Menu and Food Trivia

	The first American restaurant to use printed menus was Delmonico's Steak House in New York City in 1837. They also created many dishes including Lobster Newburg, Oysters Rockefeller, Eggs Benedict, and, of course, Delmonico's Steak. In 1838 their menu had grown to 100 pages.
	Americans spend $1 billion dining out every day.
	The first copy of SoftCafe's menu software (originally called MenuMaker and then MenusDeluxe) was sold to Pasta Plus in Laurel, Maryland over 13 years ago, and is still in use today.
	Approximately 150 people are killed each year by coconuts, more than are killed by sharks.
	NASA included the hot dog as a regular menu item on its Apollo moon flights.
	The Union Oyster House in Boston, established in 1826, is the oldest restaurant in continuous service in the United States.
	Table salt is the only food commodity that hasn't dramatically increased in price in the last 150 years.
	The first credit card was issued in 1951 when Diners Club issued cards to 200 people who could use them in 27 restaurants in New York City.
	7-Eleven was the first retailer to offer fresh-brewed coffee in to-go cups, introducing it in their Northeast stores in 1964.
	Carrots were prized by early Greek and Roman gardeners as aphrodisiacs.
	The Varsity in Atlanta, Georgia, established in 1928, is the world's largest drive-in fast-food restaurant.
	The deep-dish pizza was invented in Chicago by pizza entrepreneur Ike Sewell.
	There are about 3,500 ethnic restaurants in New York City.
	Many restaurant menus feature "monkfish", but actually there is no such fish. It's a marketing name for fishes belonging to the goosefish family. The edible meat comes only from the tail part of the fish.
	Americans eat about 150 sandwiches a year--or 45 billion in 2002.
	Pizza Hut is the largest pizza purveyor in the world, with more than 12,500 restaurants in the United States and in more than 90 countries.
	Snake is a delicacy in China.
	The first-ever all-glass undersea restaurant opened its doors recently at the Hilton Maldives Resort & Spa. Named Ithaa, it sits 16 feet below the Indian Ocean
	In 1982, a Chicago restaurant commissioned a sculptor to create a statue of Brooke Shields...made of chopped liver.
	An estimated 13 percent of the food taken home in doggie bags from restaurants is actually fed to dogs.
	About 25 percent of American commuters eat breakfast in their cars.
	In 1903, a German importer tried to save a shipment of coffee beans that had been soaked in saltwater. The result was de-caffeinated coffee, which he marketed as Sanka.
	Italy produces more wine than any other country in the world.
	The world's largest restaurant is Bangkok, Thailand's Royal Dragon, serving 5,000.
	The average American spends $20,000 on fast food in a lifetime.
	Newport, Rhode Island's White Horse Tavern, built in 1673, is the oldest tavern building in continuous use in the United States.
	About 2 percent of all Americans are employed as a waiter or waitress.
	The vintage date on a bottle of wine denotes the year the grapes were picked, not the year of bottling.
	About 10 percent of the world's total fish catch is cod.
	Cherrystone clams were named after a creek in Virginia.
	The average check at a diner in 1920: 28 cents
	Chinese scholars praised garlic as both a medicine and a food as long as 3,000 years ago.
	The National Oyster Shucking Championship (since 1967) is held each October at the St. Mary's County Oyster Festival in Maryland, and pits the best female shucker against the top male shucker for the national title.
	Before dandelions became weeds, they were cultivated purposely and people ate the leaves as a vegetable and ground the roots for a coffee-like drink.
	William Alcott opened the first store specializing in health foods in Boston in 1830.
	The first pizzeria in the United States opened in New York City in 1905.
	Vegetables should be gathered from a garden in the morning or evening. If gathered when the sun is upon them, they will be tough and discolored.
	About 40 percent of the world's cranberries are grown in just one state--Massachusetts.
	There are more than 1,000 chemicals in a cup of coffee.
	Sliced bread and fortune cookies were both invented in the U.S.
	The waters of North America are home to more species of edible crabs than any other continent.
	There are more than 20,000 brands of beer.
	The oldest vegetable known to man: peas.