Lets face it. Cash can be tight right now. Gas prices are ridiculous and wages aren’t matching inflation. Here are 5 ways you can save some cash when you decide to go out for dinner.
1. Order Water For Your Drink
No one will think that you’re cheap if you order a water. They’ll just think that you’re health conscious.
Cash saved: $1.99 - $3.50
2. Is This Bread Free?
Outback, Olive Garden, Long Horn and a host of other restaurants will give you free bread [which is usually delicious] before your meal. Take advantage of this and skip the appetizers and just keep asking for more bread! Oh yeah, This also works at Mexican restaurants with the chips & salsa
Cash Saved: $5.00 - $7.00
3. Go To A Fast-Casual Restaurant
You don’t always have to go to a restaurant that you’re being waited on do you? By going to a fast-casual restaurant like Panera Bread, Chipotle, etc. you get to skip out on leaving a tip. Sure, you have to refill your own drink but you can save a wad of cash by doing it.
Cash Saved: $15%- $20%
4. Bring a Friend
Plenty of restaurants serve enormous sizes that most people can not even hope to finish at one sitting. Why not split the plate with a friend. Most places will allow you to share a plate although some do charge a small fee it is always much cheaper than ordering two meals.
Cash Saved: $5.00 - $10.00
5. They say it’s your Birthday! Well it’s my Birthday too yeah!
Almost every restaurant has some sort of free desert for the Birthday boy and girl whether it’s a piece of cake and ice cream or a brownie. 1 tip….don’t use this one too often at the same restaurant. Mix it up among several restaurants and get free desert for the rest of your life.
Our hypothesis was that over saturation of Starbucks was to blame, and we expected to see that locations that had a Starbucks across the street from another Starbucks were being phased out. We did find one gem like that, but overall we found that the Starbucks locations that are closing are actually much less likely to be close to another one.
Before getting into the data, we noticed this perfect example of Starbucks ridiculousness.
8017 W. Florissant Avenue, Jennings, MO 63136 (closing)
8007 W. Florissant Avenue, Jennings, MO 63136
Our first reaction was that these were clearly duplicates. However, it appears that the 8007 location is inside of a Target and the 8017 location is a free standing store. In this case the Target location will remain open and the free standing store will close, perhaps the rent is less inside of the Target?
We were able to determine that a typical Starbucks store has…
0.70 other locations within 0.25 miles
3.68 other locations within 1 mile
22.94 other locations within 5 miles
Of the Starbucks locations that closed…
0.19 other locations within 0.25 miles
0.81 other locations within 1 mile
14.33 other locations within 5 miles
So clearly, the stores that are closing are more rural than average, and are not, as we suspected, locations that have too many stores for a single location.
We will be watching for the other 550 closures to see if this kind of trend continues, if there is something else you would like us to check for please drop us a line.
Lastly, here is a Google Map of all of the Starbucks locations that will close (that we know of so far), you can click on the map markers to see information about how many other Starbucks stores are with 0.25, 1, and 5 miles.
Everybody loves a good rivalry. They can bring out the best -and worst in people. Sports rivalries are usually what come to mind and here in Ohio everyone loves to hate Ann Arbor [for obvious reasons]. But, what about the greatest restaurant rivalries. Some of these you may have heard of and others may be new to you. We’re going to weigh and measure both restaurants and give our official Nod to the winner. So without further adieu….Are you ready to ruummbbllllleeeee!?
#1 McDonalds Vs. Burger King
This is perhaps the best known of all of the restaurant rivalries. These two fast-food behemoths both offer similar menu items and have similar prices. They also both have semi-creepy mascots. So which one is the real “Burger King”? Well, as far as sales go Ronald has been beating The King like a red headed step-child. But there is hope for the king. Pop culture references have sky rocketed with Burger King’s marketing strategy of using The King in the NFL commercials and by incorporating The King in video games.
