The closest thing I have to an dining aversion - is never order meat from a food service establishment that is on wheels. But that isn’t ironclad, I will make exceptions, like San Francisco’s diesel powered chicken masters, Roli Roti. Brined, salty, crispy, fragrant chicken from a truck that is clean enough to eat/cook off of/on.
My brother won’t eat at a restaurant that is a pun. This is a good proscription for avoiding the fallout from a hard night of Woking and Rolling, but as a prohibition it excludes many Thai restaurants: Thaipod, Beau Thai, Thaiger are no longer options. Thaiphoon is off the list but Typhoon is okay, actually Typhoon is really good, maybe that is why. Thaiphoid is understandably verboten but this anti-pun prejudice does nix the rather intriguingly named Thai Me Up. Occasionally, I run across an eatery like Citizen Cake or a cart like the bento/comparative lit sensation, The Riceman Cometh, and wonder if my brother would eat there.
Most of my fast food comes in the shape of pizza or the form of falafel. I haven’t been to a McDonald's in 14 years (my absence from Hardee’s, even longer) but one morning a coworker brought me a McGriddle and a black coffee and it not only wasn’t bad, it was pretty good. I hate to think about what combination of manipulated foods and artificial flavorings made it that way, but as far as taste goes, they nailed it. I do like Popeyes, but it isn’t that chicken I love: An anonymous friend has been known to make the occasional drunken run for the borders of Taco Bell, while I prefer the batter-dipped fries.
I am not a picky eater, more of a selective diner but traveling relaxes my natural instincts of where to eat, both out of necessity and sense of adventure. I have had no reservations about eating street food in Mexico, raw food even, like mango sprinkled with chili powder but I pretty much have a stainless steel intestinal track. I ate a slice of pizza at a Sbarro’s in Barcelona, something I would have never done closer to home, but you know it was 2 euros (Then, about a buck ninety three, Now = $7.85), I was hungry, over my per diem - which is actually budgeted over 7 days, more of a per weekem, and it did the job.
The only places I work to avoid are the casual dining outlets, the chains who advertise on TV – Applebee’s, Red Lobster, TGIF/Fridays, Olive Garden – the food has been fine each time I get roped into going and because I am not going to be that guy – If the movie has Hugh Grant or the menu has bloomin onions - I am not going to be the one to hold up a group activity. My objection here isn’t badness or goodness, it is what you strive for: An industry dedicated to a dietary standard based on the marriage of Nike and the Hippocratic oath – just do no harm - this offends me. Be horrifically bad, fall on your face trying or be really, really good at what you do but don’t set your sights to mediocrity.
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