Actually, I think Queenan's usually pretty funny -- at least he occasionally makes fun of his own cultural snobbery. Then again, I haven't read his books for a few years (they sit there in my bookcase, neglected, remnants of a time when I too played the Kultursnob game). But I do agree with Angie Schultz about the anti-Red Lobster diatribe in Red Lobster, White Trash, and the Blue Lagoon. I remember thinking at the time, "Shorts and t-shirts? He and his son wore shorts and t-shirts to a sit-down restaurant where they make you wait for a table and give you real silverware? What slobs." I mean, I live in Florida, where the restaurants actually have signs saying "Shirt and shoes required." There went the last bits of my reverse snobbery concerning people from up north and their superior dressing habits; I had previously been under the impression that you could be kept out of Denny's up north if your suit was off-the-rack.
Posted by Andrea Harris at January 9, 2003 03:18 PMIt's not that the most of the world can't be cool like the US, it's just that it knows it can't, and hides behind the excuse that it doesn't want to.
Posted by: Chip Haynes at January 9, 2003 at 04:17 PMI'd be very surprised if there's anywhere left in the North that enforces a dress code beyond "shirt and shoes required." Well, OK, maybe there's the rare place that has a problem with jeans, but the only restaurants I know of that still require a jacket and tie are all in New Orleans.
Posted by: David Jaroslav at January 9, 2003 at 04:34 PMRed Lobster, white trash??? That does not compute. I've been to a Red Lobster only twice, in different parts of the country. They were two of the best restaurants I've ever been in. Not that I go to fancy restaurants but they were really nice
Funny thing about Denny's - back in Virginia it was considered the "trailer-trash" restaurant. It was everyone's favorite place to make fun of and the few times we went there it was nearly empty. It was like nobody wanted to be caught there. But here in Oklahoma Denny's is considered a fairly nice restaurant and there's always at least a 20 minute wait to get a table.
Posted by: Lynn at January 9, 2003 at 08:46 PMI live in diner-land. There's a diner every few blocks. Fine with me -- I dote on diners. Red Lobster has always been known as a special occasion restaurant. Most of the trendy restaurants around here are in neighborhoods where parking is inconvenient, unless you have those tiny little expensive roadsters.
Posted by: Andrea Harris at January 9, 2003 at 09:55 PMI've been to Red Lobster a few times and it was fine, but I have a problem considering dinner at almost any chain restaurant, i.e. one that either has or easily could show up in an airport, a "special occasion." New Orleans spoiled me that way, I know.
Posted by: David Jaroslav at January 9, 2003 at 10:15 PMAnd to add insult to injury, most food in sit-down restaraunts up north isn't really that good anyway.
Posted by: James P at January 10, 2003 at 01:15 AMOk, help me out here: I live on the coast of Florida, where fresh seafood is a given. Why would I want to eat at a chain restaurant that uses frozen fish from up north? Around here, Red Lobster is where the northern transplant retirees go for the early bird special. It is to seafood what Bennigan's is to Irish food. Too bad what's-his-name couldn't find a real restaurant on which to base his snap judgement of America. (His loss, our gain.)
Posted by: Chip Haynes at January 10, 2003 at 07:26 AMUm, but a real restaurant wouldn't be a good basis for a snap judgment. Cookie-cutter chains really DO say more that can be generalized about. Oh, and THE coast of Florida? Last I checked there were three. ;-)
Posted by: David Jaroslav at January 10, 2003 at 10:39 PMDavid, one state's motto is "Si Quaeris Peninsulam Amoenam Circumspice". ("If you seek a pleasant peninsula, look about you.") Strangely, though, it's not Florida's! (It's Michigan's; they have twice as many peninsulae as we do!)
Posted by: BarCodeKing at January 11, 2003 at 04:25 AMAnd three states have one-word mottos: one in English (Rhode Island: "Hope"), one in Latin (New York: "Excelsior"), one in Greek (California: "Eureka"). But I digress. Radically. Oh well.
Posted by: David Jaroslav at January 11, 2003 at 01:24 PM