We live in a litigious society. If something bugs us, we sue them or at least write an indigent letter or even email. This is known all-too-well within the disabled community. We’ve all heard of some guy suing some business because the mirror in the bathroom was too high and winding up with lots ‘o money in the bank. Is this fair? I’m all for ADA codes, but sometimes things can go a bit too far. Just read this article.

Tonight hubby & I ate dinner at The Galley restaurant in downtown Morro Bay. Delicious sea food, great view of the bay and we both got the five star treatment. Why such nice service? It’s not because we’re big tippers. It’s because we’re in wheelchairs. To them, they see lawyers and money being flung about. You see, The Galley has been in the process of remodeling for years now ever since Jarek Molski (a man who is in a wheelchair from a motorcycle accident in 1988) decided to sue them over some such nonsense related to accessibility (think paper towel dispensers too high). Hubby (while in college) had dinned at The Galley on numerous occasions prior to the remodeling with out making a federal case. Now, to understand the restaurant scene in Morro Bay you must know that most of the buildings are old, creaky and built sometime in the 1960’s. They are mostly fish joints that somehow turned into fancy restaurants. You don’t expect these places to be exactly up to code, but Molski apparently did and got busy suing. Some restaurants closed and some just paid out money to quite the situation. The Galley however, got busy rebuilding.

All this suing has made many restaurants uneasy when they see hubby and I push in. It’s the subtle way the waiter or manager will come and check on our table every 10 minutes. We’ll arrive at a restaurant at six and expect to wait 15 minutes for a table, but instead they’ll whisk off that ‘reserved’ sign and set us at the table with the great view. I feel bad for the other couple that called hours earlier and requested that table. Sorry, but wheelchair trumps reservation. Does this make me happy? Perhaps for a moment (I feel like a celebrity!) but really, it makes me mad.

A few years ago I was trying to get an internship at a design firm. I went to an interview at a kitchen and bath place. They loved my work and all my designs & I was at the top of my class (dean’s medalist nominee … etc.) any firm would be lucky to have me. However, a week later I found out from a teacher they were not going to hire me. Instead, they were hiring three of my classmates to do the job I wanted. I was pissed! Their reason? They were afraid I’d sue them because their bathrooms were not up to code. I was stunned. Could they do that? At the time I was a stupid student just trying to get my degree and be done with college, I didn’t want the hassle of getting into something and having it blow up in my face. For the rest of my senior year I struggled to find an internship. I blame this struggle on not only the crappy selection of design firms in the Central Valley but also because of people like Jarek Molski and our litigious society.

So, do we sue when we find an infraction of the ADA code? Or do we let it slide. Why have an American’s With Disabilities Act when businesses will not even comply with it? Frankly, I’m the kind of person to let it slide. If a business will not make a few accommodations to allow me access they don’t need my money. Sure, I’ll complain to the manager and suggest something be changed – but at what price do we pay (or have the business pay) for such violations.

What do you get when you combine pickled tongue with plates of corn, spaghetti and French fries? Why, Basque food of course! Over the weekend my bro-in-law got married and the restaurant for the rehearsal dinner was Basque food. I’m not quite sure if Basque food is strictly a “Central California Bakersfield” thing, but all I know is that the Wool Growers (the name of the restaurant) was packed.

Hubby has always talked about how great Basque food is, and how the experience of dinning at a Basque food restaurant is kind of entertainment. So, being a Basque food “virgin” I was prepared to have a good time. So there our very large crowd sat at a long banquet table surrounded by other large families at other banquet tables. Very odd, almost commune like in it’s apparence. Every big table was passing around bowls and plates of food. I analyzed my menu and was told that I could just order the ’set-up’ or add an entree on to it. The fried shrimp looked interesting (I thought of wonderful prawns I’d had at another restaurant) so I ordered those along with the set-up. What is this set-up your wondering? Be prepared to be perplexed as much as I was.

