Smarter

Important Question:

Is every other restaurant out there smarter than Bennigan's? If not, it may be time to change.

Calfornia Terminates Trans Fat

The #1 killer in the nation?

Ok. Without looking anything up, can you tell me what the #1 killer in the nation is?

If you had to guess you would probably start with: cancer, drugs, car accidents, plastic surgery gone wrong, aids, diabetes, or a number of other sources that all lead to an untimely death.

The answer however, apparently is heart disease.

Which is why the Terminator is here. To stop heart disease.

He is starting with Trans Fat.

Today Gov. Schwarzenegger signed a law banning trans fat in restaurants throughout the entire state of California. Full article from the L.A. Times, here.

What does this mean? Simply another attempt at the government to control the restaurant dining experience.

"California is a leader in promoting health and nutrition, and I am pleased to continue that tradition by being the first state in the nation to phase out trans fats," Schwarzenegger said. "Consuming trans fat is linked to coronary heart disease, and today we are taking a strong step toward creating a healthier future for California."

Don't get me wrong - trans fats aren't necessarily a good thing. However, why does the Governor of California have a say in what I eat? Shouldn't his time be spent on things that are a little more important than putting an end to all trans fats? If I want to eat trans fat, than I will.

You may be wondering.....what do I eat that has trans fat? Basically, trans fat is made when manufacturers add hydrogen to vegetable oil--a process called hydrogenation. Hydrogenation increases the shelf life and flavor stability of foods containing these fats. Here are a few examples: cakes, cookies, crackers, bread, pies, potato chips, popcorn, margarine, salad dressing.

Not only is it ridiculous that the government is now controlling restaurants, there is also about 4,673,193 other things that are "killers" aside from trans fat and heart disease. Do they plan on banning those as well?

Cars kill people - no more driving. Smoking kills people - no more cigarettes. Drinking kills people - no more alcohol.

Luckily, I don't live in California. However, with the recent calorie exposure in NYC and now this in California it is likely that in a couple of years we will all be drinking smoothies and living in a bubble.

Save Starbucks! Save Starbucks!

I love you. I hate you.

That's the thing about people. They change their minds a lot. Have you heard those song lyrics, "You don't know what you got till it's gone"? The lyrics are right, we change our mind when we loose something we didn't appreciate we had.

Like Starbucks.

You hate them, yet you love them. Part of you wants to see if they will fail, and the other half of you hopes they keep growing.

It's obvious that many consumer had mixed emotions when they announced earlier this month that they would be closing 600 locations nationwide. Realistically, a Starbucks won't be out of your reach. You will just have to walk an extra block or drive an extra mile.

Consumers have gotten so distraught that "their" Starbucks is closing that they have created a website, SaveOurStarbucks.com. No word yet on whether or not this will change Starbucks decision to not close certain locations, however I can imagine it won't.

To me it doesn't really make a difference if they close locations or not. What matters to me is that Starbucks works on changing the equation. To win me back they have to do one of two things.

1. Lower prices
2. Give me a reason to feel good about spending $5 for one of their creations.

I Don't Want to Know How Fat I Am.

I used to want to live in New York.

However, that dream died earlier this month when restaurants were forced to begin posting calories next to menu items. Have you heard about this awful news? If you haven't yet, let me explain: In a moment of insanity somebody in New York City thought it would be a good idea if every restaurant in the city posted calories next to all of their menu items. Read the full article from MSNBC here.

Hmmm.......that sounds genius. Let's run every restaurant in the city out of business.

Think about how often you eat out in restaurants. Think of the decisions you had made previously based on gut instinct. It's likely that you went with what you "thought" was a healthier option, or you didn't care at all.

Now, whether you care about calories or not you still will be faced with knowing exactly what you're eating an how many calories it has. Sometimes knowledge isn't power.

Why would anyone want to know this information? If you are trying to "cut back" and want to stick to a strict daily calorie diet then don't go out to eat at all. You don't belong in a restaurant, stay at home and eat your Special K.

What is NYC trying to prove? Is this their desperate attempt to fight back on America's growing obesity? I suppose it makes them feel nice inside that they are making an effort to promote a healthier lifestyle. It makes me feel miserable.

