I have figured out why I am irresistible to women!*
Author: WIBIA | Filed under: Announcements/News
Stop rolling your eyes. This is from an article in the most recent Men’s Journal (therefore, it is obviously a fact). Since we are kind of on the subject…let’s talk about food related pet peeves of a significant other. The son of a chef, I would say that food is important to me, so this is my list of food related red flags. Now, any and all of these items can be dismissed if she is super hot.
1. Orders a steak medium well or well done.
2. Orders steak sauce with the above mentioned steak.
3. Cuts more than three pieces at a time off of the above mentioned steak.
4. Likes super sweet wine.
5. Likes wine with flavors that are unnatural to wine (blueberry wine, wtf?).
6. Likes Olive Garden.
7. Considers Subway an option at anytime.
8. Orders bullshit pizza toppings like pineapple and ham.
9. Eats like a bird on the first date, but doesn’t appear to eat like a bird at any other meal.
10. Doesn’t like to go to hole in the walls.
11. Orders the most boring item on the menu. Like a burger with mustard only when there are 50+ items to choose from.
12. Asks for her order to have more than three substitutions or changes.
13. She doesn’t drink beer at all.
14. Thinks that Blue Moon is a good beer.
I am sure that there are more…a lot more, but this is a good start. Feel free to list your food related pet peeves below.
-wibia
*title of this post is laced with sarcasm.
Tags: Food, mens health, pet peeves, rants, raves
good list.
I’m down with olive garden so long as she doesn’t think it’s an esteemed establishment – likewise for any chain.
Poor etiquette is a deal breaker for me
-tells me she likes sushi and orders a variety of rolls
-mixing soy and wasabi
-unwilling to try things
-9 is another, pretending to be full – unless I get to finish.
1, 8, 13 & 14 are biggies for me. #1 is particularly infuriating…why even bother having a steak (or any meat) if you are going to cook all the flavor out of it? What a joke.
My wife noted that I spilled something on myself at like eighty percent of our meals together when we first started dating. She was beginning to think there was something wrong with me when I somehow pulled it together, or started wearing darker clothing to hide the stains.
I once dated a girl who wore a budweiser bathing suit – this is vaguely food related, but I learned that that is a warning sign that is not to be ignored: do not date a woman that owns a budweiser bathing suit.
Also, a [that's a] dealbreaker [ladies!] for me is someone who tries to sneak things into my food that I don’t like to eat. My list of verboten foods is legion (mushrooms, onions, coconut, raisins, etc), and I need someone to respect me and my food pecadillos. I know I have some issues, but don’t make me change.
#5 – what about mead? Also, I like pineapple on pizza. I’m OK with not being one of the cool kids.
My deal breaker is food-related: I don’t want to SEE the food you’re chewing. Happens so much more than you’d think.
Very good list… Other than the fact that I don’t hate Subway (I just don’t really ever think to go there), I agree with pretty much every point!
I’ve had some real loonies in my dating history… in case my wife is reading this, I assure you honey… Nothing you have done or currently do would ever make this list!!!
1) No matter we went, this girl would order chicken strips and fries. Very annoying… this was when I first realized that food could be a deal breaker.
2) One of the most disgusting habits I’ve personally encountered was watching a girl peel the cheese up from a pizza and dab off the sauce with a paper towel or napkin. By the end of the meal, there would be a massive pile of greasy, wadded up napkins on the table.
3) Yet another pizza-related habit involved a girl that refused to eat cheese of any kind…. but she loved pizza. A pizza without cheese is not a pretty sight.
I suppose that the reason these girls liked me was because they fell into that 73% in the article; I introduced them to more exotic foods. Some of the chose to completely ignore my attempts and still ordered the chicken strips, but the effort was still there on my part! Unfortunately, I think I just got tired of constantly being the interesting one when it came to food… It wasn’t until I met my wife that I felt like I had finally found my culinary match.
I agree with almost every item on your list. I think I would make OG interchangeable with Chilis and Applebees. Also Im annoyed by people who go out to restaurants and order a salad as their dinner entree. Luckliy my girlfriend and I are of the same opinion on most things food related.