To understand Basque food you have to understand it’s served almost buffet style. Big plates and bowls are passed around the table for each person to take some and pass it around. Alright, I think I’ve got it, now on with the food! First came baskets of white bread the two big bowls of vegetable cabbage soup. Yummy on it’s own, however out came two plates of items to put in the soup – pink beans (okay, not that odd), & salsa (as in chips and salsa, Mexican salsa…WTF?) I enjoyed my vegetable soup with pink beans and waited for another dish to appear. Next came the pickled tongue. Yes, I said tongue, as in cow’s tongue. It was sliced very thin with an olive oil type sauce. Needless to say, I didn’t have any. Vegetarian or not, I wasn’t going to eat tongue. Next was sliced tomatoes with onions and green peppers. Kind of like bruschetta tomatoes, but not nearly as good. Next, the salad. Just iceberg lettuce with a light oil dressing. I chopped up some of the tomatoes and added it to my salad. At this point I started to wonder what else would appear on the table. If you’re thinking spaghetti and plates of yellow corn why by god you’re right! I had some of the corn but passed on the rubbery spaghetti with meat sauce. At this point I thought the set-up was over, but I was wrong. To top off all this strange food were french fries. I don’t think food of this sort had ever mingled on a plate of mine before. I was perplexed, and hubby just smiled and said “Ahh, Basque food.” I was getting stuffed and my fried shrimp hadn’t appeared yet. Finally it came and I managed to eat two shrimps and gave the rest away. They tasted nothing like those wonderful prawns I’d had before, meh…I was burned out on Basque food.

All and all, Basque food was an experience I’ll never forget. I think hubby enjoyed the expressions on my face as each new dish arrived at our banquet table. Even though I had a good time, I’m glad we don’t have Basque food restaurants on the central coast of California.

Apparently Huell Howser’s been there!

Maybe you are one or know someone who is a “loud talker”. A loud talker is someone who isn’t aware their voice carries or isn’t well equipped with a volume control knob in certain situations. You hear them on their cell phones chatting away, at movies, plays, on the train, and especially at restaurants. Let’s examine the restaurant phenomenon.

There you are at your little table or booth. It’s your own little island in the sea of the “dining experience”. Most of the time on this island you are with someone or a group of people and what do you do when you’re with people? You converse. Thus voices can carry over the din of plates and silverware clinking and clattering. However, sometimes there’s one voice that carries over every other noise. Newsflash, you’re booth isn’t soundproof. Why doesn’t this person realize they’re being so loud? And why don’t their table companions tell them to turn down the volume? I really don’t know. But I do know that their conversations can be great entertainment. Be aware loud talker that others are listening in (even if they don’t want to).

So, if you’re a loud talker feel free to examine the situation around you and adjust the volume accordingly. Or if you’re sitting across from one maybe tell them to use their “indoor voice”.

Ever been at a restaurant where you seem invisible? Hubby & I were at such a restaurant. I really should put quotes around “restaurant”, because we were at the golf course club-house down the street. Anyway, we sat outside and ordered our breakfast that came pretty quickly as did our coffee’s. We finished up and then waited and waited for our waitress to come back. Our coffee’s didn’t get a refill and our check didn’t appear either. Hubby and I looked at each other and said “We might have to pull a ‘China’.”

You see, hubby and I went to China two years ago for an experimental surgery involving OEC cells (stem cells basically) for hubby. I’ll elaborate more on this in later posts. Anyway, while in China we discovered when eating at a restaurant your waitress doesn’t bring a check to your table when she notices you’re finished. We found this out the hard way. We were sitting at the very nice Cha Restaurant in our Hotel. And there we sat almost for an hour waiting for our waitress to bring us our check. Finally the hotel staff members (brobably noticing stupid Americans) came and told us we would have to physically go ask for our check. They expained, this is because Chinese people are known for staying and talking after a meal for hours. Thus this morning, “pulling a ‘China’.” seemed like our only hope.

Just as we were about to go inside and ask for our check, our waitress came and handed us our check. Because we didn’t want to wait any longer I just wanted to leave cash and split. But our total was $19.56 and I only had twenties and fives. So, I left $25.00 and we got outta there. Basically I just gave our waitress a 25% tip for crappy service. I’m just too nice! I should have only left a twenty.

