Top Secret Menus: Complete list

[SugarSpice]

So here's the thing. The cooks will hate you for ordering off the menu. Seriously. My husband was a chef for many years and worked in a variety of restaurants. When we go to buffalo wild wings I always order the chicken flatbread which is no long on the menu any more. He cringes and tries to talk me out of it every time. He says that ordering off the menu really messes the cooks up because it throws them a curveball. They don't have the ingredients preprepped already, they aren't in the routine of making this item so the caller may say one thing and they hear something else, they may not know the recipe, there is a higher chance for error and a higher chance of them "doing something" to your food. My husband has seen cooks drop food on the floor on purpose then plate and serve it up. This was in a very high end well know chain. So I'm just warning you all now! That said, I'm still a picky eater!

 

[disney1990]

I love the Salted Caramel Hot Chocolate at Starbucks. Although they don't always have the salt. So I purchased a $1.00 container of sea salt, which I keep in the car -- now I can add my own.

 

[Sam81]

Any place at Disney has to have off menu items for food tolerance/allergy/life style food issues. Don't encourage people to abuse it, Disney is the only place my son can eat. (it is truly the only week of the year when I don't HAVE to make every single item the boy eats by hand) If it goes away my life will be hell. They just processed him not eating the food as him not being able to eat the food and responded accordingly. I'm not accusing you of abusing it at all, just saying in general to anybody reading please don't make special orders if you don't need to in consideration of those who can't eat without a special order.

What an absurd comment?! If you want pancakes - order pancakes. Ordering special things off a menu is NOT limited to those with a food allergy.

 

[powellrj]

I have tried over the years to order the shamrock shake at McDonalds layered with chocolate shake only to be told at all of them they never mix milkshake flavors. At our McDonalds Biscuits and Gravy are always on the menu, plus you can order a side of gravy for 1.29.

 

[Callie]

Yup, my mom asked for a little chocolate in her shamrock shake was told they weren't suppose to do it, but the girl made an exception. IDK why they can't, it seems simple enough.

Also, the Chicken Caesar sandwich at Panera I don't feel bad about ordering. They make sandwiches all the time if people want a different bread, etc.
Its literally just lettuce, chicken, cheese, onion and dressing.

 

[Burnedout]

What an absurd comment?! If you want pancakes - order pancakes. Ordering special things off a menu is NOT limited to those with a food allergy.

If the restaurant wanted to offer it as a regular item they would. Some items are kept available due to allergies. If you want pancakes then go to a restaurant that has them on the menu and order them. Don't go and order them because "oh my! I don't realize they were free!" You know what abuse people make of good deeds by a company, surely.

 

[Sam81]

If the restaurant wanted to offer it as a regular item they would. Some items are kept available due to allergies. If you want pancakes then go to a restaurant that has them on the menu and order them. Don't go and order them because "oh my! I don't realize they were free!" You know what abuse people make of good deeds by a company, surely.

Sorry, but I OWN two restaurants. We make special requests all the time. But no one dictates to other customers what they can and cannot have. If a kid wants pancakes let them order pancakes. It is not your responsibility to police other peoples plates.

 

[Jedana]

If your local Johnny Rockets doesn't serve breakfast, you can still order a fried egg, side of bacon and toast. They don't have it on the menu that you can order each as a side.

 

[mistysue]

What an absurd comment?! If you want pancakes - order pancakes. Ordering special things off a menu is NOT limited to those with a food allergy.

Sorry, but I OWN two restaurants. We make special requests all the time. But no one dictates to other customers what they can and cannot have. If a kid wants pancakes let them order pancakes. It is not your responsibility to police other peoples plates.

If your local Johnny Rockets doesn't serve breakfast, you can still order a fried egg, side of bacon and toast. They don't have it on the menu that you can order each as a side.

OK- maybe I should have been more specific. I was specifically responding to a restaurant with a set menu. They serve the exact same thing to every table family style. It is nothing like going to Panera bread where they are making a fresh individual meal and can swap out breads or ingredients as they are all sitting right there. The disney buffets and family style places have certain foods in the back that they give to people who can't eat what is on the menu. If it started to become common for everybody who felt like it to ask for the allergy pancakes for free, they would either stop serving them or start charging for them. They are not cost effective so they aren't going to become part of the meal.
In a case like this, I would appreciate people not ordering special foods if they don't need to. If my son eats ANYTHING on their regular menu it may kill him. Not just he felt more like waffles than eggs that morning, it's a choice between paying $40 to take a kid to a place where he can't eat, or having him eat something that sends him to the ER because everybody thinks they should get a special order from the chefs.