Final Verdict:
When was the last time you thought a McDonalds commercial was cool? Or funny? Not in a long time, eh? Well, unfortunately for The King even though more people laugh at him in commercials Ronald is a staple across the world. He’s like Shamu. Every single person knows who he is; Villagers in Uganda would recognize him. He also outsells The King by substantial margins. So the Foodio54 Nod goes to McDonalds as the official Burger King.
#2 Dunkin Donuts Vs. Starbucks
Starbucks has over 15,000 stores in 44 countries. Dunkin Donut’s has about 7,000 on the globe. But, which one is the place to go and fill your belly in the morning. Starbucks is the king of coffee. It’s a place where you can go and sit down…fire up the laptop and enjoy a skinny latte while surfing the free wi-fi. Dunkin Donuts is the king of …well the king of donuts where millions of blue collar workers go every morning and grab a cup of too hot coffee and some sugary fried dough. White Collar vs. Blue Collar so to speak. That is everywhere except Massachusetts where you cannot walk 10 feet without seeing a Dunkin Donuts and everyone [rich or poor] agrees that the company founded in Quincy is second to none. So where should the rest of go in the morning?
Final Verdict:
While starbucks serves more coffee than anyone in the world they don’t serve a whole lot else. Most products [besides the coffee] are made offsite and shipped in to the store. Dunkin Donuts makes most of their products on site and serves a whole lot more than a cup of joe. So The Nod goes to Dunkin Donuts as the place to start your day at.
#3 Pizzeria Uno Vs. Ray’s Pizza
These two pizza parlors have been fighting it out to be considered the best pizza in America since the 60’s. Both of these pizza places claim to be the best. But, when it comes down to total domination who gets the top nod? The interesting part about Ray’s is that you could get several answers to the question “Where is Ray’s Pizza?” There are literally dozens of knock-off Ray’s in NYC so if you want to get to the original you need to go to 27 Prince Street otherwise you’ll just be getting a pizza and not a “real” Ray’s Pizza. Now Pizzeria Uno invented a completely new way of eating a pizza in 1943. The Chicago Deep Dish pizza originated at Uno’s and it is like no other pizza on earth. You can try a deep dish pizza anywhere else…even Chicago and not get anything like Uno’s. A single slice of the massive pizza is typically enough to fill a man….which is because it 3 inches thick and filled with tons of toppings and cheese.
Final Verdict:
Both of these pizza places offer up the real deal when it comes to excellent pizza but The Nod goes to Pizzeria Uno for serving a meal with a single slice!
#4 Gray’s Papaya Vs. Portillos
I expect this rivalry to draw the most “huhs?” from people reading this post. And a whole lot of “what the hell is a gray papaya?… Or a portillo”! Now just because you don’t know about it doesn’t mean that the fight isn’t happening. It doesn’t mean that there isn’t a guttural hatred from two areas of the country viying for the top spot. Gray’s Papaya is perhaps the best known Hot Dog joint in the world. It has been mentioned or seen in more movies (Fools Rush In, Die Hard With a Vengeance, For Love or Money, You’ve Got Mail, The Warriors, and probably more that I don’t know about) than Andy Dick. Gray’s Papaya serves one of a kind hot dogs to New Yorkers everyday. Portillos offers what many people consider to be the best version of the hot dog….The Chicago Dog. Now if you don’t know what a Chicago Dog is listen up. The Chicago Dog is a steamed or boiled all-beef hot dog on a poppy seed bun. It is topped with mustard, onion, sweet pickle relish (usually neon green), a dill pickle spear, tomato slices or wedges, sport peppers, and a dash of celery salt; but never ketchup…I repeat you DO NOT PUT KETCHUP on a Chicago Dog.
Final Verdict:
While I personally think that Portillos serves a better dog Gray’s Papaya has definitely won the media war which gives it our official Nod as Hot Dog King.
