Why Does Every Restaurant Have a Secret Menu??

[@realkingofantarctica]

I love secret menus, because it leads to such situations where they only expect very "particular" guests to know of its existence, so they take you to a hidden room deeper in the restaurant where you're served human meat.

[@zahisunohr]

Damn you had me in the first half not gonna lie :D Hannibal would definitely approve

[@kris_user7744]

You made me have an idea for the story I'm writing. Thank you.

[@masterofhippos1395]

man i love The Gourmand's "Beyond Beef"

[@linkholder]

@@zahisunohr mmmm delicious cheeks.

[@cactusclik]

Tokyo Ghoul lol

[@clovermite]

1:45 McDonalds did have a secret menu item when I worked for them 20 years ago. It wasn't advertised at all, but you could ask for a "pie a la mode" and they would give you an apple pie with a sunday on top. I vaguely remember asking why it wasn't up on the menus in front and I believe the answer was "it's kind of a pain to make and it doesn't sell that often anyway"

[@readein]

Most secret menu items are just 2 or more things already offered mixed together. They're not advertised because 9 times out of 10 the public invents it and then the workers end up learning what they are by being asked about it enough times. Always hated calling them secret items because in reality you're just asking someone to make something in a particular way.

[@joshuawoodring1697]

My personal favorites have to be the mcdank at McDonald's and the meat mountain at arbys

[@liamcollinson5695]

I actually just get a small sundae and a apple pie and mix them myself it's actually really nice

[@cheezystix5940]

That was the excuse for a fast food place I worked at before as well. We served banana splits but it was never listed on our menu since it took too long to make. I only learned we even had it after learning about it from a coworker

[@chikasnotmadjustdisappoint6266]

I think for the Chinese restaurants and their secret menus it's because most Chinese feel like westerners won't enjoy/handle the more traditional Chinese dishes. That's why most Chinese restaurants' basic menus have the more western friendly dishes like sesame chicken or chicken and broccoli. The special menus would usually have the more traditional dishes reserve usually for fellow Chinese who are used to them and eat them regularly. Usually, a good way to tell if customers are Chinese is if they speak Mandarin or Cantonese themselves, hence the sort of unspoken rule of getting the special menu. Although, I have noticed recently in the past few years that more and more westerners have been requesting and ordering dishes from the special menus. When I was a kid, those special menus would only be in Chinese, but now, they're in both Chinese and English, which probably is a result of this phenomenon.

[@Paperfiasco]

This was the explanation my own friend (Chinese, but raised here) gave me when I helped him for a few days covering some tables back in college. On average, very few people buy or want to try the really genuine stuff especially out in the suburbs - the demographics just prefer the Americanized stuff. This is of course, much different in big cities with more adventurous people or in any Chinatown that's still really active.

[@JKLCYfriends]

I once took some white friends to China town to try out some food. I recommended some stuff but a few people still stuck with Broccoli beef and some kind of Stir Fry Steak? I understood in that moment, yeah imma just take white people to Panda Express. There is nothing wrong with liking broccoli beef, or orange chicken, or angus steak etc. Hell I like some of it even. But there is also no point in going to a sit down restaurant to eat that, you’re basically just overpaying for Panda Express, I may as well save them the money and the trip. Especially as someone like me who grew up on Chengdu/Sichuan/Chongqing cuisine, there is just a lower likely hood that western tastes will be well adjusted to numbing spicy style food. I found that often times my Asian friends of other ethnicities (Korean, Filipino, Pakistan, etc.) are often more receptive to the tastes of Traditional Chinese food and not only the “Westernized” dishes.

