One dollar cocktails and genuinely affordable truffles might sound like a dream come true, but in reality, they're among the many cheap restaurant items that are actually nightmares.
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00:00One-dollar cocktails and genuinely affordable truffles might sound like a dream come true,
00:06but in reality, they're among the many cheap restaurant items that are actually nightmares.
00:12Lobster's status as a quintessential example of warm-weather indulgence is tough to dispute.
00:17Simply put, modern diners can't get enough of this often-pricey shellfish, but if you're
00:22ever tempted to order a suspiciously cheap lobster, you might want to reconsider.
00:27There are several reasons for an unexpectedly low-cost lobster, each of which should drive
00:32you away.
00:33For one thing, it may no longer be fresh.
00:36Additionally, it may not be the expected main lobster, but rather the smaller langoustino
00:41species.
00:42Or perhaps worst of all, it may not even be the real deal, but instead some sort of faux
00:46lobster crafted through culinary trickery.
00:49Now, to be clear, the price of lobster has been known to ebb and flow from year to year.
00:54But a slight dip in price from one year to the next doesn't mean that you should trust
00:58a lobster that's as cheap as a can of tuna.
01:00You know what?
01:02I'll have the lobster.
01:04Excuse me?
01:07The lobster special?
01:09If you see certain cheap pasta dishes on a menu, it's probably safe to assume that they
01:13were pre-made and therefore not worth ordering.
01:16Actually, it may just be best to skip any pasta dish at all at a restaurant, regardless
01:21of the price.
01:22It's not that a relatively simple or cheap ziti or linguine dish won't be appetizing
01:27or filling, but if you're splurging on a night out on the town, it's not really worth ordering
01:31a dish that you can easily put together yourself in about 20 minutes with ingredients that
01:36are always available in your own kitchen.
01:38Furthermore, you'll always want to avoid a kid's version of macaroni and cheese from
01:42the menu.
01:43After all, as any person who's worked in the food service industry knows, these options
01:47are often pre-made and offer nothing more than a cheap imitation of the Kraft brand
01:52variety.
01:53Applebee's is a bit like Subway, insofar as this once-beloved sit-down restaurant appears
01:58to have lost a bit of its luster in recent years.
02:01Even when Applebee's offers something worthwhile, like its famed $1 margarita or dollarita,
02:07it's not really worth your time or money.
02:09That's because this pre-made concoction is assembled with low-quality tequila, concentrated
02:14generic margarita mix, and water.
02:16And it's probably fair to presume that Applebee's isn't alone when it comes to offering skippable
02:21cheap margaritas.
02:22After all, a cocktail made with top-notch ingredients, particularly top-shelf tequila,
02:27should never be cheap.
02:29But maybe you don't care too much about the specific origins of a low-cost alcoholic beverage.
02:34As long as it gets you inebriated, you'll soon be too drunk to care anyway.
02:38But if you're also hoping to avoid an overly processed high-sugar drink, you'll be well-advised
02:43to skip a cheap margarita, from Applebee's or anywhere else.
02:47"...Yard Margs at Skeepers."
02:49"...Perfect, I left my credit card there."
02:52From a manufacturer's standpoint, imitation crab makes a fair amount of sense.
02:56It's a simple way to repurpose relatively unappealing fish products into a crab-like
03:00substance that provides a cheap, if highly processed, alternative to the real thing.
03:06Consequently, supermarket shoppers won't have difficulty discerning real crab from the less
03:10expensive imitation.
03:11You can simply peruse the ingredient list if you're unsure.
03:14If a crab dish is suspiciously cheap at a restaurant, it may be trying to pull a fast
03:19one on customers.
03:20Considering the reputational risk a restaurant runs by deliberately misleading customers
03:25when substituting imitation crab for the real thing, we'd like to imagine that few establishments
03:30actually do this.
03:31But that doesn't mean you shouldn't keep your eyes peeled for this maneuver.
03:35If you're wary about your crab's authenticity, don't be shy.
03:38Politely ask your server about the actual ingredients and prep process.