The addition of calorie counts on menu items will result in a few things - all of which are unrelated to improved health and a happier society:

1. A significant decline in restaurant business. This decline will be related to the purchasing of fewer items. Instead of a bagel and coffee for breakfast, maybe you will just go with the coffee. It will also lead to far less visits, now every occasion at a restaurant will turn in to a "special" occasion when you can splurge.

2. People won't loose any weight. They will stay home and eat their tub of ice cream in a depressed state of mind knowing they "can't" go out to eat. It's just too unhealthy.

3. "Healthy" restaurants (if any actually exist) will thrive.


Calculate you're Chipotle Calories by clicking here.

This is a restaurant nightmare.

Restaurants exist for a primary reason: good food. No questions asked. They make their money by serving amazing food with remarkable service. They don't get paid to be health consultants. They get paid when customers come back over and over and over again for food - good food. Food that they shouldn't feel guilty about eating.

Hardly any restaurant on earth makes a new menu item and thinks, "Hmm I wonder how many calories are in this?" They create a new menu item and think, "Does this taste amazing?"

NYC please listen - nobody wants to know how many calories are in the menu items from our favorite restaurants. We want to eat in peace. We go out to eat, TO EAT! Not to think about not eating.

Most interestingly, no one seems to pay attention to calories on the back of packaging at the grocery store. If we want Oreos, we're going to buy Oreos regardless of how many calories are in them. I am guessing that in a year or so once the calorie dust has settled, people will stop caring.

Until you stop caring though, avoid NYC. It's possible seeing calories next to some of your favorite dishes will scar your mind forever. If you live in NYC, might I suggest buying a blindfold?

Dunkin's 25 Minute Wait

You can accomplish a lot in 25 minutes.

In 25 minutes you can watch an episode of Seinfeld, or read a chapter in your favorite book, or stalk your "friends" on Facebook, or make waffles, or read 5 blog posts on Green Eggs.

Our time is precious. We protect time more than anything else. It is our most valuable asset. We can't get time back. There is no exchange for time. It's likely you have a calendar and a cell phone/watch. You have these two things for a couple of reasons:

1. To manage your time.

2. To keep track of time.

Time rules over everything else, yet precious moments of our life our continually wasted...............................................................waiting. We wait at restaurants for a seat, we wait for our food, we wait for the check, we wait for the to go box, and we wait to get out of the parking lot.

We wait in the drive thru. Even though it's "fast food." However, the definition of "fast" is in the eye of the beholder.

I got in the drive thru at Dunkin Donuts at 10:46 am.

It was a busy Saturday morning, but not unusually busy. I was about 6 cars deep in the drive thru lane. I already know what you're thinking. "Why didn't you just get out of your car and go inside!?!?" Don't worry I had already planned for this and a short analysis of the line in Dunkin as I drove by didn't seem to be moving any faster. So - I went with the drive thru.

I have been in this line before. I have fought this long drive thru battle. For the most part, I typically get through in a solid 5-10 minutes from beginning to end.

At 11:00 am (16 minutes later) I still had not placed my order. I was beginning to get annoyed and in a fit of rage starting thinking about what I would say in my post.

At 11:05 am (21 minutes later) I finally reached the talking speaker to place my order.

11:09 am I arrive to the window and get my order. I asked the employee what took so long and without an apology simply stated, "I know, we're really backed up right now." I respond, "This is not a ride at Disney. It shouldn't take me 25 minutes to get through." Still no apology, she hands me my food and I get on my way. The worst part? There were 4 Dunkin employees just standing around leaning up against the counters.

Let's look a little more closely at the opportunity that Dunkin missed out on.

1. Dunkin was extremely busy. Why weren't they giving extra amazing service instead of slacking off because "they were already packed"?

2. Dunkin employees could have been out in the line taking people's orders and delivering it to their cars - or have it ready the second we pull up.

3. Dunkin could have apologized for the wait at the window and given an offer to come back again.

4. Saying Thank You is powerful. Wouldn't it have been nice if they simply thanked the people in line for visiting them on a busy Saturday morning?

Dunkin has a great product. Their coffee is outstanding, their bagels are simply the best. However their service is lacking. When the economy turns around and people stop caring about "price" and "value" as much as they do now, will Dunkin still be as popular? Or will we start taking our time and money back to Starbucks down the street?

Fleming's Prime Experience

Prime.

Prime is a good word. It means premium, elegance, sophistication and.....really really good food and wine. I suppose that's why Fleming's Prime Steakhouse and Wine Bar decided it was important enough to include Prime in their restaurant name.

