Michael Ornelas

 
 
 
 
 

Michael Ornelas is the host of “Fine” Dining, the search for the most mediocre chain restaurant in America.

Describe “Fine” Dining 10 words.
A fun excuse to talk about the restaurants I love.

Who is the podcast for?
Fans of chain restaurants, fast food, and dining out in general. If you like shows with a comedic tilt that feature a different guest every week, and content that does a deep dive into franchise history before reviewing it from all angles (including the best and the worst of Yelp), “Fine” Dining will be your jam!

What do you hope listeners take away from your celebration of mid?
I am such a fan of the chains that I’m visiting for the show, but I also want us to have an honest conversation about them. They’re not the best. They’re familiar environments with bright, flashy signs out front where prepackaged frozen food is served to us by a wait staff that’s just trying to get through the day. And yet we keep coming back. I wanted to explore this abject mediocrity via a love letter to these places, while tracing back their origins to when they had the heart needed to catch on in the first place.

The concept of celebrating the average is really unique. Do you think this approach has influenced the way you view other aspects of life?
I think it’s made me more accepting of myself! I feel that as a 90s kid, I was constantly told I could do “great” things, but that pressure would make me feel disappointed when something I did was “just okay.” Reframing my mindset to celebrate mediocrity has truly made me more tolerant of others and more forgiving of my own inadequacies.

What’s been the most memorable or surprising dining experience on the podcast so far and why?
I spent 10 months on the waitlist for Casa Bonita, a big pink castle that mixes a theme park atmosphere with pretty average Mexican cuisine, and I finally got to go for my season 3 premiere (coming this November). Having been recently renovated by the creators of South Park, it was an overwhelmingly stimulating time. Magic shows, cliff divers, puppetry, a roaming Manbearpig gorilla mascot…it really highlighted the idea that making a successful restaurant is about the full experience it offers, and food is only a part of that.

“Fine” Dining features some incredibly fun sound design, including recurring theme songs and an ironically patriotic eagle sound effect. How did you come up with these elements, and what role do you think the sound design plays in the listener experience?
In school I wanted to be an orchestral percussionist, and I played piano for 15 years. Sound and music have always been a part of me, and I simply couldn’t resist the allure to mess around with the possibilities when making a podcast. I have a couple friends who are composers, who brilliantly turn my silly ideas into reality (my Olive Garden, Medieval Times, and Cracker Barrel episodes all have original songs in them). But then I discovered I could create soundscapes and add even more to the story I was crafting from these restaurants via audiodramas and skits (I recommend the Medieval Times or “TGI Friday the 13th” for the best examples of this). 

Your Septemburger series is back, with 8 burger chains battling it out in a single-elimination tournament. How can listeners join the fun and what inspired you to make this an interactive event?
I created a March Madness-style bracket to find the best burger in town! Septemburger is a tournament where 24 burgers from 8 different restaurants face off in a single-elimination contest. Listeners can fill out the bracket for a chance to win $500! You can find it on the homepage of my website or right here! Here are the first-round matchups:

  • Culver’s vs. Freddy’s Frozen Custard & Steakburgers

  • Steak ‘n Shake vs. Rally’s

  • In-N-Out vs. Whataburger

  • Shake Shack vs. White Castle

Listeners can hear the Septemburger Kick-Off episode on September 4th to get the first two match results free before brackets are due on the 10th.

If “Fine” Dining were a restaurant, what would be on the menu?
The complementary table bread would be the rolls from Texas Roadhouse or the rosemary Italian bread from Romano’s Macaroni Grill with olive oil

  • The Thai Crunch Salad from California Pizza Kitchen would be there to appear healthy

  • I’d definitely steal the Bloomin’ Onion from Outback Steakhouse for the appetizer because it’s actual perfection

  • On the side I’d go with the fries from Islands and the fried rice from Benihana

  • Entree options would be the Italian Beef Sandwich from Portillo’s, a pepperoni slice from Joe’s Pizza, a slider from Dave’s Hot Chicken, and literally any pancake from The Original Pancake House

  • And for dessert, there’s the standard Cinnabon, the Legendary Monster Cookie from Cheddar’s, and the Great Wall of Chocolate from P.F. Chang’s

Thanks, Michael!

 
Lauren Passell