03:42And if you remain unconvinced, opt for your second choice.
03:46Chicken breasts are a widely popular and healthy poultry, with a particular appeal for anyone
03:51who can't stand dark meat.
03:53Since it's fairly easy to overcook chicken breasts at home, there's a certain joy in
03:57letting a restaurant do it for you.
03:59But if it's unusually cheap, you'd be wise to avoid it.
04:02Part of the problem is that it's not especially difficult to find a chicken breast-centric
04:06menu item that's affordable.
04:08After all, cheap or not, chicken breasts can be found at just about every non-vegan restaurant
04:13across the nation.
04:14But the simple fact that it's incredibly common means that it's not worth spending your money
04:18on something you can get virtually anywhere.
04:21So considering the practically universal availability of chicken breasts, you should probably never
04:26order a cheap or expensive option.
04:29If you're splurging during a night out, why not opt for something you're unlikely to find
04:33elsewhere?
04:34Even though The Good Place's Eleanor famously despised clam chowder, we can't get enough
04:39of its rich, creamy delightfulness.
04:41But it's not quite as delightful when it's surprisingly cheap.
04:44That's because odds are, it's not made of fresh clams, but rather the canned variety.
04:49As chef Rusty Hansen revealed to Eat This, Not That in 2022, clam chowder may be considered
04:55as the lowest-quality menu item at a seafood restaurant because the clam chowder is sometimes
04:59made from canned clams.
05:01While canned foods are perfectly fine for home cooking, if we're paying a premium to
05:05eat at a restaurant, we expect a level of quality that supersedes our own ability.
05:10In other words, even if you absolutely love clam chowder, don't go for the bargain basement
05:15option.
05:16Instead, wait until you can splurge on some clams that are fresh out of the water.
05:20Who wants chowder?
05:22It should be pretty clear that it's always worth taking an objective step back when you
05:26come across a deal that looks too good to be true.
05:29You may swoon over the possibility that fate is smiling upon you, but when it comes to
05:33low-priced Wagyu beef, the odds simply aren't in your favor.
05:37There are reasons to doubt that an expensive Wagyu menu item doesn't actually contain authentic
05:42Wagyu.
05:43So how could you ever possibly have any faith in a cheaper alternative?
05:47There's a fairly straightforward reason why you should never order cheap Kobe beef, which
05:51is a common type of Wagyu.
05:53Why?
05:54Well, it's almost certainly not the real deal.
05:56According to Larry Olmstead, author of the book Real Food Fake Food, Wagyu and Kobe beef
06:01dishes are plagued with fraud at restaurants around the globe, so it's immensely challenging
06:06to feel confident when ordering any version of these prized marbled cuts.
06:10We understand the temptation to order high-quality luxury meat, but it's just not worth the risk
06:15in this case.
06:16Hey, you're a great big phony, you know that?
06:19One piece of conventional wisdom when it comes to cheap menu items is that you should make
06:23sure to be on the lookout for subpar and inaccurately labeled products.
06:27But when it comes to cheap sushi, the concern should actually be more about the potential
06:31health risks.
06:33Just as you should skip gas station sushi, the dangers of cheap restaurant sushi and
06:37the risk of ending up with food poisoning are too great to justify any sort of potential
06:41reward.
06:42It's fairly well known that eating sushi is a health risk for some considering the potential
06:46health hazards of consuming raw fish.
06:49In addition to those health concerns, there's also the reality that many cheap sushi items
06:53don't actually contain what they say they do.
06:56In fact, as Larry Olmstead explained to The Independent, with the exception of the most
07:00expensive and elite sushi eateries that fly in their own fish, the failure rate of restaurants
07:05having at least one fake on the menu when tested approaches 100 percent.
07:10Whether you're worried about your health or your taste buds, don't fall into bargain sushi's
07:15trap.
07:16There shouldn't be anything unclear about the problem with an affordable truffle.
07:19After all, the cost per pound for black truffles reportedly averaged between $300 and $800
07:25in 2021, with white truffles averaging an astounding $4,000 per pound.
