Category: Restaurants

Terrific Ways to Find Good Restaurants

Are you fed up of the usual stuff offered by the restaurants that you normally frequent? Want to try new ones? Well, try the different ways given below to find good restaurants.

* Public media
Public media such as Newspapers, Television, Radio carry reviews and recommendations about restaurants in the locality, which also includes info on menus, price ranges, cuisine, ambience and so on. They also rate these restaurants based on user reviews. But there is a chance of it being biased.

* Recommendations from family and friends
Suggestions from family and friends are also helpful in finding great restaurants as they might have firsthand experience with some restaurants. But this also has its limitations as they can provide only very little info about the restaurants that they’ve visited. Moreover they cannot comment on all the restaurants in town.

* Internet search engines
Generic search engines provide some info on restaurants. Since, they are powered by keyword based technology; they fetch vast amounts of data mixed with a lot of irrelevant content. So, it’s a hectic task to select the right restaurant.

* Review sites
These are no doubt a good source of information providing both professional as well as user reviews. The basic drawback could be one could just be referring to a few review sites and they don’t cover all the local restaurants.

* Blogs
Some bloggers provide recommendations, reviews and suggestions about new restaurants in town. But, it also provides limited information.

* Vertical search engine to search restaurants
These compile reviews from across the web. As it’s powered by Natural Language Processing technology; it’s like a restaurant guide featuring detailed restaurants ratings, menus, ambience, addresses, hours, driving directions, maps, photographs, discount restaurant gift certificates and coupons, keyword searches and other relevant restaurant information. Users can also search by name, cuisine, occasion or location.

Of all the above options, vertical search engines are the best in finding good restaurants as they compile details from over a million online review sites to generate ratings of each and every restaurant based on its food, service and ambience. So, a restaurant guide helps in selecting good restaurants.

Metabolism boosting foods

I lost my adult weight gain and kept it off for over two years now by knowing which metabolism boosting foods worked best.

Not only did I lose weight, but I found enough energy to athletically outperform people 20 years younger than me.

It started by knowing that naturally growing foods boosts metabolism.

Mother Nature gave you an easy way to tell what foods constitute metabolism boosting foods, and what foods slow your metabolism down.

Here’s the catch, different foods have different metabolism affects on different people. This is why we have some people who could eat allot of one type of food and stay slim, while someone else eating that same food would balloon quickly.

Our bodies even react differently to what others would list as metabolism boosting foods.

Different people react to foods in different ways, but there’s a way for you to find out witch foods boost your metabolism and which ones slow it down.

Look back all the foods you’ve eaten in the past and recall how you reacted right afterwards.

If you’ve felt energetic for a long period of time, you’ve eaten a metabolism boosting food. If you’ve felt sleepy or tired after you ate that food, either immediately after eating or long after, you’ve eaten something that slows your metabolism.

Chances are that most the foods that kept you energetic after you ate were natural foods. Those that naturally grow that way in the wild or in the farm. You see these foods in the produce section like potatoes, carrots, and the butcher section, such as meats, fish, and poultry.

Go back to the last time you ate pancakes, allot of them. Also, go back and reflect on the last time you ate allot of cake and ice cream in one setting. Or when you ate allot of fudge bars. Chances are that you felt tired shortly afterwards.

This is your body shutting your metabolism down.

If you’ve wondered why some people could devote allot of time working out, but not losing weight, it’s possible that they’re eating foods that slow their metabolism down.

And it’s metabolism that contributes to people loosing weight, keeping it off, and getting by without needing coffee or feeling drowsy after lunch.

There’s an entire section in the grocery store that sells metabolism boosting foods. Fruits, vegetables, and meats are metabolism boosting. Natural grains like oatmeal and rice are also metabolism boosting.

Canned fruits, canned vegetables, and prepackaged/processed meats, have lots of sodium. Too much sodium slows your metabolism down and causes your body to hold more water. Canned fruits have too much processed sugar, another item that’ll slow your metabolism down.

Say you’ve gone to the produce section and purchased fresh fruits and vegetables. You’ve selected your meats and fish from the butcher section.