#5 Denny’s Vs. Perkins
Denny’s and Perkins have been battling it out for the king of family casual dining since the 50’s. Both of these restaurants offer the same kind of sit-down atmosphere. The only difference between the two? Well, besides the fact that you may have trouble getting a table at Denny’s if you’re black is that Perkins is much smaller and is open 24 hours a day. So you may have trouble finding a Perkins.
Final Verdict:
Denny’s wins by a longshot in the real world. But, I’m giving The Nod to Perkins since they have avoided $54.5 million class action lawsuits so far. Way to go Perkins!
One thing that we want to explore more is showing our data more graphically. Our first idea along these lines was what if at night only the restaurants in our database turned on their lights? What would that look like from space?
After we got it to show all restaurants, we thought it would be interesting to see some of the larger national chains. As we do enjoy comparing McDonald’s and Starbucks if you look at the night maps of McDonald’s and the night maps of Starbucks you can really see how McDonalds is more evenly spread throughout the country while Starbucks has the tendandcy to clump its stores in urban areas.
If you would like to see a different chain we can probably accomodate that, however we can’t do this on the fly because it will just kill the webserver. Please drop us a line if there is a chain you’re interested in seeing.
After the first tenuous weeks/months of becoming a new parent eventually you are going to want to go out to eat again. These tips are by no means inclusive, but can make going out a much easier and enjoyable process.
Tip #1
Go Out Often
The best thing that you can do is go out often. The more you go out the more comfortable your children will be with the way they should behave while they’re out with you. They will understand better where your boundaries are and you will be more capable of being in charge and asserting yourself with your children. All in all the more you go out the more fun you will have especially in the long run.
Tip #2
Plan ahead
You really can’t be too prepared for anything. But, at worst you don’t want to be completely unprepared and scrambling to keep your kids attention. Think of some verbal games you can play with your children while you’re waiting for your food to come out. Sure you can bring toys [which you’re going to have to do before your child can talk with you] but verbal games can be more entertaining and it will help you bond with your child. I-Spy was a favorite of mine growing up. Like “I spy something round and flat” and everyone guesses what you saw until they get it right. Then it’s their turn. Also bring some crayons and coloring books along [or just bring blank printer paper…kids love this too] since coloring….never gets old. Making eating out a fun and bonding experience will pay dividends.
Tip #3
Simplify Your Ordering
Menus are enormous these days with tons of tempting things for your child. Don’t get into the habit of letting your young one choose from the whole menu. That can be agonizing for both of you. Give him/her two or three options to choose from without making it seem like your limiting their choices. “Okay, do you want the chicken tenders or a hot dog?”
Tip #4
Know When To Leave
When you go out you also have to know when to go home. Being a parent doesn’t give us the right to ruin everyone elses time just because we’re the ones with kids. If your kid begins to go into meltdown mode you need to start thinking that it might be time to head home. Children have a harder time controlling their emotions and it’s important for them [and for you] to not wear them down to the point where they can’t help themselves anymore. Don’t think that you’re proving anything by making them stay. If the problems begin mid meal…try taking the child outside while your partner eats. Give the child an opportunity to calm down where they don’t have an audience and are trying to assert their power [and they will ]. If the problems don’t start until the end of the meal…eat quick and wrap it up.
Tip #5
Tip…no that’s not a typo…TIP
Servers may give you the evil eye when you come in with a toddler. Do you know why that is? People bring in children….let them do whatever they want [because they’re so adorable] and then understandably and forgivably get angry at the wait staff when things go wrong. These people are trying their hardest to make sure that your breakfast/lunch/dinner goes off smoothly and they can’t control the soup being too cold or the steak being too well done. Give them a break and tip them well if they’re working hard. It will work out better for all of us if they see children and think there’s a big tip on the way for good service rather than just hoping that you’re a fast eater.
The Fat Tax. The tax that goes after Fatty McFat-Fat for chomping down on his Big Mac and french Fries. This tax is purely theoretical now, but what if it wasn’t? Sin Taxes add up to an enormous amount of money for the country every year.