07:31We probably don't need to spell out why there's simply no realistic path to truffles being
07:35anything but astronomically expensive when served at a restaurant.
07:39If you come across a low-cost truffle item, the reason is somewhat simple.
07:43More often than not, if a restaurant offers an affordable dish that claims to include
07:48truffles, it almost certainly consists of truffle oil rather than actual truffles.
07:53While cooking oil being derived from other foods isn't inherently a problem, the issue
07:57with truffle oil is that it's completely artificial and contains no real truffles.
08:02Fresh truffles also tend to spoil within a week or two, further decreasing the likelihood
08:07of finding any legitimate discounts.
08:09So if you really want to scratch that luxury fine dining itch, you're just going to have
08:13to be patient and save up.
08:15First you gotta do the truffle shuffle.
08:17Come on!
08:19Do it!
08:20Come on!
08:22Do it!"
08:23It's not hard to understand the motivations of restaurants when they offer genuinely appealing
08:28deals on often unattainable foods.
08:30But when the entire basis of doing so involves deliberately deceiving customers by presenting
08:34a cheap imitation as a legitimate product, it's hard to swallow.
08:39On that note, you should avoid ordering cheap restaurant Red Snapper dishes, because if
08:43you do, you may not have any idea what fish you're actually consuming.
08:47There's no shortage of potential culinary shortcuts a restaurant can take with menu
08:52items.
08:53But as author Larry Olmstead noted to The Independent,
08:55"...seafood would be the worst category overall.
08:58When you order the priciest, most desirable white fish, such as Red Snapper, Grouper and
09:02the like, most of the time you are just not going to get them."
09:06It shouldn't be too surprising at this point, considering the problems with lobster, crab,
09:10and sushi.
09:11Since Red Snapper is one of the more prized fish options out there, if you see it for
09:15less than expected, chances are high that it's not 100 percent Red Snapper.
09:20You may love all things seafood, but that doesn't mean everyone loves healthy, aquatically
09:24derived proteins.
09:26Since Grouper is one of the better fish choices for people who don't like fish, it's easy
09:30to see why a health-conscious diner may find cheap Grouper appealing.
09:34But like so many other seafood menu items, if you order a cheap or even regularly priced
09:39Grouper dish, it's unlikely that you'll be served actual Grouper.
09:43As reported by The Providence Journal, a restaurant-bought Grouper is often substituted with a cheap alternative
09:48called Whitefin Weakfish.
09:51Diners may be unaware of the difference, and in some cases restaurants may have unknowingly
09:55purchased a fake product, but it doesn't change the fact that when customers order a certain
10:00type of fish, they deserve that exact fish.
10:03Since you can't trust a Grouper menu item at any price, you'd be especially wise to
10:07avoid ordering the cheapest options.
10:11Cheap, cheap, cheap, cheap, cheap, cheap, cheap!
10:14Popping a bottle of champagne to celebrate New Year's, graduation, the sports championship,
10:18or pretty much anything else is one of the great joys of adulthood.
10:22When the bubbly is flowing, you're probably not thinking too deeply about the fairly strict
10:27regulations regarding champagne production.
10:29It's also worth knowing that only sparkling wine produced in the Champagne region of France
10:34can legally be called Champagne in many parts of the world.
10:37Thus, you might assume it's impossible to be duped by a cheap imitation.
10:41However, California state laws actually allow winemakers to label their sparkling wine products
10:47as Champagne even if they're not from France.
10:50Now, that doesn't mean that California Champagne is inherently terrible.
10:54On the contrary, there are plenty of worthwhile sparkling wines, regardless of their geographic
10:59But there are probably plenty of people who are completely unaware that Champagne sold
11:04in the United States isn't necessarily authentic Champagne from France.
11:08If you come across cheap Champagne on a restaurant menu, there may be some telltale signs indicating
11:13that it's fake, including the bottle itself and its packaging.
11:17And when all else fails, check the Vineyard of Origin.
11:20If it's not from France, you'll know it's not worth ordering.