You’ve got fresh potatoes from the produce section instead of the prepackaged French fries and potato scallops. You’ve got your rice in the rice sack vice the boxed rice. You’ve got your natural oats that comes in the cylinder vice the prepackaged/boxed flavored oatmeal.

The next thing you do is eat them in a way that’ll maximize their metabolism boosting effects. You do this by eating them in the right amounts.

Instead of eating three large meals, eat several smaller ones. Eat when you get hungry. This is the trick to permanently loosing weight. Your body thinks that there’s plenty of food, and it’ll shed the pounds.

Supplement this with an exercise routine. Even if it means walking long distance on a regular basis. When you eat metabolism boosting foods, your eating will become the main weight loss strategy.

Why food is the ultimate gift

Life and food are intertwined. It is the first and most basic aspect of our lives that we imprint on. From the day of conception till the day we die food has a very central part in our existence. Without it life in our bodies would not begin or exist. Food is so vital, that just as the gift of life, it too has obtained a place in our consciousness as absolutely valuable and important to our very existence.

This consciousness that gives food such an elevated status, whether we think so or not, has to do with early life. When we are conceived our newly formed cells are nourished by it’s “yolk” until it is developed and can be feed via the placenta. Therefore we are born with an innate dependence for nourishment.

When we are born we find out that lack of food causes pain. This is why a hungry baby is a screaming baby (truth is always found in innocence). And this is where imprinting affects our entire view of food as life progresses. The first two years of life has a profound effect on the rest of our lives. The first years are the foundation which has a lasting effect on all life. We should, therefore ,be careful how we treat those years because once they take hold the effects cannot be suppressed.

So, we love food primarily because it makes us feel good. This is a fact. People who do not feel pleasure from food would not eat as much and would starve. Just sustaining life would not be enough to keep food in the number one spot in our lives. For example, we know that it is better to eat fruits and vegetables for a healthy long life but do most people change their eating habits just because of that fact. No, taste and other feel good factors play a greater role.

Other factors that play a role in making food ultimate in our lives is presentation and social feel good factors. From childhood we are taught that food is a happy occasion which is easily instilled in the mind of a child because he has already imprinted food with feeling satisfied and content.

Parents make every occasion and celebration a time to bring out the best foods. This is a time to be free, to eat as much as you want and whatever you want. It seems that the best of food comes out on happy occasions. Food is further instilled in the mind of a child as a happy thought when chocolates, sweets and confectionery are given on Christmas, Valentines, Easter, etc. Good food and treats are therefore associated with what humans crave the most, Love. Children therefore imprint good food,love and unconstrained living with food (daily eating although it satisfies a need for sustenance is always surrounded but rules and etiquette).

Presentation of food has now become an art form. Smell and taste, although they are what created our first love for food, has been joined by presentation; presentation is becoming as much of a factor. With media like magazines,TV and the Internet presentation has become a very powerful tool in invoking the senses in its continual indulgence in food. By just looking at any of the fancy dishes they are creating today can cause even the most reverent of monks to break his vows. Temptation is the very reason why monks and the like seclude themselves. And the food industry is taking advantage of that to the highest degree.

Resisting food is not in us. We need it to maintain life and most of all it has been groomed into our lives as an irresistible feel good priority of life.

Importance of food hygiene

Do you think about the importance of food hygiene, and the negative impact that improper food hygiene could have on your health? Without proper hygiene in food preparation and storage, your health can be in danger of contracting food borne illnesses.

Here’s a list of some food safety precautions to be aware of to maintain proper food hygiene.

To begin with, be aware of your food purchases, either at a grocery store, outdoor food market, or homegrown either by yourself or others, or you dine out at a fast food chain or restaurant. Have there been any complaints against that store, market, restaurant, or fast food chain, disputing their reputation for proper food hygiene?

At a grocery store, most of your food items should have the expiration dates clearly marked on the item, either stating best if used by, or expires on a certain date. Watch for any outdated items that have not been cleared from the shelf yet. Also, be aware of fresh produce that may have already started showing signs of aging, such as browning of lettuce leafs, an excessive amount of bruising marks on fruit, or the obvious; signs of slight molding.

