Isaac Brekken / AP

Denny's Chief Marketing Officer, Frances Allen, and newlywed couple Steven Keller and Nancy Keller pose for photos following Denny's on Fremont's first wedding ceremony on April 3, 2013 in Las Vegas.

Can’t decide which you love more — your honey or maple syrup? If you’re in Las Vegas, you’re in luck. Behind its bright-yellow, abstract facade, the Denny’s restaurant in the Neonopolis district on Fremont Street (a short drive from the Strip) that opened last November is now accepting bookings for its in-house wedding chapel.  

Given that other fast food-lover lovers have gotten hitched at White Castle, McDonald’s, Taco Bell and KFC, the idea of a chain diner carving out space for weddings — especially in Las Vegas, epicenter of quirky wedding themes — might not be as strange as it sounds.

The company says it’s had “many inquiries” from others who want to pledge their eternal love over a Lumberjack Slam or Moons Over My Hammy.

An Iowa bride and groom were the first to tie the knot earlier this week.

Isaac Brekken / AP

Nancy and Steven Keller toast following their wedding ceremony.

For $95, couples get a bottle of champagne, a Pancake Puppie wedding cake (Denny’s answer to the cake-pop trend) and “Just Married” T-shirts. Unfortunately for bacon lovers, Denny’s says it currently has no plans to turns its caramel-bacon brownie sundae or bacon-stuffed caramel French toast into wedding cake.

The package doesn’t include a photographer, but the celebrants can commemorate their special day in the restaurant’s photo booth. And this Denny’s has a full bar, so guests can toast the newlyweds with something stronger than a maple bacon milkshake. Maybe the Grand Slamosa — a mimosa with Grand Mariner — would fit the bill.

What the Grand Slam Breakfast has joined, let no one separate.

Most big chain restaurants now put nutrition information – calories, fat and sodium – on their menus and websites. But just how accurate are these numbers? Does the meal you’re served match the nutritional profile promised?

Consumer Reports decided to find out. For its May issue, the magazine’s secret shoppers went to a dozen well-known restaurants and fast-food chains, from Applebee’s to Wendy’s, and ordered 17 different items. They tested the same item from three restaurants in each chain.

The good news: In most cases, the published information was accurate.

“We found that you can usually trust the figures you see,” said editor Leslie Ware. “On average, most of them were telling the truth.”

Only two of the 17 dishes Consumer Reports analyzed in the lab had a fat or calorie count that was higher than promised at all three locations.

Olive Garden’s Lasagna Primavera with Grilled Chicken was supposed to have 420 calories and 15 grams of fat. The samples the magazine tested had 508 to 585 calories and 25 to 32 grams of fat. That’s more than the 20 percent variance that’s generally considered acceptable with nutrition information.

The company told TODAY it takes great care to provide accurate nutrition information. In an email, Olive Garden explained that an error had been made in the initial testing of the entree when it was introduced last October.

“As soon as we caught this error, we retested the dish… and updated the nutritional information on our website with the new data in late December,” the email said. “Unfortunately, though, the information was not updated everywhere and one page on our website still contained the old nutritional data. We have since corrected this, too.”  

Olive Garden told TODAY that Consumer Reports never contacted them to confirm the numbers and did not give them an opportunity to respond.

“If they had, we would have been able to provide them with accurate data,” they said.

Consumer Reports' tests also showed the Chicken on the Barbie at Outback Steakhouse had more fat than advertised. The website claim was 7 grams of fat. The magazine’s analysis showed 10 to 13 grams.

"Nutritional information on our website has been verified by a recognized independent laboratory,” said Outback spokesperson Cathie Koch in an email to TODAY. “Our food is made from scratch daily using fresh ingredients. The variance in the report may be due to a larger container of sauce used for Take-Away."

This is not an exact science
Obviously, the calorie and fat content of the food you are served will not be exactly the same as what’s advertised on the menu or company website, but it should be in the ballpark.

