The Gift Guide for the Restaurant Patron

Last week, we featured a gift guide for the restaurant owners and people who work in the restaurant industry. As there’s still time to shop before the holiday shipping smackdown sneaks in. If you or if you know someone who regularly eats out or is a regular foodie, then here are a few gifts we Frogs recommend.

1. A Money Clip

It’s kind of no secret that cash is alwayres pferred over credit cards when tipping servers. It not only kinder to the server, but it’s a guarantee that the tip’s theirs. Often times when you tip on the card, the server either only gets a percentages of it, or possibly not even get it at all. For the light travelers, a money clips is a pretty good way to keep your IDs, cards, and cash. And don’t worry about looks, because some of them are outright serious.

2. A NoPhone

A phone that’s not a phone? Call us Frogs crazy but hear us out. Phone etiquette on restaurants have been rather lax lately, and who can blame anyone? Whether you’re taking a selfie at the table, or getting the beauty shot of your dish, the temptation can be all too real. However as more and more restaurants are implementing no-phone policies, it might be worth it to have a $12 brick around.

3. A Groupon/LivingSocial Gift Card

So GroupOn has suffered a PR nightmare last year and LivingSocial was not far behind. But nevertheless, they still provide pretty solid discounts for restaurants and other foodie getaways. While Groupon lets you give Groupon gift cards in general,  LivingSocial requires you to gift indivudal gifts. So unless you know what you want to get, you might want to plan accordingly.

4. A Vacation

Yes, this is probably the most expensive part of the list. But if you or someone you know has been to so many restaurants around town and is getting spoiled (ahem, a few of the Frogs here) then maybe it’s time for a food trip. Whether you’re taking part of a curated food tour, or even making a trip yourself–sometimes it takes going across the state/nation/globe to reset your palette. If you’re not sure how to get started, there’s apps like TripIt and TripCase.

5. Cooking

If you want to keep it simple, then it might be as simple as you cooking for the holidays. And let’s make this clear. Just cooking breakfast or lunch probably won’t cut it. Instead, really plan it through. Prepare a menu, and plan accordingly. With now an abundance of recipes available from sites like Epicurious or Serious Eats,