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With all the dozens and dozens of Word Wrap posts, I’m flabbergasted that we’ve never covered menu typos—something that seems like such an obvious topic for a site like this. Of course, the best menu typos can be found in Greece, where lamb is misspelled all over the country as lamp. If you’ve ever been, then you know it’s like striking gold: you get the best food in the world, and have the most fun ordering it.
Closer to home, there’s a Mexican joint near me that also has amazing food, and ordering it can be just as fun as in Greece. Check out the flyer I picked up last week during lunch:
1) Offer expire with out notice. (hilarious that there’s punctuation, given the sentence construction)
2) Chese Burger whit Fries (hey, at least the preposition is lower case)
3) Chicken or Steake Bolw
4) Include Small Coke (Okay! Thanks for the tip!)
5) “We Deliver” (So they don’t really deliver? They kind of deliver? Or they deliver in an ironic, unexpected way?)
What’s the best menu typo you’ve ever seen?
Check out all past Weekend Word Wraps>>
Comments (58)
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There was a place around here with a box of Tooht Picks by the register. I can’t think of any menu misspellings right now, but another local placed used to have lots of suspicious extra quotations on the menu. I remember that at various times “Special Orders,” “Special” cuts, “Chinese,” and many others being in quotes in ways that only made me worry. That’s the only restaurant where I’ve ever seen a rat, and I still go back (the food is that good). The university cafeteria used to have Salsburgie Steak and something mysteriously called Scroodles, but I’m not entirely sure those were misspelled as much as named in such a way as to hide what they really were.
posted by Dave on 11-6-2008 at 7:55 am
They “kind of” deliver… since it does say their maximum distance is three miles! :P
posted by Korin on 11-6-2008 at 8:21 am
It’s not a menu typo, but it’s a food typo. So, I spent a year in Inner Mongolia, and one of my fave things to do when I got bored was to go Chingrish hunting, and my first, and prolly best, find was in a local grocery store. Right above the fresh fruit was a big sign that said “F*%K THE FRESH THE”. Obviously, the store owners were tired of foreigners coming in and taking pics of the sign, as on the door to the store was a sign warning that no cameras were allowed…..
posted by amdela on 11-6-2008 at 8:32 am
“Almond Jerry”
-Found on a Japanese noodle restaurant’s menu. Supposed to be almond jelly, I think.
posted by kayce on 11-6-2008 at 8:38 am
Maybe it’s just me, but I find posts of this nature to be a bit condescending. It’s obvious that the restaurant in question is run by Mexican folks, so the typos aren’t so much errors of transcription as they are translation errors.
I’m a bit put off by the fact that it’s okay to poke fun at people who speak English as a 2nd language (or 3rd or 4th) when most Americans barely speak it as a 1st language.
I am, however, always disturbed by “fresh” sushi. Always.
posted by Rachel on 11-6-2008 at 9:03 am
A Chinese restaurant in my town advertises “no chorestorol”
posted by JDF on 11-6-2008 at 9:10 am
I used to order from a Chinese restaurant located next to a Food Lion. On all of their menus they had a map showing where they were- right next to the Food Loin. :-)
posted by karen on 11-6-2008 at 9:13 am
Just yesterday, my friend picked up his printed specials sheets, to find he had spell checked and changed “Caramelized Onions” to “Caramelized Opinions”. I think all opinions should be caramelized though – a little softer, sweeter and easier to digest.
posted by Laura on 11-6-2008 at 9:56 am
Astro Diner in NYC…
Great breakfast at this place, but I did notice the menu offered “Pure Male Syrup” for your pancakes.