Outdoor food markets that have areas specifically catering to fresh seafood and fish are sometimes a haven for food borne illnesses. Be aware of any improper storage of the fresh seafood and fish. If those food items are not properly stored in ice and kept cold at a certain temperature required by law, food borne illnesses containing bacteria, viruses, and parasites may occur. If you’re not sure about a particular place and their food safety, just inquire about their credentials. It’s better to be safe than sorry when it comes to your health.

Watch for signs of unclean practices at any restaurants you frequent. Typically, food scraps or garbage lying on the floor, improper handling of food, food left out that should be refrigerated and dirty dishes or utensils, are signs that definitely point to improper food hygiene, and pose a health hazard. There are places on the internet that will list some restaurants in the order of passing safety regulations. This is a good indication of their sanitary practices in their restaurant.

When it comes to the preparation of food, food hygiene should be at the top of your list to safeguard yourself against any unwanted food bacteria or contamination that could occur. When preparing raw meat, be sure to wash any surface that has come in contact with the raw meat. This will help to avoid cross contamination among other foods that you may be preparing. Wash your hands frequently after touching the raw meat to avoid transferring any possible harmful bacteria to any surfaces, utensils, or food. Be sure to follow the directions to thoroughly cook meat, as uncooked meat is a leading cause of food borne illnesses.

Refrigerate any unused portions of meat, poultry, and milk products immediately after use to keep your food from developing any harmful bacteria.

In conclusion, a person that knows the importance of proper food hygiene can help ward off any potentially harmful effects that occur from improper handling of food.

The importance of food safety

The importance of food safety can not be underestimated. The safety of food is vital to your health and safety. The consequences of unsafe food can make you extremely ill or worse in the most severe causes can lead to death. The list of things that can be done to ensure food is kept safe is a mile long but without understanding the value of food safety you won’t see any reason to practice them.

Food safety is important to the health and well being of the family. It is also vital to the overall health of the nation when the problem begins before food is ever released in the market. You go to the store and get what you need only to have it make you sick or you go out to eat and spend the next day revisiting the food you had the night before to put it nicely. These are just a couple of things that occur when the correct precautions are not taken to ensure that the food we eat is grown, stored or prepared properly.

Restaurants aren’t the only places that have to know the importance of food safety. While the health department will make periodic inspections of the retail food world they will not come into your kitchen and tell you what’s wrong.

Waste results from improper food safety. Yes, waste because food that isn’t stored properly will spoil and you don’t want to feed rotten food to your family at any point and time during the course of your meals. When you don’t store food correctly bacteria can set up in it causing sickness to develop.

Cooking food properly is a part of food safety as well. When the importance of cooking food properly is not known disasters can result. There are some foods that have to be fully cooked before they can be eaten and when they aren’t cooked correctly they can cause you to become rather ill.

Cleaning food correctly is an important part of food safety. Whether you realize it or not there are sometimes chemicals used in the fields that your food is produced in. When these chemicals are not washed off due to an improper cleaning they can cause a poisoning effect on the body. The purpose of these chemicals is to kill insects that would eat the crop and the last thing that you want to do is to ingest a pesticide.

The importance of food safety is that it is the one thing that can make multiple people sick when not done correctly. Those that you love have to be kept safe and when you are responsible for preparing the food you feel responsible for things that happen when those eating it get sick.

There are cases of improper food safety that lead to death after an extended illness. While the cases are not frequent as they could be they do still exist. The importance of food safety can not be underestimated if you want to ensure the safety of your family.

Dining out as a Vegan

Dining out is one of the luxuries that many take for granted. We often swing through a fast food drive-up for a quick meal, celebrate important occasions at nice restaurants, and even invite friends out for a bite. Most of us look for meals that simply sound good, but there are many who have dietary restrictions that narrow their choices. It is true that most establishments have adapted to these diners by offering things like low carb and low fat choices, as well as allergy warnings and even fad diet calculations. The Weight Watcher’s menu at Applebee’s is a good example. Yet when it comes to the vegan diner, we usually find that they have been forgotten.

