If you discount decor and valet attendants, (and I'm not sure why you would but go with me here) menus are a diner's first chance to seriously analyze a restaurant and its offerings. Menus perform many more functions than a mere listing of appetizers, entrees, and desserts. They create good will, they quietly announce a restaurant's target audience, they can even provide insights on the owner's philosophies and/or pet peeves.  Some menus, however, just go overboard.

In our new Food Issue, Loose Lips (otherwise known as Mike DeBonis who's been known to make pronouncements on food when not hounding council members), picks apart five different menus to highlight their meaningless regionalism, overzealous sourcing, or just plain stupidity. It's an amusing read. So why aren't you reading it yet?