A weekly look at the draft selections in beer-friendly establishments across the country.
Craft beer at corporate chains? It may seem a bit like an oxymoron, but a lot of restaurants could learn a lesson from national eatery Buffalo Wild Wings.
Franchises in the Buffalo Wild Wings family are able to stock whichever beers they like, so when Sam Hookway took over as bar manager at the Indianapolis location back in February, he had one thing in mind: "to have the best draft beer selection in the city."
Since the restaurant is part of a large, nationwide chain, Coors, Miller and Bud Light will probably always top the Buffalo sales list, but Hookway saw opportunities in other areas: "I got rid of beers like Peroni and Molson, which aren't that different from the other light lagers we sell."
The plan has worked: About half the beer they sell is craft, enticing patrons who might otherwise not frequent such an establishment. And how about beer lovers who scoff at the notion of sipping indie suds on a corporate-controlled stool? "That's a battle I've been trying to fight," Hookway says.
Effective immediately, a federal appeals court says that all New York restaurants must post their food's caloric information on menu boards, and should begin no later than tonight at midnight.
The bill will apply only to restaurants with 15 establishments or more, and demands that the calorie counts be printed in the same font and size as normal menu information (even if this means making the rest of the menu's text teeny-tiny).
Fines will be instated beginning July 18 if restaurant owners do not comply with the new law.
Restaurant owners will fight out the case again in court on June 9, when the showdown will likely begin again.
Don't you hate it when you're sitting down in a Jack In the Box with a Sourdough Jack, large bacon cheese potato wedges and a Diet Coke and suddenly you get this urge to, oh, I don't know? -- check out who's left messages on your wall on Facebook -- and you can't get online?
Don't you hate that?
Not to worry anymore, as is it is seems that Jack in the Box actually offers free wi fi in their restaurants. All you have to do is look for a giant TV screen, snatch the five-digit code off the screen, and get online. It's not a rumor, because the wi-fi is actually available according to Knowzy, but Jack In the Box has not officially confirmed.
Speaking of fast food, we feel the need to take this moment and talk about burgers, and not just burgers, but a new burger that will be showing up on the Wendy's menu next year. It's the Philly Style Hoagie Burger, created by Ian Van Camp when Wendy's put out a challenge to the people to create a burger this past Spring.
Now, we're going to try to judge, but really, whom are we kidding? We're Slashfoodies and we're a little bit opinionated about food, particularly when it comes to piling salami and ham onto existing two -- not one, but two -- burger patties. Really? Really?
Now, we aren't saying that Ian's creation is a bad one. In fact, we are quite tempted to go out in the December weather, fire up our grills, and make this burger ourselves for our next Holiday BBQ, but really? Was salami and ham the most creative burger that we could come up with when there are far more interesting things to put on a burger like deep fried onion rings or in the burger to global-flavor-ify it like soy sauce? Of course not! There had to have been hundreds of thousands of entries, so does that mean the voting public chose the Philly Style Hoagie Burger?
The real question is, are salami and ham ingredients in a Philly Style Hoagie Burger?!?!
We are perplexed, but will re-visit when we see the burger on the menus.
It has long been suggested that the oversized portions offered to diners at many restaurants are responsible for the expanding waistlines of Americans. Now, the health/lifestyle watchdog group Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) is implying that "table-service chain restaurants," such as The Cheesecake Factory, T.G.I. Fridays and Ruby Tuesday, are cramming their dishes full of fattening, unhealthy ingredients on purpose, encouraging "extreme eating." Sometimes described as the "food police," CSPI cites the fact that these restaurants are not entirely forthcoming with the nutritional information on their foods, pointing out that Ruby Tuesday's Fresh Chicken & Broccoli Pasta entree has 2,060 calories and 128 grams of fat, while The Cheesecake Factory's Chris' Outrageous Chocolate Cake (layers of chocolate cake, brownies, coconut pecan filling and chocolate-chip coconut cheesecake) had 1,380 calories.