Until earlier this week I had never been to Fleming's before. I always wanted to go. I had driven by it a million times in Tampa, FL as it stood on the side of the road like a jewel beckoning me to come in.

Sometimes we get lucky. I got lucky last week when a good friend of mine invited me to a Fleming's Night of Discovery. I did the math and as you can probably imagine, it took me a mere number of seconds to agree.

When we walked in the door they handed us a road map of where we were going with the evening. This I loved. I wish this happened at every restaurant. Imagine if you walked in the door at your favorite restaurant, they greeted you with a smile and then said, "We're happy you're here. This is the journey we're taking you on." Like a luxury car, Fleming's is designed from floor to ceiling to offer the ultimate experience.

Once I got over the initial shock of being invited and then after walking in to the palace, I got a short overview for the reason for the tasting. Fleming's is now introducing their 100 new wines for the year called the Fleming's 100 and this tasting was to give a sample of what their guests can expect in the coming year. In addition to just serving 100 unique wines in the restaurant, more than 70% of the vintages are made with grapes grown organically. Clearly Fleming's is pushing their wine selection to the edge by hand selecting wines that are above the rest.

My fascination with Fleming's is rooted in the food. I am not a big wine drinker. I don't know all of the nuances about wine. I haven't taken a long journey "around the tasting wheel." But, I know what tastes good and that is more important than anything. The night of discover truly was a discovery to me as I had never paired wine with food before.

Four wines - four pairings - four times my fantasies were fulfilled. I could go on and on with specific wine descriptions, however Fleming's is the expert and you can read a detailed breakdown of the Fleming's 100 wines by clicking here.

The Fleming's experience is a cut above the rest. The servers are different, the presentation is different, the food is different and by different I mean Prime.

When we are thinking about where to go and what to eat we usually rotate "five" restaurants in our head. We first ask - what do we want to eat? Then, how far do we want to drive? Finally, was it good last time I was there?

The next time you are asking yourself these questions, stop and think of the best. The question you should ask when you want go out is, do I want the best? If the answer is yes then there is only one restaurant to go to - Fleming's. It is the best, the premium, the ultimate.

I wasn't disappointed and now I feel like that I have missed out on hundreds of opportunities to have the best since I have driven by over and over again and never stopped in. Here is the bad news. Fleming's has messed with my mind. My expectations in a dining experience are now completely skewed. From now on I will expect the ultimate service, food and drink at every restaurant I go to. It's like taking a test drive in a Mercedes and then getting back in your Ford and expecting it to drive the same way.

One thing I now know for sure, putting Prime in the restaurant name was no accident. It was a definition for everything they stand for.

Fried Food Feels Good

Am I that fat?

We go to restaurants for one reason: to eat.

We know that, the servers know that, the managers know it, so do the busboys, hosts, and cooks. While other things play in to the overall experience - food is the main reason we come.

Therefore, when I arrive at a restaurant, I don't need a health lesson from my server on why or why not I should be eating. You know the cartoon imagery that is often used to display a mental battle? The angel on one should and the devil on the other? Many times when we go out to eat we are having this exact same battle in our minds. Should I get dessert? Hmm....that deep fried shrimp look good, maybe I'll get a salad instead. The beautiful thing about this battle is that it happens in our head. No one else is contributing or listening.

Last night though, our server decided she would play the role of the "angel" and question us on everything we ordered.

I'll break this down for you very simply, using direct quotes from our server:

1. We decide we want two fried appetizers.

Her response: "Are you sure you want two? They're kinda big."
My answer: Yes, I know we'll eat it all.

2. Two of us at the table decide we want fried wings as an entree.

Her response (as she drops the food off): "Wow, I can't believe you guys are going to eat this much fried food."
My answer: "I think we can handle it."

3. We finish dinner and she starts to clear our plates.

Her response: "Are you sure you guys don't want any dessert?"
My answer: "No I think we ate more than enough."
Her response: "Are you sure? (with a smirk)"

Hmmm I feel good! Now that you have proceeded over the past thirty minutes to call me fat on three different occasions I think I'll leave you a nice tip.

Can you imagine what would happen to McDonald's business if every time someone went through the drive thru and ordered a big mac, large fry and a coke and then the employee put a handwritten note in the bag that said, "Congratulations. It is likely that after eating all of this high trans fat food that you will gain 7.4 pounds."

