Start your story with someone looking at a restaurant menu.

Posted in Middle School on Nov 1, 2022

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✍️ 80 stories

“Step into the Light” by Sidra Jawad

Submitted to Contest #162

I look at the menu in my hands. I couldn't read a single word because my eyes were filled with tears. I tried to hide my tears and wipe them behind the menu. I hate feeling vulnerable in front of others. I have just received bad news. The worst news possible. Something I would never be able to recover from.I try to compose myself but fail miserably. I mumble something about going to the toilet and fly out of my chair before I breakdown in front of him. Desperately, I look around for a place I can escape to. Thankfully I spot a sign that said...

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“Dish of the Day” by Jed Cope

Submitted to Contest #162

“I don’t know what to have,” said Laura. “Is that usual for you?” asked Brad, peering over his menu at her. Laura lowered her menu further and smiled, “none of this is usual, is it?” Brad smiled at her, “depends how you look at it doesn’t it?” “OK,” she said, “it’s usual for you.” Brad shrugged, she was wrong, but he didn’t want to dissuade her from this notion, “under other circumstances,” he said, “are you often indecisive?” Now it was Laura’s turn to shrug. Brad wondered whether she realised that she had mirrored his own movem...

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“Lemon Cake” by Todor Frost

Submitted to Contest #162

I’ve been staring at this menu for the last five minutes. I don’t recognize any of the food items. They all seem like made-up words to me. There are no pictures either. I don’t know why James brought me to this restaurant. It’s my birthday today so he wanted to surprise me. I appreciate it, but he could have picked a better place. He went here last week with his coworkers and loved it. I really question his taste sometimes. There is nothing special about this place. All the walls have this disgusting brown color. The atmosphere is so depress...

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“Turkish Delight” by Trebor Mack

Submitted to Contest #162

“This menu looks interesting. I can’t understand most of it, so let us order the works and see how things pan out.” Jack handed the menu to Judy, who, after perusing the bill of fare, nodded in agreement. Jack and Judy were nearing the end of a Mediterranean cruise aboard the Sea Princess and enjoying a twenty-four-hour stoppage at the Cypriot port of Limassol. The young couple and most other passengers had opted for an off-ship excursion into the port’s city. As a result, Jack and Judy wandered the city’s streets until they came upon an ea...

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“Table No 4” by Gayathri Sampath

Submitted to Contest #162

Table No 4 The man opened the menu and buried himself in it while the server stood thrumming his pen on the notepad, waiting to take the order. It was midnight, half an hour more for the restaurant to close. His seniors had taught the server, a boy barely out of his teens, that it was better to hover around the customer’s table during the night shift and get them to order as quickly as possible. So he stood, shuffling his aching feet, looking at the clock and at the restaurant owner, hoping the man would show some signs of activity and pla...

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“Date Night” by Rowena Portch

Submitted to Contest #162

Some people touch our lives in ways they may never know. My wife was one of those beautiful souls that did so without even trying. It’s Tuesday night—date night. My heart is heavy as I weave past the dim, crowded room to our usual four-top table in the back corner, next to a crackling fireplace: a table we have occupied every Tuesday for the past 20 some years. I open the familiar menu, though I already know what to order. Salvatoré, the proprietor and Chef Extraordinaire, comes to greet me with a bright smile and an outstretch...

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“Cow” by Brooke Hayhurst

Submitted to Contest #162

I looked up the menu before leaving. I knew which combination plate I wanted and I knew how the waiter was going to feel serving it to me. Momma looked her head in the room and jiggled her eyes at me. I stood up and turned her way and she asked how I felt. I said nervous and grabbed my brush to run through my hair one more time. Because I sighed before I told her "nervous", she sighed before telling me she'd be in the car Momma dropped me off at La Poblanitas and it was his responsibility to bring me home safe. I asked the waitress if th...

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“Kiss and Kin” by Rachael S

Submitted to Contest #162

Marni looks down at her menu, which is slowly growing heavier in her clammy palms with each passing minute. She contemplates the purpose of such oversized, leather-bound menus. What are you trying to prove? I can’t imagine anyone comes to a restaurant, feels the weight of the menu, and thinks Oh, this restaurant can’t be that good. Feel how light this menu is! Imagine being someone with limited mobility or dexterity trying to hold this monstrosity. Not very inclusive of you, Chez Marc, she thinks as she waits silently for her guest to arrive...

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“Simpler Times” by CJ Pennington

Submitted to Contest #162

“The Big Belly Bustin Breakfast, Three Pancakes with your choice of bacon strips, sausage, or ham. And served with two eggs” He thinks about her eyes as he skims the sticky plastic pages of the menu . “Chicken and Waffles..” Her eyes shined a tigers eye shade of brown. The color almost matched her hair. He remembers her hair sometimes getting stuck on his clothes, and he would never be mad about it. It was just a beautiful reminder of her, how could he be mad about that? In fact he had some on the jacket he was wearing in th...