[@melloyellobello4268]

@@JKLCYfriends hot take: as a half-Filipino half-Chinese person, Filipino food isn't spicy 😂 but definitely most Chinese like, authentic Chinese food is

[@JKLCYfriends]

@@melloyellobello4268 Its a big place so it definitely depends on region for China. For example I really don’t like Hong Kong/Guangdong foods as to me they taste very flavorless compared to Sichuan. But there are a good amount of Non Spicy Chinese cuisines from North Eastern China that are quite good as well. I will admit I’m not very familiar with Filipino cuisine but I did find all my Filipino friends very open to trying out different things and generally liked foods that packed more “flavor”

[@melloyellobello4268]

@@JKLCYfriends Filipino foods are like, niche, for example Balut...ngl I can't stomach it but yeah me too HK/Guangdong kinda eh

[@Frost_on_YouTube]

It's super interesting. The most likely explanation, and one given by people like Anthony Bourdian, is that there is 'Western' Chinese food that earlier migrant populations created to suit the Western palate versus authentic Chinese cuisine (which varies heaps anyway) that they might have eaten in their home country. Because of the period of migration, during undeniably less culturally open and more xenophobic times (think California gold rushes in US) it isn't difficult to see why. Japanese restaurants in the West used to largely do the same - things like chicken teriyaki, tempura, etc. However, post WWII, with increased economic and cultural exchange with Japan in the US, things like sushi became more and more accepted (though to this day you're still not going to find natto as a staple menu item for example) whereas there wasn't a similar movement of Chinese migrants until more recently - which has interestingly created almost two parallel Chinese food cultures in the US. As to why Chinese restaurants might have 'secret menus' more than Japanese restaurants, I'd put it up to the difference in cuisine. Most major Chinese cuisines are preparation heavy, but easy on cooking time. This means given an availability of prepped ingredients, it's not too hard to piece together different dishes. Japanese cuisine has thrived on less a wide selection of home style cooking, but more individualised foods - ie. a sushi restaurant, a ramen restaurant, etc. These may be amenable to smaller menu changes (ie. sushi dependent on what the catch was at the market, ramen modified to order with a more dilute broth) but I can't expect a ramen shop with only shoyu and miso broths to suddenly make me tonkotsu ramen.

[@seisage]

Absolutely love the camera cutting to Joey at 2:02 just to catch his Big Sniff lmao

[@estebanmorales5083]

It’s called money laundering Joey, it’s not rocket science lol

[@RabidDogma]

How have people not figured this out yet?? 🤣The vast majority of restaurants are laundering money in one way or another.

[@chidosenganp23]

Finally the “guys, we should buy a bar” moment

[@ihavekalashnikovyoudomath9275]

Independent bars are popular in Japan after all

[@phantompop3192]

Now we gotta wait for the unveil.

[@beththedarkmage3359]

Japan has the best themed bars and restaurants pretty much anywhere...we have The Alchemist here in the UK but that's as far as it goes, real sad.

[@NekoBoyOfficial]

They have enough fans it could be a popular spot.

[@janah6473]

Was this podcast before or after their "we should make a band" moment?

[@lyconxero457]

As far as fast food chains go, the only one I ever discovered secret menu items for was Taco Bell and it was kinda sorta by accident from a friendly employee. Basically I wanted a certain item but it was no longer on the menu and they basically told me that they have another item by a different name that's essentially the same thing that's not actually listed on the menu but they do serve it so I ordered the shit out of it for a good while until they did eventually remove it from their system and replace it with something else more official for twice the price.

[@Mitaka-Asa]

As a Chinese growing up in American, my mom asked what the chef special of the day is in Cantonese. Then I just remember the dish name and ask if he could make it again on my next order. That's how there is some secret menu's that's not written. Sometimes it's marinated cuttlefish, whole rock fish, yu choy vegetable dish, frogs, etc. When I bring my roommates over, they were freaking out over the secret menu options that they never ordered. But they avoided most of it because they were scared of the heads on the fish and shrimp. Only thing they liked were the durian pastries because I didn't tell them it was durian, lol.

[@kenhiyoko941]

Chinese immigrants localized their cuisine for a reason. Opening a restaurant is a business and menu gonna meeting the targeting customer's flavor.

[@onewayraildex4827]

From my experience Western restaurants tend to serve shellfish like lobster crabs, scallops more than actual fish, and when they do it’s usually just the filet. They also waste chicken blood and duck chins, and just throw it away like its not delicious. The surprising thing is being scared of the head of shrimp and fish? I am guessing your friends don’t cook much since the fish head is the best part, especially the tender juicy meat around the eyes. I have been to Chinese supermarkets where they sell the head separately from the tail and the body. The only time I have seen shrimp without the head or shells is when it is precooked and frozen. If they are used to frozen, then why go to a restaurant when you can achieve the same premade frozen food at home? On a side note whenever I usually to go to restaurants with soup noodles with my American friends, I tell them to order a stir fried entree or rice entree and offer to share some of my noodles with them since I always give them shit for ordering a sugary drink when they literally have soup included with the noodles, especially if the soup is not spicy

[@kenhiyoko941]

@@onewayraildex4827 Yeah, Im not gonna waste food because it's visually unpleasant. Im taking the life of an animal for my dinner and I want to make the best use of each part of it.

