No, we’re not talking about organic vodkas and the organic drinks that use them; we’re all about what restaurants are doing to save some money, ’cause diners just aren’t spending like they used to. According to this article on trends in restaurant beverage consumption, proprietors are offering more limited-time-only drinks to showcase innovative drink ideas without considerably lengthening their menus.

One trick restaurants are using to move drinks are including the words “100 fruit juice” or “natural ingredients” on the menu. This particular study showed that about four out of ten consumers were more likely to order a juice that was branded as actual juice. And thirty-six percent of restaurants polled sold bottled water, forcing all of their customers to specify that they wanted tap water while the server gives them the old stink-eye.

I was genuinely surprised to see that diners are embracing the all-natural drinks; I worked at a restaurant where we sold only all-natural soda, so when someone asked for a Coke, I’d have to kind of shuffle around and say that we had an all-natural drink similar to Coke, and hope that they were okay with agave nectar and fruit-derived colors

While what we wanted to do for our advertising campaign for our fun buy-able items was go to parades and toss out freebies from a giant Foodha float, that proved - er - impractical. So we scaled back to this simple reminder: we’ve got some pretty cool stuff for sale.

You have a friend that would love this totebag; grab it for the (and I know everyone says this, but it’s really true this time) low, low price of $14.99.

Through splatters and grease stains, Foodha’ll grin and bear it, triumphantly gripping his fork and spoon. Is Foodha on your guest list for your 4th of July barbecue? Buy this apron for $16.99.

Sometimes adorableness sells itself. Buy this bib for $7.99.

We’re busy thinking up one-liners for other products like the Foodha clock (Time for food! etc., etc.) and the Menuism sweatshirt (I sleep in mine and it’s way more comfy than your jammies - watch for the testimonial, late-night infomercial-style on YouTube). While we’re working on that, how about you check out what we’re buzzing about?

A recent MSNBC article studying the art of the business lunch reads like a Goldilocks and the Three Bears modified for a Fortune 500 audience. Some restaurants are too loud; others, too fancy or too trendy. It’s up to the hungry businessman to make a few distinctions. Tip One? Don’t drink at lunchtime. Not brandy, not wine, and don’t make a picnic out of the olives in your martini. Tip Two? Learn & love your restaurant staff. Mariani writes, “Indeed, getting to know a maître d’ is crucial in ensuring things will be the way you want them to go.” But here’s what we want to know: what does the business-savvy diner order at a business lunch? What does your lunch say about you as you try to avoid having it dribble down your tie? A steak: aggressive, with good teeth. Dessert: indulgent. Fish: a brainiac. If we’re going to go on (and we are!), let’s call this:

The Menuism Guide to the Business Lunch: Eating Expensive Foods off of White Plates Like A Champ

The fire-grilled catfish with tropical salsa (here, from Elephant Bar in Cupertino, CA). There’s a brainiac element of omega-3s, and of course the health benefits: you probably make use of the company gym. Frequently. The salsa suggests that you have a wild side; you’re the fun at the annual Christmas party.

A lobster bisque (shown, from Opah in Irvine, CA): you’re not afraid of anything: man, beast, fish, fowl, or staining your shirt. Still, you’d rather leave the messy work to the pros. A real power negotiator would crack open the lobster him or herself.

A sangria (here, from Exposure Tapas Restaurant in Chicago, IL) means you forgot Tip One. Refer back to Tip One.

A pasta dish, like this Carbonara from Cafe Bengodi in Seattle, WA, means you’re adept with a fork and enjoy a challenge. You’re old-fashioned and you never participate in casual Fridays. The garlic bread on the side? Leave it (however sorrowfully) behind.

This is the deep analysis we’d like to see when an article scrutinizes the business lunch. Ah well - at least we’re here to provide the Part II.

After I spilled out of a long flight onto California soil, my sister said, “Come on, we’re going to Cheeseboard.” I was jazzed; Cheeseboard has its own following on Menuism, as well as in Berkeley. It’s famous for being worker-owned, as well as breeding long lines of gourmets stringing down Shattuck Ave. And maybe the most unique element? As user JanetHan writes, “They only serve one kind of pizza each day! Can’t go wrong though!”

My sister and I bought a half-pizza ($10) and carried it back to her house with all of my luggage and a bottle of Pellegrino. That day, the pizza had a base of mozzarella & feta with roasted potatoes, onions, garlic olive oil, cilantro, and halves of miniature key limes, turned face-down.

dmo writes, “The eating experience can be a fun one. A live band is present at times, and if it’s too crowded indoors, plenty of people flock to the median where you can watch traffic from Shattuck Ave. flow around you. Apparently there are signs telling you not to do so, but hey, I’ve always seen people on the grass when I drive by.”

