. People tend to leave the kids behind if feeding each kid is going to cost $15-$18.

[begin_within]

50. Vietnamese and Persian are the two best cuisines in the world.

Far better and far healthier than French, Italian or Chinese.

[Xipe Totec]

52. I love Persian food

Lamb Koresh with dried lemons is my absolute favorite.

[begin_within]

53. Have you tried Salat eh Olivieh? The best chicken salad in the world. Or,

Mas O-Khiar, the yogurt-cucumber-mint dip? Or their kebabs with that killer yellow sesame sauce on the meat?

[Xipe Totec]

55. Yes to Mas O-Khiar, kebabs

but no to the sesame sauce. I'll have to sweet talk my sweetie into making it.

She is the gourmet, I'm the gourmand.

:thumbsup:

[begin_within]

59. I don't know what the name of that sauce is, but I think it has sesame

tahini in it... it tastes like that to me. I had a chicken kabob sandwich which they took the contents of a chicken kabob off the stick and put them in a rolled up pita bread, and poured that yellow sauce on it, and it was absolutely delicious. This was at a Persian festival so I was not able to ask what it was until the people were gone. I just looked at a menu and I see that I misspelled the yogurt dip, it's Mast O Khiar. Anyway the Salat eh Olivieh is great stuff.

[Xipe Totec]

62. I've had a tahini yogurt based sauce over kibi

Don't know if it's the same.

I checked the recipe for Salat eh Olivieh, and it reminds me of a Macedonian chicken salad. I wonder if they are the same.




:hi:

[begin_within]

78. Salat eh Olivieh was started by a Russian chef in a fancy Moscow hotel,

but the Persians adopted it as their own and may have modified it slightly, and it has become a popular dish in Iran. It's usually on the menu of most Persian restaurants, if not you can ask them to make it. It's very rich, as it contains chicken, potatoes, eggs, mayonnaise, pickles, peas, various seasonings including white pepper and a little mustard, and I can't remember what else right now. It's a main course in itself.

As far as the mystery yellow sauce I had on a kebab sandwich, I think now that it may have been some version of hummus that the people made fresh that night, but it had a distinct sesame flavor to it, they may have added a drop of toasted sesame oil. I don't think that sauce had yogurt in it, it didn't seem to have that "yogurt" texture. Anyway I'm sure any good hummus recipe that is light and fresh-tasting would do.

[Xipe Totec]

54. Basque - Euskadi

Specializing in seafood dishes

Merluza Basca - Hake Basque style...
Bacalao a la Viscaina - Biscay style codfish

...It could happen :shrug:

[jmowreader]

57. Teppanyaki

That's the Japanese thing where they seat the diners around a grill and a chef comes out and puts on this big show. People love it and the food's pretty good too.

[UncleSepp]

68. Ethiopian

Healthy, can be made in quantity, and can be served wrapped for dining in the car. It's got all the major fast food qualities.

[AlienGirl]

69. That's my answer too!

Call it Wat's For Dinner

Tucker

[Benfea]

71. Oh man, I love Ethiopian! -NT

[dysfunctional press]

76. EthioCafe used to be a GREAT place on clark in chicago, near wrigley

ain't there anymore tho....

[begin_within]

79. Ick! You mean that platter with the little piles of runny purees, served

with a stack of torn cold pancakes that you scoop up the awful little purees with? Ick! Sorry, I guess it's an acquired taste.

[catbert836]

98. "Little piles of runny purees..."

does not represent the whole of Ethiopian cuisine, sir. Nor is that a very accurate description of injera and wat stews.

[greekspeak]

124. Come on now! It is wonderful!

You get to eat with your hands, and they just sort of put it all in the middle so everyone can share! I think it is fun. And one of the best meat dishes I EVER had was a spicy Ethiopian stewed beef with potatos and carrots. And the "pancakes" are fun to munch on after everyone is done and just sitting around talking. Plus, it is very affordable.