The main problem occurs when a restaurant does not understand the difference between a vegetarian and a vegan. A vegetarian, depending on the type, will exclude red meats but still consume varying levels of animal products. A vegan will not eat, or use, any animal products or honey. I have often found that inquiring about vegan items on the menu leads the server to suggest a vegetarian item. Consequently, vegetarian meals are offered and vegan foods are forgotten.

Another issue is in the detail of the menu. Main ingredients are usually listed, and even some minor ones that are special to the dish, but meat products are sometimes included in the meal but not in the menu description. Mexican restaurants, for example, will offer vegetable fajitas that are served with melted cheese and refried beans that are sometimes made with lard. Family restaurants may have a meal composed of their side dishes, but those vegetables are often cooked with butter or bits of meat as flavor enhancers. Burger establishments commonly offer vegetarian burgers. Though this seems like a great solution, these patties can contain eggs and milk, and they are often topped with a slice of cheese and a smear of mayo. In addition, many bread products are made with eggs and dairy products, which can make cold sandwiches another tricky dinner venue.

Lastly, there are places a vegan will be invited to that have meat in everything they serve. Every main dish includes a large hunk of animal flesh. Their soups are made with beef or chicken stock and their breads are made with eggs and dairy. Someone will eventually suggest a salad, which turns out to be little more than iceberg lettuce and carrots topped with bacon, cheeses, and buttered croutons. If you are lucky, there are unshelled peanuts at the table for you to munch on while your dinner guests finish their meals.

It is understandable that not every establishment can cater to every diet. They each have their target customers, as it would be very expensive to serve food for every type of diner. However, there are a few things vegans would like restaurants to consider. First, educate yourself and your staff about vegetarians and vegans. This will allow them to make educated suggestions to your vegetarian and vegan patrons. Second, label the presence of animal products in your menu items. Even something as small as a symbol next to an item that is 100% vegan would be a great step, one that some Thai restaurants have already taken! Third, if you aren’t a place that obviously is designed to grill up meat, like a steak house, offer at least one item on the menu that is vegan. It will increase both your number of patrons and your reputation. Vegans are a growing part of society that like dining out, and with a few thoughtful changes, they will enjoy it even more!

Tips for dining out

Dining out has a different level of significance for every family. For some it is a daily occurrence and is the norm, while for others it is an occasional special treat. Regardless of which category your family falls into, you want the experience to be enjoyable. There are seldom any guarantees when you enter a restaurant that everything will end up exactly the way expect it to, but being aware of a few things up front can help you avoid some of the pitfalls of dining out. These tips are presented in the context of a family outing, but some can apply just as well to couples or a group of friends.

If time permits, the very first thing that should be done is research. That is not to say you should perform an in-depth study of each restaurant you would like to patronize, but listen to what other people have to say about it. Reputation in the restaurant business is an absolute. Restaurants do not get good reputations by providing lousy service or food. Keep in mind that everyone has different tastes and opinions, but a reputation is built on consistent quality service. A few minutes on the internet or talking to some friends could preclude a dinner disaster.

Once you have chosen the restaurant, you should decide if you are budgeting for this outing or if this will is a special, spare-no-expense’ outing. That decision absolutely should be made beforehand as it will help avoid any disappointments when ordering. If you are budgeting and want to minimize the expense, try having everyone drink water instead of soft drinks. The cost of soft drinks can really add up for a family of five. Appetizers and sides can add up as well, and dessert can sometimes be as much as the rest of the meal. Of course, if you are not budgeting, make sure you save room for dessert!

The restaurant industry is a service industry. Waiters and waitresses are there to provide a service for you, and most of them enjoy doing so. Don’t be afraid to ask for something. Usually, when you are seated, they will ask you if the location is acceptable. If it isn’t, politely let them know that you would rather sit somewhere else. As long as you are polite about it, they usually do not mind. They want your experience to be enjoyable. Keep in mind, however, that they have to deal with many other people throughout the day that may not be as polite or friendly as you. A little consideration for your waitress or waiter can go a long way for your dining experience.