However misleading it may seem to call a dish "Fresh Chicken and Broccoli Pasta" and cram it with (mostly) cheese, it doesn't sound like there is any ill intent there, does it? The restaurants say that their menus change so frequently that it would be impractical to put together nutritional stats for individual dishes and change the menus all the time. They cite value-conscious consumers, who view large portion sizes as one of their highest priorities when eating out. Looking at both sides of this issue begs one question: which came first, huge portion sizes or the desire for them?
New York's Board of Health is getting a lot of attention for their proposed ban on trans fats at restaurants in the city, but there is another proposal on the table that could have an even bigger impact on the dining community in NYC. The Board of Health is considering requiring some restaurants - beginning with chains and fast food establishments - to list the caloric content of their menu items on the menu. Not only that, but the calorie count must be "in type that is as large 'as the name or price of the item.'"
The NY Department of Health and Mental Hygiene is "intent on creating the nation's most rigorous system of calorie disclosure in restaurants" - which has restaurant owners worried about what they're going to serve. Chefs already admit that calories and fat aren't exactly major considerations when they are planning menus and restaurant owners are concerned that their offerings will have to change to such a degree that people won't want to eat out anymore. But the smaller eateries don't have to worry just yet because the rules will only apply to "restaurants with highly standardized menu items" that "already make their caloric content available on the Internet, in brochures or in some other format."
The driving force behind the changes that Dunkin Donuts has gone through in the past year seems to come from the three private firms that bought the company last year, steering it away from tradition and into new markets. Some changes, like adding smoothies and better coffees, are minor, but others are big. The chain does 70% of its business before 11am but several locations will now begin offering more savory lunch and dinner menu items in an attempt to attract customers throughout the day.
So far, at least three of these concept stores are planned, mostly to be in existing locations. They will offer foods such as hot dogs wrapped in pastry and flatbread sandwiches. The stores will also have a design makeover, with wooden chairs instead of plastic swivel ones, and with more liberal use of the chain's signature orange and maroon colors.
Since one previous attempt to sell sandwiches and soups was not a success, the Dunkin' executives have to hope that the new concept catches on with "the Dunkin' tribe," or they'll simply have to go back to the drawing board yet again.
Most American diners don't associate Asian foods with dessert. They think about sushi and spring rolls,
maybe even pad thai. Sweets are limited to a fortune cookie and a milky Thai iced tea, though there are many sweet
offerings in the countries that have inspired these foods. One treat, as an article in the SF Guardian pointed out, did achieve
success: boba (bubble) tea, though its heyday seems to have passed and there are no longer a dozen joints a day
springing up in college towns.
Two companies think that they can continue the trend and bring their Asian treats to mainstream America. One is Beard Papa, a chain that sells only cream puffs and has become very popular not only for its
high quality puffs, but for its novelty. They have done very well so far, and more locations are opening all the
time.
Don't you hate it when you're sitting down in a Jack In the Box with a Sourdough Jack, large bacon cheese potato wedges and a Diet Coke and suddenly you get this urge to, oh, I don't know? -- check out who's left messages on your wall on Facebook -- and you can't get online?
It has long been suggested that the oversized portions offered to diners at many restaurants are responsible for the expanding waistlines of Americans. Now, the health/lifestyle watchdog group Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) is implying that "table-service chain restaurants," such as The Cheesecake Factory, T.G.I. Fridays and Ruby Tuesday, are cramming their dishes full of fattening, unhealthy ingredients on purpose, 
New York's Board of Health is getting a lot of attention for their 
The driving force behind 
Most American diners don't associate Asian foods with dessert. They think about sushi and spring rolls,
maybe even pad thai. Sweets are limited to a fortune cookie and a milky Thai iced tea, though there are many sweet
offerings in the countries that have inspired these foods. One treat, as an article in the 
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