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Restaurants Are Ditching QR Code Menus
Customers Reject
a Pandemic-Era
Restaurant Staple
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Customers Reject a Pandemic-Era Restaurant Staple

Eateries are ditching QR code menus

(Newser) - We all got used to an avalanche of changes in our daily routines during the peak of COVID, including ways in which to safely dine in public once lockdowns were lifted. Now, one of those eating-out protocols is falling by the wayside: Restaurants are starting to ditch scannable QR codes,...

Ikea Employees Outraged by Juneteenth Menu

Fried chicken, watermelon among items selected to honor Black Americans

(Newser) - An Ikea store in Atlanta is apologizing after offering a lunch menu of fried chicken, watermelon, macaroni and cheese, and collard greens to honor "the perseverance of Black Americans." Employees spoke out, claiming the menu was created without input from Black employees was sent to workers, and that...

3-Star Restaurant Known for Meat Ditching the Meat

Eleven Madison Park will be almost entirely vegan upon reopening

(Newser) - A Manhattan restaurant once considered the best in the world will no longer serve meat. David Humm's Eleven Madison Park, which topped the World's 50 Best Restaurants list in 2017 but failed to land a place in 2019 , plans to serve "an eight to ten course menu...

A Dot on a Mousse Dish Is Angering Japan

And more on the meal that will be served to Kim Jong Un Friday

(Newser) - Ahead of Kim Jong Un's high-stakes meeting with South Korean President Moon Jae-in over the future of his nukes comes the repetition of one word: rosti. It has nothing to do with nukes. Rather, it's a Swiss fried potato dish that South Korea plans to "re-interpret" and...

What Made It Into Mickey D's All-Day Breakfast and What Didn't

You're out of luck, McGriddles lovers

(Newser) - The highly anticipated all-day breakfast menu at McDonald's is debuting nationwide Tuesday, but not everyone's morning favorites have made the cut, ABC News reports. Those who are jonesing for the chain's hash browns, hotcakes, fruit and yogurt parfaits, oatmeal, and sausage burritos are in luck—as are...

Panera Ditching 150 Artificial Ingredients

Chain draws 'line in the sand'

(Newser) - If you've become accustomed to caprocaprylobehenin in your Panera meals, get unaccustomed. The casual-eating chain announced yesterday it's cutting that artificial ingredient and some 150 others (out of some 465 ingredients currently used) from its menu by the end of 2016 in response to consumer demand, the Wall ...

McDonald's Ditches 7 Sandwiches in Menu Reboot

Say goodbye to the Quarter Pounder Deluxe and a lot of chicken

(Newser) - If the McDonald's Quarter Pounder Deluxe is a staple, you'll need a new go-to meal. The Golden Arches is axing that particular burger, six chicken sandwiches, and a handful of other offerings, Bloomberg reports, in an initiative meant to cut service times and even add healthier fare. The...

Sorry McRib Fans: Sandwich Won't Go National

McDonald's cites higher national priorities, like Mighty Wings

(Newser) - The McRib is going... regional. McDonald's, which has been struggling to keep up with a raft of new menu items, says the McRib won't be available nationally this year. The fast-food chain says it's leaving it up to local franchise groups to decide whether to offer the...

Hooters' New Plan: Attract Women

Low-brow restaurant chain revitalizes its image

(Newser) - Never fear, Hooters fans: The so-called "breastaurant" doesn't plan to finally clothe its waitresses. But the chain's revitalization project does include renovating restaurants, updating the menu, and attracting an unexpected new customer ... women. Why the upgrade? Because Hooters has been closing restaurants and losing revenue, thanks to...

Titanic Lunch Menu May Fetch $150K

It's from the ship's final day and goes up for auction next month

(Newser) - A lunch menu from the Titanic's final day afloat is expected to fetch about $150,000 when it goes up for auction in England next month, reports the Telegraph . The menu came from a first-class table: The wife of San Francisco banker Washington Dodge tucked it into her purse...

Shh! Secret Restaurant Menus
 Shh! Secret Restaurant Menus 
mcgangbang, anyone?

Shh! Secret Restaurant Menus

Fast-food places have plenty of little-known options

(Newser) - In-N-Out Burger’s “secret menu” (veggie burgers, etc.) has gotten way too famous to really be considered a secret anymore—but Coupon Sherpa rounds up little-known items at other fast-food joints:
  • Chili’s: Though it’s not on the menu anymore, you can in fact still order the
...

That Menu Is Playing With Your Mind, Wallet

Restaurants high and low use psychology to boost spending

(Newser) - In the recession, restaurants casual and white tablecloth alike are desperately updating one of their secret moneymakers: the menu. Numerous studies have concluded that customers spend more when items have sumptuous descriptions, a relative’s name is included, or, most importantly, the $ sign is banished entirely. Whether you can...

The Most Overused Menu Descriptions

From 'grilled to perfection' to 'garden fresh'

(Newser) - Tired of menus that use the same old phrases over and over? So are the food critics at the Chicago Tribune. They nominated nine menu clichés for the compost pile:
  • "Grilled to perfection": Subjective to the point of meaninglessness. And why always grilled, and not “boiled” or
...

Tough Times Push Chains to Try New Fare

McDonald's classy coffee, grilled KFC widen menus

(Newser) - Desperate times are driving chain restaurants to desperate measures—straying from their bread-and-butter dishes and diversifying the menu. KFC now sells grilled chicken, Domino’s offers subs, and McDonald’s dips into the world of espresso coffee, USA Today reports. “This is a defining moment for the industry,"...

'Housemade' the Latest Word in Fine Dining

Artisanal flavor sets cuisine apart from mom's 'homemade'

(Newser) - A word that isn’t yet in the dictionary has been cropping up on menus across America: “housemade” is the new trend. Don’t confuse it with “homemade,” which has lost its buzz and now suggests an unprofessional cook or a hokey menu-writer. “Housemade has more...

Now Taking Reservations for Sometime Next Year

The country's hardest-to-get dinner reservation is in ... Pennsylvania?

(Newser) - Move over, French Laundry. The US' most in-demand dinner seat is in "flyspeck" Kennett Square, Pa., 35 miles from Philadelphia, Portfolio writes. Talula's Table takes reservations for its single, 12-seat table one year in advance. "My parents paid me $30 to stand out here," says one teen...

New McD's Menu Muscles In on Starbucks

Fast-food giant adds baristas, fancy coffee, $1B in sales

(Newser) - You’ll be able to get cappuccinos, lattes, and frappes from a certified barista beneath the Golden Arches this fall, reports the Wall Street Journal, as McDonald's takes on Starbucks. It’s the fast-food behemoth's biggest menu addition in 30 years, and the company expects it to bring in $1...

17 Stories