Smokers, gamblers, and drinkers are all too familiar with the sin tax and all of the rest of us benefit from their vices. The benefits for a tax like this would have a major impact on the community that imposed it. Legislators could impose a tax that was virtually unnoticed to the consumer [lets say less than a percent] and the money created by it could fund community programs, fix potholes, fund charity hospitals, etc. etc. So why hasn’t it happened?
Nobody minds picking on the three ”sinners” above. We’ve watched a pack of cigarettes rise from a little over a buck to over $5 here in Cleveland in the last 8 years. But for some reason no one touches the burgers at McDonald’s and Burger King.
Obesity is responsible for:
High Blood pressure, hypertension - One-third of all cases of high blood pressure are associated with obesity High blood pressure is twice as common in adults who are obese than in those who are at a healthy weight.
High blood cholesterol - 50% more likely to have elevated blood cholesterol levels.
Diabetes Type 2 - non-insulin dependent accounts for nearly 90% of all cases of diabetes. Researchers estimate that 88 to 97% of type 2 diabetes cases diagnosed in overweight people are a direct result of obesity
Congestive heart failure - obesity increases the risk of congestive heart failure, a potentially fatal condition in which the heart muscle weakens, progressively losing the ability to pump blood.
Heart disease - heart attack, congestive heart failure, sudden cardiac death, angina or chest pain, and abnormal heart rhythm is increased in persons who are overweight or obese.
Stroke -
and the list goes on and on.
I honestly don’t understand why nobody goes after this group of people. Are the interest groups for fast food that powerful in D.C.?
Americans lead the world in many areas, and we are pleased to report that fellow American Joey “Jaws” Chestnut has defended his hot dog eating title against Japan’s Takeru Kobayashi. Well done sir.
The battle of hot dog eating needed to go into overtime when Chestnut and Kobayashi both ate 59 hot dogs in 10 minutes (a new record). The overtime was then decided by the first who could eat an additional 5 hot dogs. This year was the first time that the contest had been settled in 10 minutes in recent times (12 minutes has been the standard), because the contest organizers found that the original hotdog eating contest of July, 4th 1916 was a 10 minute event.
So what does hotdog eating champion Joey “Jaws” Chestnut get for shaming Japan’s Takeru Kobayashi? Besides fame, he retains his “Coveted Mustard Yellow International Belt,” and gets a year’s supply of hot dogs from Nathan’s (whose website appears to be down at the moment probably due to hot dog eating hysteria).
On a serious note, have a happy Fourth of July, and remember to thank someone in the military, intelligence community, etc for 232 years of freedom and the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness (even if in order to be happy you must stuff your face with 59 hot dogs in 10 minutes).
Starbucks announced today that they are closing 600 stores in the US. It appears that this is not a move to reduce staff, but to get rid of their overlapping locations. The company says that they will try to relocate as many of the employees impacted as possible.
We’ll try to see if we can’t get a list of the 600 stores and update our Starbucks saturation feature.
Yes there is a catch. No purchase is necessary (or possible) to participate, all you need to do is to review restaurants!
In July every time you write a review of a restaurant you will get a raffle ticket, and at the end of the month we will randomly select 11 people. One person will get $54 and a cool Foodio54 t-shirt and the other 10 will get a Foodio54 t-shirt (and of course we’ll pay to ship it to you).
We believe that our restaurant recommender system is working extremely well for users who have enough ratings and who have enough other similar users, but it would work much better if we get more review data. Really the system works almost entirely off of the 1-5 star ratings, however since we’re giving stuff away only reviews count for the contest.
You should now see a ticker in your “My Foodio54″ area showing how many raffle points you have accumulated. The official rules (including reasons why a review may be disqualified) are given here… leaving 1000 reviews that say “Good!” is really not what we’re looking for, as well as disclaimers and all sort of other stuff, like you are responsible for claiming this on your taxes…right…lol We’re not going to tip Uncle Sam off though if you don’t
Cash saved: $1.99 - $3.50
