Sometimes it takes forever to figure out where to go to eat, especially with a large group of people. What are we in the mood for? What sounds good? Etc. . . .

What we need, to spice things up, is a restuarant with a non-descript name like "Food-o-rama" that has only three choices on the menu: small meal, medium meal, large meal. People go to this establishment, pick how hungry they are (maybe alerting the waiter to any allergies, etc.), and recieve a random meal (Italian, burritos, steak, pizza, chocolate-covered ants). If people don't like what they got, surely they could trade with other people, or there could be a stipulation for recieving a different meal if there is a problem. Drinks could be done the same way, only divided into "alcoholic" and "nonalcoholic" or something.
-- smizzou, Jul 06 2001

Add an option to specify dietary restrictions and I'd go.
-- baf, Jul 06 2001


Check the menu in a Chinese restaurant, note the numbers that you want to order, then go to a *different* Chinese restaurant and order the same numbers. Or just pick numbers out of nowhere.
-- angel, Jul 07 2001


Yes. Decisiveness is vastly overrated. Who wouldn't eat at a place called "Eats"?
-- The Military, Jul 07 2001


You could have the server blender the random selection right at the table. Presentation is important.
-- LoriZ, Jul 08 2001


I really like this idea, but it is a little baked. There was this place in oakland where the guy only fixed one thing each day, Sushi (maki only) to pizza always the same price. Of course it wasn't as random as your idea... but when confused about food we'd just go there.
-- futurebird, Jul 08 2001


There's a place in downtown Chicago (perhaps a chain that exists elsewhere?) called "Food Bucket." Thought it was a joke the first time I walked by it.
-- Dewey, Jul 09 2001


"Food Bucket" is a Chicago-local soup/salad/sandwich chain with strong focus on fast (15-minute) delivery; no mystery involved as far as I can tell.

My version of this is "Real Ice Cream" on El Camino in Sunnyvale. Mind, the ice cream flavors the place is famous for are spelled out in English, but they also offer a selection of delicious Indian bar foods whose untranslated names don't offer any clues towards the meal's ingredients, size, or even temperature to the uninitiated. For all I know, I've been ordering "shoe" there and getting something different at an amused counterperson's mercy every time.
-- jutta, Jul 15 2001



random, halfbakery