Chicago-Style Fly In My Soup

people in Chicago–we do things our own way.  that’s why there’s so much that can only be described as being "Chicago-style":  pizza, hot dogs, blues, bibliographic citations.  so of course there’s even a Chicago-style version of the old joke that begins, "Waiter, there’s a fly in my soup," except that it isn’t a joke–it’s a true story.

Leona’s is a local chain of restaurants serving "festive Italian, hearty American" food.  their portions are so huge that when ordering for delivery, i choose side dishes that i’ll plan to have for lunch the next day.

one summer, i worked at an office, where i usually ate lunch at my desk,thank God–nobody witnessed what happened.  on that particular day my lunch included a pasta salad side dish from my Leona’s order of the night before.  i bit into something that was much harder than anything you expect to find in a pasta salad:  an artificial fingernail that obviously broke off of one of the salad maker’s fingers.  maybe even her thumb.

i cried.

March 4th, 2005 - 2:44 pm
My Kind of Town

Comments

  1. You are a saint for apparently still eating there! Wasn’t there an episode of Friends where this happened?

    Comment by Sarah
    March 5, 2005 7:19 am

  2. Either a saint or just plain stupid. Actually, I started working at one of the Leona’s later that fall. That only happened to me once, and after I called in tears, they gave me a credit. I still take out-of-town guests there.

    Comment by Barb
    March 5, 2005 9:33 am

  3. ack ack ack eww i’d barf if i bit into that! :)

    Comment by woojoegai
    March 5, 2005 11:17 am

  4. SO THAT’S WHERE MY NAIL WENT! i was wondering about that…. tee hee hee…

    (i bit into a seashell hidden in a slider from white castle once. i’d chip a tooth on a seashell over an artficial nail ANY DAY. eek!)

    Comment by mamazilla
    March 5, 2005 7:56 pm

  5. Did it at least have a cool painting on it? Like a lighthouse or something? Nasty. Thanks for blogrolling me, I’ve returned the favor. Intense site by-the-by…later

    Comment by Mac
    March 5, 2005 10:24 pm

  6. that was YOUR nail??? lol yeah, the shell would have been better.

    Comment by barb
    March 7, 2005 11:57 am

  7. First, love the reference to the Chicago Manual of Style. Obscure enough only an English Major could love it.

    Second, hmmm, fancy telling me the Leona story only AFTER this out-of-town guest dined there. Do I trust your food recommendations now??? I guess I will ask all the servers to fully show their hands before I bite into my entree.

    Comment by Diane
    March 9, 2005 6:10 pm

  8. oops. sorry about that, Diane! Julie’s probably thinking the same thing you are. just don’t chew with your eyes closed.

    Comment by barb
    March 9, 2005 11:59 pm

  9. OH MY GOSH! That sends chills up my spine! So, was the salad good?? LOL

    Comment by Cara
    March 15, 2005 12:56 pm

  10. Hi!

    Nummy! Can I use your review on my website http://www.TheresAFlyInMySoup.com?

    Comment by The Fly
    March 28, 2005 8:24 pm

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