That was not always the case with Denny’s Fit Slam breakfast. At two of the three locations Consumer Reports visited, the Fit Slam generally matched the advertised claim of 390 calories and 12 grams of fat. But at the third location, it was way off the mark: 494 calories and 19 grams of fat.

In a statement, Denny's said that it had not reviewed Consumer Reports' findings.

"Our goal is for each of our menu items to be created identically each time they are prepared," the statement said. "However, because all of Denny's food is prepared fresh and made to order by an individual cook, every dish is unique, including the exact portion size and the precise formulation or ingredient ratios. We recognize the importance of providing our guests with as accurate nutritional information as possible and will continue to do so.”

The National Restaurant Association says its members take extensive measures to make sure the nutritional information they provide customers is as accurate as possible. 

“But there are variations due to portion size and individual restaurant preparation, as well as the inherent variability of the food itself,” noted Joy Dubost, director of Nutrition at the National Restaurant Association.

The numbers will also be off if the portion size of the meal you’re served varies significantly from what is on the menu.

Consumer Reports found that serving sizes at the same chain “ran the gamut” from location to location.  For example, the Fettuccine Alfredo at the three Olive Garden restaurants visited weighed roughly 14 to 22 ounces.

The editors said portion sizes also “varied widely” at Applebee’s, Denny’s and Red Lobster.

National menu labeling on the way
Menu labeling is required in California and Vermont, and in a few major cities: New York City, Seattle and Philadelphia. It will soon be mandatory at chain restaurants – those with 20 or more locations – nationwide.

The Food and Drug Administration is expected to issue rules about nutrition labeling by this fall. They would take effect in late 2014.

 “Over time, this will help people make more informed choices and cut calories,” said Margo Wootan, director of nutrition policy at the Center for Science in the Public Interest. “And just as importantly, it provides an incentive for the restaurants to reformulate their items.”

YouGov

The reputation of Papa John's, Applebee's and Denny's took a hit after high-ranking representatives came out against Obamacare.

The brand perception of Papa John's, Applebee's and Denny's took a beating after high-ranking representatives of the companies said Obamacare would force them to stop building restaurants, cut worker hours and raise prices.

After the comments, on a scale from 100 (totally positive) to -100 (totally negative), Papa John's score fell from 32 to 4, Applebee's score fell from 35 to to 5, and Denny's went from 10 to zero, then back to 6, according to a new survey.

Along with everyone else, the casual dining restaurant sector has been struggling to cope with the effects of the economic downturn. For example, Darden Restaurants, which operates Olive Garden, Red Lobster and LongHorn Steakhouse, on Tuesday lowered financial expectations, sending shares down 10.7 percent. Prior to that the company had been leading the industry.

In October, Darden experimented with using more part-time employees in an effort to avoid Obamacare costs. A flurry of negative media coverage ensued. On Thursday the company will announce that it won't be reducing any full-time employees to part-time status. The company cited the bad publicity around its workforce tests, along with promotions that weren't working, when it lowered its profit outlook for the year on Tuesday.

The reputation results come from an online YouGov BrandIndex survey of 5,000 adults 18+ who had eaten at casual dining restaurants in the past month. The survey asked respondents if they've heard anything in the last two weeks positive or negative about the brand and gives a score from 100 to -100. A score of zero means equally positive and negative feedback.

While correlation is not causation, there was a noted dropoff in the BrandIndex scores after the company figures made remarks about how the Affordable Care Act -- or Obamacare -- was going to hurt their business.

For instance, Papa John's founder John Schnatter estimated in an August 1 earnings call that Obamacare costs would add $.11 to $.14 in costs to every pizza.

"Let's say fuel goes up, which it does from time to time, and we have to raise delivery charges," said Schnatter in the Aug. 1 earnings call. "We don't like raising delivery charges, but the price of fuel is out of our control, as is Obamacare. So if Obamacare is, in fact, not repealed, we will find tactics to shallow out any Obamacare costs. And, of course, strategies to pass that cost onto consumers in order to protect our shareholders' best interest."