Servers have only a handful of jobs and being a consultant on my food choices is not one of them. Bring my food, keep my drink full and get our order right. That is your job. Plus, aren't you suppose to be trying to get me to BUY food and COME BACK? Or would you rather I just order three cups of soup and never visit your restaurant again?

Taco Bell's 4th Meal

Three meals a day used to be enough.

Breakfast, lunch and dinner had traditionally always been able to satisfy our constant hunger pains.

Then fast food chains decided that they could convince us to come in more than three times a day. It makes perfect sense. They figured out before we did that we really like to eat 4 meals a day with two snacks in between. Are they wrong?

Think about how many times you eat a day. It's likely you eat breakfast, have a morning snack, eat lunch, around 3pm have a afternoon snack, get some dinner and finally late in the evening eat one more time before going to bed.

If this is you then almost every fast food chain out there has your schedule covered.

Let's use McDonald's:

8am: Egg McMuffin
10am: Iced Coffee and Chicken Biscuit
12pm: Big Mac and Fries
3pm: Snack Wrap
6pm: Quarter Pounder with Cheese
10pm - Later: McFlurry, Ice Cream, Shake or any other item on the menu.

Of course, while many chains offer a similar "all day menu" few of them will blatantly promote the fact that they want you coming in every three hours to eat. Except for one.

Taco Bell.

I have found that Taco Bell always tastes best in moments of outright desperation.....like at midnight after a Dave Matthews Band concert in the middle of July when you have been sweating your butt off for four hours thinking about food that costs less than $10 stadium food.

In moments like this, Taco Bell is the holy grail of food. Additionally, for some unknown reason it tastes better at night, in the dark (when you can't see the grubs in the food).

Hence Taco Bell's strategy: the invention of "The 4th Meal." It's that meal in between dinner and breakfast...sometime between 10pm and 7am. Taco Bell owns this time period and they are on a mission to declare it. They have even taken it to the extreme as to host the website fourthmeal.com

No other chain has pushed the envelope this far as to completely invent a new meal time, promote the day part and then build their operations, marketing and products around it.

So, back to my moment of desperation.

I was hot and hungry. I knew that Taco Bell was the only place open and I also knew they had a new product that looked rather appetizing: Queso Crunchwrap.

The commercial made it look good and because of my irrational thinking at such a late hour, I made the decision that the advertising was true and I needed the Queso Crunchwrap immediately.

My delirious prediction was correct. It was amazing. I have no idea how Taco Bell makes such great tasting food so cheaply, and I don't think I ever want to know. The taste combination was perfect, the price was perfect and the portion was perfect.

And yes.....it was my 4th meal of the day (don't tell my wife).

I know what you're going to say. Taco Bell has all kinds of great tasting late at night menu options and yes you're right. However, the Queso Crunchwrap was the best thing I have had at Taco Bell in a very long time. For some reason beyond my control, the magic of Taco Bell at midnight filled my spirit and I left satisfied.

I guess the bottom line is this - if you're going to eat four times a day (and you probably will) you might as well make Taco Bell you're 4th choice. I suppose when it comes to fast food, coming in 4th place isn't necessarily a bad thing.

FREE Green Eggs T-shirt

Free stuff is the ultimate.

I love coming across free offers, free give aways and most importantly free food.

Since "free" is so important to me, I decided it was time to participate. About 4 months ago I had limited edition Green Eggs t-shirts designed that expresses what all of us imagine whenever we visit Chick-Fil-A........waffle fries completely butt free.




















The shirts are amazing and if you already own one, you may have been the victim of jealous looks from complete strangers.

Now, on to the free part.

I am giving away 5 Green Eggs T-shirts completely free, no strings attached. All you need to do in order to get one is to be one of the first 5 people to send me an email. In the email you must include your mailing address AND a restaurant that you would like me to visit and write a blog post on.

Send your email to danielrholm@gmail.com.

It's possible that this could be the easiest thing you have ever done for a t-shirt.

There is only 5 so what are you waiting for!?!?

DQ's Thin Minty Goodness

As a young plump child I would order 6 boxes of Girl Scout Thin Mint cookies and keep them in my freezer.

I kept them in my freezer because they tasted better cold.

Maybe I should have sold my idea to Dairy Queen.

