Fine Dining - Tony Roma's: Playboy, Pivoting to Ribs, and "Winning Best Ribs in America"

Episode Date: April 29, 2026

🍖🔥 Tony Roma's: The Rib Pivot That Took Over the World (and Then Left America?) 🔥🍖 This week, Gabe Legg (@gabe_legg) joins me to unpack the history of Tony Roma's, a restaurant that stumbled into ribs, built an empire on them, and somehow ended up bigger overseas than in the US. From Playboy beginnings to NFL ownership to a string of financial shakeups, Tony Roma's might be one of the strangest success (if you can call it that?) stories in chain restaurant history. 🍖 A Random Rib Special That Completely Rewrote the Menu 🍸 Tony Roma & Hugh Hefner 🏈 A Dallas Cowboys Owner Added Tony Roma's to His Portfolio 📉 Bought, Sold, Flipped, Bankrupted...Repeat? 📺 "Show Us Your Rib Face" Is a Messy But Clever Campaign 🧅 The Onion Loaf: The Bloomin' Onion's Spiritual Cousin 🔥 The Heat Lamp Debuts: Gabe Fires Off His Controversial Restaurant Hot Take 🤢 Yelp from Strangers: Violent Illness Still Nets FOUR STARS?? 💬 COMMENT BELOW: How do you like your ribs? 📢 SUPPORT THE SHOW & JOIN THE COMMUNITY: 🎉 Patreon (Bonus episodes, extended Yelp segments & more): patreon.com/finediningpodcast 💬 Discord (Food talk, memes, board games): discord.gg/6a2YqrtWV4 🎥 Watch full episodes: youtube.com/channel/UCLbraNhL6KhDPkdSWt2yiuw 🔗 All links: linktree.com/finediningpodcast 🎤 Guest: Gabe Legg | IG: @gabe_legg Patreon Producers:Sue Ornelas, Joyce Van, & Robert McLaughlin Patreon Subscribers:David Ornelas, Kellie Baldwin, Jeremy Horwitz, Herbert Amaya, Simone Davalos, Scott Bennett, Amy Reinhart, Josef Castaneda-Liles, & Travis Langley Free Patreon Followers:Joe Warszalek, Lauren Cummings, Grace Krainak, Keri Estes, Robert Duran, Patrick Elliott, Michelle Elmer, Dave Plummer, Nicholas Volney, Michael Gerard, Tracy Molino, Phuong Duong, Tyler Robinson, Brandon Gully, Mason Cruz, Michael Milito, Mez, Aaron Hubbard, Steff, Jewell Hermann, Renae Michael, Crystal C. 👉 NEXT WEEK: We put Tony Roma's to the Chili's Test and see if the ribs hold up.

Did Tony Romas hit the jackpot by going all in on ribs? Founded by a guy who originally helped Hugh Hefner curate the dining options at the Playboy Club, Tony Romas has become an international chain by making their ribs saucy, sticky, and messy. Tell me you worked for Playboy without telling me you worked for Playboy, am I right? After winning the title of Best Ribs in America at a national rib-eating contest in Cleveland several times in the 80s, Tony Roma's expanded rapidly to over 120 U.S. locations before filing for bankruptcy in 2006 and withering down to only seven, despite having an incredibly sprawling international presence. I guess the U.S. of A wasn't ready for Tony Roma's other signature item, the onion loaf,

something that, while it wasn't, totally sounds like it could have been my nickname in college. This week on the show, I'll slather my sticky sauce of knowledge directly onto your half rack of curiosity so that you two may know everything I've learned about Tony Romas. Then we'll direct our attention to the people of Yelp to see what they're saying about the very Tony Romas we dined at. This is the fine dining podcast. So sorry, just wanted to clarify, we were having playboy ribs. We're having playboy ribs. Great, cool. Can't wait to hear more. Cannot wait to hear more. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Never would have guessed. You don't open a centerfold and see ribs very often. No, there was no part of me that imagined that Tony Romas was going to have a