Because it was sunny, we saw people on the median squeezing lime juice into their slices and taking large bites, nonchalant in the face of cars whizzing by on both sides. They were blissing out.

There’s loving pizza, and then there’s real pizza love that you see popping up from time to time, like the careful pizza cook-offs detailed in DC Pizza Blog and the administrator in Berkeley’s admissions department who saw well-made pizza as a real selling point:

and, of course, Chicagoans and New Yorkers who will get out their rulers and measure a crust just to make a culinary point.

Pizza: definitely a topic I want to return to.

Anyway, after all of that pizza nirvana, it was only too good to curl up in front of Top Chef with a big piece of pudding cake and some bubbly wine. Anyone else hoping they’ll be asked to make a pizza in the finale?

A lot of chain restaurants use all sorts of come-ons in their websites to make you log on and veg out, apparently picturing the scenario in which a group of shaggy-haired boys in sweatpants sit around chewing on their fingers and wondering what sorts of trouble to get into, and one boy says, “You guys, a new game launched on Burger King’s website! Let’s play Burger King games and then go eat Burger King!” and they grab their mom’s wallets and enter into an implicit understanding that whoever can consume the most burgers has a corresponding amount of testosterone.

Sounds far-fetched (or just stupid), right? Probably, but marketers are still trying. Hardee’s and Carl’s Jr. are launching 3D websites. Procrastinators, the lonely, and dieters will be able to throw on a logo jacket and party with friends among three-dimensional, non-edible burgers, fries, and shakes. Awesome, right?

If you’re a Windows user, yeah; if you’re one of the few young people nowadays that use this new thing called a Mac, you can still practice your burger slaying skills or build your own virtual burger with Hardee’s. Cool. I’m hungry. Let’s slay and review.

Burger Slayer

The placard reads: Look into your heart, slayer, and you will open the door. Gotta answer a few questions before you can be a slayer.

What’s my favorite kind of burger? Do they ask you this kind of thing in World of Warcraft?

Is this like a secret knock?

They wanted to know all about me for the exclusive brotherhood! Too bad they forgot to ask my gender, because brotherhoods aren’t really my scene.

The game pretty much seems to be that you hand over your e-mail address and zip code & they give you a coupon and a free MP3 called “Burger Slayer.” The lyrics of the heavy metal tune include, “Devastator, life-taker/ you’re the fiercest slayer in all the land/ you once accidentally ate your own hand.”

Burger Slayer Rating: I give it a “Wait, did I miss something?” which isn’t a thumbs-up or a thumbs-down, but a confused look.

Superior Burger Experience

After destruction necessarily comes re-birth, and after slaying assumed burgers as well as my own internet privacy, I’m ready to make a really giant burger. Here’s what I’m working with:

After a few rough drafts:

(A onion ring sandwich with cheese & a BLT burger)

Here’s my ultimate burger:

Yum, am I right? Perfection is delicious; who needs, you know, ketchup?

Superior Burger Experience Rating: While the site comes across as trying a little too hard (”We get you kids and your one-off, ironic sense of humor! Engine parts on your burger, that’s classic, right?”) I admire that I can build a burger that fits me and my lifestyle - namely, one I can’t consume.

Find both games at hardees.com, and remember, if you peel yourself away from burger demolition and restoration long enough to actually eat a burger, let us know how it is.

Now that the Wall Street Burger Shoppe has unleashed its $175 burger creation on the world, we, too, are ready to tuck napkins into our respective collars and celebrate the burger. Even those that come with soggy pickles instead of foie gras.

On our wish list: burgers & cupcakes, a self-proclaimed “very specific eatery” that serves up burgers with such assorted toppings as an egg, chili, or cranberry sauce. And for dessert – do you see where we’re going here? – try a cupcake, in flavors ranging from lemon meringue to chocolate raspberry truffle. Maybe grab a mocha latte espresso breakfast cupcake for tomorrow morning.

Of Hinano in Marina Del Ray, CA, EmilGH writes, “The best burger in Venice. Period.” This colorful spot along the beach features a popcorn maker and “a painting or two of topless Hawaiian girls.” ILoveToEat tried to “Heart Attack” burger. He writes that the cheeseburger - topped with a hot link and bacon - while delicious, is “not for the weak of heart (literally).”

User eab of St. Louis turns to celebrity to get his fix; he dines at Sky Box Sports Bar and Grill. (Burger Fun Fact of the Day: it’s owned by rapper Nelly and athletes Marshall Faulk, Larry Hughes, and Darius Miles). The restaurant, which has 60 large screen televisions (“even in the bathrooms!”) serves up dishes with a Southern twist, including “the best ribs we have ever had” writes user jig) and the burgers come on brioche rolls. Eab reports, “We fought over the last mini-burger. I won.”