Here’s a pic of hubby in China:

Maybe it’s all the technology in the world today, but I’ve noticed that waitresses are going without two quinetessential “waitress items”: the pen and pad of paper. They seem to magically remember all of the complicated orders they are given and then proceeded to serve these meals accordingly.

For example, my husband and I were at a pretty crowded restaurant today on the marina. We sat outside and many other groups of people arrived at the same time and also proceeded to sit outside. Shortly after we were handed menu’s a waitress appeared and quickly recited all the specials today (bravo! I’m always impressed when they don’t have to look at the “special board”.) We nixed the specials because they all contained chicken or beef and then told her our orders. She nodded after each one then collect our menu’s. Our cheerful waitress then proceeded to a group of four at another table and took their orders. Wait! Do you remember our orders! My husband said no onions with his fish taco…did you get that?! She did & our dishes were quit good. Whew.

Why are waitresses (and waiters, let’s not leave out the men), deciding it’s “cool” to not write down our orders. Is it because they have no concept of what pens and pads of paper are? Remember this is generation Y, where emails have replaced traditional letter writing and the words “card-catalogue” mean absolutely nothing. Or, is it pure one-upsmanship in the waitress world, proving their minds are like little menu computers? I really don’t know.

May I take your order?

It’s always hard being a vegetarian at restaurants, but particularly the cheaper chain restaurants (think Applebee’s or Spoons) in which every menu option consists mainly of some sort of chicken product. So, it’s always a relief when I see that any burger can be turned into a veggie-burger (or ‘Boca Burger’) for a buck more. Finally restaurants are aware that not everyone eats dead cows.

A month ago my husband and I were at a Spoons restaurant – famous for their “Tex-Mex” cuisine (I should but quotes around cuisine as well). I really don’t know why we choose a Spoons, other than we were bored one afternoon & the other two restaurants in the same complex (Macaroni Grill & El Torito) were crowded on this particular Saturday.

So, there we sat, carefully studying the menu for veggie-items. Because we both eat fish, the menu had some Buffalo Shrimp Wraps and I choose that dish. Then we both saw it. The burgers on the menu could be replaced with a turkey burger or a ‘Boca Burger’. My husband was feeling adventurous and choose a mushroom burger but substituted a Boca Burger for the dead cow. Yay! We were kind of excited to be eating at such a meat-oriented restaurant with out ordering chicken caesar salads minus the chicken. Have you ever eaten a salad consisting of greens and ceaser dressing? I did the other day, but thankfully there were croutons and tomatoes.

As I sipped my ice tea and my hubby gulped his Dos Equis beer, the kind but apparently not so bright waitress brought us our meal. There it was, staring us in the face. A gray patty smothered in mushrooms and processed cheese. Hubby took a bite and had a pained look on his face. “What is it!” I said, mouth full of Buffalo Shrimp Wrap. “I think this is a Turkey Burger!” Hubby exclaimed. Ahh!

We opened up his sandwich with careful precision and examined the gray patty. We poked at it with forks expecting it to cluck back at us. I took pity on my poor husband and gave him the other half of my shrimp wrap, which was surprisingly good; the poor Turkey Burger left abandoned at the other end of the table.

Then we get the bill. There it is in black and white. Sub: Turkey Burger, under Mushroom Burger. What!?! I realize the waitress probably just pressed the wrong key when entering our order, but now I have to leave a tip for this person. I end up leaving a decent tip and we leave Spoons. Another vegetarian calamity…

What exactly are Buffalo Shrimp?

What is the world coming to. Fast food sushi. My husband and I love sushi, when we first moved to the central coast we hit all the sushi places to find our favorite. However, today we were in town to go the Men’s Wear-house to rent a tux for my hubby and the upcoming bro-in-law’s wedding & low and behold there was a sushi place next door. We popped in and ordered from the main counter (ala McDonald’s style) a combination of CA. rolls, cucumber rolls & tuna rolls, a seaweed salad, and we also ordered two yellow tail pieces and two tuna pieces of sushi. We sat down and the nice counter girl brought us our meal (as prepared by two Hispanic guys behind the counter). The sushi was okay, and filled us up pretty well. But I must ponder the thought: what if people assume this is how sushi is supposed to taste! That’s just kind of sad.