Rule #1: Suprise yourself

I've eaten at Brittain's pasta line a handful of times. However, the first few times I was disappointed--what I got was fairly tasteless. Then, I had an idea.

Imagine being the cook that has to make hundreds of plates of pasta every day. The vast majority of people plain and simple don't have the cooking knowledge to know what spices and sides create the variety of tastes possible, so you're stuck making hundreds of boring dishes. Deep inside, you're yearning to say, "Wait, let me add a touch of this and a bit of that" but your cries are unanswered. If only you could somehow get to express the talent you have for making a great pasta dish with flavor.

This all flashed through my mind as I walked up to the counter.

"What do you want?"
"Add whatever spices or extras you want--make me something good!"

The first time I did this, I got a slightly quizzical look, but walked away with a very tasty dish. The second time, she recognized me and looked forward to making me something unique--this time I specified I wanted Alfredo sauce, and came away with another fabulous dish.

I highly recommend trying this--it's awesome to see their reaction, and they love the challenge. Best of all, you get flavorful food!