[@beththedarkmage3359]

​@@onewayraildex4827 This is why I'm a vegetarian lmao. If you eat meat, you can't waste parts of the animal, you need to be respectful to its life and the planet and use it all- and I never liked most of it, neither did I enjoy the idea of eating dead animals. That is to say, to each their own, but I find people who eat meat yet waste so much like you said to be somewhat disrespectful and hypocritical. We have a climate crisis so the least they can do is throw less food away.

[@NoName-kp4ln]

joey: “i won’t say where “ conner a few second later: “where was this?” joey: tells him instantly

[@Ksintai1]

At least where I've worked, there was no literal "Secret Menu". We did however, have various food items we had the ingredients to create that weren't on the menu. For example, the pizza joint I worked at didn't sell Calzones, but we could obviously make them, it's the same ingredients as a pizza, just made different. We would make them for ourselves when we wanted, but it wasn't something we sold. There were a few times I sold customers off menu items, but only to long time regulars, and always with us telling them in advance "Hey this isn't an actual menu item, if it isn't made how you expect or want that's not our problem"

[@Jack-fw4mw]

To answer the question about private clubs, it is because they are subject to different laws. One commonly given example in the US is that a private club is a way to avoid dry county laws (check your local lawyer first). There are loads of more tax implications.

[@28kingofkings]

I think Anthony Bourdain touched on this, i forgot whether its in no reservations or parts unknown. but it has something to do with what Chinese restaurants believe westerners will enjoy, and what they believe is authentic Chinese cuisine

[@lachlank.8270]

Well sushi is the same thing right? California rolls anyway

[@Yumi_G]

I knew story about one Thai girl who order tom yum kung in uk restaurant and then get like some plain unspicy soup with shrimp. So she ask the staff why is it this way and then they just say “Oh you’re Thai, why won’t you tell us” and then remake it for her like how it’s should be. The staff then said that the dish she received before is the farang version of the dish, so they can handle the spice.

[@Gabriel-l]

yeah I feel that's mostly the case for ethnic food when it is in a Western country.

[@andrewpappas9311]

There's a burger place here in Toronto called Burger's Priest and they had a really cool secret menu, one burger they had which I really enjoyed getting (and still do) was the Vatican which was basically a cheeseburger in between two grilled cheese sandwiches. Fucking bomb

[@MySingerlover]

That's a secret menu? My ubereats showcases it right up front as part of the "picked for you" section (top of the page). Never tried it though, but from your description, I might try it in the future.

[@andrewpappas9311]

@@MySingerlover Okay, maybe now it's not much of a secret menu but I know that burger used to be on a secret menu but now it's on the actual menu because of how popular it is

[@MySingerlover]

@@andrewpappas9311 ah I see, that could very well be the case. Thanks for the recommendation!

[@kaly5678]

Sounds like a heart attack.

[@YataTheFifteenth]

That sounds fuckin sick. I mean that might straight up kill me, but fuck it worth.

[@TheKnizzine]

Because managers only want expedancy, most employees dont mind special orders it makes a boring shift slightly more intresting. Managment just wants people to get in and get out, just ask when you dont see a manager around.

[@gamerex9378]

Burger King near me doesn't have it listed anywhere but they still sell the rodeo burger from the Small Soldiers promo they did in the late 90s. Cheeseburger with 2 or 3 onion rings on it with bbq sauce. Literally 99 cents.

[@pokyboss4281]

The McDonald's "secret" menu isn't of course really secret. The fact that they do customizations is the thing they don't talk about much. But when times aren't busy, yeah, they'll make whatever out of the ingredients they have. As for Chinese restaurants, I've found that the typical Chinese only menu is the "home style" menu, which usually feature flavors and/or ingredients that typical Westerners don't like.