The new Dairy Queen commercial for the Thin Mint Blizzard is extremely tempting. My wife saw it first and sent me a text message, knowing that I would start salivating at just the idea of a Thin Mint - ice cream combination.

I saw the commercial shortly after that, however I was extremely skeptical. Last time I believed in an ad from a fast food joint (Wendy's) I found myself stuck with Frosty shake of lies. To add to my skepticism, the last time I attempted one of DQ's "Blizzards of the Month" I was disappointed when I got the Cheesequake Blizzard.

All things considered, how could you mess up putting Thin Mints in vanilla ice cream?

With a raw sense of urgency I went running (not literally) to DQ earlier this week to get my hands on what I believed to be a Blizzard from my childhood dreams.

First let me ask you this. What is it about the color "green" that makes us taste and feel minty? Mint ice cream that isn't green is simply no good. Have you ever had white mint ice cream? It doesn't taste like mint ice cream at all! The same goes for ketchup. Not to get too off track here, but I have tried the green ketchup and it tasted awful. Sometimes are eyes are more important than our taste buds.

I sped through the drive thru with my Thin Mint Blizzard in hand, and before my first bite I notice a couple of important things that are imperative for any good blizzard experience.

1. It's well mixed. The topping wasn't just thrown on top in a desperate attempt at speed.
2. I can see the Thin Mints. Often times you will get a blizzard and won't even be able to see the candy inside.

First bite......sensational. This is the ultimate. Simply enough this is a combination that DQ can't screw up. Thin Mints + Ice Cream + Green minty syrup (to make it green) = Mouth Watering Blizzard. The other part about this that really sealed the deal was that there were whole Thin Mint cookies in the blizzard not tiny little pieces.

The sad thing is that just like Girl Scout Cookies this Blizzard is going away at the end of the month. You don't have much time.

I already have a plan in place. Just like my boxes of regular Thin Mint cookies I intend on stocking up on Blizzards and storing them in my freezer.

Let Freedom Ring!

Maybe it would have made more sense to celebrate 4th of July today instead of last Friday.

Today, July 11, 2008 is really all about freedom. If you play your cards right you could be drinking free slurpee's and eating free meals at Chick-Fil-A all day.

If you have more than one 7-11 in the area you live I encourage you to take full advantage and get a free slurpee at every single one (hopefully the machine's are working today).

Chick-Fil-A is giving away free meals today however it is a little more complicated. You have to dress like a cow.....with a little imagination and some time this should be a fairly easy task to accomplish.

Let's just say I have my cow bell ready.....

Enjoy the freedom!

Not Fast Food

Restrooms are important. Especially restaurant restrooms.

They are the view into the soul of the restaurant. With a click glance inside a restroom you can discover how the management runs the operation, how important "cleanliness" is to the staff and how important the restaurant views your experience.

Sometimes you get lucky.

You get lucky when you walk in a restroom and notice that there is a little something extra. This could either be: cloth towels, mouth wash, lotion, moisturizing soup, great music, or really cool sinks.

Suddenly, going to the restroom has turned from an everyday necessity into a memorable experience. So memorable that it's likely you remember the last time you were in a really great restroom, and you remember restaurants that have a nice restroom.

I know that Bahama Breeze, Bonefish Grill, and Lee Roy Selmon's all have amazing restrooms. They have something extra - mouth wash, cloth towels, or lotion.



You may be surprised to found out that the picture above is the restroom at my local Chick-Fil-A.

You're probably thinking the same thing I was when I walked in. "What is Chick-Fil-A doing putting out Kleenex, Mouth Wash and lotion in the restroom?"

The answer is that they are pushing the envelope, filling the gap and moving farther away from fast food and closing in on an entirely new category. All of the restaurants I mentioned above with amazing restrooms cost between $15-$20 a person to eat there. Chick-Fil-A costs around $7.

The restrooms weren't the only remarkable thing that happened to us at Chick-Fil-A earlier this week. We also got served. I don't mean just over the counter service when they took our order. I mean once we sat down and started eating employees came over to us to ask if we wanted refills, or could take our trays.

This "service" didn't just happen once. They came by 4 times......AND we weren't the only table they were visiting. The "server" refilled my drink 2 times.

The service, restroom, and overall experience I had at Chick-Fil-A was better than the experience I have had a lot more expensive, overpriced restaurants.

What did it take for the management to implement this? Not much. Maybe $15 in products for the restroom and simple training for the staff to "walk" the dining room. However, the impact it had on the guests was truly priceless.

