Restaurants

Are you a fan of native Clevelander Michael Symon who was selected as an Iron Chef last season? If you answered "yes" there is good news to report. Symon, who runs Cleveland restaurants Lola and Lolita, will star in the show 'Dinner: Impossible' which will be aired this summer on Food Network.

'Dinner: Impossible' will be an hour long show and feature Symon in 10 hour long episodes. The press release that promoted the show says that the talented chef will have to "overcome culinary obstacles and deliver a delicious meal before his time runs out". Ratings in Cleveland are sure to be a hit on this one.

The next time you want to order food in, but can't bear to choke down another greasy pizza, there's a new option available - Quiznos!

Started recently, Quiznos now offers a home delivery service at participating locations. To get started, simply visit the Quiznos Delivery website and place your order online. Your local Quiznos store will then get your order ready, and deliver it to your home or business.

It's a refreshing alternative to the standard pizza and Chinese food delivery, and it's worth checking out. To see if there's a Quiznos near you that delivers, click here.

The Cleveland area finally has its own authentic British pub. Located in Rocky River, "The Pub", opened its doors earlier this month.

"The Pub" is actually best described as a "gastropub", which is a British term for a tavern that also serves food that you wouldn't normally expect find in a bar. Sticking with this concept, The Pub's menu has a unique blend of traditional pub fare and more complicated, classically English dishes.

The exterior of The Pub's building is modeled after the classic corner pubs of London. The inside of the pub features modern, yet traditional style furniture and accessories - all of which were shipped over directly from Britian.

The bar itself is the centerpiece of the interior, where guests can sample a wide range of English, Scottish, Irish draught, cask conditioned beers and domestics. Behind the bar, the "optic pourers", which are inverted pouring systems that originated in Europe, take center stage.

Ordering a pizza has long been limited to calling by phone, or in more recent years, placing an order online. Now, there's an innovative new option being pioneered by Papa John's that allows customers to order their pizzas with just a text message.

Papa John's rolled out the service this month at all of its 2,700 U.S. restaurants. It's a natural progression and extension of their online ordering, which began in 2001. Online orders now account for nearly 20% of all of Papa John's U.S. sales. So the question is, will text message ordering take off just as well?

To get started with the Papa John's text message service, you'll first need to register on their website. Yea, it's a pain, but once you're set up, you won't have to access the site. As a part of setting up your account on their site, you can add up to four favorite orders, your payment preference, and delivery address. Then, when you're ready to order, you'll be able to text FAV1, FAV2, FAV3, or FAV4 to have one of your saved orders put through. Once you've sent off your order, Papa John shoots back a reply which lets you know that your order has been received. At this point you either confirm or change the order.

Men's Health published a list of America's 20 worst foods based on not only fats, but also calories, sodium, and carbs. In other words, if you're looking to lose weight or even just stop your waistline from expanding, these are the foods you'll want to avoid:

#20 - Worst Fast-Food Chicken Meal
Chicken Selects Premium Breast Strips from McDonald's (5 pieces) with creamy ranch sauce. 830 calories, 55 grams (g) fat (4.5 g trans fat), 48 g carbohydrates.

#19 - Worst Drink
Jamba Juice Chocolate Moo'd Power Smoothie (30 fl oz)
900 calories 10 g fat, 183 g carbs (166 g sugar).

#18 - Worst Supermarket Meal
Pepperidge Farm Roasted Chicken Pot Pie (whole pie)
1,020 calories, 64 g fat, 86 g carbs.

#17 - Worst "Healthy" Burger
Ruby Tuesday Bella Turkey Burger
1,145 calories, 71 g fat, 56 g carbs.

#16 - Worst Mexican Entree
Chipotle Mexican Grill Chicken Burrito
1,179 calories, 47 g fat, 125 g carbs, 2,656 milligrams (mg) sodium.

#15 - Worst Kids' Meal
Macaroni Grill Double Macaroni 'n' Cheese
1,210 calories, 62 g fat, 3,450 mg sodium.

