does your Chinese Restaurant CHARGE you for white rice?

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boomchakabowwow

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they are pretty much ALL doing it in the Bay Area, California. $2.50 for a bowl sometimes. usually a couple $$ per person.

what do you think? i think it would be better to off set the cost in the actual dishes ordered.

opinions?
 
Around here they give white rice with a meal. Are you saying if you order general tso chicken you have to pay for a side of white rice also?
 
The couple of restaurants I frequent give you the choice of steamed white rice or vegetable fried rice included with the meal, unless you are having a noodle dish.

What's next? Charging for chopsticks?
 
I have been to a few Chinese restaurants, and the rice policy varies.
 
Cheeks1989 said:
No charging for fortune cookies!
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Fun fact: Everyone knows fortune cookies are an American invention, but they are more likely to be Japanese-American in origin rather than Chinese-American.
 
Always comes with the dishes here in NJ, many come with pork fried rice. Some don't even charge when I ask for some white rice for my 3.5 year old when eating in.
 
around here some places charge if you want more rice during you meal or in the leftovers bag, but most non-noodle dishes come with rice
 
Free in these parts...as others have said if not noodle dish then it's usually fried unless you ask for white but no charge either way.
 
In China usually they charge per bowl, in Australia they don't charge for a formal Chinese dinner (like u have 5 ppl ordering 6-7 dishes and share), the rice come in a big container.

If you are ordering dishes with rice (Cantonese call it: 碟头饭), then obviously u get it for free. If you want rice with noodles or dumplings (not sure if there is actually someone does that), then usually they charge for the rice.

Essentially this varies quite a bit depending on what type of Chinese restaurant u r visiting.
 
Cheeks1989 said:
Around here they give white rice with a meal. Are you saying if you order general tso chicken you have to pay for a side of white rice also?
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yea. they dont really mention it. they just ask, "do you need rice?"..then the charge is on the ticket.
 
Mine does kindof. They offer with or without rice prices. Say a 4 item combo is $12 with rice it's $13.
 
boomchakabowwow said:
yea. they dont really mention it. they just ask, "do you need rice?"..then the charge is on the ticket.
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Is that all the restaurants? This specific behavior seems marginal.

At the end of the day, you are going to pay for the rice if you get it. Whether it's separate or not is not really relevant. If anything, this is an opportunity for those people who dont want white rice to NOT pay for it. Quite convenient actually.

While we're complaining about behavior, it bugs me that pizza delivery places aren't explicit about delivery charges not going to the driver directly. Im happy to pay a few extra bucks to keep you in business if I like your food but I feel like this leads to drivers getting stuffed on tips.
 
They charge here, its often better just to order a plate of fried rice instead.
 
Wasn't there a NPR segment about the drought on the west cost causing rice prices to go up? Maybe this might play a role in charging extra? However, I've never herd of this happening. Ever.
 
A local place serves rice dishes with fried rice as part of the meal. Steamed rice has to be requested and is charged extra for. So yesterdays crap is free. Fresh stuff is extra. I've been once.
 
Unless you're in China town, I think most places in NY do. It's usually anywhere between $1 to $2.50.
 
Here in Toronto, for a proper meal where you share the main dishes in the middle of the table, rice is extra - about $1 to $1.50 per bowl. For "fast food"/super-casual-food where you order individual plates of food per person ("deep tou fan" in Cantonese, no idea what it is in Mandarin), the rice is included.
 
echerub said:
Here in Toronto, for a proper meal where you share the main dishes in the middle of the table, rice is extra - about $1 to $1.50 per bowl. For "fast food"/super-casual-food where you order individual plates of food per person ("deep tou fan" in Cantonese, no idea what it is in Mandarin), the rice is included.
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LOL, I like your phonics translation.

I think at one point some restaurants in the Chicago Chinatown did charge for rice by the bowl, but I haven't been to one that does in a while, but then again I remember when every restaurant was serving jasmine rice (love the smell), but now its just plain white rice :(.
 
Paying a little extra for rice never bothered me. You get couple dishes gotta have rice. Just so long as have a pot of hot tea.
 
In the UK rice is usually a side dish that is charged for as an extra on the menu.
 
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