It may be a bit belated, but I want to wish a very Happy Birthday to Menuism, who earlier in October, celebrated their 2 year mark.  My, my, how time has flown.  It was only two years ago that Menuism was founded by John and Justin – two UC Berkeley alumni who love eating and coming up with new ideas. After college and some detours through large corporations, John and Justin kept dreaming of the day when they could do something smaller that was their own. That day finally came in January 2006 at the end of a weekend brainstorm session, where the idea for Menuism was born. Amped up on excitement, opportunity and caffeine, John and Justin both gave their 2-week notices the very next day at work, and have been working on Menuism ever since, launching it in October 2006.  The two entrepeneurs also soon welcomed Chuck into the mix as one the partners.

Since I’m giving a little info about Menuism’s start, I thought this would be a great time to mention how the name “Menuism” came to be.  Inspired by Buddhism, the core spirit of Menuism is foodies helping other foodies to eat better by posting restaurant reviews that speaks to the food, to the service and to the ambiance of the dining establishments that we visit along the way.  By doing so, we can help each other make informed decisions about where to dine out and where to spend our hard-earned paycheck.  To symbolize the Menuism enlightenment theme,  the cherubic orange mascot named Foodha (Food + Buddha) represents the fine eating sprit in all of us. He’s a constant reminder that we can all eat better if we help each other out and also that there’s always room for dessert!

So a big thanks to John, Justin and Chuck and an even bigger better thanks to all of you who are a part of Menuism, in any facet, whether it’s reader or reviewer!

Now speaking of birthdays or any other type of celebration dining, when it comes to organizing them at your favorite restaurant or that new trendy spot that just opened up last month, I thought I’d give you some tips to help you get started.

Tip 1:  Let the Restaurant Know.

Whether you’re coming just with your guest of honor or also bringing a group of friends, be sure to tell the host, if your outing is for a special occasion.  By doing so, they may make you aware of extras that they could do to help enhance the evening for your guest of honor.

Tip 2:  Special Requests and Customization

If the restaurant doesn’t ask if there’s anything they can do to help with your special outing, than don’t be afraid to make any requests. 

Simple requests could include:

• seating by the window or the fireplace or any area of the restaurant that’s the best place to be seated at
• champagne at your table at your arrival
• a tableside visit by the Chef
• a visit by the sommelier who can pair your meal with wines

Customization:

When it comes to your special occasion, sometimes you just want something that’s more unique.  If you’re so inclined, you may want to ask for one or more of the following: 

• if the chef could come up with a special menu, either a multi course menu or a tasting menu that could include wine or champagne pairings
• if the chef could could create a special dessert for the celebrant
• if the chef could do a cooking demo before the meal
• if you can bring in linens, flowers and other types of decor to dress the tables. (more applicable if you have reserved a private dining room, but perhaps a small floral centerpiece would be acceptable if you happen to have reserved a single table in the main dining room.)

In short, don’t be afraid to ask.  While some of your may requests may require more out of pocket spending, you may consider the occasion to be worth it.  Just go for it. The worst they can do is say no.

Tip 3:  Large Party and/or Private Dining

When it comes to large party and private dining, the way the food, beverage and even the bill is handled can be tangled web, so read on for some things to know beforehand.

Large Party Dining:

For some restaurants, a party of anywhere from 6 to 8 or more guests can be classified as a large group party. For example, let’s take the example of a restaurant where more than 8 guests are considered a large group party.  In a scenario where there are 8 or less in your party, you’ll be able order a la carte off the menu.  If your party is 9 or more, three things could happen:

• Your party may still be able to order a la carte from the menu, but a gratuity of 18% to 20% will automatically be added to your bill.
• Your party has to order from a pre-set group menu.
• Your party has to order from a pre-set group menu and also be moved to a private room

Group Menus

Generally, a restaurant has a few multi-course pre-set group menus for you to choose from.  However, just because there are pre-set group menus available, that doesn’t mean that you can’t ask for a customized menu from the chef.  The majority of the time, the menu will include basic beverages like iced tea, hot tea and coffee, but you should always double-check.  There are also situations where the all the beverages are in addition to the menu.  The price that you’ll see on those group menus will usually not include the gratuity or the tax, but both the gratuity and the tax will automatically be added to your final bill.  Please notethat depending on the restaurant, the gratuity will either be added pre-tax or post-tax to your final bill.