Ouch.
posted by Lara on 11-6-2008 at 10:04 am
My favorite menu typo of all time was at a tapas restaurant. On their cocktail menu, one of the drinks was listed as containing “condescended milk.” I loved this mostly because “condescended” is a harder word than “condensed,” and it was indeed spelled correctly.
posted by Elizabeth on 11-6-2008 at 10:12 am
A local Chinese restauraunt had a sign up last year: “We close by Thanksgiving.”. Not sure if they’d be reopening…
Also, I recall seeing a few web posts about translated signs done incorrectly due to online translation tools. (A Chinese food place named System Error or something like that, and a Welsh road sign where the part in Welsh was actually someone’s Out of Office reply.)
posted by Josh on 11-6-2008 at 10:14 am
My local Mexican place has offered “chicken with mold sauce” for more than 20 years. I can only assume it’s mole – I’ve never dared order it.
posted by Karen on 11-6-2008 at 10:27 am
Rachel, there’s such a thing is being TOO culturally sensitive. You can bet Mexicans laugh at our tortured Spanish. (Have at it, amigos.)
I used to go to a Chinese place that offered a dish called Bubbha’s Delight. We figured chitlins was the main ingredient.
Look up Engrish.com for some guffaw inducing uses of English.
posted by BassMan on 11-6-2008 at 10:30 am
As a mono-languaged person myself, I have a great deal of respect for those who are multilingual. That being said, I also laugh my butt off when they get English wrong in just the right way. :)
posted by airship on 11-6-2008 at 11:13 am
At a restaurant in Vernazza, Italy: Infernal Doormouses
posted by Amy on 11-6-2008 at 11:15 am
Mexican…
Hot Pero (but) instead of Hot Perro (dog)
posted by Arriba on 11-6-2008 at 11:19 am
The best I’ve seen was years ago in front of a Chinese place. They had the type of board with the moveable letters and apparently didn’t have enough of the letter C. One of their offerings was “chigken chow mein.” I believe there were also some 3s in place of the letter E. It was rather delightful.
posted by andrea on 11-6-2008 at 11:22 am
A JAPANESE RESTAURANT SERVES CHOCOLATE MOOSE CAKE FOR DESSERT
posted by AMANDA on 11-6-2008 at 11:24 am
There is a diner in my town that for the longest time had a sign out front that stated UNDER NEW OWNER. Like the owner was standing on the roof of the building or something. They fianlly took it down but on the front of their menus is a picture of the diner with, of course, the UNDER NEW OWNER sign.
posted by wheel on 11-6-2008 at 11:36 am
Wow, the blurring effect on the menu is so effective that you almost can’t tell that the menu is from Chulada Grill…..
posted by Dan on 11-6-2008 at 11:39 am
Not quite what you’re looking for, but a few years back a local Burger King put on its sign board “NOW HIRING CLOSERS”
Some clever and athletic paerson climbed the sign and removed the C.
posted by BassMan on 11-6-2008 at 11:44 am
I love (and fear) when restaurants use quotation marks in the wrong way, like Sizzler’s “Chicken” Enchiladas.
I REALLY hate the misuse of apostrophes, though. Probably because I see that more often.
(”Tip’s appreciated” Here’s a tip – you don’t pluralize with an apostrophe! Argh.)
posted by Leah on 11-6-2008 at 11:53 am
A Chinese restaurant near my college apparently had been losing money on their buffet, so instead of changing their sign, they just painted over the word ‘all’”
So the restaurant’s sign said:
Golden Wok
” You Can Eat Buffet!”
I too am always frustrated by misplaced quotation marks. When my friends do it, I scold them.
posted by KerriH on 11-6-2008 at 12:09 pm
There was a Chinese restaurant with a sign outside that read “Rice vs. Noodle.” I always imagined an animated cartoon battle between a large grain of rice and an overgrown flat noodle. Maybe it was their underground version of a cockfight.
A Mexican restaurant in Houston formerly had a sign on its front door warning customers not to park at the vacant shopping center across the street.
It read: Do “not” park across the street. You will be “towed.”
We could never figure out if it was okay to park there.
posted by FG on 11-6-2008 at 12:19 pm
Ha ha, I agree about the Greek, I have enjoyed “deep fried cheece” many a time!
And for you who are worried about racial overtones, I have the BEST one of all, and it comes from a Greasy Spoon, Caucasian restaurant:
“Harsh Browns”.