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“Three Cheers” by Mary Lehnert

Submitted to Contest #162

Bangers ‘n mash, mushy peas, I groaned, reading the menu chalked on the wallboard. Why can’t I get a fresh garden salad?“Peas are a pulse food, very good for you.” scolded my friend.“ I know, but don’t you grow lettuce in this country. “ Lettuce? lettuce is rabbit food.”The same age we’d met on enrollment day at LSE. Twenty years old from Oklahoma, my first time alone in London, my initial impression at the prestigious school was not going well.I’d like to register for the M-I-K-Elmas term, please.The thin gingery haired woman looked away, s...

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“Egg-Celent” by Claire McBride

Submitted to Contest #162

Alexandria’s tired eyes scanned the laminated menu, her fingers brushing against a sticky spot on the back. The darkness outside was countered only by a single hanging light above the table. Her stomach growled as she moved down the page, but this side only listed the drink options the small café had. A light slapping sound echoed in the booth as Alexandria flipped the menu. Again, her stomach rumbled, begging for food that she had not been able to eat since this morning. Elenore looked up at her from the other side of the booth, “See anyth...

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“Carnation Falls” by Daniel E Gagné

Submitted to Contest #162

Rachelle peared over the top of the diner menu at her newlywed husband Mathias. He was carefully reading the plethora of options to find some much needed breakfast. "See anything good?" Rachelle had already made up her mind on pancakes and breakfast sausages. He grinned and kept his eyes on the menu, "I'll let you know soon." It was a running joke that she was always first to decide about anything they did. After they were married, Rachelle and Mathias immediately left for the Canadian north to search for a legendary ghost town. ...

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“Uncle Al and the Wiseguy” by Kathryn Minicozzi

Submitted to Contest #162

Restaurants affect people. This was proved when Aunt Margie Alderson dragged her husband Albert, his sister Elmyra and me, Elmyra’s daughter Stacey, to Ristorante Vesuvio di Napoli. What should have been a pleasant evening turned into an adventure. Uncle Al is an easygoing guy with a boyish face and easy smile. He still has the wavy hair that used to make girls sigh, although it is now more gray than brown. He is tall, with a paunch that spills over the top of his waistband. His favorite outfit is an old Grateful Dead tee s...

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“Marcella & Me” by Kat A

Submitted to Contest #162

Marcella quickly looked at the menu, and then we decided to order our usual tiramisu, which we shared and two glasses of red wine. I first met Marcella while interviewing for a job she posted with NYU career services looking for assistance with typing her books for publication. It was the summer of 2000 and I just graduated from NYU, a confused 22 year old with a degree in my hand. We met at her Washington Square Village apartment and, after a few minutes, she hired me on the spot. Over the next 2 years, we worked togethe...

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“Someone from the other 99.99%” by Liv Valen

Submitted to Contest #162

Cobb salad is a dish best served... well, never, but it is the only option on the menu that might suggest that I'm health-conscious. At least this is what I read about a year ago in a Cosmopolitan article about first date orders that my ex-girlfriend forgot at my place after she broke up with me. I meant to look into it when I was freshly wounded and deeply hurt, in the hope of learning one thing or two about women. But all I found was sugar coated bullshit lies in made-up topics. Still up to this day I don’t understand why women read magazi...

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Start your story with someone looking at a restaurant menu.

Submissions are closed

✍️ 80 stories

“Step into the Light” by Sidra Jawad

“Dish of the Day” by Jed Cope

“Lemon Cake” by Todor Frost

“Turkish Delight” by Trebor Mack

“Table No 4” by Gayathri Sampath

“Date Night” by Rowena Portch

“Cow” by Brooke Hayhurst

“Kiss and Kin” by Rachael S

“Simpler Times” by CJ Pennington

“Three Cheers” by Mary Lehnert

“Egg-Celent” by Claire McBride

“Carnation Falls” by Daniel E Gagné

“Uncle Al and the Wiseguy” by Kathryn Minicozzi

“Marcella & Me” by Kat A

“Someone from the other 99.99%” by Liv Valen

🌟 Similar prompts

Write about a character whose love language is making food for others.

Write a story where a character’s life completely changes over the course of a meal.

Write a story in which too many cooks spoil the broth — literally or metaphorically.

Start your story with one character trying to convince another that they make the best grilled cheese in the world.

Contest #162

Enter our weekly contest!

$250

Prize money

234

Contest entries

97

Stories

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

Explore more writing prompt ideas: