restaurants

People--supermodels, mostly--often stop me in the street and say, "Rick, your tech deals are insanely awesome, but what about food? Surely finding all those bargains makes you hungry?"

Then I say, "Yes, but don't call me 'Shirley,'" and they shake their heads sadly, having realized that bloggers are just as unfunny in person as they are online.

Anyhoo, it being Friday and all, I thought I'd take a tech break and serve up some cheap eats you can score this weekend:

A Google Earth interactive Web site called North Korea Economy Watch not only sheds light on that country's economic, military, and cultural infrastructure, but also maps some of its darkest secrets.

The site is intended as a resource for business, policy makers, academics, journalists and others interested in the North Korean economy, according to founding editor Curtis Melvin. Academic in nature, it shies away from editorializing on hot potatoes issues like the manufacturing of nuclear weapons, and starving peasants.

But it's all there for viewers to form their own conclusions. Palatial mansions and vast compounds for Kim Jong … Read more

Short of visiting every drive-in and independent fast-food joint within a 50-mile radius of your house, I am not quite sure how you could amass a collection of those iconic food-serving baskets. Sure you could order from a restaurant supply store, but do you really need a case of baskets? Probably not. It might be in your best interest to forgo the swiping of restaurant-related accessories, and just pick up your own small batch of Burger Baskets & Liners via Sur La Table.

Now that we are officially in the grilling season, we are all going to spend more time … Read more

OpenTable was the special of the day on Wall Street on Thursday.

The restaurant-reservation company's stock soared on its first day of trading on Nasdaq, gaining nearly 60 percent to close at $31.89 after selling 3 million shares at $20 a share during its initial public offering Wednesday. Nearly 5 million shares changed hands, trading as high as $35.50.

OpenTable's stock performance is the biggest first-day gain for an IPO since energy-management systems firm Orion Energy Systems gained 65 percent in its debut in December 2007, according to IPO research firm Renaissance Capital.

OpenTable's revenue … Read more

Online restaurant reservation provider OpenTable is getting ready to go public.

According to a release, the company will price its initial public offering at $20 per share.

But a share price doesn't tell you the whole story about a company. Whether you're thinking about investing in OpenTable, or you simply want to see why the company's executives believe that it has a good chance to be successful on the Nasdaq, there's no better way to find out than to look at its current state of operations.

Profits (or no?) According to its latest SEC filing, OpenTable earned $16 million in revenue during the three months ended March 31. During the same period in 2008, it earned $13.2 million in revenue. For the first quarter of 2009, the company generated a profit of $366,000. Last year, it lost $87,000.

Annually, OpenTable hasn't fared so well. According to its 2008 income statement, the company lost $1.02 million on revenue of $55.8 million. In 2007, the company generated a profit of $9.2 million on $41 million in revenue. That said, its profit was the result of a $9 million tax benefit. It lost $856,000 on operations in 2008 before it incurred that benefit.… Read more

NEW YORK--Goat cheese is the new black. Introducing goat cheese cheesecake, asserted the Twitter account for a Manhattan food outlet called the Dessert Truck one morning in April, a few hours before it opened up shop at its semi-regular haunt on the corner of St. Mark's Place and Third Avenue.

The Dessert Truck is usually in good company. Walk out of the Astor Place subway station into Cooper Square, the gateway to the St. Mark's and Bowery nightlife strips, and depending on the time of day you can buy a cup of coffee, an order of Thai chicken, … Read more

Hungry? Like to dine out? Restaurant.com normally lets you buy $25 gift certificates for $10, but right now you can scoop them up for just $3 apiece. Simply enter coupon code SAVE when you get to the shopping cart.

Anyone familiar with Restaurant.com knows there are usually a few small strings attached, like a minimum food or drink purchase. However, it's not like you have to order a case of wine or anything. And you can print the coupon right on your own printer: It's immediately ready for use.

A few months back I used one … Read more

Crave UK recently went for dinner at Inamo restaurant in London, where interactive touch-sensitive tables take your order. Each table has an overhead projector and a mouse trackpad, so your dining surface is effectively a PC monitor. You can customize your "tablecloth," play a video game against your companion, and order a taxi to get you home.

When you're ready to order, you can browse the menu, with each dish projected onto your place setting. When you've chosen, you can even see a live Webcam feed of your chef at work. The restaurant's founders say … Read more

E-readers are all the rage (this week at least), so it should come as no surprise that another e-reader story is appearing on Crave.

Tech-On reports that Fujitsu is currently conducting a test of the Kindle-like Flepia mobile information terminal in Tokyo at the Termina Kinshicho Fujiya Restaurant.

The test is being conducted as a joint venture between SoftBank Telecom and Mainichi Newspapers.

Customers of the restaurant will be able to use the Flepia's (maybe Flepia is the plural?) to browse newspapers and advertisements wirelessly sent to the terminals.

Accoring to Tech-ON, the companies will verify whether the … Read more