Playboy backstory. No part of me was horny in this restaurant. There's not a single ounce of horny or sexy and Tony Robos. Hello and welcome to the fine dining podcast, the quest to compare all restaurants to Chili's. I'm your host, Michael Lauren Ellis, and this is the podcast where we dive deep into the history of your favorite restaurants and then thoroughly review them a week later by comparing them to Chili's. This week, we're doing the history of Tony Romas and joining me as a super talented actor of the stage and the screen, a writer, director, and he's warmer than putting on a pair of socks fresh from the dryer. It's Gabe Legg. I'm a warm, warm, warm little boy. How you doing? I'm good. How are you? You know, I'm feeling heavy. That was not a light meal that we

ate. No, but we're going to power through. No, if it was not for the music, I would have fallen asleep on the car at home. Yeah. Yeah. I did in a captive way force you to listen to a bunch of scoochee-boochie. And I loved it. He's great. It was good. It was funny. It was great. I was worried you were going to say, I did fall asleep at the wheel a little bit.

I would have been concerned. Also true. No. Do you have any history with Tony Romas? No, I've never heard of it. Much like you thought it was an Italian restaurant. We thought it was Italian. I didn't look into it.

I didn't know they were ribs. I knew the name was one that I had heard in passing. But you and I had the same history of this place. Yeah. None. No. And assuming Italian. Because Tony Romas is, Tony Roma might be the most Italian name I've ever heard.

my life. Also, his name is, his last name is a cut down version of his mom's last name, which is Romano. Okay, so this is an Italian man. Tony Romano. But it's already Romano's macaroni grill. So it's like you're in the restaurant game. Right. It's a stage name. Although I'm pretty sure he cut the name at birth. I think his parents did it. There we go. Yeah. Could be wrong about that. Anyways, that's our history with Tony Romo's. Beautiful. Do you want to hear the history of Tony Romo's? I am on the edge of my seat to hear. the history. I can literally see that's untrue. I'm on the edge of my history of Tony Romo's. I won't be the little guy that we talked about from Mad Max.

Thank you for edging. You're welcome. Hey, Michael, anytime. We're going to jump into this week's Eat Deats. Eatery Details. This Memorial Day, shop one of avocado's biggest mattress sales of the year and fall in love with sleep again. At avocado, better sleep starts with better materials. Our certified organic mattresses are crafted. without compromise, using high-quality organic materials that bring comfort and support into perfect balance.

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Tony Romas opened its first restaurant on January 20th, 1972 in North Miami as a local hangout that originally leaned on burgers and steaks until ribs became the thing that really caught on with their customer base. it's fascinating to me that this used to be a burger heavy place because you already know that I had a lot of interesting encounters with the burger part of their menu. Yes. Also, now pretty close to the back of the menu. Oh, yeah, far, far, far back there. They are distancing themselves. No, the fact that steak and burger is their calling card at one point in time is a marvel to me because they were an afterthought. It was so short-lived. It was just the beginning.

Yeah, yeah. There was never a point that we considered burgers or steaks. Not even a little. Not even a little bit. Yep. And sounds like neither did the people of Miami. Hey. Hey.

Dunk on him. Donk on him. The guy behind the restaurant, Tony Roma himself, was a Chicago-born Brooklyn-raised restaurateur whose obituary credits him with being hired by Hugh Hefner to help open the first Playboy club in Chicago in 1961 as the Food and Beverage Specialist and later overseeing multiple club openings as an operations executive. So this guy's food and beverage specialist of this playboy. Playboy club.

Yeah. Which was like a Playboy nightclub, I was going to say, maybe I'm crazy. What is a Playboy club? Playboy was branding everything. Yeah. In its heyday. Yeah. So, yeah, it was like a series of nightclubs and there would be one in, they were in a bunch of different cities.

I looked up and I kind of got bored of reading. There were so many cities to see fair. Fair. Where there were Playboy clubs. They're all gone now. And this is pre or post the creation of Tony Romas? This is pre-Toney Romans. Okay, okay, because it would have been crazy to go.

We need some food for the Playboy Place. I know who to call Ribs guy. Yeah, because when I'm thinking like scantily clad women, I'm thinking barbecue sauce on my fingers. Yeah, exactly. That is the idea. You want as many napkins as a table can fit. That's how you enforce a no-touching policy. 100%.

