Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Solving The Mystery Of The Sarku Toothpicks

This is topic Solving The Mystery Of The Sarku Toothpicks in forum Film-Yak at Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE.

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Posted by Mark J. Marshall (Member # 1409) on 05-26-2005, 01:19 PM:

Whenever my friends and I go to the Sarku's japanese place in our local mall, we're always amazed at how the order taker is able to convey the order to the chef just by sticking different combinations of colored toothpicks in the styrofoam plates.

For example, I usually order chicken teriyaki with white rice, and no vegetables. For me, the plate is face up (white rice) with one plain toothpick (no vegetables).

I've seen various combinations of toothpicks including one red one, and one plain one, and then the plain one is broken in half. I have no clue what that meant.

I don't know why we're all fascinated by this phenomenon, but we are. So here's my question... What do you order at Sarku's, and what is your toothpick combination? Maybe we can figure this out. It will be interesting to see if they have the same "language" on the west coast that they do on the east coast.

Again, here's mine:

Chicken Teriyaki, White Rice, No Vegetables = Plate face up, one plain toothpick.

Posted by Paul Mayer (Member # 355) on 05-26-2005, 02:45 PM:

Never heard of Sarku out here, but we do have a new teppan-style stand in the Meadows Mall called Sansei, which has replaced the long-standing Edo. Sansei also uses colored toothpicks as a code for the cooks. I'll be working my way through their menu over the next few weeks so we'll see how this goes.

Posted by Paul Mayer (Member # 355) on 05-29-2005, 09:38 PM:

So far...

Beef teri with vegies and rice = red w/plate up

Shrimp teri with vegies and rice = blue w/plate up

Beef & shrimp teri with vegies and rice = red & yellow w/plate up

Posted by David Stambaugh (Member # 1102) on 05-29-2005, 10:08 PM:

There's a Sarku here in Eugene at the Valley River Mall. I've eaten there many times. The "presentation" of their food isn't fancy - the cooks basically just scoop it off the grill and dump it over the rice or noodles in a big glob. But it's freshly cooked, tasty, filling, and not expensive.

I've never paid close attention to their toothpick system, but they definitely do what you're talking about: Depending on what the customer orders, the styrofoam plate gets colored toothpicks, sometimes bent in the middle.

Another interesting Sarku factoid: They ALWAYS have someone standing in front handing out free samples of teriyaki chicken. It doesn't matter what time of day, or what day of week: There is ALWAYS someone handing out samples. And there's almost always a line of customers. They seem to do great business.

Posted by Mark J. Marshall (Member # 1409) on 05-30-2005, 11:21 PM:

quote: Paul Mayer
Beef ... = red

Shrimp ... = blue

Beef & shrimp ... = red & yellow

Fascinating.