I am not trying to dictate whether or not anybody is allowed to eat waffles, I am asking for some common sense and common courtesy. Please do not encourage people to do something that could set off an effect that could actually cost my son his life. I can't think of any way that is unreasonable.
I am not exaggerating when I say it is the only place my son can go out to eat. It would be really sad to lose that because people want to feel like if anybody gets a special item they need it too.

I find it absurd that anybody would respond with anything but understanding to being asked not to encourage everybody and their brother to order special items in places where there is a set menu, if it means making others completely excluded from the experience in the future.

ETA: If somebody came to this board looking for tips on how the get the best room and somebody's response was to get the handicapped rooms at X resort because they are bigger... and somebody who NEEDS that accommodation asked to please not suggest that to people out of consideration, I highly doubt you would say it was absurd because EVERYBODY should be able to get that big room if they want it.
Similarly, you don't tell somebody who is blind that if they get to bring a service dog, everybody should bring a dog and lie that they are service dogs so they don't have to board their pets, or tell everybody that we should all lie about our children's to get GAC's because we are all just as entitled to special treatment.
Allergies are an actual disability. The sad part is that it is unfortunately one that Disney does not legally have to cater to, so if the off menu items and special orders get out of hand, they will stop doing it. It is a disability that relies on other people having compassion rather than being self-centered. Does that make what I'm saying make more sense?

 

[mistysue]

And yes, even at Disney, we were turned away once because they were too busy and getting too many special requests. So I have no doubt that if it gets abused it will just go away.

 

[Teresa Pitman]

So here's the thing. The cooks will hate you for ordering off the menu. Seriously. My husband was a chef for many years and worked in a variety of restaurants. When we go to buffalo wild wings I always order the chicken flatbread which is no long on the menu any more. He cringes and tries to talk me out of it every time. He says that ordering off the menu really messes the cooks up because it throws them a curveball. They don't have the ingredients preprepped already, they aren't in the routine of making this item so the caller may say one thing and they hear something else, they may not know the recipe, there is a higher chance for error and a higher chance of them "doing something" to your food. My husband has seen cooks drop food on the floor on purpose then plate and serve it up. This was in a very high end well know chain. So I'm just warning you all now! That said, I'm still a picky eater!

I suppose this is true but wow. I guess it's good that I rarely eat out.

TP

 

[Sagginit]

OK- maybe I should have been more specific. I was specifically responding to a restaurant with a set menu. If it started to become common for everybody who felt like it to ask for the allergy pancakes for free, they would either stop serving them or start charging for them. They are not cost effective so they aren't going to become part of the meal.
In a case like this, I would appreciate people not ordering special foods if they don't need to. If my son eats ANYTHING on their regular menu it may kill him. Not just he felt more like waffles than eggs that morning, it's a choice between paying $40 to take a kid to a place where he can't eat, or having him eat something that sends him to the ER because everybody thinks they should get a special order from the chefs.

I am not trying to dictate whether or not anybody is allowed to eat waffles, I am asking for some common sense and common courtesy. Please do not encourage people to do something that could set off an effect that could actually cost my son his life. I can't think of any way that is unreasonable.
I am not exaggerating when I say it is the only place my son can go out to eat. It would be really sad to lose that because people want to feel like if anybody gets a special item they need it too.

I find it absurd that anybody would respond with anything but understanding to being asked not to encourage everybody and their brother to order special items in places where there is a set menu, if it means making others completely excluded from the experience in the future.

i have to agree. the special allergy foods cost more and disney is nice enough to provide some of these to people with medical conditions so they can vacation there in comfort. an ex. is i am celiac and at certain lunch places i get offered frozen amy's meals (mac & cheese or pizza). this is not offered on the regular menu but most likely they offer it as they can not safely modify the other items. these also take much longer to cook. if everyone said their child had a disease to get them mac & cheese they may just stop offering this. i too have had experiences at busy quick service places during lunch rush because things like this can slow them down.

i have had people say things like i get better food, or they wish they could get to custom order meals everywhere they went, but quite frankly i wish i could just order regular menu items and not cause a fuss.

there is a huge difference between customizing a drink at starbucks or a big mac, and ordering items held in a kitchen just to feed people that can't eat the main menu items.

