Restaurant Favourites

For someone who loves to go out to eat, and try new recipes, you would think I'd be a bit more adventurous when it comes to ordering at restaurants.  However, I pretty much always order the same thing with very few deviations from my favourites.  I'm talking about chain restaurants here for the most part.  Obviously if I'm going to a new restaurant or a place where the menu is constantly changing I will try new things, but I do have a few guidelines for ordering.  I love going out to eat so much, I want to make sure I enjoy my meal; the worst thing is when you don't enjoy your food and then you feel like it was a waste of a meal out.

So here are my standards and some guidelines:

McDonalds - Quarter Pounder with Cheese, Large Fries, and Diet Coke

Earls - Santa Fe Chicken Salad with no dates

The Keg - Prime Rib, medium rare, and rice (for dinner) or Prime Rib Sandwich with fries (for lunch)

Jack Astors - Club Sandwich with fries

Swiss Chalet - Quarter chicken dinner with dark meat and french fries

Chipotle - Chicken Burrito Bowl with brown rice, black beans, mild salsa, sour cream, guac, cheese and lettuce

Tim Horton's for breakfast - Blueberry bagel, toasted, with light cream cheese

Brunch Anywhere - Eggs Benedict

Ice Cream Anywhere - Mint Chocolate Chip

Anywhere with Oysters - Oysters for an appetizer

Some of my "rules" for ordering:

- Don't order things you can make yourself
- Don't order pasta unless you're in a legit Italian restaurant
- Quesadillas or club sandwiches are usually a good bet
- Don't order fish unless you're on the East Coast or you know for sure it won't be overcooked
- Steak Frites is usually too rich
- Onion rings, nachos, and caesar salad can often be disappointing unless you know for sure they are good
- If possible, check out the menu online before arriving at the restaurant so you can make up your mind in advance and can instead spend time talking to your dinner companions
- If you know the food is not that great, order another beer/wine/cocktail

(See, now I would never order this because I can make pancakes with fruit, but E liked it)