In November, Schnatter told a college class that he supposed Papa John's franchises would decide to cut worker hours to avoid paying health insurance. Under the Affordable Care Act, employers have to provide health insurance for employees working over 30 hours a week or face fines.

Reached for comment, Papa John's told TODAY that Papa John's franchises are independently owned and operated and decisions about hiring and wages were up to individual franchise owners. Andrew Varga, chief marketing officer of Papa John’s, told TODAY the publicized YouGov BrandIndex findings "were contradicted by the results of BrandIndex’s own general population study which showed a significant improvement in reputational scores" for the pizza chain.

Despite the drubbing the brand has taken in the press and social media following Schnatter's remarks, which Lance Tucker, Papa John's CFO told TODAY have been "misquoted and mis-reported," the company said "there is also no change in its current positive sales or earnings guidance."

CEO of an Applebee's franchise running 40 Applebee's restaurants, Zane Tankel, caught flack after he told Fox Business News that the Affordable Care Act would cost millions and force them to stop building restaurants. Voice and email messages left for Tankel were not returned.

Denny's franchise owner in West Palm Beach, Fla., John Metz, told the Huffington Post that Obamacare would force him to charge each customer 5 percent extra to offset the costs. Per company instructions on this issue, calls to Met'z franchisor headquarters were referred to an external PR firm, which did not return a request for comment.

Both Applebee'sand Denny's released statements saying they while they respected the free speech rights of their franchise owners, the comments by Tankel and Metz did not reflect corporate opinions or positions.

Mary Ellen Muckerman, head of strategy at international brand consultancy Wolff Olins, told TODAY that "Franchises are just as close to the brand as the corporate parents." Political statements per se are not forbidden, but the question is, "are the statements consistent with the overall brand purpose?" said Muckerman.

Luke Kachersky, Director of Research at The Center for Positive Marketing at Fordham University, told TODAY, "Modern branding has shifted from positioning in terms of brand benefits to positioning in terms of values. The reason for this change, ostensibly, is that sharing values with your customers opens up an avenue toward a more authentic and enduring relationship."

Brand experts say that when the brand communication is inconsistent with its core principals, the brand is subject to flux, diminishment -- or even erasure. That can lead to the consumer's brand preferences to getting plucked off by another stronger, more confident brand, and a decline in sales.

"A brand is just a collection of ideas," Barbara Findlay Schenck, author of "Branding for Dummies," told TODAY.  "When suddenly the brand message shifted to political stances, bottom line prices, price increases and staff cutbacks, the inconsistency rocked brand strength, confidence, and preference."

The hottest club in many suburban towns across America will soon be a Club Applebee's. That's right, starting at 10 p.m., the family-oriented casual dining chain will turn down the lights, pump up the bass, and clear away the cocktail tables to open up the dance floor. 

This is seriously a real thing that is really happening. 

Indeed, “Club Bee's” will have live DJ's, ladies' nights, karaoke, luau, food and drink specials, and all the “Call Me Maybe” covers you can shake a buffalo wing at.

At some of the franchises in Florida, where the concept first started when some franchise owners noticed a younger crowd hanging out towards the end of the night and downing drinks, even have “white” parties. The restaurant hangs white sheets everywhere and patrons are encouraged to sport white colored clothing. Employees then turn on the blacklights to give every surface an ultraviolet glow. 

“This is a pretty good vibe, I'm not gonna lie,” one happy Club Applebee's customer told TODAY reporters when they went to check out the scene. 

“We've come here after ten on Wednesday's for Girl's Night, it's pretty good, I must say I enjoy it,” Analia Fernandez, who normally dines at the chain during the day with her 10-year-old brother, told TODAY's Janet Shamlian. 

“I would definitely come back, this is my second Thursday in a row,” said another. 