Also one I forgot from my high school days. I went on a date with this girl who refused to eat anything at all saying she was embarassed to eat infront of me. Rediculous. I finished my steak,took her home and we never spoke again
I have to comment that my favorite part of the magazine picture is the part (next to what you are quoting) that says only 1 % of women will “use butter in the bedroom.” That made me laugh. Wibia, you read some high quality magazines!
Ok, just to play along, I hate it when people scrape their teeth on a spoon when they are eating (I noticed it particularly with one individual I used to eat lunch with a lot whenever he ate soup.) Gave me the willies. Also, people who eat too much fast food.
P.S. I can’t stand beer. I guess I am ok with not being one of the cool kids too.
Too bad you are married…sounds like I’m your gal, lol. You got an older brother?
1,2, and 6 are DEFINITELY huge pet peeves…. My father always taught me to NEVER get a steak cooked past medium rare, and never disgrace the steak by having steak sauce with it….
Anybody who calls Olive Garden “Good Italian Food” needs HELP.
Any steak worth eating won’t need steak sauce, but I do enjoy the flavor of A1.
I would love to enjoy beer but I just can’t stand the taste. Guess I’m not in the cool crowd either.
And Olive Garden has good salad. Now I’m even more uncool.
I cannot stand it when people claim to hate certain foods when they’ve never even tried them. Or people who won’t even try a bite. It’s food! What do you have to lose?? You try it, the worst that happens is you don’t like it. Or, you might just find that you like something you never thought you would. I dislike green beans but I try them as often as I can, just to see if a different preparation might help. Come to find out, fresh green beans = delicious. Canned green beans = vomit.
The Olive Garden hatred angers me. Is Olive Garden authentic, high quality Italian food? Absolutely not. It is moderately tasty and somewhat fairly priced Italian-ish food that can feed the masses and expose Americans to something other than cheeseburgers and fries? Absolutely. I hate to sound liberal here (which I definitely am not), but not every family or person can afford a high quality Italian meal or an expensive night out and Olive Garden is their best option. So, in that respect, it absolutely serves its purpose.
Someone could then say that you could make the same argument for Chili’s or Applebee’s, but that is where I disagree. That’s “American” food and you can get that anywhere. Unless you are buying something there that is a special meal deal, those places are overpriced and an embarrassment.
@Erin: Completely agree on the tasting thing. I used to be that way, WHEN I WAS A CHILD. One of the things that I am eternally grateful to this blog for is that has forced me to explore new genres of food or try things that I would have never tried before. For example, I had thought for my entire life that Indian food was DISGUSTING and wouldn’t even consider trying it. Now I have tried it on a handful of occasions and I absolutely LOVE it. The moral of the story being: give everything a chance because you may find out that you like it.
@Rodzilla-Thanks for posting, I forgot about adding you blog to my links. Now added. Why does the mixing wasabi and soy piss you off?
@BigRed: Budweiser bathing suit, nice. Ha ha
@Andi: I am cool with just mushrooms. However, most veggies pizzas suck.
@Indy Food Geek: Chx and fries, yikes…and your #3 scares me
@Brent:Sounds like you have a winner…champ!
@ErininIndy: If you want to know what other mags I read, just ask me. Rest assured they are all high quality. I need to find the 1% that uses butter in the bedroom…I mean, I have heard the term “buttering the corn” but that adds a new meaning to it. Nice job on the fast food dig.
@Anne: My older brother is hot shit like I am, but he is married.
@NVLV: Good genes if you ask me.
@Erin: I like A1 on burgers. I agree with the “why not try a bite,” I never get that either.
@IndianapolisEater: Sorry to ruffle your feather about Olive Garden. What bothers me about the joint is their marketing. Chefs in Italy, come on! High quality Italian food is some of the cheapest food around. Pasta is just flour and eggs and tomatoes are cheap as well. I just don’t like the place. I wouldn’t throw a fit if a client wanted to go there, but there are other options that I like more. Also, I agree…the blog forces me to try new things that I wouldn’t if I didn’t write.
First, pineapple on pizza is amazing. If they offered any other fruit I’d probably get that too. With bacon.
My number one pet peeve is people who refuse to share. If I go somewhere interesting i want to try a few different things. if this isn’t your style, then we’ll never eat anywhere good because it would be wasted on you.
As a female, I will admit to:
liking pineapple & ham pizza (& so does hub)
4) liking muscatos & iced wines–and that’s about it for wine
14) like Blue Moon (especially w/lemon, not orange)–but so does my hub. Generally, though, I’m a malty girl, and like my porters and stouts.