Every time I visit Chick-Fil-A they continue to surprise and impress me. They are no longer a regular fast food place. They are something entirely different and if I was Panera, Moe's, or Chipotle...I would be scared.

Double Dip

The question is, what can we learn from George's double dipping and apply it to another food item?

French Toast is probably one of the better breakfast items at any restaurant. It's the American fat kid's dream: bread, dipped in eggs and milk, and grilled.

While french toast is one of the better breakfast items, there are some fundamental problems with the dish:

1. Sometimes there isn't enough batter on the bread and you're left with toast, not french toast.
2. If you are eating and talking at the same time, often times the french toast gets cold quickly.
3. Certain breads aren't made for french toast....like wheat. You have to go with a white bread to get complete satisfaction.
4. This isn't a problem, but restaurants need to offer more powdered sugar. I know personally I would prefer the pure sugar over the syrup for the ultimate in tastiness.

I would also like to take this time to mention that french toast is best with "no frills". It doesn't need fruit or stuffing. French toast is always best the good old fashion way - dipped and grilled.

While at First Watch yesterday a wise person I was with made a suggestion that possibly has changed the way I eat french toast forever. I was preparing to place my order and he looked over at me and said, "Make sure you get your french toast double dipped."

What?

He continues, "Ya if you get it double dipped they put your bread in the batter twice so you get more egg and milk on the bread....." Genius.

Double dipping your french toast eliminates so many issues. It comes out more full flavored and less tasting like toast, it is creamier and richer.

Upon my initial first bites of my double dipped french toast I immediately began shouting about how much better it tasted. My wife quickly chimed in that it was all in my head and that it actually doesn't taste any different. Trust me though if you eat french toast you will notice the difference.

The best part? It doesn't cost any extra. That means that you are getting basically double the french toast for the same price. You're taking the batter for two orders! Now that is classy eating.

It always excites me when I discover a new way to eat an old food item. French toast will never look the same to me again.

Let's just say that if you didn't double dip before, now is a good time to start.

Nothing Says America like a Hot Dog Eating Contest

Ah.....America.

Nothing is better than the sweet freedom of living in the USA. This freedom began over 200 years ago through blood, sweat, tears, war, violence, death and bravery.

Today we celebrate it an entirely different way. Usually through - cook outs, beer, steak, beach, burgers, fireworks and then more beer.

I typically take part in the celebration through one or two of these mediums, however yesterday I found myself in awe watching another way of celebrating on TV:

Nathan's Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest



Skip about 2 minutes in to see the eating begin.

Ok, what?

Let me first start by saying I like hot dogs. Hot dogs of all kinds. Many think they are outright disgusting as they are "a combination of all of the bad parts of the pig". I'm just of the belief that they are a combination of all of the good parts of the pig, and when you throw them on the grill there really can't be anything better.

Personally, I like cheese on my dog with ketchup only. I don't like chili, onions, lettuce or another other strange addition which simply attempts to drown out that pure dog taste.

I have even had a Nathan's Hot Dog before. It's good. Awkwardly enough, I have only ever seen a Nathan's in an airport lobby so I have only been able to try them once or twice. Now.....let's discuss how many I think I could eat in one sitting. I'm guessing maybe 3-5. If I HAD too.

The people in this video are truly insane. How can they eat this many hot dogs? As I dove a little deeper in understanding this hot dog phenomenon it came to my attention that this "tradition" has been going on for 90 years!!

The other side of this contest aside from the repulsive realization that there are people out there that eat this many hot dogs, is that Nathan's is genius. Somehow 90 years ago they decided they would turn the 4th of July into their holiday. Some dude at Nathan's was sitting in an office one day and was like, "Sales are down. I have an idea...let's see how many hot dogs people can eat."

Only in America could a restaurant chain pull something like this off. Nathan's probably sells more hot dogs on July 4th then they do the rest of the year.....my guess is that people who watch this or participate in it don't want to see, touch, eat or smell a hot dog for at least a year.

When you watch this video you will either think one of two things:

1. This is disgusting, I can't believe people actually do this.

2. I love America because only here can I watch insane people eat 1,462 hot dogs without it being illegal.

I say, GO USA.

600

It was bound to happen.

In the next 12 months, Starbucks will be closing 600 locations nationwide.

Are you surprised?

