Serious Eats - seriouseats.com

So here's a different twist..I'd actually like to see more places list the ingredients of menu items. Also, I have friends and family who are diabetic, would like to see more 'no sugar' added to the menu.

Vegetarian options! Other than salad...

Yes I would agree with the fried chicken. I never see good old fashioned fried chicken just like grandma would make. Also I wish that more places would make stuffing and gravy because I love stuffing and gravy. Another thing here in Seattle I go to major sandwich chains and delis and want to order a egg salad sandwich, most of them do not have them, whats up with that?

Beans, lentils, brown rice, quinoa, in any form; as a side, in salad, as a main.
Oh and greens, kale, swiss chard, turnip greens, mustard greens, bok choy etc.
I'd like to see meat treated more like a seasoning. More meals where sides revolve around a hunk of meat but where its incorporated into a dish (preferably with previously mentioned ingredients).
I'ld also like to see more fruit. I like to have a piece of fruit before or after a meal. Also fresh fruit juices. I love getting aguas at Mexican restaurants where they just throw the fruit and some water in the blender.
I'd like to see more variety of breads. Would be kind of fun if they brought buckwheat bread to the table to start the meal.
I'd like to see more restaurants with rotating menus. I get bored of a restaurant after while if they don't change their offerings. On that note, it would be nice if more restaurants went seasonal.
Disclosure on whether a restaurant is using any artificial flavors colors or preservatives.

sheesh i should open my own restaurant!

Vegetarian options that are real food, like peanutbutter said--not the kind that people think are vegetarian as in, 'oh yes, there is a garden salad, so there are vegetarian options.'

I think better and more creative uses of vegetables in restaurants as sides as well as mains is something vegetarians and omnivores alike would appreciate.

I'd also like the option to order a 'tasting plate' of sides as a main, or just an appetizer or side as a main, or a 1/2 entree.

I'd like to see simpler and smaller desserts--HOWEVER, rather than a dessert menu, I'd love to see a return to something really old-fashioned, a dessert or pastry cart. Even though I can only pick one, I love to see all the creations on the menu, and I bet more people would order dessert if they could see it rather than just read about it.

oops I forgot to mention that one of the items is fried chicken!

I agree with the vegetarian entree comments as well - and I'm not even vegetarian. The easiest way to do this is probably to offer meals as kind of a base (commonly seen with pastas, especially stuffed pasta), where you can choose to add a meat. But just having vegetarian entree options that stand on their own would be nice.

And someone else already said this, but better vegetable sides. I like to feel like the meal was put together as a whole picture, not just a fantastic meat dish with some starch and veggies indiscriminately thrown on as an afterthought.

Fruit is a great idea too - you could do anything from just fresh fruit to fruit based desserts, like strawberries in balsamic, or ice cream & berries with chambourde.

One of my favorite restaurants here has cheese and meat plates available, with lots of appetizers. You can order the pastas in two sizes, too: course or entree. It makes creating your own tasting menu was easier.

How about what we'd like to see less of? Like mini-burgers/sliders? Every place I go has that. And french fries/frites! Not a requirement. And how about less tiny plates of food for big plate prices? I understand there has been a portion control problem in this country, but the solution to that problem is not to rip off the customer.

First, LARGER PRINT. Even with my glasses on, I have trouble reading most menus, especially in dimly lit restaurants.

Second, ingredient list and separate allergy and gluten free menus. They should say whether or not they use MSG or preservatives, or peanut oil. There are many, many people who have severe problems and it's a nightmare trying to order - sending the server back to the kitchen to see if the salad has preservatives and if the oil has had anything breaded in it, etc., Nothing too out of the ordinary here - they would get more repeat business.

Last, have really great vegetarian and vegan selections, too. Not just some token bland dish.

How nice it would be if a group of 4 could all be accommodated in one restaurant.

I agree about using meat as an accent rather than the star of the meal.

On the subject of fried chicken, I think it's a hard thing for resteraunts to mass produce fresh - the two places in my area that used to serve fried chicken both had issues when the dish became popular. One resteraunt took it off the menu the other would have fried chicken nights once a month.

More house-made desserts. I rarely order dessert in a restaurant, because they often seem to taste commercially made. Yes, I am a dessert snob! I figure if I'm going to have empty calories, at least they should be of high quality.

I also would like to see smaller servings at lower prices. I really don't eat that much (although you can't tell it by looking at me, darn it!) and dont like leftovers that much, so I wish I could just get a small portion of something. And not a corn dog from the kids' menu ; )

Well, less salt would top my list, and then on to chicken - specifically, dark-meat chicken choices. Finally, at least one veggie choice always available, that's not stewed, pickled, or mutilated in some other horrific way. (Yes, many places up here only offer mutilated veggie choices at least 2 days a week!!)

And then there's my pet peeve: parsley.

God, I *hate* parsley!! (Just a really ugly taste, to me. Gross. Makes me gag when I eat some inadvertently.)

Used to be, that restaurants would garnish w/ a sprig of parsley. THat was fine - I could easily remove it and pawn it off @ my wife or my son, both of whom LOVE parsley. Today, however, I swear they all got together and decided to always use teeny-tiny shreds of parsley. On everything.

Honest to God, there are restaurants where I avoid ordering certain dishes because I *know* they garnish them w/ parsley. So this one time I ordered a sub - a FREAKING SUB!! - and it came showered in parsley. Another time I ordered a bowl of chicken soup - and, you guessed it! - when it arrived the top was glistening w/ parsley.

Okay: Yes, when I have an uneasy feeling @ a place - or a dish - I always specify "no parsley." And that doesn't always work, either... I've had to send dishes back and order something else because the thing arrived covered in parsley anyway, and the excuse was, "Well, the chef forgot."

I know. I sound certifiable @ this issue. But hey, you asked!

@Robbo, I get what you mean about the parsley. I don't hate it, unless it's used to excess, but there have been times I've looked at a plate and commented that parsley isn't supposed to be a green vegetable.

And add in the 'Daily off the Menu Specials' with the price ! Can easily be printed on one sheet and inserted with the menu.

Vegetarian options that don't use pasta. Bone-in chicken. Lots of different kinds of fish, instead of the usual suspects. More game, especially venison.

Smaller portions or at least the option for a half portion. I can rarely finish a dish and the "doggy bag" usually does not reheat well.

I would love to see dairy warnings on more things. I've begun asking about everything -- people put cheese and milk in the oddest places!

@joyyy, thats what i love about thai places around here. curry with your choice of "meat". chinese restaurants sort of do it too.