When you have finished, be sure to continue that consideration in the form of a fair tip. If the service you received was simply marginal, but adequate, then the tip should be equal to the going rate. Current rates are around 15% to 18% for average service, higher if the service was exceptional. If the service was not acceptable, do not simply leave a lesser tip. Talk to the manager first and let them know what the problem was, and try to make sure you do not blame the server for problems that were beyond their control.

It does not take a whole lot of preparation to have a good dining out experience. Just a little pre-planning and attention to detail can make it a night to remember for the entire family.

Tips for improving restaurant service

It seems that when a person goes to a restaurant they always seem to find something that needs to be approved on. Whether it be the way the food is prepared, or even the way the service is. Now speaking as a former waitress, I can easily see when something needs to be approved on. I also think that a waitress is the hardest person to wait on, just because they know all the little secrets.

So as a former waitress I do have a few little tips that can help improve the restaurant service. Well first of all if you find yourself in a restaurant and you see that the service isn’t so great, you do have the right to do something about it. Sometimes if your on the outside of the restaurant business it may seem to be a little bit harder. But if your on the inside of the business its just a little bit easier to deal with it.

Well lets say that you own your own restaurant or you have just bought an existing restaurant. Now this so called restaurant is well known in the area, but you want to do a few things that would make it better. First of all what you should probably work on is the menu of the restaurant, you really have to know what the costumers want to eat. Honestly people aren’t going to go to a restaurant if they’ve never heard of the food items. Another tip on improving the restaurant service is of course the waiters and waitresses.

Now the waiters and waitresses are honestly the backbone of any restaurant. They are the first people you see when you walk into the restaurant, and they make the whole dinning experience pleasant. Now if you have waiters and waitresses in your restaurant, it would be better to have a group meeting to make sure that everyone is on the same page. As my experience from being a waitress I know how stressful it can be to work in a restaurant with no communication. It’s absolutely awful and it causes people to quit out of anger.

But of course if you want a real tip for improving the restaurant service. Its going to come from the management and owners first of all. I mean the employees of a business take the lead from their employers after all. Employers have to tell their employees what they want and exactly what they want their results to be. Take it from me I know all the stress that comes along with working in a restaurant. It doesn’t matter if your at the very bottom of the chain, or if your the head of the company. Everyone has to work together to improve the service of any restaurant.

Thats the best tip that can ever be given to anyone. Teamwork! I mean if a restaurant doesn’t have teamwork, then it wont improve any services that it provides.

Get All Information About Eating Disorder Types

Eating disorders are one of the unspoken secrets that permeate many families. Millions of Americans are afflicted with this disorder every year, and most of them — up to 90 percent — are adolescent and young women.

Rarely talked about, an eating disorder can affect up to 5 percent of the population of teenage girls.

Why are adolescent and young women so susceptible to getting an eating disorder? According to the National Institute of Mental Health, it is because during this period of time, women are more likely to diet to try and keep a slim figure and/or try stringent dieting. Certain sports (such as gymnastics) and careers (such as modeling) are especially prone to reinforcing the need to keep a fit figure, even if it means purging food or not eating at all.

These eating disorders carry serious health risks and can sometimes result in death. Medical and Dental complications can occur as a result of starvation, vomiting and abuse of exercise.

A small but significant number of eating disorder patients die from their disorder, convinced that it is better to starve to death than to be fat. It is vital that eating disordered people receive treatment for their disorders. Appropriate treatment includes medical attention and psychotherapy, both from professionals specializing in eating disorders treatment.

Preventing Eating Disorders
Cognitive-behavioral strategies may help prevent the development of eating disorders in adolescent women, particularly those who are overweight. A 2006 study in the Archives of General Psychiatry reported success with an Internet-based cognitive-behavioral program that targeted at-risk college-age women. The women were taught how to become more comfortable with their body weight and image. The program also provided education on healthy eating and weight management.

