It was two friendly Atlanta, Georgia neighbors who got together in 1955 to build the first Waffle House in their eventual 1200-restaurant chain. With the dimpled breakfast hotcake as a signature item (and this is 3 years before IHOP was founded!), the privately-held chain grew into 20 Southern U.S. states. Today tasty food at rock-bottom prices, plus 24-hours-a-day service, makes Waffle … [Read more...]
IHOP Pancake recipe
Even though the early press runs of Top Secret Recipes excluded buttermilk in this recipe -- a very important ingredient if you really want pourable batter -- many figured out the missing ingredient on their own and the error was quickly corrected in later copies. Now we just like to call those copies of the book the "Collector's Editions." For any of you who were lucky enough to get one of … [Read more...]
Red Robin Seasoning recipe
Give yourself some time to make a tough decision because there are nearly two dozen gourmet burgers on the Red Robin menu to pick from, not to mention scores of other fantastic food choices. Red Robin claims its steak fries are world-famous, and when you get a burger your fries are served up on the side in a "bottomless" portion. Want some more fries? Just ask and you can have as many … [Read more...]
Starbucks Frappuccino recipe
Here's one that I get requests for all of the time, and that you won't yet find in any book. This is a clone for Starbuck's "Lowfat Creamy Blend of Coffee & Milk" that you can now find in the all-too-puny 9 1/2-ounce bottles in most stores. Those little bottles will set you back at least a buck, but this Top Secret Recipes version costs a mere fraction of that. Plus, the recipe actually … [Read more...]
Olive Garden Pasta e Fagioli recipe
It's amazing how many lousy clones for this delicious chili-like soup from Olive Garden are floating around on the Web. Some are shared on message boards, others are displayed on sites in a collection of "actual restaurant recipes" (yeah, right!). But they all leave out obvious ingredients you can see, like the carrots, ground beef, or two kinds of beans. Others don't get the pasta right -- … [Read more...]