[Exultant Democracy]

96. that would be so great

I voteed for Indian in the poll, drive up and get some saag paneer in a nan wrap.

[myrna minx]

106. Ethiopian food is from the gods.

:loveya:

[Benfea]

70. Korean, baby!

Lotsa hot peppers, lotsa garlic, lotsa sesame oil, what's not to love?

[jmowreader]

103. The kimchi, for one thing

While properly-made kimchi (and trust me, if you have not been to Korea you have NOT had properly-made kimchi) is quite tasty, and the other 16 varieties of kimchi besides cabbage are very interesting, the shit's got a stench that will curl your nose hairs.

[samplegirl]

72. I say Hungarian

I love most Hungarian dishes.

[dysfunctional press]

77. Thai. DEFINITELY.

thai food is my favourite ethnic, after sashimi.

i don't think chain sushi/sashimi places are all that great an idea, tho.

[Iniquitous Bunny]

80. Syrian

This guy wants more falafels.

[blitzen]

83. Bhutanese....that's what my 9-year old son told me today

in case you're wondering, he has asperger's--which explains why he knows about Bhutan

[philosophie_en_rose]

84. Filipino!

Jollibee is fine, but limited to California. I get all of my Filipino food for free (thanks Mom), but it would be nice to be able to sit down to some nice adobo or a plate of pancit at an Olive Garden-like place. (Since it would be as "commercial" as the Olive Garden - we can skip the balut please).

[Vidar]

87. Prefer Thai, but Indian almost as good.

[scoey1953]

88. Big fan of Panda Express....

Just wish there was the Japanese equilvant...in the meantime..its BACK TO PANDA.

[jmowreader]

102. You want a restaurant that serves panda.

Well...I guess we could set up a farm, and other bears taste pretty good...

Anyone remember the old Spy Magazine? They pulled one of their pranks in which they rented an empty mall restaurant for a few days and set up a "Bunny Burgers" joint. Yup, they were supposedly making hamburgers out of ground rabbit. They even had a guy dressed up in a bunny suit waving at the passersby. You can imagine the reaction.

[Yollam]

93. Where?

If it's a blue state city, I'd say Indian.

most red-state 'burbs aren't ready for Indian yet, so I'd say very Americanized Japanese.

[tibbir]

95. Carribean food is really good.

[catbert836]

97. I've got a couple

Indonesian
Ethiopian
Bosnian
Vietnamese
Arabian
Mongolian

But then, I have some pretty bizarre tastes. None such chains could ever survive here.

[asthmaticeog]

99. German. Call it "Vergnugen Wurst."

[JVS]

118. I like the way you're thinking

[WannaBePassingFair]

100. bosnian.

[WCGreen]

110. Thundering Hordes.....

The food of the Huns, the Visigoths and the good old boys from the Steppes, the Mongrols....

[JVS]

119. Would you like to sit upon a horse and drink blood from a wound on it's...

neck?


I read somewhere that while thundering across the steppes, they would do that from a small wound for nourishment and in order not to have to stop and prepare food.

[Tabasco_Dave]

113. Hungarian Food

Goulash is great, their sausages and meat cutlets are good also.:9

[wickerwoman]

114. Turkish!

There was a resturant near my old house called "Seven Hills of Istanbul" that absolutely should be a chain. Six kinds of kebabs, fantastic flat bread, hummus, these little feta cheese eggrolls that were to die for and little baklava bites sprinkled with pistachio nuts.

Mhmmmmmm....

[Orangepeel]

115. Darden has a chain called Bahama Breeze already

I'm sure the rest are in development!

[leeroysphitz]

121. Laplander...

[JVS]

122. What do they eat?

[greekspeak]

123. Russian...they could call it TGI Borschtskys

And all their lame specialty dishes could contain vodka. Americans would eat that up faster than blackened chicken fried mozerella sticks with chipotle barbeque dip.