 

[Sam81]

OK- maybe I should have been more specific. I was specifically responding to a restaurant with a set menu. They serve the exact same thing to every table family style. It is nothing like going to Panera bread where they are making a fresh individual meal and can swap out breads or ingredients as they are all sitting right there. The disney buffets and family style places have certain foods in the back that they give to people who can't eat what is on the menu. If it started to become common for everybody who felt like it to ask for the allergy pancakes for free, they would either stop serving them or start charging for them. They are not cost effective so they aren't going to become part of the meal.
In a case like this, I would appreciate people not ordering special foods if they don't need to. If my son eats ANYTHING on their regular menu it may kill him. Not just he felt more like waffles than eggs that morning, it's a choice between paying $40 to take a kid to a place where he can't eat, or having him eat something that sends him to the ER because everybody thinks they should get a special order from the chefs.

I am not trying to dictate whether or not anybody is allowed to eat waffles, I am asking for some common sense and common courtesy. Please do not encourage people to do something that could set off an effect that could actually cost my son his life. I can't think of any way that is unreasonable.
I am not exaggerating when I say it is the only place my son can go out to eat. It would be really sad to lose that because people want to feel like if anybody gets a special item they need it too.

I find it absurd that anybody would respond with anything but understanding to being asked not to encourage everybody and their brother to order special items in places where there is a set menu, if it means making others completely excluded from the experience in the future.

ETA: If somebody came to this board looking for tips on how the get the best room and somebody's response was to get the handicapped rooms at X resort because they are bigger... and somebody who NEEDS that accommodation asked to please not suggest that to people out of consideration, I highly doubt you would say it was absurd because EVERYBODY should be able to get that big room if they want it.
Similarly, you don't tell somebody who is blind that if they get to bring a service dog, everybody should bring a dog and lie that they are service dogs so they don't have to board their pets, or tell everybody that we should all lie about our children's to get GAC's because we are all just as entitled to special treatment.
Allergies are an actual disability. The sad part is that it is unfortunately one that Disney does not legally have to cater to, so if the off menu items and special orders get out of hand, they will stop doing it. It is a disability that relies on other people having compassion rather than being self-centered. Does that make what I'm saying make more sense?

Sorry but you are 100% wrong. So if a child has an allergy worse than yours should they get the pancakes? Disney offers pancakes. If you want pancakes, order pancakes. It's that simple. YOU do not get to police people's tables. Again as a restaurant owner - we don't care.

 

[4HppyCamprs]

Peanut Buster Parfait is not long gone. It is on current menus.

Sent from my iPhone using DISBoards

 

[afnaechiquita]

So here's the thing. The cooks will hate you for ordering off the menu. Seriously. My husband was a chef for many years and worked in a variety of restaurants. When we go to buffalo wild wings I always order the chicken flatbread which is no long on the menu any more. He cringes and tries to talk me out of it every time. He says that ordering off the menu really messes the cooks up because it throws them a curveball. They don't have the ingredients preprepped already, they aren't in the routine of making this item so the caller may say one thing and they hear something else, they may not know the recipe, there is a higher chance for error and a higher chance of them "doing something" to your food. My husband has seen cooks drop food on the floor on purpose then plate and serve it up. This was in a very high end well know chain. So I'm just warning you all now! That said, I'm still a picky eater!

I agree. I've never worked food service but I hear people complain all the time about "secret menu items" and when you ask for it, the restaurant has no idea and you just look silly. There was also a large thread on reddit a few months ago with people in food service talking about what goes/went on at their work and a great portion of the comments were right on par with what you've said.

 

[manateesmom]

I always used to order Chicken Caesar Sandwich at Panera, because I do not do mayo. Just can't do it. And this was like the only sandwich anywhere that I did not have to special order or doctor - just make it like normal and ship it out to me. I've continued to order it since it went off the menu, but last month I got one that didn't have Caesar dressing on it (?!), it had a mixture of mustard and mayo I don't know if that was someone's revenge, but how do you mess up putting Caesar salad dressing on the sandwich, they still sell Caesar salads?

 

[mistysue]

Sorry but you are 100% wrong. So if a child has an allergy worse than yours should they get the pancakes? Disney offers pancakes. If you want pancakes, order pancakes. It's that simple. YOU do not get to police people's tables. Again as a restaurant owner - we don't care.

That restaurant doesn't offer pancakes. They are special, off menu and there for the sake of people who are unable to eat the regular items because it could kill them. If at your restaurant you gave every single table the exact same meal- that is the deal- they come in for $10 and they get the same plate as everybody else and you kept a hidden item in the back that was three times the food cost just in case somebody was allergic to the main item, that would be the situation we are talking about right now. If you were running this restaurant and your deal with the allergy people was that just as a favor because you aren't a jerk you would let them eat that one expensive thing for the same price- if somebody posted it online and EVERYBODY started coming in and ordering the special item- would you keep up that offer? Of course you wouldn't.

