Posts from the ‘Go Figure’ Category

Sep 3

Get Culverised

The new Restaurants & Institutions' "2009 Consumers' Choice in Chains" report has been released. Yes, stop the presses.

The favorites by age is kind of interesting, though. Gen Y and Boomers are crazy for P.F. Chang’s for a variety of reasons—cleanliness, service, reputation, atmosphere—while the pan-Asian chain doesn’t even score with Gen X, my people (let’s just say I fall somewhere in the rambling 27-41 range). We are the frumpkins, apparently who can’t get enough pizza and pasta: Carrabba’s, California Pizza Kitchen and Macaroni Grill, all highly rated. I tend to think it’s because the Gen X’ers have the most kid-friendly needs.

Clearly, P.F.Chang’s is onto this, as they along with the Cheesecake Factory, introduced children’s menus this very summer. When I hear Baby Buddha's Feast all I can envision are bald kids with little potbellies.

On the other end of the spectrum, The Olds love Culver’s, which is new to me, and Golden Corral, which I’ve just started seeing commercials for but suspect doesn’t exist in these parts. This is all I need to know about Culver's: "Step into a Culver’s and you’ll experience fresh, delicious food served with a great big side of friendly smiles and warm hospitality. That’s what it means to be Culverized."

P.F. Chang’s has eluded me for some time. I vow to give them another try despite the disconcerting scene I faced on my one and only attempt at Saturday night dining in Hackensack (the Northwesterner in my can't hear that without thinking hacky sack). The restaurant is on a strip with upscale chains like Rosa Mexicana, valet parking was present, as were lots of bronzed ladies with long hair and exposed leg. We were quoted an hour and a half wait (I didn’t realize you could reserve) and I almost stuck it out to absorb the spectacle of the black hipster bartender with a Sanjaya poofed mohawk. That’s how they roll in these flashy Bergen County ‘burbs.

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Aug 20

It’s a Slam Dunk

Not shockingly, Dunkin' Donuts takes the top spot in the new Center for an Urban
Future snapshot, "Return of the Chains" and the report isn't even focused on food just "national retailers." There are 429 in NYC, 88 more than in 2008.

As a Portland, Oregon native I've always found the pervasiveness of Dunkin' Donuts on the east coast kind of surprising. I grew up with them but they've slowly gone out of business. Last year the lone remaining location in the state capital shut its doors and I think they're extinct in Washington and California, as well. Not all of America runs on Dunkin'.

Getting more micro, with a mere 11 chain stores, 11231 (which they're calling Red Hook) is the Brooklyn zip code with the fourth least amount of chains (can you even say fourth least?). No wonder I feel so deprived. 11234/Flatlands is the winner with 132.

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Jun 4

Oh Canada

According to a recent Nielsen survey, 21% of Canadians prefer the "cuisine of my country," their number one choice with American food down at 12%. With the exception of French-Canadian fare, which only dominates in one province, is Canadian food really all that different from American food?

I can't think of single Canadian restaurant in NYC, though I think now-dead, The Inn LW12, was supposed to be but really only did things like put Canadian bacon in a Caesar salad.

In Hong Kong there was a restaurant, Canucck, selling itself as "modern Canadian cuisine." Of course they serve poutine, but then they also have jerk bbq wings with blue cheese dipping sauce so I'm just as confused as before.

Image from Health Canada

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May 29

Soupy Sales

For reasons not even entirely clear to myself, I enjoy hearing what consumers want to eat (yet never lump myself in with this faceless mass of Americans).

According to a recent series of reports, "The Left Side of the Menu," from Technomic, the number of "heavy" (not defined) consumers of appetizers is shrinking. Big salad eaters shrunk from 51% in 2007 to a current 33%. The soup-crazed stood at 25% two years ago but now only make up 15% of all diners. I'm guessing that's probably because it's hard to split soup, and I'm with the whopping 82% who feel appetizers should be shared.

But the number I'm trying to figure out is the 40% of Americans who want more "ethnic soups." What exactly is an ethnic soup? Something like pho? Laksa? Menudo? Does Italian wedding soup count? I think they used to serve that at Ikea. I vote for cock-a-leekie.