#14 - Worst Sandwich
Quiznos Classic Italian (large)
1,528 calories, 92 g fat, 4,604 mg sodium, 110 g carbs.

#13 - Worst Salad
On the Border Grande Taco Salad with Taco Beef
1,450 calories, 102 g fat, 78 g carbs, 2,410 mg sodium.

Serendipity 3 made headlines just a few days ago when they introduced the world's most expensive dessert - the Frrrozen Haute Chocolate - priced at $25,000. Now, they're making headlines again, and this time the news may make your stomach turn. Serendipity 3 has been shut down after failing its second health inspection in a month.

An inspector at the eatery shut the restaurant down Wednesday evening after spotting a live mouse, mouse droppings, fruit flies, house flies, and more than 100 live roaches.

"Both inspections revealed rodent and fly infestation and conditions conducive to pest infestation, including stagnant water in the basement," said the health department.

Manhattanites usually stand for hours outside the restaurant, which is well known for its over-the-top, pricey desserts. The Frrrozen Haute Chocolate drink features edible gold, shavings of a luxury truffle, and top grade cocoa, and was named the world's most expensive dessert by the Guinness Book of World Records. Serendipity 3 had also offered a sundae priced at $1,000 which is called "Golden Opulence."

Something tells me that even if Serendipity 3 cleans up its act and is permitted to re-open, they'll not be selling any of the $1,000 sundaes, and especially not the world's most expensive dessert.

Earlier this year, the folks at Zagat came up with a top ten list of the best national fast-food restaurants in the country. Recently, debate over their choices has resumed. Keep in mind, Zagat only considered nationwide chains in the survey, so chains like In-N-Out Burger which is only in California, Arizona, and Nevada, didn't make the cut.

Wendy's clearly took the top spot as the country's best fast-food chain, followed closely in second by Panera.

Personally, however, I have an issue with some of the restaurants that were included in the list. I wouldn't really consider Cracker Barrel or Outback Steakhouse to be fast food chains. They just aren't. You go in and you sit down. There's no drive-up window, and your meal doesn't arrive in any less than 5 minutes. If you're expected to leave a tip, it's not a fast-food joint.

The Today Show is currently running a competition in which they are on the hunt to find the best sandwich in America. While it's a bit too late to submit your sandwich creation for consideration, you can still cast your vote for the country's best sandwich.

They've narrowed the field down to just five finalists, which include: Pastrami on Rye (Katz Deli - NYC), Frenchy's Fantasy (Perry's Deli - Chicago), Sam's Lobster Roll (Sam's Chowder House - Half Moon Bay,Ca), Vesuvio's Cheesesteak BLT (Vesuvio's - Philly), and a Muffuletta (Central Grocery - New Orleans). Yum! Interestingly, no vegetarian sandwiches made it to the final five. Better luck next time guys!

Visit the Today Show site to vote on the best sandwich in the US of A! If you've never tried them, well, just vote on the one that makes you drool the most. The site contains information about the price of the sandwich, its ingredients, and a tasty picture.

According to the new Zagat guide, the average price of a nice dinner out in London will run you far more than one in any other large city around the world. The average three course meal and a glass of wine costs £39.09, or about USD$79.38. Comparatively, it's $71.82 in Paris, $71.28 in Tokyo, $39.19 in New York City, and $31.74 in Los Angeles.

Not surprisingly, Londoners eat out less than those in other more sensibly priced cities. Londoners eat out just 2.5 times per week, compared to 2.9 in Paris, 3.6 in New York, and every other day in Tokyo.

One of the reason's for London's particularly expensive restaurants is that they simply use better ingredients, many of which are now sustainbly-raised and organic, and consequently more expensive. More than half of those surveyed by Zagat (59%) would pay more for sustainably-raised food, and 54% said they would pay more for organic food.

"Today's diners have a better understanding of what their food choices mean - not only to their health, but their impact on the environment," said Tim Zagat.