Yep. I’d like some a them Harsh Browns with my gritty realist breakfast.
posted by Marion on 11-6-2008 at 12:19 pm
As a professional proofreader, these things crack me up.
A restaurant in Heidelberg, Germany, lists “ham hogs” instead of “ham hocks” in their English translation.
A Chinese restaurant in Berlin, tucked away in a small courtyard, is called Ho Lin Wah (which I took to be Hole In Wall). Not sure if it was intentional, since English is not the first language of Germany, but I loved it.
posted by A Different Rachel on 11-6-2008 at 12:27 pm
I used to live in Islamabad, and there was a Chinese restaurant that had “Deit Cock” on the menu instead of “Diet Coke”. Best Chinese food ever…
posted by Crovenpaver on 11-6-2008 at 12:35 pm
I second the first Rachel.
posted by biz on 11-6-2008 at 1:10 pm
My cafeteria at work used to occasionally offer what I assumed was meant to be “mesclun” salad, but as their spell-check wasn’t the most foodie-hip it always got printed as “mescaline” salad.
posted by VM on 11-6-2008 at 1:11 pm
The menu for a thai place in Lakewood, CO says that their restaurant has a lovely “Assmosphere”. I’ve never been there, so I’m not sure if it does.
posted by EPK on 11-6-2008 at 1:16 pm
My favorite sign error was on a marquee in Vegas. They were having a ‘Double Your Paycheck’ promo, but the ‘Y’ had fallen off the marquee. A little off-topic, but I had to share.
posted by Ron on 11-6-2008 at 1:21 pm
By the by, those who are reading these entries and who aren’t getting the P.C. heebie-jeebies will definitely enjoy “Here Speeching American: A Very Strange Guide to English as it is Garbled Around the World”, by Kathryn Petras & Ross Petras.
posted by VM on 11-6-2008 at 1:26 pm
At this pizza place the menu offered a salad made with ludduce. My favorite, though not from a menu, was at the gas pump. After I was finished pumping gas the pump asked me, “Want receipt?”
posted by Trotter on 11-6-2008 at 1:31 pm
okay, so its not a menu, but its my favorite mispelled find ever… a business card left in the door of my new house (a professionally printed card mind you)that contains these gems:
“Complete Contruction & Design” “No job is to small” …”all conctrete work ect”
I assumed based on the name that maybe English wasn’t his first language and I should give him a break, until I read “se habla espaol”.
I did not hire him.
posted by tiffany on 11-6-2008 at 1:40 pm
Also, for those of you who are as confused as I that friends and family simply cannot punctuate correctly, I highly recommend “Eats, Shoots & Leaves” by Lynne Truss.
posted by RAN on 11-6-2008 at 1:42 pm
At our hotel in St. Petersburg, the daily buffet was chronically misspelled. My favourites were Roats liver (I’m assuming they meant “roast); Swede peppers in stead of “sweet” and my all-time favourite, little sausages were labeled as “Has had small sausage” Oh, those Russians…
posted by Meghan on 11-6-2008 at 2:08 pm
Not really a typo, but a few years ago at a movie theater close to my home, there was a sign for 2 movies that were playing. They were right next to one another with no punctuation. It said Iron Giant Dick (for the movies Iron Giant and Dick). I sent it to David Letterman, but it never made it on the air (I guess a little to racy for prime time).
posted by Ian on 11-6-2008 at 2:41 pm
Can’t believe I forgot this one earlier! My favorite packaging is from a Middle Eastern deli in Minneapolis that says “homos” instead of “hummus.” I had to go out and buy a package for myself when I saw that.
posted by A Different Rachel on 11-6-2008 at 3:17 pm
I have dined at a restaurant that offered “humus” with pitas instead of “hummus”.
reCaptcha: croker over
posted by botanycreek on 11-6-2008 at 3:57 pm
When I was living in Japan I watched this morning show on TV everyday over breakfast and my favorite segment was this American guy going around asking Japanese students to say phrases he feed them in English. They almost always messed them up but it was always in good fun. It made me feel better because I was constantly saying ridiculous things in Japanese on accident. Also my host family loved this they thought it was so funny when i said something they didn’t quite make sense. so it goes both ways. i think mistranslation is funny to everyone.