I took a look at the online menus from the top five casual chain restaurants in 2008 according to Restaurants & Institutions:

Applebee's: chili, French onion soup, tomato-basil. Hmm, Tex-Mex, French and Italian. It all sounds pretty ethnic to me.
Chili’s: chili (duh) and “soup of the day.” Lame.
T.G.I. Friday’s: broccoli cheese, French onion and once again, the dreaded soup of the day.
Ruby Tuesday: white bean chicken chili or broccoli and cheese.
Cheesecake Factory: soup of the day.

Ok, not only are we clearly in need of more ethnic soups, how about something other than chili (if you even count that as a soup), French onion and cheese and broccoli?

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Apr 8

The More Tuscan The Better

Living in a bloggy vacuum, I find it hard to believe that internet reviews
and being "the latest 'in' place" scored 1% and 0%, respectively, in
a global Nielsen survey of criteria diners consider when choosing a restaurant.
Are we the only victims of Yelp and Minetta Tavern?

The number one factor was type of cuisine at 33%, and that's sensible. What
I was kind of surprised by is that after the "cuisine of my own
country/local area," the top two were Italian and Chinese tied at 14%. I
figured those were just American favorites. I guess one takeaway is that the
world loves noodles whether sauced with marinara or as the basis of lo mein.

Showing how slowly trends spread across the globe, Spanish cuisine, heralded for the last decade in foodie circles, scores dead last.
Seeing how most Americans (and I do feel it's an American phenomena) think
Spanish and Mexican food is the same thing (as opposed to New Yorkers who call
anything Caribbean Spanish—ain't no mofongo in Madrid…um, at least I don't
think, I'll check next week when I'm there and could be eating my words) I'm
not shocked that Iberian fare has an image problem.

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Apr 3

Fastest Growing Guts

What could possibly be the fastest growing chain restaurant in America? It must certainly be a question on everyone's mind. Ok, no one's but mine. But thank you, Technomic, for such meaningful-to-me data.

Once again, I'm reminded how out of the loop NYC is as we only have two eateries on the list. Five Guys is definitely a growing presence. In no time it went from big deal opening in the hinterlands a.k.a. College Point, to quietly popping up around the city with no one caring. I think the well done patty thing puts off the burger intelligentsia while I'm more weirded out by the hysteria-driven signs warning customers to not remove the gratis shell-on peanuts from the premises lest a flurry of deadly allergens become unleashed on the neighborhood.

I can appreciate the charms of number eight, Chipotle, and only work a block from one (that has a perpetually huge line) but I hate rice in my burritos and even without the extra starch those hefty tortilla cylinders are still too caloric for my sad world.

Speaking of trying to reduce girthiness, how could you eat at a place with potbelly in the name?

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Feb 12

Raising Cane

I’m never surprised to see In-N-Out Burger at the top of a list. In this case, the highest customer satisfaction ratings according to a survey by Sandelman & Associates.

What I am surprised by are the regional chains I’ve never heard of. Number two with a 59% overall excellent rating is Baton Rouge-based Raising Cane’s. What on earth is that (and what's up with the horrible apostrophe S) ? Apparently, a whole eatery founded on chicken fingers. And that’s seriously all they serve, either with starches in a similarly tan color palette: Texas toast and crinkle fries, or three crispy strips on a bun.

Only two of the ten restaurants exist in NYC: burrito purveyors Chipotle and Qdoba. Panera Bread and Chick-fil-A can all be found in close proximity to the city. But the rest? I don’t think so. I do know that Pei Wei is the budget P.F. Chang’s only because I have a P.F. Chang’s fetish despite never having set foot in one.

Anyone have other random chains they love? I feel so out of here sometimes.

