Last summer, I went to buy shoes. Sandals to be exact. The weather looked promising and my feet were hot with socks.

As I entered the store, I viewed the display in the mall window. Um, um and um, I thought. I eyed a pair with red straps and an earthier pair of Birkenstocks wannabes.

Walking into the store, I picked up my choices. I could feel the smooth straps. I observed the quality of the stitching and viewed the safety design on the soles. I could smell the new leather. A very nice saleswoman waited on me. I choose to try on the red ones. They were just what I wanted and they felt comfortable but they didn't look just right. I thanked my attendant and left to try another store.

For lunch that day, I went to a lovely French restaurant in the mall. As I looked into the store window, I did not see anything to order. I went in anyway. I looked around and did not see anything to order. I decided to sit anyway. A very nice waitress greeted me and seated me. She handed me a list of items that I could order. I could not see anything to order on the list. I ordered anyway, even though there was no food to taste, see, touch or smell.

But in the shoe store, I could see all the choices. I could touch, hold, feel any and many different choices. In the shoe store, I could investigate my choices. I could try on any choices that looked good. I could reject any choices. And, this is important, I could leave if I did not like the choices I tried.

What a difference between fine dining and going shoe buying.

Oh busboy, it's a point to ponder.

In restaurant dining, we order sight unseen. The price tag tells us how good it should be, but we really have no way to judge. The descriptions report something, but the words cannot tell us exactly what the food will look like, how large the servings will be, how it will be arranged, how it will smell or how it will taste. We don't know that until it arrives.

In fine dining, we essentially order an item without "trying it on." There also is that unwritten rule you will pay for an item if you order it. Unless we can't eat it or the service is horrible, we pay for what we eat.

To buy a pair shoes, I might sit and try several on in many different stores. For lunch, I do not go in and try on several dishes at many different restaurants until I find the one that I want. (Although it might be fun.) I would have to pay if I did that.

Once seated, it is unusual for a customer to leave. Have you ever gone into a restaurant and, upon seating, discovered that the menu was not to your liking? Usually you stay, right?

Are we taking a risk ordering from a menu sight unseen? Well, we could go to a cafeteria where we would see but not taste the product. We could eat at a fast food restaurant where we have seen the food on a television ad or where there are pictures of the food displayed or where we are very familiar with the food.

It is just the nature of our restaurant system. Watching other people's choices as they parade by can sometime help with the choice as can the reputation of the restaurant. Actually, I think half the fun is to order the food sight unseen. The expectation of the arrival of our choice is part of the experience.

That first taste and knowing I made the right decision is my favorite part of the experience. Checking out what others have at the table is lots of fun. Even when the food is not as expected, it is still an adventure.

In a similiar light, the restaurant takes its own risks. The restaurant allows you to wear out the "shoe" before it is paid for. You eat (use up) the product before you pay the bill. There is an unspoken rule that we pay for what we order. Most of us do pay and should pay unless there is something very wrong. We always have the right to send the food back, to complain, to never return.

If I am dissatisfied with a dish or a restaurant because I didn't understand what the restaurant was or what I was ordering then, of course, I will pay. If the restaurant made an inferior product for the money, I will complain. Most restaurants would prefer you complained to them instead of your neighbor.

The majority of the time I get my money's worth and enjoy eating out, usually dangling my shoe off the tip of my foot.

Comments? Anita@anitaalacarte.com

Restaurant Watch: Enjoy the anticipation of ordering your meal "sight unseen."