Flash Wrote:
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> Yes, I have done them in the past. A little
> imagination is required. Ploys I have used: Picky
> eater grandson coming to visit for a family
> gathering. I wanted to get a copy of the menu to
> fax to my DIL to see if there was anything there
> that 'Patrick' would eat. When they had no copies
> but offered a take out menu, I asked if I could
> just photograph the menu and whipped out my
> camera. Another was the 'boss' was planning a
> holiday party, could they accommodate 17 people?
> Could I borrow a menu to show my boss and return
> it tomorrow? When they told me "no" I asked if I
> could photograph it and whipped out my camera.
> Obviously a camera phone would make this a whole
> lot simpler than pulling out the digital camera.
> A little pause before digging in my purse for the
> camera and the 'Eureka, this might work' attitude
> when I 'just happened to have it with me' doesn't
> hurt. One place was even hungry enough for a
> large group that they allowed me to remove the
> menus from the location and return them the
> following day. One location nobody greeted me at
> the host stand so I just gathered up the menus and
> was looking at them. Still nobody, so I stepped
> outside with them and got great photos in daylight
> out front. I brought them back in and laid them
> on the host station before departing and nobody
> ever said a thing.
>
> I found the best time to appear was mid afternoon
> when the lunch crowd was gone and the early dinner
> or after work drinking crowd had not yet arrived.
> I found it was better to talk to a manager than to
> the hostess because the hostess would never be
> authorized to let you 'borrow' a menu and you
> wouldn't be likely to be talking with the hostess
> about a large group gathering anyway.
>
> Only once was I stymied. The manager insisted
> that the exact same thing was on the take out
> menu, at the same prices, as was on the regular
> menus. That I reported to Mintel as I submitted
> the take out menu. I reported what the manager
> had told me and Mintel accepted the work.
Hahaha, I've had many bosses throwing many dinner parties. That always seems to work the best for me.