Top Secret Restaurant Recipes - by Todd Wilbur (Paperback)

About the Book

In 1996, Americans spent over $100 billion gobbling up meals at full-service American restaurant chains. Wilbur's collection of knock-off recipes for 110 of the most popular of these dishes--absolutely indiscernible from the originals--includes fare from Red Lobster, Pizza Hut, The Olive Garden, Chi-Chi's, and many others. 65 illustrations.

Book Synopsis

#1 bestselling Top Secret Recipes series with more than 4 million books sold!

Every year, Americans spend billions of dollars gobbling up meals at full-service restaurant chains, inspiring Todd Wilbur to change his focus from cracking the recipes for convenience store foods to cloning the popular dishes served at these sit-down stand-bys. Wilbur's knock-offs, absolutely indiscernible from the originals, are selected from national and regional chains, many drawn from a list of the top ten full-service restaurant chains, including Houlihan's, Red Lobster, and Pizza Hut. Also included in this savory cookbook is a special section devoted to dishes from hot theme restaurants such as Hard Rock Cafe, Planet Hollywood, and Dive! Recipes include: Applebee's Quesadillas; Denny's Moons Over My Hammy; Bennigan's Cookie Mountain Sundae; The Olive Garden Toscana Soup; The Cheesecake Factory Bruschetta; T.G.I.Friday's Nine-Layer Dip; Pizza Hut Original Stuffed Crust Pizza; Chi-Chi's Nachos Grande, and many more!

From the Back Cover

It's no longer necessary to stand in line for a table at T.G.I. Friday's or Red Lobster. You can make the menu items you love right at home - with ingredients from your local supermarket. In this unique cookbook Todd Wilbur re-creates more than 100 signature dishes from America's most popular chain restaurants - including such hot theme eateries as the Hard Rock Cafe, Planet Hollywood, and Dive!. Wilbur's easy-to-make knockoffs, the products of years of research, are indiscernible from the originals - and the most ingenious way we know of to cut down on the cost of eating out. But watch out, once you start cooking, people may start calling for reservations at your dinner table! Here are some of the best-kept restaurant secrets that let you eat in with the great taste of eating out: Outback Steakhouse Bloomin' Onion, Chili's Fajitas for Two, Tony Roma's World Famous Ribs, T.G.I. Friday's Potato Skins, Pizza Hut Original Stuffed Crust Pizza, and Sizzler Southern Fried Shrimp. Plus you'll find out the fascinating history of each restaurant and loads of food lore...including how ice cream sundaes got their name. The perfect cookbook for everyone who loves to eat out.

Review Quotes

Praise for Todd Wilbur's #1 bestselling Top Secret Recipes series

"[Wilbur's] problem isn't that the recipes he's devised aren't good enough, it's that they're too good."--Entertainment Weekly

"There is something magically compelling about the idea of making such foods at home...The allure is undeniable, and [the books are] stuffed with tidbits and lore you're unlikely to find anywhere else. These probably come as close as you can get to the original recipes."--Boston Herald

"This is the cookbook to satisfy all your cravings."--Juli Huss, author of The Faux Gourmet

"The recipes are easy to follow and... by preparing your own versions of restaurant meals you will almost always save money."--Arizona Daily Star

"[Wilbur's] recipes use everyday supermarket ingredients to bring brand-name foods to the home kitchen. Perhaps not surprisingly, his recipes are not complex. If anything, they reflect how easy home cooking can be."--Star Tribune (Minneapolis--St. Paul)

"The assignment: Find out how to make the tasty Jack Daniels Grill Sauce used by T.G.I. Friday's restaurants. The client: Oprah Winfrey. The gumshoe: Todd Wilbur. Mission Impossible for even the most savvy food expert. But not so for Todd Wilbur, a crackerjack culinary sleuth."--Pocono Record

"Many of [Wilbur's] dishy imitations come, like a box of Cracker Jacks, with a surprise inside."--Mademoiselle

About the Author

For more than 25 years, Todd Wilbur has been reverse-engineering America's most iconic foods for his series of 11 Top Secret Recipes cookbooks. With over 5 million books in print, the self-proclaimed "food hacker" has appeared in over 100 media outlets including The New York Times, People Magazine, Newsweek, The Daily News, Entertainment Weekly, The Oprah Winfrey Show, The Today Show, Good Morning America, Fox & Friends, The Dr. Oz Show, and The Food Network. His website www.TopSecretRecipes.com is the #1 copycat recipes website with 1 million visitors every month. He lives with his family in Las Vegas, NV.