Not So Fast Food

Posted by Mandi Coleman (03.26.08, 9:16 PM)

Lately, the trend in food has been gourmet-to-go. People don't always have the time to wait for a table, wait for the waiter, and wait for the food to arrive. They don't want to sacrifice quality (and taste for that matter), so instead of heading to the nearest McDonald's, they...

Lately, the trend in food has been gourmet-to-go. People don't always have the time to wait for a table, wait for the waiter, and wait for the food to arrive. They don't want to sacrifice quality (and taste for that matter), so instead of heading to the nearest McDonald's, they opt for this type of eatery.

Tonight I went with some friends to Pei Wei, the kid sister of Asian chain PF Chang's. All in all, the Mongolian shrimp and lettuce wraps that I ordered were good. Everything came in large portions, and tasted extremely similar to the same dishes found on the menu at PF Chang's. However, they had similar price tags as well, and I couldn't help but wonder if it was worth it. As I handed over my credit card to the busy cashier, the fact remained that I was paying table-service price for a counter-service experience. And while a very good value for convenience sake when you're in a rush, it wasn't worth it when you want to linger and chat only to have people impatiently waiting to clean your table for the next group.