I take lots of chances...love to try new and unusual foods.
It is really fun when we visit foreign countries.
(Probably won't go far now that the DS and his family are back in NYC.)
They may go to Hong Kong next......that would be a food adventure but I hope they stay put. NYC has some very interesting food places.

I order what I will like as don't want to pay all that money for something I won't like. Mind you at times there are things that you do order but it ends up not good.

I like when they are written exactly what is in each one so you know what sauces are put on, liquor, etc.

Also will they accept changes if you don't like something?

I usually try to order what I know and will like.

It is nice if you go out with people that will share and let you taste, my mom used to do that in her younger years, she would say to me, you order this and I'll order this and we will try each others'. Okay but at times, she may end up with what I really like but not so much mine but she won't take mine.

My dad doesn't like doing that at all. But I will ask at times what does it taste like and can I have a small taste to try it out and sometimes its yes and at times no. Depends on how much he has of it.

My mom when she first got married, she said she didn't have a clue what was on menus. So, she stuck to chicken. My dad said any restaurant they went too, she would look for chicken and order that. Then she got adventerous and tried different types of foods.

I do'nt like things mixed up and don't like peppers or onions and if they are in food, must pick them out or will just leave the food then.

I like it all open, meat, potatoes, veggies, salad, either caesar or garden salad with dressing on the side. Then I can see what is in it and will eat it more.

It depends. There are some restaurants that do a dish a certain way I like. Those are my destination places. If I get an urge for something I will go to the place that does it best. My favorite lamb shanks for example are served on Wednesday nights at a place that's almost an hour away.

If I'm in a new place I'm more adventurous. I already know who has my favorite burger,clubhouse or egg dish so I will try to find something I can't get elsewhere.If they have veal on the menu I'll try that at a new place. If they can get veal piccata right I know they can do other things right. LOL

Today I had some blood work done and ended up at the diner across the street from the lab. I noticed they had a French Dip on the menu I hadn't tried before. This place is my usual waffle or patty melt place. Now it is also my French Dip place. Finally a place that got the bread right along with the meat and the au jus.WOW! :-)

I have a friend who drives me nuts. I love her but she makes me insane because she eats like a picky child. She will suggest a place because they are "something different" and then proceed to order a a turkey clubhouse or scrambled eggs that she could have gotten anywhere. Drives me nuts.

I'm probably somewhere in the middle. I know what I like and don't like. When I want to try something I haven't had before, I read what it's made of and choose something that at least contains mostly ingredients I like. A couple restaurants I just like the type of food they serve and want to say "Surprise me" b/c I can't decide, it all sounds good. In a place like that, I do try to order something I haven't had before.

But I also like to order something I am not likely to make at home b/c I dont know how, or it takes a long time, or I just can't do the recipe justice. Like ribs. I love ribs... when someone else makes them. Or a really big, fresh salad with a big variety of ingredients. It takes forever to prepare all those salad fixings at home. Takes longer to make it than it does to eat it, and it's not as good the next day. Very normal, tried and true foods, but they are just better at a restaurant.

I do NOT EVER take really big risks, like squid or something. Actually, I don't like seafood, so I don't order it at restaurants. (And since I don't like alcohol, either, I'm a cheap date. LOL) I'll just try a little bit if it's served at someone else's home.

I order things which take some effort to make, like lasagne or homemade soup. No boneless chicken breasts for me because that I can do at home.

I go to restaurants that have what I like. If I am hungry for Pizza I go to CiCis, lasagna at Olive Garden, a really, really good salad bar I eat at Two Brothers BBQ. I don't like to pay for something and then not like it, ruins my meal. Oh, and hamburgers at Freddie's Custard.

I tend the order the same dishes at my favorite restaurants - chicken or vegetable fajitas at the mexican place, chicken pasta with Argula at Cheesecake Factory, the Orange Chicken at Applebees, etc.

I am not too adventurous with my food or otherwise.

I love to watch other peoples food arrive, to see what looks good.

All in all, it depends on the restaurant. Lots of times I live dangerously. ;)

Moni

There are very few things that I don't like to eat. And I love to try new foods when I'm out. And when I find something I love, then I try to re-create it at home. Why go out and eat something I can do just as well at home?

Not always, but I usually stick with something I've tried before and like. I'm not very adventuresome when it comes to food. My daughter, on the other hand, will seldom order the same dish twice.

I usually order things I know and like. Sometimes I will try something else but when I go there the next time I go back to what I usually order. Like Bob Evan's half sandwich combo, I always like the pot roast sandwich and cheddar potato soup. Seldom stray from iced tea either.

Sue

My goal with every restaurant I visit is to work my way through the menu and try every single healthy dish at least once (I don't eat fried food or unnamed "fish" dishes). We also avoid chain restaurants, trying to give our business to the one location only, mom/pop type restaurants that come with good referrals.