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Jan 28

The Robert Redford of Pizza

I haven’t eaten at Pizza Hut in years (though I did work at a takeout-only branch the summer between high school and college and ate personal pan pizzas nearly every day) so it’s not likely that a marketing gimmick such as their new (nationally—it launched in test markets last year) pizza, The Natural, will sway me. What I do find interesting is how quickly a food fad will sweep the nation, not that I’m one to argue with a move toward zero high fructose corn syrup and filler-free sausage.

Pizza Hut’s own research found that 73% of those surveyed believe “foods that are natural have flavor the way it was meant to taste.” Ok, that’s a bit vague.

But this newfound faith in nature has been bolstered by recent studies. According to Mintel, in the US 33% of new food and beverage products touted being natural in 2008, a 16% rise from the previous year.

Nielsen has reported that food with natural claims accounted for $22.3 billion in sales in 2008, a 10% increase versus 2007. Meanwhile low carb products decreased 3% during the same time period. Natural in, restricted eating out.

When it comes down to it, taste is what really matters. Check out mixed reviews of The Natural on Chow and The Impulsive Buy.

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Jan 21

Good Enough to Eat With a Spoon

Among the 23.6% Americans who are currently dieting, the second most popular treat is mayonnaise. Weird. I guess I equate treat with sweet. Granted, that number two item was cited by slightly less than 10% of those surveyed. That’s still a lot of mayo-lovers, though.

I’m not one of them, though I do get the appeal of mayonnaise with fries. Whenever I hear about mayo-lovers my first thought is Mayonnaise Kitchen, the Japanese restaurant grossly devoted to the condiment. Then I immediately remember this girl named Bree who lived in a nearby cul-de-sac when I was in grade school. Everyone called her Shaggy, but more importantly she once answered the door with a bowl of mayonnaise in hand, eating it with a spoon.

Ew, and some heartthrob to the over-30 set apparently uses the condiment for sordid purposes.

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Sep 9

Photograph Your Way to a Size 0

A recent study from the University of Wisconsin-Madison has shown that taking photos of your food before eating it encourages weight loss. I can’t say that snapping shots of Thai curries or burgers and fries has ever had any positive effect on my b.m.i. So then I wonder if food bloggers are slimmer than the general population? I don't really know any fat food bloggers, but really, I don't know many food bloggers period.

Yesterday I did randomly try the new Dunkin’ Donuts egg white flatbread sandwich, and yes, I took a photo of it. My at-work breakfast usually consists of either Greek yogurt with sugarless jam or a hard-boiled egg with Spanish paprika. I’m bored of both, so Friday I thought I’d go wild and stop by the Broad Street Dunkin' on my way to work (despite the guilt of my coffee cart guy seeing me patronizing another establishment across the street).

I guess I don’t pay much attention to my surroundings because the Dunkin’ Donuts was closed, paper up in the window and everything. Luckily, I was brought one of these over-toasted treats from the neighborhood on Sunday.

No, it’s not tasty and greasy like those egg and bacon rolls oozing with orange cheese. I envy women who eat those with abandon, and I do often spy totally un-overweight ladies (rarely white, for whatever reason) ordering them from delis. I think these are the same women I see with Burger King bags during lunchtime. How do they do it?

The bread is kind of dry, chewy and overwhelms the portion controlled filling. The egg white and turkey sausage are fine. All in all, it’s an inoffensive alternative to a cholesterol laden breakfast sandwich and was more filling that I’d expected but I seriously wanted to put a slice of cheese on it. I think nearly everything could benefit from a slice of cheese.

Update: I was not wrong in my want of cheese. The sandwich is supposed to have reduced fat mozzarella (the veggie has cheddar) as I noticed on TV and online. It's just that chains in NYC have a way of messing up processed food that's designed to be fool proof to prepare.

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Posts from the ‘Go Figure’ Category

Get Culverised

It’s a Slam Dunk

Oh Canada

Soupy Sales

The More Tuscan The Better

Fastest Growing Guts

Raising Cane

The Robert Redford of Pizza

Good Enough to Eat With a Spoon

Photograph Your Way to a Size 0

Featured

Occasional Instagramming

Yes, it’s come to this

My Other Blogs

What?

The Past Will Haunt You

Pigeonholing 101