Are the Specials at a Restaurant Really That Special?

Many people assume a restaurant special is truly that: a one of a kind creation that comes from the mind of a culinary genius combining ingredients to make a truly unique plate of food. That's not always the case. It depends on the kind of restaurant you’re in. If it’s an upscale restaurant, chances are it is something the chef is experimenting with that may someday end up on the menu. Maybe the daikon at the farmers market looked particularly fresh that morning and the chef was inspired to make a wonderful winter salad with kale and cranberries. Or maybe those two glorious weeks of summer that grace us with sour cherries ends up producing a truly special dessert.  

If it’s a chain restaurant (and I mean no disrespect to chains), most cooks probably don’t have a lot of creative leeway with their menu options and a special might consist of something the kitchen needs to use up before it goes bad. It’s quite possible there was a cleaning out of the freezer that resulted in a special of boneless chicken wings and that are decidedly un-special.

If you want to hear about the specials, be sure to ask about them. Plenty of servers might feel like they don’t have the time to describe them or maybe they weren’t paying attention at the pre-shift meeting and don’t even know what they are. I worked at one restaurant where I simply quit announcing specials at all because after describing them in fine detail, 99% of customers would end up ordering the same thing they always ordered. At another restaurant I worked in, customers couldn’t wait to hear what the specials were. The regular menu was very small, so new options were always welcomed with open arms and open mouths. 

In that particular restaurant, the specials generally were something the chef wanted to make, but on occasion the special was based on an ingredient we needed to turn. On St. Patrick’s Day, we always had corned beef and cabbage as a special, but two days later the special omelet was unsurprisingly filled with corned beef, and the soup of the day for the next week invariably had traces of cabbage in it. 

If the special is a soup, you can be pretty certain it’s full of things that needed to get used up, but if it’s a unique ingredient, then it’s a safe bet that the dish was created to be a special. Sometimes, what makes it special is the limited availability and when the kitchen is out, they’re out. And be aware that if the server is really pushing it, that doesn’t necessarily mean the dish is a fantastic choice. In some restaurants, it’s not uncommon for there to be a contest to see who can sell the most of something. The server may want a prize more than they want you to enjoy the lemon-stuffed grilled branzino. 

I once worked in a celebrity-chef-owned restaurant that offered a white truffle pizza as a special appetizer one night. It was extraordinarily expensive compared to the pizza I was used to eating that was roughly the same cost as a subway ride for a slice. This special pizza was layered with fresh mozzarella, onions, and shaved white truffles. In that case it was truly special. When customers asked me how it was, I told them it was mouthwatering despite not ever tasting it. The kitchen said it was too costly for the servers to try, so we all used our imagination to describe it. Usually, the kitchen would make a special for everyone to sample, but I guess white truffles are where the line was drawn. To be honest, it was an easy sell to those customers who had very deep pockets and once you add truffles or caviar to a dish, people clamor for it, special or not.

Restaurant specials are going to vary from place to place so feel free to ask questions about them.  For whatever reason, the restaurant wants to sell these dishes and the more you know about the specifics, the better decision you can make. Just know that if you’re eating cabbage soup on March 20th, it’s definitely a leftover.