The Fattening Name

Someone asked me if I could pick a restaurant that had healthy and good food based on the name of the establishment.  I thought about it for a moment and I said no, but I certainly could pick an unhealthy restaurant based on one word being in their name that had nothing to do with food.  My claim was met with a skeptical look until I listed a few of the restaurants that all had this same word, Waffle House, International House of Pancakes (IHOP), The Dog House to name just a few.

Now I’m not saying that every place with the word house is going to be bad, but chances are a chain named “something house” is going to equal high calorie meals.  The International House of Pancakes knew that they were doomed with that name so they shortened it to their IHOP acronym.  It does not fool anyone over 45 who knows that the “P” stands for pancakes and then there is the dreaded “House.” One exception to the rule is Fearington House in Fearington village, NC.  It is too good to be a chain restaurant so the House rule does not apply.

Even in London there is a chain called the Bratwurst Beer House.  I can guarantee you can’t find a single meal in the place under 1,200 calories and that is before you have the beer.  When we lived in London in the ‘90’s there was another German restaurant my Dad loved called the Tyroler Hut.  “Hut” is certainly close enough to “House” and the wiener schnitzel hung off the sides of the platter like plates in this underground eatery with the oompha band playing the chicken dance mid meal.  Even the mandatory dancing did not work off a tenth of the calories in those heavy meals.

So next time you are visiting a strange city and looking for a good place to eat it is my general rule of thumb to skip any place with ”House” in the name, or “Hut.” For that matter add the word “Pit” to my list of non-starters recalling my favorite line from the movie Father of the Bride when the little brother says to the suggestion of having the wedding reception at the Steak Pit, “I don’t think you want the word “Pit” on the invitation.”