Eating Disorder Types

In Anorexia Nervosa, the sufferer shows a desperate fear of weight gain and a desire to be abnormally thin, and severely restricts her diet in an attempt to achieve this. Some sufferers also use excessive exercise and sometimes self-induced vomiting as a means of weight control. This behaviour leads to a wide variety of harmful physical and psychological consequences and can be life-threatening; in fact anorexia nervosa has the highest mortality rate of any psychological illness.

Bulimia is characterized by eating excessive amounts of food in short periods of time,
Usually in secret, and is followed by some form of purging behavior. Most individuals suffering with bulimia realize that their behavior is abnormal and try to keep it a secret. Individuals are either slightly over, or at average body weight.

While bulimia is not as physically harmful as anorexia, the psychological effects can be devastating, leading to depression and even more serious outcomes including suicide in the worst of cases. The physical signs of bulimia which can be observed tend to be related to the purging methods used, and include regularly bloodshot eyes, swollen glands, and dental erosion. In the long term, the dangers include digestive system problems such as ulcers, weakness and exhaustion, and even heart problems.

Binge Eating Disorder (BED) is a type of eating disorder not otherwise specified and is
characterized by recurrent binge eating without the regular use of compensatory measures to counter the binge eating.

Binge Eating Disorder is characterized by:

1. Frequent episodes of eating large quantities of food in short periods of time.
2. Feeling out of control over eating behavior

Introduction To Eating Disorders

Eating disorders are often described as an outward expression of internal emotional pain and confusion. Eating disorders afflict millions of people, thousands of which will die from them yearly. There is good news though, eating disorders can be beaten. An eating disorder involves a distorted pattern of thinking about food and size/weight: there is a preoccupation and obsession with food, as well as an issue of control or lack of control around food and its consumption. Eating is controlled by many factors, including appetite, food availability, family, peer, and cultural practices, and attempts at voluntary control. Dieting to a body weight leaner than needed for health is highly promoted by current fashion trends, sales campaigns for special foods, and in some activities and professions. Eating disorders involve serious disturbances in eating behavior, such as extreme and unhealthy reduction of food intake or severe overeating, as well as feelings of distress or extreme concern about body shape or weight.

These are also the three most common eating disorders. Eating disorders can cause heart and kidney problems and even death.Eating disorders frequently co-occur with other psychiatric disorders such as depression, substance abuse, and anxiety disorders. The main types of eating disorders are anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa. A third type, binge-eating disorder. Eating disorders are not due to a failure of will or behavior; rather, they are real, treatable medical illnesses in which certain maladaptive patterns of eating take on a life of their own. Eating disorders frequently develop during adolescence or early adulthood, but some reports indicate their onset can occur during childhood or later in adulthood. In addition, people who suffer from eating disorders can experience a wide range of physical health complications, including serious heart conditions and kidney failure which may lead to death.

Eating Disorders are about being convinced that your whole self-esteem is hinged on. Eating Disorders are about attempting to control your life and emotions through food/lack of food. A person with anorexia nervosa typically starves himself or herself to be thin and experiences excessive weight loss, typically 15% below the weight that doctors consider ideal for his or her height and age. A child with anorexia or bulimia may experience dehydration as well as other medical complications. Anorexia may affect a child’s growth, bone mass, cause puberty delays, an irregular heartbeat and blood pressure problems, and gastrointestinal problems. Treatment of anorexia calls for a specific program that involves three main phases: (1) restoring weight lost to severe dieting and purging; (2) treating psychological disturbances such as distortion of body image, low self-esteem, and interpersonal conflicts; and (3) achieving long-term remission and rehabilitation, or full recovery.

Eating Disorders Treatment Tips

1. Treatment can include medical supervision, nutritional counseling, and therapy.

2. Supportive group therapy may follow, and self-help groups within communities may provide ongoing support.

3. Behavioral therapy has proven effective in achieving this goal.

4. Psychotherapy has proven effective in helping to prevent the eating disorder from recurring and in addressing issues that led to the disorder.

5. Family members or other trusted individuals can be helpful in ensuring.

6. Certain selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) have been shown to be helpful for weight maintenance.