DH, on the other hand, finds a meal at a restaurant and orders it every single time he visits that restaurant. BORING!

Ah, y'all are making me jealous. I live in a restaurant deprived area. When we do eat out, which is infrequent, there isn't much choice. If there is something not fried, not beaten to death (chicken-fried steak) and not smoked or mopped with barbecue sauce, I order it! If a good Italian restaurant or, Please, Lord, a French restaurant ever pops up around here, I'll be forever grateful. I'd love the opportunity to have calamari or escargot!

marlingardener, come look on my hostas and get all the escargot you want...free even! lol just kidding.

I tend to order what I know I will like because my husband would be upset if I ordered something and then didn't like it.

I mix it up. I will never order something experimental (but cruises are great for that!), but I do try new things sometimes, and revert to old favorites other times. Depends on my mood. We really don't eat out that often.

One thing I often do is make my decision then when the waiter asks for it, something else completely comes out of my mouth.

we order on taste, then i do watch the price...even though we could have the most expensive thing on the menu...i do like to try what the place is known for...

we've gotten picky in our old age...won't go back if it wasn't good...

I was a cheap date too. My mother told me to be 'kind' to a first date, who might not have a lot of money to spend. (This was during that part of ancient history where the fellow always picked up the tab.) I'd scan the prices, then order the chicken or fish that was next to the bottom in price -- then sometimes do a slow burn when the date ordered with abandon! Oh well, there was usually a second date.

Jannie's comment about anchovies reminds me of one of the first times my DH asked me to dinner. We went to a restaurant in Chicago that was famous for a 'spinning salad bowl'. The waiter made a big production of preparing our salad, put it on plates and inquired if we wanted anchovies. Wanting to appear sophisticated, we both said we did. Guess what was left when they removed the salad course? (I hid mine under some lettuce.)

If we are eating out I never order something I can easily make at home, or make better than most restaurants. I'm not a big eater, and I'm a slow eater. I sometimes order just a salad and an appetizer if the appetizers are substantial. Many restaurant portions are much larger than I can eat or *want* to eat. I order sauces or dressings on the side to avoid getting a whole gob of something too rich. I love dishes with just a few, quality ingredients. We seldom have a cocktail before dinner; prefer to order wine with dinner.

We don't eat out often, and never at a chain restaurant unless that's the only option where we are.

I've gotten a lot more adventurous. It depends on where we go and what I'm craving. My dh will order just about anything. We are working on getting the kids to try new things and so we'll sometimes order an extra plate of food or a weird appetizer just for the experience of trying it. We tried Indian food last fall. I really didnt care for that maix of flavors together. My kids want to try Japanese, but dh and I don't think they'll like it.

I tend not to each much and I play it safe and stick to the plain, common menu items. There's a lot of food that I don't eat anyway so I'm not missing much.

Usually when I go to a restaurant I choose 3 things. The thing I'd really like to eat, but is bad for me, a burger or cream sauce pasta. Then find the healthiest thing I should eat, grilled fish or a salad, and then I try to compromise and find something in the middle! LOL

Dh & I are not adventurous. We usually end up ordering our favorites at the restaurants we go to. I hate to spend all that money and not be happy with the food. But if I find a restaurant that I"ve liked the food I've ordered, I venture out and try more on their menu.

I've tried to be better lately, trying different things and am usually satisfied with what I order. DH is EXTREMELY picky and our 1st DD is picky too, which I'd like to change. We went to a Japanese steak house last week and she ate mainly steamed rice!! I managed to get some chicken in her after the "sauce" was wiped off! My 15month old (2nd DD) ate more then her! Although with 2 little kids, I'm happy not to be at McDonalds!!

I do try to order something I can't make at home, or something that is labor intensive.

Good question Jannie!

My mother was raised on the eastern shore, her parents were Perdue growers and she would NEVER order chicken dishes at a restaurant...

For me it varies. Depends on what I'm hungry for too. I'll admit I like to watch the food go by and see what looks good. I'm not adventurous in trying totally unknown styles and no, I don't do sashimi. I want a restaurant with a stove. My tastes often go in streaks. I may get a certain thing several times in a row, then something different, might try a special or something. I too like to get as much detail as possible and might ask for a substitute on a type of cheese or veggie or something.

For me, it depends on where I am and how hungry I am. I do something like teresava's triple-pick, and usually pick the middle choice.

I do like to find out what the specials are -- they will frequently feature locally grown or raised food that are not continually available (hence not on their regular menu).

I love sushi, and it's not that expensive to be a little adventurous. I ordered a two-piece order of mackeral and I absolutely hated it, but I was only out $3 or so. So I just ordered up more hamachi and salmon.

I try to eat at local or non-franchise restaurants as much as possible. When traveling and without a car, I do get stuck eating at nearby franchises such as Olive Garden and Applebees. Food is mostly good, but so predictable. I guess that's a good thing or a bad thing, depending on your point of view. :)