What's next? Raves at Dairy Queen? 

The chain hasn't released figures but says so far it's making money. Boozy beverages are the most profitable items on the menu. In a down economy, businesses have to get creative to raise revenue, and regular folks are looking to get down and forget their troubles on the cheap. But how will the raucous vibe play against Applebee's traditional family-friendly and work casual atmosphere?

The chain of some 2,000 franchise locations isn't worried. "Families are a huge part of the business, even for the franchisees that have a strong bar business," Brian Masilionis, senior manager-beverage at Applebee's, told Advertising Age. "Staying open later allows us to have more fun things later at night when kids are in bed. Historically, we may have had more confusion with guests when we closed earlier." 

It's true. When I went to a conference this summer and got back the hotel on the highway strip at a 9:30 p.m., I scratched my head why I couldn't get some food at either the Applebee's or the other restaurants on either side of where I was staying. 

Still, it sounds like an Onion headline. So much so that last year the satirical publication ran a fake news segment on how the chain was trying to drum up business by encouraging hipsters to visit the chain “ironically.” 

The tagline in the fake ad was “Wouldn't it be funny to go to Applebee's?” But judging by the footage and testimonials, the late-night revelers are saying to each other, “Wouldn't it be fun?” 

So while at first blush it all sounds pretty ridiculous, in the suburban towns where Applebee's are frequently found, nightlife options are not. 

“I could see this being hip in some of the burbs by me. I live 20 miles away from downtown and there are no night clubs nearby,” one online commenter wrote . “Plenty of Applebee's, though.”

Getty Images stock

The New York Post reports that some waiters expect a standard tip of 25 percent. What do you think?

It’s a question we all face – what’s a reasonable tip for your waiter? After all, the last thing you want is to get on the bad side of the person who handles your food.

According to the New York Post, tips may be adding a bigger chunk to your bill.  Waiters in Manhattan now want a 25 percent tip, and some New York City restaurants that print “suggested gratuities” even present 30 percent as an option, the paper reports.

It’s not just wishful thinking – waiters are starting to get it. A study by Cornell University consumer behavior professor Michael Lynn, who examined 9,000 credit card receipts from a Poughkeepsie, N.Y. restaurant, found that more than a third of diners left tips greater than 20 percent.

The latest rise in percentage, a phenomenon that author Steve Dublanica dubbed “tip creep,” may only be limited to New York, however. A thread on Chowhound.com suggests that 20 percent is standard, although some gourmands are willing to pay 25 percent or even more for exceptional service, and knock gratuity down to 15 percent for sub-par attendance.

The 20 percent standard seems to apply to most places in the U.S., if the tipping threads on restaurant review site Yelp are representative. In threads from the Chicago, Boston, Los Angeles and D.C. Yelp. communities, most people said they tipped 15-20 percent, with a few people noting that they occasionally liked to tip more, at local places and places with cheaper food, if service was awesome, or because their own experiences waiting table helped them relate to their server.

Wait staff rely on tips, since tipped employees may be paid less, as low as $2.15 per hour according to federal law, although state law sometimes sets these minimum wages higher.

The phenomenon of tip creep has plagued restaurant-goers for generations. Over the last 94 years, the acceptable tip rate increased from 10 percent of the bill to 20 percent. In the late 1890s, the growing practice of restaurant tipping was a hot topic, with many customers strenuously objecting. Case in point, the reader who, in a November 1899 letter to the New York Times editor, dubbed the practice, “a species of blackmail.”

By 1918, tipping wasn’t blackmail, it was a standard 10 percent, according to a Sept. 1, 1918 article in the New York Times. Almost fifty years later, in 1965, another Times writer proclaimed, “most Americans are accustomed to tipping on the basis of 10 to 20 percent, with 15 percent being the most generally used figure.”

Nowadays, 15 percent isn’t an average tip – it’s a way of registering displeasure with the service.

