Some guy today mentioned he was in a band to me and I watched him get visibly uncomfortable when I didn’t ask him anything about it. He kept trying to bring the conversation around to his band and I wasn’t budging.
POWER MOVE: Complete and utter disinterest in men’s obsession with their own mediocrity
Note to vacationing non-Americans: while it’s true that America doesn’t always have the best food culture, the food in our restaurants is really not representative of what most of us eat at home. The portions at Cheesecake Factory or IHOP are meant to be indulgent, not just “what Americans are used to.”
If you eat at a regular American household, during a regular meal where they’re not going out of their way to impress guests, you probably will not be served twelve pounds of chocolate-covered cream cheese. Please bear this in mind before writing yet another “omg I can’t believe American food” post.
Also, most American restaurant portions are 100% intended as two meals’ worth of food. Some of my older Irish relatives still struggle with the idea that it’s not just not rude to eat half your meal and take the rest home, it’s expected. (Apparently this is somewhat of an American custom.)
Until you’re hitting the “fancy restaurant” tier (the kind of place you go for a celebration or an anniversary date), a dinner out should generally also be lunch for the next day. Leftovers are very much the norm.
From the little time I’ve spent in Canada, this seems to be the case up there as well.
the portions in family restaurants (as opposed to haute cuisine types) are designed so that no one goes away hungry.
volume IS very much a part of the american hospitality tradition, and Nobody Leaves Hungry is important. but you have to recognize that it’s not how we cook for ourselves, it’s how we welcome guests and strengthen community ties.
so in order to give you a celebratory experience and make you feel welcomed, family restaurants make the portions big enough that even if you’re a teenage boy celebrating a hard win on the basketball court, you’re still going to be comfortably full when you leave.
of course, that means that for your average person with a sit-down job, who ate a decent lunch that day, it’s twice as much as they want or more. that’s ok. as mentioned above, taking home leftovers is absolutely encouraged. that, too, is part of american hospitality tradition; it’s meant to invoke fond memories of grandma loading you down with covered dishes so you can have hearty celebration food all week. pot luck church basement get-togethers where the whole town makes sure everybody has enough. that sort of thing. it’s about sharing. it’s about celebrating Plenty.
it’s not about pigging out until you get huge. treating it that way is pretty disrespectful of our culture. and you know, contrary to what the world thinks, we do have one.
Oh my god yes!
That’s why waiters always ask if you want a to-go box. Wanting to take home leftovers means the food was good.
Hell, one of the best things about Thanksgiving is divvying up the leftovers. Loading up plates with extra turkey and stuffing and slices of pie. Sending extra home with every member of the family and knowing they’ll be able to take it easy that night or the next day with a meal ready and waiting for them.
We share food. We share our time. We share memories.
You know, I never really considered this aspect of American restaurant culture (and yes I am American) but… that makes sense.
And honestly, when I was in college on my own one of my parameters for ‘good restaurant I will go to’ was good food and portions large enough that I could take half home for lunch or breakfast the next day.
Anakin and Obi-Wan. Skywalker and Kenobi. From the beginning of the Clone Wars, the phrase Skywalker and Kenobi has become a single word.
Younglings across the galaxy know their names, know everything about them, follow their exploits as though they are sports heroes instead of warriors in a desperate battle to save civilization.
[ID: 2 very buff arms shaking hands. One arm is labeled “aros” and the other arm is “lesbians.” The handshake is labeled “wait was that flirting” end description”
lesbian/aro solidarity is being complete dumbasses
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