My Ethnographic Research On The Restaurant Sweet Tomatoes Essay

Tony Mirabelli, in his article, “Learning to Serve: The Language and Literacy of Food Service Workers”, discusses how members of the food service community, whether it be the consumer or the worker, interact and mediate activity through language and texts (298). He talks about the everyday literacies of a diner and how the threshold concept is used on a daily basis. The threshold concept is very straight-forward; texts and language mediate activity and interactions.

My observations of human behavior were made at Starbucks on Grand avenue, New York near Elmhurst. I chose this location due to the high customer traffic that it sees. Since it is a popular coffee shop, the customer base cuts across different multicultural sector of the population. There is a lot of variety in the backgrounds and personalities of the people visiting the shop. This quality makes any patterns that are recognized more representative of the general public.

Ethnographic research is the scientific description of specific human cultures, foreign to the ethnographer. Each ethnographer has his or her own way of conducting research and all of these different ideas can be transmitted and understood in a number of different ways. Because there is no one set idea of how an ethnographer should go about his or her research, conflicts arise. In Reflections on Fieldwork in Morocco, Paul Rabinow uses a story like process to discuss his experiences during his research in Morocco. This makes it easier for the reader to understand his ideas then just having a technical book about the many different aspects of Moroccan life that he may have discovered. In Writing Culture: the Poetics and Politics of

Olive Garden is a family friendly restaurant that specializes in Italian-American dishes, and is well known for their soup, salad, and breadsticks. My family and I ate dinner at Olive Garden in Lafayette, Indiana. The criteria used to rate our experience was the flavor, appearance, and healthfulness of the food, the prompt and efficiency of the service, the price of the meal, and the lighting and decor of the atmosphere. When it comes to the best service, food, price, and atmosphere Olive Garden excels and continues to please their customers.

Olive Garden is known for Italian food and a family atmosphere. Come hungry. Between the wide variety of pastas, sauces, and toppings, the ever popular unlimited pasta bowl can be enjoyed over 100 different ways. Every restaurant offers an extensive list of appetizers, from dips and sampler plates to seafood and bite-sized pasta options. Traditional pasta favorites are also customizable with your choice of meat, seafood and sauces. Try the new citrus glazed salmon served over a bed of fettuccine or the classic lasagna, with layers of homemade meat sauce, mozzarella, and pasta.

Mexican cuisine is a style of food that originates in Mexico. It is known for its varied flavors, colorful decoration, and variety of spices and ingredients, many of which are native to the country. What makes a meal distinctly Mexican, of course, are the lively seasonings. Not all Mexican recipes are fiery, though; while renowned for their heat, many subtle and intriguing spice combinations are also found in Mexican fare.

Over the past few years, commercial spaces have become areas for multifunction activities. Along with the availability of gourmet coffee, food, ample seating, and free WIFI bookstore cafes have welcomed a clientele that blends leisure, social and work related activities. In this context, a local popular Barnes and Noble bookstore cafe served as the perfect environment to perform a field observation for this assignment and to explore customer behaviors and reasons for patronizing this particular establishment.

*These four old guys (definitely into their late sixties, early seventies) sell cars at one of the dealerships on the boulevard. I would bet fifty dollars that they all work for Cadillac. They come in once a week, on Friday afternoons. They love me. They like to give me a hard time, ask why I don’t love them anymore, when I’m going to run away with them, etc, etc. They are caricatures of car salesmen but are obviously unaware of this. They hold court in Eat Well like it’s 1965 at the Sands, talking in loud voices and telling stories about one another to each other. (“This guy here, one time he says to me, ‘Paulie’…”)

When entering a grocery store, most people don’t take the time to stop and observe their surroundings, for their soul purpose at that instant is to purchase what very food they may need for that day or maybe even for that week. However, through all the haste of wanting to go in and out of grocery stores as fast as one can, most are unaware of the very culture that they too are now apart of, the interactions, both verbal and through people’s body language that they are experiencing, how people look and dress, even what is considered appropriate behavior although not specifically written down. Culture is all around us, and we all contribute to it, whether it is through our norms, values, symbols, or mental maps of reality (Guest 2014, 38-43). That is why through this assignment, I took the time to observe the culture experienced in the American grocery store Stater Brothers, the ethnical Filipino grocery store Seafood City, while also taking the time to reflect on my own personal views of what I thought was “normal” through my experience working in Northgate Gonzalez Market, a Mexican grocery store for three years.

Essay Question: In what ways does this movie demonstrate the “Iron Triangle” and its powerful influence in the manner that our government functions?

The staff at Granite City Food and Brewery, (a.k.a GCFB) uses five major theoretical approaches that contributes to society. Structural- functional, social conflict, gender- conflict, race conflict, and symbolic interactionism are different ways certain individuals interact amongst each other for the success of the company and more importantly, society as a whole. The staff of this restaurant uses various methods of communication but can also lead to conflicts. The research was conducted off the clock for the past two months without the knowledge of the staff other than managers and supervisors of the restaurant. As an employee of this business for almost a year, the staff has taught many valuable lessons such self-assurance, loyalty, obedience and respect.

It was 2:30 PM in the afternoon and I was extremely hunger. I wanted to eat a good meal that included vegetable so I opted for Folks restaurant. I was in Douglasville at the time had visited Douglasville's Folk's restaurant before and I was not happy with the service. The serving of lunch took the waiter and cook too long. The waiter was cleaning lamps and wiping down tables and it seems to be more important then make sure customers were having a good dining experience. The catfish was overcooked skimpy and it actually looked like scallops. I did not bother with bringing it to the waiter's attention, because I had ordered the all you can eat catfish, and I was hoping the next batch of catfish was much better than the catfish I was served

We interviewed 3 people the first and second day and on the 3rd day, we interviewed an amount of 4 people. One of the members conducted the observation period while another member was conducting the interview. The member observing the patients will take notes of their behavior and odd changes. If the behavior were to change during the time period of the 3 days, the member will make notes on

Once I stepped inside the restaurant I automatically could hear the music playing at a moderate level and the laughter of the customers. Right off the back the restaurant's ambiance had a positive vibe. Mindful, it was a Saturday late afternoon. Mary Jane Burger and Brew is a local restaurant trying to stay true to its past. The granddaughter of the original owner now runs the place with the intention of serving good quality food where the ingredients are fresh, mouth watering, and surely not filled with antibiotics and all that other genetically modified elements found in processed foods. The vintage, rustic looking place, holds a small town atmosphere with a big taste.

As far back as I can remember, I have always liked going out to eat. Two of my favorite restaurants are Jake’s and McDonald’s. Though both are places to dine they have their differences in their ambiance, waiting, and expense. When deciding where to go to eat, I have three things to think about. I must consider the atmosphere or where I want to go. The amount of time I have is another consideration. The amount of money that I am able to spend is a big influence.