Can we still be friends?
@Katy. Agree on the sharing. Depending on what it is, I am not sure if I want to go spoon deep into a friend’s soup.
@beffuh: Can we be friends? Well, are you super hot? You saw the rule above.
@Katy and @wibia – Speaking of sharing… this reminds me of another huge pet peeve. When dining out, I can’t order the same thing as someone else at the table. If my wife and I are dining out and she shows interest in picking the same thing that I plan to order, I will immediately switch to another item. I’m not sure what caused this odd neurotic habit, but I’m sure that it has something to do with wanting to have the option of tasting the other plates at the table in the event that anything looks better than my order. I really hate having to switch my order at the last minute… So if you know what I’m planning to order, PLEASE don’t pick that too!
Likes Olive Garden – YESSS
Gosh I cannot believe people even consider eating at that $hit hole. That and Red Lobster I cannot stand.
@WIBIA, thanks my man. The wasabi/soy is sort of like the steak sauce thing. Maybe at a cheap garbage sushi-place/ but I like to avoid those.
I will add an extra in in that women who do not eat fish. On my first date, I asked my wife if she liked fish or ate fish. If the answer was no, I was moving on.
Olive Garden: True Italian food is what the chain markets with its chef school in Italy. Send the dishes or even the names of the dishes to someone in Italy and they would say they had never heard of most of them.
Italian cooking is regional and most of it is based off of what is in season and fresh. I do not see seasonal menus at Olive Garden. If you go to an Italian place and the menu does not change, it is Americanized Italian.
Hot pineapple on pizza… I’ll bet you do not find that in Italy either.
Blue Moon… my wife and I were drinking a summer ale the other night before this was posted. I told her my pet peeve was yuppies chugging Blue Moon at the bar.
I was in a ranting mood this morning.
@Indy Food Geek … similar to your #3, my ex-boyfriend would take strips of TOILET PAPER and layer them across a pizza, soaking up the grease on top of the cheese before he’d eat it. Gross.
@Rodzilla and anyone else who eats sushi … is there any place in town that serves real wasabi?? I see it on Iron Chef America and that’s about it. Everywhere I’ve ever ordered sushi seems to have different variations on the bright green stuff.
As far as Olive Garden goes my gripes with it have nothing to do with the lack of authenticity. For me saying something isn’t authentic is one was just to be snobby and look down upon something. Food doesn’t have to be authentic to be good. If everything was completely authentic we’d have no room for innovation. However, it is true that I just have not enjoyed the food at OG any time I’ve ever been there. The last time I went there I found the food to barely be above Fazoli’s quality and quite a bit overpriced. I dislike restaurants because of experiences I’ve had there and not some overarching philosophy.
Smacking, slurping, and licking fingers are big turn offs. Least in the early dating stages.
Thinking Chili’s, Applebees, Dickey’s, Red Dumpster(Lobster) are A-1 quality restaurants Is a huge red flag.
I had one date where she used to waitress at Chili’s and thought the food was awesome. The conversation even went so far as turn into an argument. That was a “one and done” date.
I dated one girl for a time that was 6’2″ and 113lbs and did some modeling. Dining out Was a small annoyance that slowly grew to be quite a bother. She only would order water with lemon. Made me look like a cheap pig, since I was the only one eating.
I think seeing how someone is while eating tells a considerable amount about how compatible you are.
Pizza toppings aren’t really an issue for me.
I really only have three pet peeves when it comes to food, and I’ve worked through all of them with my wife….
1) Not willing to try something. – For me food is an adventure, trying new things is part of the zest that makes life worth living.
2) Over cooking anything. – Flavor can be cooked out of anything if you cook it to long, and it can ruin the texture.
3) Always like what you like. – Don’t let anyone else sway your opinion on what you like. No matter what it is, if you like to dip you pickles in gravy you just go for it. If you like Miracle Whip (gross) and not real mayo (sweet sweet creamy nectar of the gods) then go just go and slather it on.
I could never be with someone who liked Blue Moon.
I can’t stand it when people don’t use napkins, use their pants as napkins, and/or lick their fingers.
I don’t mind if someone likes pineapple on pizza, wasabi/soy, or likes Subway, or well done steak…as long as they have a love of food and a willingness to learn and to try new things.