posted by kat on 11-6-2008 at 3:58 pm
I was at a restaurant last night that was advertising “Original Sliders” with a description that stated it was new to their menu
posted by karl on 11-6-2008 at 4:14 pm
My fave is the time my sister went to her co-workers wedding and reception. The happy couple had preprinted the menu for the guests and instead of “steamed crab,” guests were being served “steamed crap.”
posted by CK on 11-6-2008 at 4:18 pm
I remember while staying in the tiny tourist town of Alicante, Spain seeing “Chicken to the oven” on the menu. It was translated from “pollo al horno” which actually means “oven-baked chicken”. I like the Engrish version better…
posted by ac on 11-6-2008 at 4:25 pm
I worked at a deli while going to school and the sign in the window said, Fresh Sandwitches daily.
posted by Laura on 11-6-2008 at 4:54 pm
There was a small Chinese place where I lived in Seattle and one of their menu items was Human Pork, instead of Hunan Pork. Still, I never did try it.
posted by Linds on 11-6-2008 at 5:15 pm
The restaurant I used to work in had two specials of ‘pork medalions’.The back staff would pronounce it meda-lions whenever someone ordered it.
posted by heather on 11-6-2008 at 5:18 pm
My favorite was a badly spaced sign outside a Hardee’s I saw while on vacation some years ago:
NOW HIRING
CHICKEN LIVERS
posted by steph on 11-6-2008 at 7:01 pm
Many years ago while on a trip to Japan, my group was given coupons to let the hotel staff know we were getting a complimentary meal. Our meal coupons said “Bleakfarst” and to this day I sometimes refer to “bleakfarst.”
posted by Kim on 11-6-2008 at 7:23 pm
There used to be a Chinese restaurant in our mall here that had a sign reading “$1.00 Bottle of Waters.” It was taken down within the day.
posted by Aaron on 11-6-2008 at 11:41 pm
Not a typo, but my friend ordered a chilled eggplant salad in Tokyo. The translation on the menu was “cold eggplant waits for you.”
posted by Karen on 11-7-2008 at 5:57 am
Ar a cafe in Hanoi we ordered “ethnic minority sausage”
posted by Bernadette on 11-7-2008 at 9:12 am
Jumbos Hrimp at a local Chinese take out joint…it’s made it through several reprints of the menu too!
posted by a2veeness on 11-7-2008 at 9:40 am
Listed on the Web site of one of the fancier restaurants in South Dakota: chicken beast with broccoli
posted by Amie on 11-7-2008 at 11:23 am
On the Web site of one of the fancier restaurants in South Dakota: chicken beast with broccoli
posted by Amie on 11-7-2008 at 11:24 am
At a Cambodian place in Cleveland, I did a triple take. Various combos have crab in them. Problem being they misplaced the “b” in crab with a “p”. I asked my friend to check her menu and it was there too. Uh…oops. We didn’t order the crab/crap, alas.
posted by Billy on 11-7-2008 at 12:47 pm
If I had a free meal every time I spot a typo… I’d be very fat by now.
I can guarantee you that almost every restaurant (mis-)using French to show how snob they are have typos. Applies to Italian as well.
posted by Ludovic on 11-10-2008 at 6:41 am
If I had a free meal every time I spot a typo… I’d be very fat by now.
I can guarantee you that almost every restaurant (mis-)using French to show how snob they are have typos. Applies to Italian as well.
But then, Americans don’t do languages and we all know that…
posted by Ludovic Windsor on 11-10-2008 at 6:44 am
Not on a menu, but a newspaper ad for a local restaurant. According to this ad, the weekend special was—Surf & Turd. I still have the ad. It’s the funniest typo I’ve seen in 24 years of proofreading.
posted by JayEm on 11-10-2008 at 3:43 pm