I can tell by your reply you didn't actually read my post because you were so impatient to prove yourself more knowledgeable. If you read it you would not be accusing me of wanting to police people's tables. Unless you are a sociopath (which I don't believe) you also might show a hint of compassion if you bothered to read what I wrote.
I am asking for people to be nice and not abuse off menu allergy items because there are people who need them. I didn't say other people aren't allowed to have them, I asked people to be considerate. If you think it is wrong for me to ask people to have a bit of empathy, I just hope you aren't that way in real life off of the boards.

 

[kt_mom]

The rare times we've stopped at Dairy Queen, my husband always orders a "Strawberry Parfait". It doesn't matter what state or city we're in, it's what he gets. Occasionally he's had to instruct the staff on how to make it, but he's never had a problem getting it. It's just the cold stuff they pass off as ice cream layered with the strawberry topping.

I have noticed that Starbucks will definitely make you anything they have the ingredients (read syrup) for. If you don't know any of the fancy/regional names just tell them you want a shot of [syrup/espresso/whatever] in your drink. My favorite, that I have NEVER seen on a menu board is a coconut chai. It's great warm, and it's great cold with whipped cream and toasted coconut on top.


Some other things I've learned from dd's friends who work fast food, or from my friends who have ordered this way - Chick Fila (most of them) will sell you as many or few chicken nuggets as you want. You can also get grilled nuggets in the regular meals, not just the kids meals, and a yogurt parfait as a side. That's what my oldest does, grilled nuggets and a yogurt parfait. Dunkin Donuts will also sell donut holes in any number you want. Also, I don't know if it's local, or national, franchised or company wide, but around here, if you want a dozen donuts, but want the smaller 6 count boxes - they'll charge you for 2 six counts, which is actually nearly $1 more. Same with the munchkins. If you order 2 boxes of 25 you'll pay more than one box of 50. But if you only want 4, you can order that too. lol

My first job (20 years ago) was at chikfila and we used to make ourselves grilled nuggets all the time. They were my favorite. I'm happy to see them on the menu now.

 

[Teresa Pitman]

That restaurant doesn't offer pancakes. They are special, off menu and there for the sake of people who are unable to eat the regular items because it could kill them. If at your restaurant you gave every single table the exact same meal- that is the deal- they come in for $10 and they get the same plate as everybody else and you kept a hidden item in the back that was three times the food cost just in case somebody was allergic to the main item, that would be the situation we are talking about right now. If you were running this restaurant and your deal with the allergy people was that just as a favor because you aren't a jerk you would let them eat that one expensive thing for the same price- if somebody posted it online and EVERYBODY started coming in and ordering the special item- would you keep up that offer? Of course you wouldn't.

I can tell by your reply you didn't actually read my post because you were so impatient to prove yourself more knowledgeable. If you read it you would not be accusing me of wanting to police people's tables. Unless you are a sociopath (which I don't believe) you also might show a hint of compassion if you bothered to read what I wrote.
I am asking for people to be nice and not abuse off menu allergy items because there are people who need them. I didn't say other people aren't allowed to have them, I asked people to be considerate. If you think it is wrong for me to ask people to have a bit of empathy, I just hope you aren't that way in real life off of the boards.

It seems to me that if there is a huge demand for an item, the restaurant just might add it to the regular menu and charge a more reasonable cost for it. I have allergies and wouldn't mind paying a bit extra for food I can safely eat. I'm just glad to have it available.

TP

 

[princesspwrhr]

And sometimes they say "No", and that's okay too.
Last night we were at Tropical Smoothie. My 14yo's favorite wrap has been taken off the menu, but they still have all of the ingredients (tortilla, spinach, chicken, moz cheese & asparagus). She asked if they could make it, they said no. She ended up with a flat bread they recommended and she hated it. :-( They said they didn't have the ingredients and knowing that was a lie, she chose not to argue.

I don't think that there is a problem with asking for something you know they have the ingredients for (or asking them to leave something off), but I also think that patrons need to respect the "no" answer, and be cognizant of when they ask. Last night we were the only customers at the time, but if it had been busy, I probably would not have let her ask.

As to people in the kitchen doing unsanitary things with food - yes, it happens, yes it's a shame, but my (brief) experience in two restaurants showed me that that type of person will do something to an order whether it's special or not. And that that person is the exception not the rule.