I'm not. Right now the average price of gas in the country is $4.09 per gallon. This leaves many people in the country asking this question: "Should I get enough gas to drive to work today or get a White Mocha from Starbucks?"

People have been cutting back and I have no doubt that Starbucks was the first thing to get rid of on their list. I know it was for me. Starbucks lost its sexiness to me over a year ago. One day it just wasn't as good as it used to be and my value equation changed.

Almost $5 for a 16oz cup of Starbucks or....spend $1-$2 more to get an entire meal from Chipotle or Chick-Fil-A? Starbucks used to be sexy, a fashion statement, and delicious too. It's stopped being all of those things.

The reality is, if all you're interested in is straight up coffee why are you going to Starbucks anyway? Dunkin Donuts, Einstein's and Panera all have better plain coffee....OH and if you go to Dunkin they put cream and sugar in FOR you and it only cost $1.70.

Starbucks says they are closing 600 stores, many of which opened after 2006 and were placed next to current Starbucks. You know that place in your local city where you can stand in one place and see 4 Starbucks? It's also known as the center of the universe, however only now the one in the upper left corner most likely is closing.

The strategy that Starbucks originally had with their rapid expansion made complete sense in 2003-2004 when the world was bowing at their feet.

It was simple, yet genius. If they had a Starbucks on corner 1 that was making $3 million in sales a year they could easily open another Starbucks on corner 2 to capture traffic going the other direction, and would make sure it did $2 million in sales a year --- add the two together and you have turned a $3 million corner into a $5 million one.

Their marketing plan was to just open more Starbucks as it was obvious that if you weren't going to Starbucks on a daily basis, it just meant you didn't walk or drive past one.

It's obvious that it is finally occurring to them that they can't afford to keep both stores open and still have profitable areas.

Don't get too worried, there are still over 7,000 Starbucks locations in the U.S. But, will you be going to any of them?

Icedream On

I don't really dream about Ice Cream.....well not all of the time.

However, I do talk about Chick-Fil-A a lot. But, they're worth talking about.

They have food you can believe in. Their advertising is real. When I see an ad from Chick-Fil-A, I know it's true.

It may surprise you to find out, that until last week I have never tried Chick-Fil-A's Icedream. First the question comes up as to why the heck they call it Icedream instead of Ice Cream. I suppose the reasoning is that it's dreamy and delicious and freakin fantastic.

Icedream has never been on my food radar. Usually if I'm going to get Ice Cream I'm going to Dairy Queen or Dairy Kurl or Cold Stone. Plus, I have had fast food Ice Cream before. Basically it's vanilla, melts quickly and isn't too amazing. It's boring, and there aren't many options if you are really trying to satisfy a sweet tooth.

Because of my wife's constant overwhelming reviews of Icedream at Chick-Fil-A one night last week I decided it was time to take the leap and give it a try.

There is nothing dreamy about the presentation of this Ice Cream. It's completely no frills. There are your standard three sizes. I was shocked when I ordered a small and they filled an entire "small" drink cup full of ice cream. Yes a normal Styrofoam drink cup filled with ice cream!

It was HUGE and was easily the same size as a large at Dairy Queen. It costs around $1.50. Let me just break that down for you - - you can get ice cream at Chick-Fil-A for less than a soda at Chick-Fil-A. What's the logic in that?

The ice cream stays cold. It doesn't melt. It's thick and creamy and tastes truly like good old fashion ice cream. I'm not entirely sure how they accomplish this thick cold taste. It tastes like premium ice cream and because it is in the Styrofoam cup it doesn't melt at all. It takes me a solid 10-15 minutes to eat the small cup. I can down a blizzard in less than 10.

It seems to me that many people aren't fully aware of the magic of Icedream. It never really occured to me as an option - and I think about food. In many ways it's an unknown little secret about Chick-Fil-A. Most interestingly, Chick-Fil-A's good old fashion Icedream is better than any other plain vanilla ice cream out there.

They don't care about making it pretty, they don't need to mix candy in. You don't need whipped cream or hot chocolate sauce or a cherry. It doesn't have to be in a waffle bowl. All they need to do to fulfill your dreams is to just put plain vanilla ice cream in a plain Styrofoam drink cup. - Now that is truly a remarkable product....when nothing else matters aside from the food you know it's good.

Discover the ice cream phenomenon at Chick-Fil-A....it's worth dreaming about.