Dr. Mercola July 16 2007 60,557 views
Americans spend roughly half their food budget dining out, and restaurants are getting increasingly more savvy about getting you to part with more of your dollars.What are some of the effective tricks used in their marketing psychology? If you‘ve ever been hit by the urge to leave a fast food restaurant within minutes of sitting down, it‘s not by chance. Fast food restaurants encourage you to get out of your seat quickly by providing as little "feel-good" ambiance as possible. Bright lights, bright colors, loud upbeat music and uncomfortable seating increases turnover.Do you usually opt for the Daily Special, thinking you‘re getting the chef‘s inspiration of the day at a great price? Then consider this: daily specials are often dishes prepared specifically to get rid of ingredients nearing the end of its shelf life. To spot these iffy "specials," look out for expensive items used in a way that minimizes its flavor, such as cut and braised lamb chops playing second fiddle in a dish.Many don‘t realize just how much butter and extra calories are added to even the healthiest restaurant fares, in order to keep your taste buds making mental notes to return. According to a registered dietician and representative for the American Dietetic Association, restaurant meals average between 1,000 to 1,500 calories. MSN Money May 3, 2007
Actually, this Article is very biased. This article should be titled "10 Things your FAST FOOD Restaurant Won't Tell You". This article does NOT completely apply to the average restaurant. As owner of the Healthy Harvest Gourmet Market and Restaurant on Indian Street in Stuart, FL these statistics are quite stretched to apply to my restaurant. At Healthy Harvest, we ONLY use the freshest organic ingredients for our fruits and veggies, natural grass-fed beef with no antibiotics or chemicals, and free range poultry.
And I am truly offended by the first line of the last paragraph of the article "even the healthiest restaurant fares use so many extra calories". Between 1,000 and 1,500 calories DOES not at all come CLOSE to my healthiest restaurant in town.
Russ, if you can, could you check into why I was demoted down from Moderator to Savvy? It made me very upset last week, or maybe the prior week to see that. I just don't understand why that has occurred. And why is it that so many people are giving out negative points? Is someone purposly signing on and knocking down everyones points? I contacted Mercola.com and asked the same question and they have yet to reply. Thanks.
Russ, you said it right! This is a good time to be going the opposite direction of the crowd.
Like The New Christine, I was knocked down at some time during the past two months from Moderator to Savvy with no explanation. I have been unable to participate much recently, so it is not that I am getting negative votes.
My family has been lucky enough to live in Japan for the past three years, where small family restarants and cafes still pride themselves on providing you with top quality fresh, local food. Most cafe owners here are more concerned with providing the best quality food and great service rather than making a little more money. There are even a handful of 100% organic restaurants.
Unfortunately, we will be moving back to the states in the spring, and good-bye eating out, unless we are lucky enough to find similar establishments where we wind up in the states. Even the best-case scenario American restaurant food(not spit in, not dropped on the floor and not hanging around for a week) is still what most of us on this site avoid like the plaque- additives, pesticides, and hormones.
And sadly, there are chain restaurants all over the world now. America is poisoning the world with it's diet. Here in Okinawa we see A&W, KFC, McDonalds, etc. It makes me sad to see these places, because people see them as an okay food choice.
Thank God I actually like to cook....