[@synthiandrakon]

so like with fast food places secret menus just flat out do not exist. any fast food item that is called a "secret item" is probably just something staff members at those fast food places have concocted on their break. whenever someone finds something good they'll tell their freinds about it and word of mouth spreads. Secret menu items are almost never actually programmed into tills, staff members are never specially told to make or offer them, they're just custom items that people have found to be good.

[@mookiestewart3776]

In n out would like a word with you lol

[@TheKnizzine]

Hell BLTs and grilled cheese were a "secret" item at the last place I worked at. A lot of it comes down to what the have programmed into the cash registers and cashiers not knowing how to ring something up.

[@Brabbs]

If you go to a Mcdonalds in a mexican area, you can find the rare guava pie! Its good too.

[@spreest9537]

That sounds so good!

[@ItsJustValHere]

I'm not sure, but that could not be a "secret item" since McDonald's changes some menus depending of the country. In my country, they sell empanadas de queso (and I remember them selling ice cream with chirimoya alegre sauce) and in Italy they had spaghetti.

[@TKnightcrawler]

Other secret menu items: In-n-Out: Protein Burger replaces the buns with lettuce, in case you want to limit your carbs. I probably wouldn't recommend waiting very long to eat that. Jack in the Box: Chocolate Oreo Shake. Uh actually, it might not actually be called that. But a normal Oreo Shake is in a vanilla shake. But you can swap that out for Oreo cookies in a chocolate shake, which is much better.

[@seriouscoffeecup6450]

In-n-Out has way better secret menu items. Animal style burgers and fries is your regular burgers and fries but with grilled onions and decadent amounts of cheese. You can also go beyond the Double Double for a Triple Triple (3x3) or Quad Quad (4x4)

[@Wan2002]

The mcgangbang with a sprunch at McDonald’s bro. And when I realized I could add Big Mac sauce on a normal cheeseburger it was a game changer.

[@mookiestewart3776]

I get the Big Mac sauce and a slice of cheese on my mcchickens lol fucking 🔥🔥

[@eugenides04]

I remember the day I was introduced to the possibility of adding Mac Sauce to McDoubles... It was four years ago and I still can't imagine ordering anything else.

[@KirasNote22]

"Secret menu" is usually just stuff that was removed from the menu, or commonly known, but they have the ingredients and ability to make it. A password is only needed for a speakeasy.

[@hanataba1291]

In mexico usually they serve quesadillas but in some restaurant they are not in the menu, you can ask for fried quesadillas, they are good af. In some restaurants they have them in menu but they usually dont in most restaurants.

[@spiderdude2099]

The secret items and menus exist for the following reasons 1. The secret item can be a pain to make 2. The secret item may use up inventory that doesn’t sell well normally or repurposes an ingredient to be used a different way 3. It promotes brand loyalty since only people “in the know” can order it 4. It is excellent word of mouth marketing to have secret items that feel exclusive or special to get

[@Frosten235]

The magical secret code for the chinese secret menu is 只有这些吗？(lit: only have this?) or 只卖这些吗？(lit: only sell this?) just google translate the reading, this work almost all the time if they DO have a secret(extra) menu for the less eaten food (hope you will be able to read the menu, they don't bother translating it)

[@mrknowhere472]

the bois should get a secret speakeasy in their trash taste basement

[@Deaglan753]

Thats where Mr Affable will be

[@lazy2335]

I went and learnt how to speak some phrases in Chinese to try this out, I walk into the restaurant thinking I'm hot sh*t, I start saying the things and the guys white has absolutely no clue what I'm saying and I almost get kicked out. Sad times

[@SomeAsian]

A buddy of mine loathes the Starbucks "secret menu". Don't blame him.

[@phantompop3192]

What is it? I don’t get Starbucks at all

[@dead_pool7518]

In Australia the KFC has a secret menu via their app, triple stacker being one of them just 3 zinger fillet with 3 slices of cheese on a but, there’ve also been a burger where the buns were chicken fillet

[@Gashacon]

the fucking double down

[@Gabriel-l]

@@Gashacon yo do they still have the double down as a secret item?? I thought they discontinued that!