That is the method because naturally you're like, it's like the gold paint on a Noxuna moon in the mummy where it's like, oh, I know you've been sullied because she had like a gold paint smear on her shoulder. Yeah, yeah. It's just like if the, if the Playboy bunnies have ribs sauce on them, it's like, oh, no. It feels like satire. Like to picture a bunch of like grown men covered in like barbecue sauce on their hands at a strip club. Yeah.

It's quite possibly the most American thing I can picture. Sure. Wasn't a strip club. And no, ribs were not a part of the Playboy club. Well, then what I'm picturing is entirely made up. And it's more fun that way. It is more fun that way. The baby back ribs began as an early 1970s special.

that quickly eclips the rest of the menu. One weekend, chef David Smith grilled babyback ribs and served them with Tony Roma's barbecue sauce. The ribs proved to be popular and were added to the permanent menu and quickly became what Tony Roma's was known for. Tony Roma's menu further expanded to include seafood, pasta, chicken, and sandwiches.

So to the best of my understanding, Tony Roma's is kind of like if the McRib had a good ending. Yeah, that is the best of the scenario. took over all of McDonald's. If the mic rib was good. If the mic rib was good. Like, okay. Have you had a mic rib?

Once. And it was trash. And I kind of want to know. Have you, have you not had one? I've never had a mic rib. It's limited time because if it was around all the time, people would be like, oh, yeah, this is kind of bad.

Whereas like you can create hype by making it limited. Sure. Sure. Because it's funny. They're not making their fries seasonal. No. No. Not in a million years.

No. It's just a little shoestring fry, which we had some similar fries today. Yeah, but that's for later. No, McDonald's fries are good. Do you not think so? Is this hereditary? What's that sound? I think that they're fine.

Don't make that sound anymore. No. You know what? I'm going to, anytime you make that sound, instead, I'm going to bleep it. No, my sound. Yeah. Okay, so anyway, McRib is back. Tony Ramos is, I feel like I'm going to start saying his name wrong.

Well, David Smith, it was the chef. So Tony Roma didn't even invent. The ribs. He opened the restaurant and then his head chef came up with the ribs. Oh. And then used the brand's barbecue sauce, which was good. Was good. It's not like Tony Roma's creation wasn't carrying its weight, sure, sure. But the ribs themselves weren't even his thing.

And they arrived as a special. Yeah. It's important to point out. This guy had nothing to do with the ribs. Yeah. And yet his name's on the restaurant. Which is why I know that like our little Playboy Club scenario just is not happening. Because he's not even the rib guy.

Well, then let's. Let's get Dave in charge. What actually differentiates Tony Roma's ribs? The brand's own franchise-facing materials say the preparation. The signature sauces and the caramelization are central to what makes the ribs world famous, aiming for that sticky, glossy finish instead of a purely smoke-forward profile. In practice today, the chain also leans hard into the bib-on get-messy philosophy as part of the product and marketing experience, not just the recipe.

Okay. So they like take pride and it's a messy rib. Yeah. So you put a big old air quotes in preparation. I just think it's funny where like, it's a rip. Well, no, I find it funny when it's like, because what I'm specifically referring to is what the, like if you were to franchise a Tony Romas, the marketing material or like the pitch material they send you to be like, do you want to open up Tony Romas? What makes our ribs special? The preparation being a step is just like, well, this is a little strange. Yeah.

It's just like, get rib. What makes your ribs unique? Well, we make them. We make them in house. That is fascinating. Also, I think, and maybe this, you might disagree with me here, I thought our rib experience was among the less messy. I went to the bathroom twice to clean my face and fingers.

That's true. You did. Yeah. But nary a bib in sight. No, no bibs. No, no bibs. Lots of napkins. Which, honestly, for this bad boy, I would love to have gotten a bib to just dangle it on

the chotch. of mediocrity. That would be very, very nice. We should go back. Thank you for abiding by the no touching rule. I would never touch. Because there's barbecue sauce on your fingers and if you touch the chotchky, I'll know. Not anymore. I had a little warm tallow. And then I'll have to slay an Noxuna Moon and myself and then come back for an undead romance centuries later. Thank goodness. Because of Rick O'Connell. Is that the name of Brennan Frazier's character in that movie? I couldn't tell you. He's Brennan Frazier with a good hair. I think it's Rick O'Connell. I never remember character names. No. Sound off in the comments.