@Lance. Your #2 and #3 would make my list as well.
@Ross: Lemon with water while you are knocking it back, nice. Maybe the super hot thing doesn’t always apply.
@Jessica: toilet paper…really?!
@Erin: Trying new things is big. Or trying it again. I hated mushrooms when I was 13, love them now.
I’m just curious where this Blue Moon hatred is coming from. I’m not that big of a fan but it seems like everybody here got robbed of their 401K by the company.
Adults who are whiny-picky eaters, vegetable haters, cheese haters and seafood haters are my main pet peeves. I can’t believe how many women I’ve met in Indianapolis who detest any kind of seafood or cheese. I have a feeling if the seafood haters had grown up on a coast eating fresh fish all the time, they wouldn’t have had a problem. We are in a landlocked state and have limited access to reasonably priced fresh fish.
I lucked out. My wife is an adventurous eater right along with me. She does have a couple things she refuses to eat, but there’s always a good reason for it, such as green peppers creating a weird chemical taste in her mouth. That would put me off of a food as well.
Deal Breakers for me: any other this can be overlooked if he does dishes:
Reaches across the table to ‘sample’ my food without asking.
1) Eats only meat and potatoes and won’t try anything new.
2) Puts commercial ketchup on anything other than fries or hot dogs (ok, *maybe* on a burger).
3) Eats only 3 kinds of vegetables – ever – these being corn, pototoes, and lettuce, usually.
4) Thinks beer is the greatest alcohol invented so never tries any type of wine or cocktails.
5) Can’t cook for himself.
6) Consistently takes you out for cheap eats or ‘happy hour’ specials, and only frequents hole in the walls.
9) Finishes his plate quickly, then eyes my plate with the “are you going to eat all that?” look.
10) Comments on how much food I’ve been served as if it is something I planned and intimates I’m piggish because the restaurant has oversized portions.
11) Asks “where do you want to go” but then shoots down every suggestion – “no, they have valet parking and I think they’re too frou-frou”.
12) Is rude to the wait staff, or tips badly.
13) Complains about the food rather than send it back.
14) Gives me a hard time about my food preferences.
edit – I meant “any of this”- but, it’s late, and I’ve been dealing w/ flooding @ the homestead today….
Also – should add,
15) Thinks dinner out at a nice place entitles him to ‘dessert’.
That about does it.
@Indy Food Geek- I do that ordering thing as well so are not alone. My best friend adores chicken strips and fries and that pisses me off to no end.
I grew up with a father who taught me all these rules but I didn’t follow them until I grew older. I used to order steaks medium well with sauce, I now realize the reason I had the sauce was to compensate. It is now rare or nothing.
Also, I like the new Chilis lunch deals and OG but I agree that its not ‘real’ mexican or italian. I like Taco Bell too but I never call it mexican.
My other one is guys who take girls out to chains on first dates. Thats no way to do it. I always inquire if they would like something and if its a change I find a unique restaurant with similar style but better food.
I’m also annoyed by people who order something very childish or basic thats not on the menu. Such as mac n cheese at a high class italian restaurant.
Lastly, may just be the Chicago guy in me but people who poo poo great established independent pizza places in favor of Dominos. Yuck!
One of my pet peeves is “safe eaters” won’t try anything they haven’t had before or has even one ingredient they don’t recognize.
Agree about steaks. If you like your steak well done, order something else because you actually don’t like steak.
I don’t like beer (or any malt beverage, for that matter) but since I don’t plan to date or marry you, I’m not going to stress about it.
Maybe it’s just me, but food preferences are really low on my priority list in finding a mate. It’s hard enough to find someone with an education, a car, and all of their teeth. If they order their steak medium well, I’m not going to bitch at that.
Wow, we pretty much have the same list. But a guy being super hot doesn’t excuse him. I once dated a guy who would only take me to Subway. I kept him around for a few dates because he was hot but after the third Subway visit he had to go!
Oh, and as for ordering the most boring thing on the menu…I would add to that anyone who orders child food like chicken fingers.
LOL my husband would be a bad date then if going by this list.
He: always orders medium well, cuts the steak completely, slathers in steak sauce, and loves pineapple and ham pizza.
We both don’t drink any kind of beer and really don’t like wine unless it is sweet LOL…