The burger destination of the moment in Chicago is Kuma’s Corner, whose burgers have recently been featured in Playboy (no, seriously) and popular dining show Check, Please!

The Kuma Burger, with bacon, cheddar, and a fried egg.

User aaomccarthy glumly writes, “the service is always slow due to their ever increasing popularity (I’m guessing).” Use the time productively and do some belly-stretching exercise to accomodate the Slayer – “a pile of fries topped with a ½ lb burger, chili, cherry peppers, andouille, onions, jack cheese and anger,” according to Kuma’s website. Suffice it to say, this $12 monstrosity ain’t afraid of no white-collar burger.

More gluttonous gabbing to come - stay tuned.

If you had to name a restaurant, what words would you use?

Well, you’d probably have the words “restaurant”, “cafe”, “pizza”, “grill” or “bar” in it. Here are the top 20 words found in restaurant names based on a quick analysis of our listings (excluding things like “the”, “la”, “el”, etc).

Random, but I thought it was somewhat interesting.

Justin

We like to keep a close eye on restaurant trends here at Menuism. To celebrate the arrival of summer, we got our favorite carry-out and dug through our favorites lists to re-visit what was being predicted for this year in restaurant trends. Is 2008 going according to plan?

Bloggers as Restaurant Consumer Advocates? You don’t need to tell us twice. Like Foodie NYC, we love reading our favorite bloggers. We’re happy to play host to those who want to share their opinion with a built-in audience.

Menuism’ll hook you up with a restaurant’s phone number and website, but we’ll even do one better: use Menuism to access OpenTable, where you can make online reservations with no fuss, and as well as online ordering sites so you can get General Tso’s Chicken at your doorstep within an hour.

Only 48%? A restaurant’s web site speaks volumes about a place - and, well, it will tell you the single most important thing: what they’re serving. You can access a restaurant’s website on its Menuism profile.

From Swirlz (Chicago) to Magnolia Bakery (NYC) this is a trend we can really get behind. And frost. And devour.

We’ve got some of the most passionate foodies on the web, and they’re eating coast-to-coast and writing from the front lines. Take a look at these 10 mouthfuls, detailing eating adventures in everything from melon sodas and truffled fries to fried chicken; they’re the longest reviews on Menuism to date.

1. Coi by tommers
   One user’s thoughts on an olive oil milkshake.
2. Giardino Restaurant by XiaoGo
   “I’ll not bore you with my own version of what happens to me when I go food shopping when hungry. Anyone who digs cooking will be all too familiar with what happens.”
3. Fogo de Chao by JinYo
   “Our main waiter’s previous job was probably in espionage or some high ranking government position.”
4. Dinner’s Ready by allybth
   “No alcohol! No wine. WTH? Please.”
5. Aqua by cliff
   “My mom even had difficulty reading the menu due to the darkness of the restaurant, and our waiter brought reading glasses for her! What a nice touch!”
6. Kyoto Japanese Restaurant by JDFIII
   “After Hurricane Rita skimmed by The Woodlands when the area was experiencing blackouts, there were no restaurants open. Eric and Eva decided to open for business. Even though most of their staff could not make it to work, Eric and Eva fed a standing-room-only crowd all night long.”
7. Canlis Restaurant by shaomai
   “I do have to say that I was really impressed by the restrooms – when you’re washing your hands, you’re looking out onto an indoor zen garden. It’s really pretty!”
8. Beaver’s by neverfull
   “For dinner, I ordered the Texas cross quail which was served on wax paper in a red plastic basket, like the kind your food comes in at Dairy Queen.”
9. Stroud’s by hippo2
   Martha Stewart’s favorite fried chicken. Does this user agree?
10. California Beach Restaurant by mercurialvapor24
    “They claim to charge you 5 dollars extra if you waste food.”

Keep up those great dining experiences! If you need more inspiration, here are some tips on writing a restaurant review.

Next up: the 10 restaurant reviews with most individual dish reviews.

Justin

It’s national hamburger month how are you going to celebrate?

If you’re a fan of white castle burgers, then put this in your calendar:

What: 27 cent hamburgers (limit 10)

When: May 27 - 2:00 pm to 3:27 pm

Where: All White Castle locations in Chicago, Cincinnati, Detroit, and New York and select locations in Columbus, Indianapolis, Louisville, Nashville, Minneapolis, Northeast Ohio, New Jersey, and St. Louis 

Sure they may be steam-grilled and soggy, but sometimes they just hit the spot.  If there isn’t one around you, you can also find them at your local grocer.

For more info, check out www.whitecastle.com for more info.

Happy Hamburger Eating!

Justin