Did what's the main carriage of the mummy? Is it Rick O'Connell? Sound off in the comments. What was the name of Brennan Fraser's character in the whale? I don't know. I don't know either. I didn't see it. Oh, I did.

Was it good? Yeah. I liked rental family. In January, 1976, Clint Murchison Jr., then owner of the Dallas Cowboys, bought most U.S. franchise rights for Tony Romas and helped form Roma Corp, which Sounds like the bad guy in a bond movie. Converting a hot local restaurant into a franchise platform. International expansion followed quickly with the first overseas opening commonly cited as Tokyo in 1979.

If I heard that a American football team owner launched Roma Corp in Japan, I would think this is the beginning of a Godzilla movie. I actually think that's the origin. They say it's the nuclear bomb? No, no, it's the toxic waste that's found in American food products. Yeah, that is Godzilla's origin stories. He just how happened. He ate a happy meal and a bunch of that rib sauce. Yeah, and he went crazy at the Playboy clubhouse.

Yeah, Godzilla making it rain. Gossip's making it rain. Sloppy rib fingers. Even though it's not a strip club. No, it's not a strip club. He's being respectful. Yeah. He's being nice about it.

He's just tipping well. He's tipping really well. And he's celebratory. He's celebratory. Yeah, that's great. After the 1976 Merchison deal, ownership passed to Merchison's children in 1984, then in 1993, the chain was acquired by National Pizza Inc., later NPC International Incorporated. In 1998, Sentinel Capital Partners acquired a controlling interest in a leveraged recapitalization, explicitly positioning the chain for aggressive domestic and international growth. So this was passed around between like four different companies in this time.

Yeah, so Tony Roma has it. Dallas football, Murchison Jr. has it. Yep, Pizza Co has it. Don't know if he passes, but his children get it. The children besmirch the legacy and pass it on to like, eh, we're giving this to National Pizza Inc. Which is crazy. Crazy name.

The burger place turned rib place getting passed to Pizza Inc. Yeah. Yeah. And then sold to another place, Sentinel Capital Partners. also sounds like if it was in Tokyo. 100% bad news. Bad news. Guys in suits.

Yeah. And like elevators full of them and you're fighting them. John Wig style. Yeah. Yeah. 100%. Such a high body count. And then their whole goal is we're going to, we're taking this on the road.

We're going to make Tony Roma's the next big thing. It's going to be everywhere. So this is pre blow up. Well, this is, no, they've been blowing up at this point. But a company bought them with the. express intent of expansion versus sometimes you just expand because of demand. Sure. Sometimes you expand because of like you're really forcing it in.

Yeah. So this feels like the latter. Okay. Okay. The other signature icon at Tony Romas is their onion loaf. A 2002 SEC filing describes it as their signature deep fried onion ring loaf, cementing it as a corporate level calling card alongside ribs. Current day official description specified joseph.

giant Spanish onions, which are hand cut and breaded in-house and typically served with the original barbecue sauce. So we're getting really deep into the psyches of my imaginative mind right now. When you said that the onion loaf was a corporate calling card, I was picturing a bunch of businessmen at the table, full ripping onions off of it like we were. And that's fun. Oh, okay. When you said calling, I was picturing like business card.

The card is take this onion. Take this onion. Like you're just carrying around soggy onion and like a little holster in your wallet. I'll tell you this much. I would remember that man. If I was handed an onion loaf on the street, I would remember that guy. This is the greasediest handshake I've ever had. But I would not know his phone number because he gave me an onion loaf.

Yeah, it would not be effective for the purpose of it. No, there's ups and downs. But I remember it. But I would remember him as much as I would remember all of those businessmen eating the onion loaf at the table. John Wick's style. John Wick's style. Famously is seen in John Wick. Obviously, John Wicklow to eat an onion loaf at the table.

Yeah. Tony Roma's corporate disclosures emphasize how the famous for ribs and a place for ribs slogans became globally recognized brand assets formalizing the ribs first positioning. Then the brand repeatedly updated its playbook. It ran what was described as its biggest national TV campaign in 1994 featuring Les Paul and decades later won international marketing awards for its 2016, Show Us Your Ribs. face social campaign in which a $100 Tony Roma's gift card was given out each week on social media to a fan who posted a pick with their sauce on their face.