Private Dining

If the restaurant requires it due to your large party or if you prefer to have a private dining room for your special occasion, there is no way around having a group menu, but there are other things that you have to ask about like the following:

• Ask if there’s a room rental fee, since some restaurants will require that if you’re going to use their private space.
• Ask if there’s a minimum number of people needed to reserve the private dining room and depending on the size of your group, you may want to find out the maximum number of guests allowed.
• Ask if there’s a food and beverge minimum (F&B).  Sometimes in lieu of a room rental fee, the restaurant asks that your party spends a minimum designated amount of money towards the meal and the drinks; hence, a food and beverage minimum  Do not automatically assume that ordering from the group menu will help you meet that F&B minimum.  Remember, that only covers food.  Drinks have to be factored in as well.  Please notethat the F&B minimum refers to the cost of everything before tax and gratuity.  If the F&B minimum is $1,500.00, your party has to spend at least $1,500.00 before the tax and gratuity is added to the bill. If the minimum isn’t met, the balanace will be considered a room fee and that will still be added to your bill.
• Ask how the drinks are factored into your bill.  In most instances, as your guests order drinks, they’ll just be added to the bill.  Some restaurants may offer bar packages that is basically a
  cost per person for unlimited drinks for a certain number of hours.  The types of bar packages vary from a soft bar package (soft drinks, coffee, tea) to a beer and wine bar package (that also includes soft drinks, coffee and tea) to a complete bar that includes the soft bar, the beer and wine, as well as rum, vodka, cocktails, etc.
• Ask if you can hold the private dining or area with just a credit card number or if the restaurant requires a deposit.  This will vary from restaurant to restaurant. 
• Ask if there’s a cancellation fee and if so, up to how many days before the day of your special occasion, can you cancel without having to pay any fees.

As I mentioned, when it comes to getting a private dining room or area, it can be an involved process.  Keep in mind that restaurants vary in how they handle group dining.  At some restaurants, you just need to have a minimum number of guests to reserve a private dining room.  Other restaurants don’t care how many people are in the room as long as they meet the food and beverage minimum.   Still others ask for a minimum number of guests as well as a food and beverage minimum before you can book a private dining room. 

In the end, the important thing is to ask as many questions as you can and more importantly, regardless of what special occasion you are celebrating, be sure to “Live, Love, Eat”, which I think is Wolfgang Puck’s tagline, but which I think are words to live by.

By Abby C. Abanes
Menuism Community Manager

It’s hard to imagine, but we launched Menuism.com a year ago in Oct 2006. Time sure flies when you’re eating. Menuism keeps growing and we keep learning more and more about food and all of you food-passionate users. What keeps us excited is that we know that we’ve only scratched the tip of helping you find food. We’re constantly looking to improve your entire dining experience and we’ll be doing some site updates in the coming months to reflect that commitment. Meanwhile, if you’ve got any suggestions or ideas, use the feedback form, email us at info (at) menuism.com or just leave a comment.

Here are some tasty stats about Menuism 1 year later:

• New York – Almost 700 users and 2000 reviews!
  John and I started our eating and reviewing in Chicago and Seattle so we’re excited to see New York surpass all the other cities. There’s no stopping the foodies in NY! It may be time for us to head east and try some of the tasty sounding places.
• Canada is picking up steam with Vancouver and Toronto each with over 300 reviews!
  It sounds like there’s some good eating up in Canada that we need to go check out.
• 1,279 different cities have at least 1 review! (with coverage of 48 out of 50 US states!)
  This stat amazes us. It’s just goes to show that food opinion knows no boundaries. Our favorite reviews are the ones that come from cities that we’ve never heard of so keep it up!
• Over 1/4 of the restaurants reviews have dish reviews (with an an average of 2 dishes per review)
  This tells us that people do care about the food at restaurants and that hopefully people are benefiting from this extra knowledge. Next time you go to a 5 star steak restaurant that has 1 star ribs or a 1 star taco stand with 5 star tacos, remember to let the world know!

We wouldn’t be here without any of our wonderful users and we’re always thankful for your participation and passion. Feel free to message either of us if you want to grab a meal!

Happy Eating!

- John & Justin

P.S. If you’re on Facebook, remember to try out the Menuism Eating app. It’ll let you share your wonderful taste with all your Facebook friends!