And if the New York Post is right, the rate is flying higher than the current 20 percent. What do you usually tip for a meal? Would you go as high as 30 percent for great service?

Lizzie Stark lives in New Jersey and is the author of "Leaving Mundania."  Though she's never waited tables herself, many of her friends have, so she never tips less than 18 percent.

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Some of America's best-known family restaurants, including Friendly's and Johnny Rockets, received among the lowest ratings in a new Consumer Reports survey of full-service chain restaurants.

The reader survey, which Consumer Reports released Thursday, faulted Friendly's for poor service and ambience. Johnny Rockets received just average scores for everything from value to taste, as did peers including Denny's and IHOP.

Biaggi’s Ristorante Italiano, a smaller Italian chain with 23 outlets in a dozen mostly Midwestern states, was the highest-ranked restaurant overall, outscoring bigger competitors in a crowded category.

“(It costs) more than the Olive Garden, but it’s a heck of a lot better than Olive Garden,” said Tod Marks, senior project editor with Consumer Reports.

Biaggi’s had a median tab of $23 per diner excluding tip, according to the survey, while Olive Garden had a median price of $18.

Biaggi's

A Biaggi's outlet in Ridgeland, Miss. The chain of 23 restaurants was started in 1999.

Other top scorers included J. Alexander, in the contemporary or traditional American category, Bonefish Grill for seafood and Abuelo's Mexican Food Embassy. In the steakhouse category, The Capital Grille, Ruth's Chris Steak House and Morton's ranked at the top and were also the most expensive chain restaurants in the survey, with a median tab of $42 per person. (Possibly a conservative estimate, especially for the expense- account set that frequents these chains.)

Still, some lower-priced chains also were very popular with readers. The breakfast and lunch chain First Watch, with a median price of $10 per diner, got especially high marks for taste and service and ranked first among family-style restaurants. The Original Pancake House and Le Peep also got high marks among family restaurants. (See top-10 list below.)

Some pricier chains, including Chart House and The Melting Pot, got relatively low marks compared to their peers, partly because readers didn’t think they offered good value.

In general, “just because a restaurant has a high price point doesn’t mean it’s doing a good job,” Marks said.

The survey asked more than 47,000 readers to rank sit-down chains on taste, value, service and mood. The results were broken down in categories including steakhouses, family restaurants, Italian and pub-style restaurants.

Marks noted that it’s hard to compare restaurants across categories because people have different expectations when they go to a steakhouse than when they go to a family-style diner.

Still, they’ll be equally annoyed if they have a bad experience at any price point.

“People can spend $27 on a steak dinner and not think they get very good value for that money, yet people can also … go to a restaurant like Friendly’s and spend less than $10 and think they got even worse value,” he said.

Noise and poor service topped the list of reader gripes. About a quarter of readers complained about the noise at chain restaurants, and 1 in 10 were annoyed with bad service.

Readers were especially disappointed by the noise level at Buffalo Wild Wings Grill & Bar, which ranked lowest overall in the pub and grill category. Hard Rock Café also was among the lower-rated restaurants in that category.

Other less popular restaurants included Joe’s Crab Shack, which received the lowest ranking in the seafood category.

Although some restaurants were rated as weaker than others, Marks noted that most of them are pleasing most of their customers most of the time. If they weren’t, they would be out of business.

Here's a list of the top 10 family restaurants. The full results for all categories are available on Consumer Reports' website.

1. First Watch
2. The Original Pancake House
3. Le Peep
4. Bob Evans
5. The Egg & I
6. Elmer's
7. Bakers Square
8. Cracker Barrel
9. Village Inn
10. Black Bear Diner

Read more: Survey: The country's favorite pizza topping is... 
9-year-old food blogger to overhaul school lunches with celeb chef 
How to order from the secret menu at Chinese restaurants 

Salad is good for you. That’s why it’s the first item in the buffet line. Not.