We had a lot to say about the show us your rib face campaign. There was a beautiful poster in the restaurant. Are we allowed to talk about this yet? We'll go and do it deeper and specifically next week, but we can drop a teaser. Let's just say, consider us tickled. Seeing nine winners of this on a poster outside the bathroom. And some of them were winners and some of them were not. They were all winners.

They were all winners. They were not all worthy winners. Yes, yes. I thought the placement of the campaign was a little strange directly outside the bathroom. Yeah. But it was fascinating. And that worked.

This was their big rib forward campaign. Yeah. It did make me want to go in the bathroom and clean myself. Yeah. Looking at the pictures felt grosser than eating the ribs. Yeah. Yeah. Well, well, maybe the same.

Maybe the same. In 2005, Romacorp, Inc. announced a Chapter 11 bankruptcy restructuring. More recently, the brand was acquired by equity investors of New England in 2021, and by 2022, the company had shrunk to seven U.S. locations while sitting at roughly 95 locations globally, prompting a pivot into fast, casual and ghost kitchen spin-off, Bones and Burgers. Okay, that's fascinating to me. I want to talk about all of that.

That's all crazy to me. Yeah. So Roma Inc. goes evil. Bankrupt. Godzilla starts stomping some buildings. Yeah. We're now down to seven locations in the U.S. two in Southern California.

And that's like that felt quick. That's like overnight seemingly. Yeah. And that was like right after their big campaign. That was 20 years ago. Well, sure, it was 20 years ago. But like in the grand scheme of this story. Sorry.

The bankruptcy was 2006, 2005. Oh. The show us your rib phase campaign was 2016. So I'm kind of jumping back and forth a little bit. I see. I see. I see. Okay.

Okay. Okay. 22. They're at seven locations. Okay. So Godzilla comes in. He stomping into buildings. Goodbye.

Roma Corps, we're down to seven buildings, which is crazy. Yeah. I like how we're calling them buildings. Yeah. Seven structures. As though when a Tony Roma's closes, we demolish it. No, yeah. We blow it up.

We blow it up. That or it's a bank. You can't leave evidence. It's a bank now. Yeah. That's crazy. Yeah. Also, I do think interesting, 95 locations globally.

Yeah. 95. With seven in the U.S. That means 88 locations outside of the U.S. Which is crazy. Is a lot. for a place like this. And if you look at the locations map on their website, I'm going to put it up on screen

right now. It's insane how much of the world they're in. Is it like pretty like equally spread or is it like congealing anyone? I didn't notice any super heavy concentrations, which makes it weird to me. Weird. Do you think it's kind of like the KFC effect where it's like. There's one in Guam. Weird.

Do you think it's like the KFC thing where it's like because it's like so American to like ribs, ribs, ribs. Maybe. That's the appeal of it or? Yeah, well, the KFC thing was specifically like a marketing strategy to grow into Asia. Sure. To expand into Japan specific Japan and China. KFC, I believe is big in both.

I think so. But in Japan, they've also made it like a Christmas tradition because they've been told that's what Americans do. Which is crazy. And it's just not. No. Yeah. I mean, I do. No, you don't.

No, I don't. And then they have a ghost kitchen spinoff called Bones and Burgers. Yes, that was what was crazy that I wanted to talk about. So ghost kitchens, correct me if I'm wrong on. This is like, this is like grubhubs, stuff like that, like restaurants that, like restaurants that are fronting as fake restaurants, basically for delivery. Like Mr. Beast Burger doesn't have a location. Right. It's like some warehouse or something somewhere or a different restaurant.

Yeah, like I went to Friendlies in New England and there was a sign that this is a Mr. Beast. And so I, yeah, so this was kind of a same thing where, but chains use them differently. Like Denny's has the burger den and the meltdown, which just are Denny's food rebranded under different restaurant names. Right. So it's kind of, there's two ways that ghost kitchens are used. There's one that never had a brick and mortar and they're just filtering through someone else's kitchen and stuff like that.

And then there's restaurants trying to like hide that, like they may have a less than flattering reputation. So they're like, we're going to kind of rebrand. It is our food. but Pesquale's pizza. You know, it's not Chucky cheese. Yep. But it is.