[@Gashacon]

@@Gabriel-l I believe they stopped when they also stopped serving bacon at the resturaunts

[@TheCreepypro]

I had no idea I must experiment with this new information

[@twidget]

I get off menu items at mom and pop mexican restauranst by just asking politely and paying what ever price they decide to put on it.

[@despicablepenguin]

I'm only saying this based on the title but I can tell you it's not the fact that we have a secret menu. It's the fact everyone wants to order to their liking and never actually order from the menu. I know because I'm a waitress and the amount of headaches I get from people essentially changing up the entire dish makes me think we should have a make your own phớ because that's what they do anyway

[@creed8712]

“Secret menus? I’m ordering a burger not investigating the Freemasons” - Spider-man, on secret menus

[@cheezystix5940]

I used to work at this place called Culvers which is a fast food place in the midwest. Idk if this was a thing they did at all of them but at the one I worked at we actually served banana splits but they weren’t listed anywhere on the menu at all. My coworker told me that was cause too many people ordered it when it was on the menu and it took too long to make/required too many ingredients so they had to take it off so not as many people would order it at once. Which I thought was interesting since we actually had a specially designed custard cup specifically made for it that we don’t use for anything else. When I learned that I felt like I had just learned the secrets of the universe it was so cool

[@eveakane6563]

You call this the Pokémon effect. Gotta taste them all!

[@Lord_Ocram]

yall eat Ocra over there? very nice, glad to see more folks enjoying it

[@BlueLoveYT]

I might as well ask every restaurant I go too if they have a secret menu

[@DuskDaimon]

This happened when I was in Peru lol, at a restaurant with some friends from both Peru and the US. The Peruvian friend ordered special, traditional dishes for everyone that were not on the menu. When I went back to the restaurant I asked for one of the dishes we had the day before, and they acted like they had no idea what I was talking about... 😂

[@thebabykangaroo]

As a Chinese person who lives in Asia, the idea of a secret menu in Chinese restaurants in the West really intrigues me. I would love to one day whip out my Chinese and experience the magic of the secret menu.

[@Vinclum]

wow, wasnt even hard to find, I believe I found the bar joey was talking about and the entrance really looks just like a beton wall. Faramarz Lounge & Gallery

[@lordeisschrank]

guess its time me and the boys visit a happening bar

[@DenshaOtoko2]

I heard that the secret menu at Chinese restaurants is just describing how to make the dish in Cantonese or Mandarin.

[@lolosolodolo1]

Except McDonald’s does have a secret menu?

[@shadowstrike2594]

Question for Thai viewers as a Bengali, do you guys eat hutki too? It's dried fish or something like that (never actually tried it), if you guys do eat it, what's it called in Thai?

[@ElvenStrider]

man now they need to try arby's meat mountain.

[@sephiroth6946]

That's not joey that's John

[@JustusMaxus]

I'm so not use to seeing Conner without his beard in this highlight.

[@donovanlocust1106]

Does anybody know what the shake in the thumbnail is

[@weeb-ubreafs1382]

One day the secret trash taste menu item will just be a whole sub femboy on a plate

[@JwinBaby]

What’s up Broski 🦋.

[@SolidMartian]

Bruh, okra is the shit here in the southern US

[@elzearcontelly2651]

For me it's the opposite. I couldn't care less what the texture is, I'm already almost vomiting by just the smell.

[@michiunown]

lol i remember seeing this it was so funny and amusing seeing a secret menu you can tell its feel in plain sight

[@lolosh99]

Yo that thumbnail low key looks tasty as fuuck 😫. And I’m not just talking about Garnt.

[@ChannelNotFound]

Why does everyone look 10 years younger?

[@theoneandonlygod]

Bob

[@johnmarx9042]

Bro just speak chinese. Easy GG 😂

[@coreyhaynes7951]

Wooo, Im this early?! Hey guys, even as not a big fan of anime I love the show!

[@PerfectSense77]

They barely talk about anime 😄

[@BH94112]

Do you guys want to go to Macau my uncle has a restaurant there

[@ThatOneMalaysianGuy]

Joey looks curse af

[@TungNguyen-ry8uq]

That bar building special sound like a Mr.Beast video lol

[@ItsShaz1]

Interesting

[@josephoyek6574]

I'll have the forbidden loli...