Plantingmoneyseeds.com passes along a list of four tricks restaurants use to get more money out of each customer. And cheaping out is well represented, both by the salad and the size of straws they use for non-boozers.

Are you paying too much? Fight back!

Another category is "menu engineering." Although slapping “new” in front of an item hardly seems like bridge building.

Have you worked in the hospitality industry? What tricks did management have you employ? 

Andrew Gombert / EPA

Chain restaurants are faring better than indepdendents lately.

Think of the last time you went out to eat, and be honest: Did you chow down at a favorite locally owned haunt, or opt for the familiarity of a chain restaurant?

A new report from market researchers NPD Group finds that overall, Americans are eating out less than  few years ago, as the weak economy has caused people to cut back on such splurges. Total restaurant visits have fallen every year since 2008, from 62.7 billion restaurant visits that year to 60.6 billion in 2011.

The cutbacks have hit mom-and-pop restaurants much harder than chains. The NPD Group data shows that independent restaurants now account for 27 percent of restaurant visits, down from 28 percent in 2008.

When business falls, closures are inevitable. Although the number of independent restaurants increased slightly between 2008 and 2009, many independent restaurateurs have since had to throw in the towel.

In the past two years, NPD reports that the number of independent restaurants in the U.S. has fallen by 8,652. In that same two-year period, the number of chain restaurants has increased by 1,750.

AP

Before you think that your pithy, self-referential online review will bring down (“I said THREE CHERRIES in my Appletini — this place haz Worst. Service. Evar.”)  or completely make (“They offered this delight! It’s called sushi! I’ve never had it before! Tasty!!!) your local restaurant, a Harvard Business School student has some facts for you.

Writer Michael Luca looked at how Yelp.com reviews affect the bottom line in Seattle-area restaurants. It turns out that unverified rantings really do matter. From the abstract:

1. A one-star increase picks up revenue 5 to 9 percent.
2. Unless you’re a chain restaurant.
3. Where Yelp penetration increases, chains lose market share.

Read the entire article here. Then make your comments on it that are sure to influence other readers below.

Shout-out to Eater Seattle for bringing it to our attention.

Oh, ick. Human beings have always been capable of some pretty slimy behavior, but a recent story out of New York is seriously disheartening -- in part because of the kinds of people who are being so slimy.

The New York Post just highlighted numerous accounts of older, well-heeled patrons -- including at least one millionaire -- who brazenly skip out on their restaurant checks. They’ve become highly skilled in the art of “dine and dash” -- also known, according to the article, as “lick and split” and “chew and screw.”

The number of people getting busted doing this has jumped nearly 20 percent in the past year, according to the New York Police Department. Of course, that statistic doesn’t include all the people who get away with it.

The ruses being used by well-dressed, professional-looking people know no bounds. Some step outside to smoke and then saunter off. Others pretend to be taking unruly children outside for a moment. Still others say with embarrassment that they’ve forgotten their wallets at home and promise to return right away -- and never do.

Especially slick patrons leave cell phones, purses, coats and credit cards at their tables -- but the items in question are often stolen, dead, maxed out or generally worthless. Another move: Disputing a whopping credit-card charge -- often over $1,000 or so -- after the fact. Restaurants often lose such battles and have to eat the bills.

The 50-something millionaire referenced in the article justified his actions thusly: “You know what? When I’m done with my meal and I’m ready to go, I walk out. And if the server isn’t paying attention, I walk away. If they’re interested in me or my money, they’ll pay attention.”

Okaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay. But here’s a quick question for you, millionaire: Where’s your moral compass?

Skipping out on a restaurant check may seem convenient, even clever, to some, but the consequences are painful for hardworking waiters and other restaurant employees who hustle and toil hour after hour on their feet. Most waiters rely on tips to supplement very low hourly wages, and they have to tip out hosts, bussers, runners and bartenders from the tip money they receive.

Read the full story for yourself and see what you think. If you have the stomach for it, that is.