That's crazy. And so they're doing this with the rib place and burgers. And bones and burgers. Bones and burgers. So this is the only way that they're probably selling burgers. Yeah. Because no one's going in there to buy a burger, but maybe if it's online. You know, I'm, even though the menu looked crazy for the burgers for reasons we'll talk about next week, I don't know if I think they'd be bad.

I don't think they'd be bad. I just think why are you getting? Unless you're just like, maybe the ribs are too expensive. Sure. And I would give a kid. Or give a kid. Yeah. So. Yeah.

And that'll do it. For this week's eat deets. Gabe, I had you on this podcast because you're known as a publicly controversial figure, right? You can admit to that, right? Yeah. I'm so controversial. People hate my opinions. Oh, yeah.

Well, this is my new segment, the heat lamp. Baby set you under my heat lamp, my heat lamb. So hot right now. Sit under that burning bulb and tell the world, what is your restaurant or food hot take? I would rather have a funny waiter who messes everything up than a perfect waiter who sucks. Like personality wise. Sucks in a not engaging or sucks as in like. attitude towards you. Both, but I would prefer not engaging because I understand not engaging. I can

get that. That is so, I'm on that page with you because I so often I'm like, hey, just point at my shirt and be like, nice shirt. And I'm like, I like this way. You know, like just notice. I think part of it is being present. I agree. I think the bar for a fun waiter is so low. And also I worked in food service and I work in food service. So it's like, I get it. This is your own way of fluffing. You're like validating yourself. You're like, I'm funny. It doesn't matter that I like, don't bus. I think I think I understand. This is me saying I'm really bad at my job, but it's okay because I'm fun to work with. No, it's like, I think in a lot of social settings, it is like, it takes maybe a little bit of effort to be like a fun, Yeah. Cool person. But I think it also takes just as much effort to be annoying and frustrated and weird as a waiter to strangers.

I have had a realization recently where it's like I will never blame someone for kind of hating their customer service job. Oh, yeah. But I do think you can enjoy it so much more if you just are like, I'm just going to have fun. And I'm going to be fun for the like people I'm interacting with. because then, I mean, maybe it's the comedy person in me, but it's like, then I get to do bits on the job. I'm kind of being paid to now just like mess around and have fun. Yeah. If I'm stuck, I spilled your drink and it was the wrong drink anyways, you know.

If I'm stuck at my job that I don't like anyway, I might as well be trying to have a good time because then I probably will at least a little bit. Yeah. And so this has turned into us coping with being happy. Okay, that's enough. You no longer have to take all the heat because it's time to turn our attention to other people. And hear what they thought about the Tony Romas that we ate at

in this week's Yelp from Strangers. We need a little yelp, a little yelp from strangers. A one star, two star, three, star, four, or five, y. So get a little yelp, a little yelp from strangers. A little yelp, a little yelp. Give us those complaints while you literally whiten, Yelp. All right, this is Yelp from Strangers, our segment where we turn to Yelp and read out our favorite. One, two, two, three, four, and five star reviews.

Of the restaurant that we went to. Gabe, do you mind if I read the first one? I would love that. So this is our exact location. we went to. Perfect. Yeah. Four star review. This is a four star review from Jimena Q, a name that is worth so many points in Scrabble. I starts with an X.

And last initial Q. It starts with an X. XQ are her initials. I really like that. That's so many points. Yeah. That's a lot. That's a big winner.

That's a big winner. From Bakersfield, California on June 25th, 2026. That can't be true. I don't know. I don't know what year this is from, but it is from June 25th. I have to start by saying that I've always loved the ribs from here. Just moved to the area and finally made it to dinner here. With that being said, I ordered the ribs and crab plate.

It was delicious. It was a lot of food. I brought home half of the food. Anyway, I went to warm up my crab legs and I was horribly disgusted when I saw little black bugs stuck on the crab legs. I didn't notice at the restaurant because it was turned upside down. I'm so grossed out.

What are those? I paid $40 for this dinner with crab leg bugs on them. I wish I would have checked the other crab legs I ate first. Anyways, I have had diarrhea for two days since I ate there. I'm so sorry.

This is a four star. This is a four star. It's insane to go four stars on this. There's no, At any point, I expected it to be like, but that's where the trouble ceased. The rest was, no, it's getting worse and worse and worse. I hated the bugs. I brought it home.

It didn't heat well. I diarrheaed so bad. It's like, this is insane. Four star? Four star. I talk one star for this. So glad I made it for dinner. I want to know what a one star from this person would look like.

I honestly do. I really do. I'm starting to get really worried. Please answer. What are those little bugs on my crab legs? and then like eight question marks. Saying please answer in the middle of review. Like she's expecting someone mid in like review to stop her. She needs assistance.

I don't think this woman's doing okay. This is an emergency. But she's winning Scrabble. This is Edgar C. This was written on February 17th, 2020. Great. So right before everything got better. Everything got better.

One star. This place sucks ass. LMFAO. I get there and nobody is there to greet me. I literally sit down and wait for like four minutes until the host finally came. But were they funny? Yeah, that was the joke. I know.

I literally sit down. You made so much of today about Jizz. No. No? We made so much today about Jiz. No, you do not drag me down to that. It was from moment one. It was from moment one that we got there.

Yeah. Way to open. Okay. I literally sit down and wait for like, four minutes until the host finally came. She sat me down, didn't say hi or greet me, by the way. She sits me down. That hand motion does feel like what was then written.

It does a little bit. By the way, which is BTW. Yeah. She sits me down, and I expect the hot bread rolls to come in after, and nothing ever came. She comes in, provides one of the worst services I ever had. Serious, period. Didn't say his name, his name. Is this a new person?

The host was a she. Oh, I see. Waiter is a waiter. Yeah. Didn't say his name and could barely hear him. I used to be a server myself. Oh, no. Maybe he did say his name.

He might have said his name and they just didn't hear him. So I don't like that this person is starting to sound like the bad hot takes that I gave. Which is starting to make me, I'm starting to maybe disagree with my hot take a little bit in real time hearing this. All right. Okay. I used to be a server myself. So I know that there. I used to be a server myself.

So I know there are people. Wait. What? I'm going to read this exactly as written. I used to be a server myself, so I know their people are shit and assholier, but I treat everyone right and with respect until I figure out their dicks. But I do actually think that's the right way to go about it.

Yeah. Be nice to people until you know their dick. Yeah, I agree with this. Yeah. But their attitude. Anyways, long story short, was subpar food was nasty. That's word for word as written. Whole restaurant is garbage and overpriced.

wish I could give zero. And that zero is bolded. One helpful. If you're listening to this podcast, please leave me a review on Apple Podcasts. And if you're a real fan, say, I'd give this zero stars if I could. But give it five, please. Yeah. And if you're a super real fan, say sup our food are nasty.

They are dicks. Don't. Yeah, you can do that. Hey there. It's me, Michael. And now that we're in season four, I'm adding more content to my. my Patreon. Not only can you hear the extended Yelp from Stranger segment with three more reviews, and not only can you get an exclusive full episode covering an extra chain restaurant on the last day of

each month, but I've added an extra chat with my guests where we discuss their go-to fast food and chain restaurants and talk about why they love them so much. I hope you'll come check it out, and you can get your first week completely free of charge. That's patreon.com slash fine dining podcast. I appreciate and love you all. Back to the episode. episode. And that's part one. Tune in next week as we tell you what we thought about our meal at Tony Roma's. Gabe, thanks so much for joining me.

Thank you for having me, Michael. And I'll see you a week from today. You will. Tell people where they can find and follow you on socials. Oh, you can follow me at Gabe underscore lag on whatever social medias I'm on, mostly Instagram. And I do sketch and improv and write a lot. Great.

And you can follow the show on Instagram. and TikTok at Fine Dining Podcast. You can go to the Patreon if you want to support. I do an exclusive episode every single month on a new place that I've not covered yet. This month, I believe I'm going to Rio Italian Grill. That will be Italian. That will finally be Italian. We can do that because I'm a quarter.

And I'm also white. And I have a Discord if you want to come chat with me. It's a lot of fun. And we'll be here one week waiting on our table. I will see you all next week. Thanks so much for watching. Have a fine day. On our table, waiting on our table.

This step is done and we had some fun. And us next time we're stuck in line. Waiting on our table. We're so hard. Waiting you are serves for mediocrity.