I am very surprised that this is not an issue for others.

I have been out to dinner with my family to a chinese restaurant that is often on the best of list this weekend. Now I know that most patrons use chopsticks, but I have never managed the art and I have to keep my children from using them for sword fights, so forks are what we used. I would give this restaurant a 2 fork symbol. Although the forks looked old, they were not bent and only slightly tarnished with a slight metallic taste. They were however quite flimsy and not up to the task of cutting a potsticker.

I have also been out to Sizzler's in Mountain View. I would give them 2 1/2 forks, mainly because they did give each of us 2 forks and they were not tarnished. They were just as flimsy and although they were not bent, I feel that using them with steak or even chicken on the bone may have caused some damage. The soup spoons we had to use for our ice cream(they had run out at the ice cream bar) were also slightly tarnished and again had a metallic taste.

I would definitely prefer a nice stainless steel fork and spoon rather than plastic, however I must point out that the steak knives given to all of us were excellent even though we did not all need them for the food we were eating.

Had lunch in The Cantankerous Fish in Castro Street, Mountain View, and they had the most wonderful silverware I have used in a long time. The food was pretty good too.

While I'm on the subject, I should just mention that some restaurants have silverware that seems to shine when it is sitting in direct sunlight, and that this helps to add to the ambience of the meal. When candles are used, sometimes the silverware does not shine as brightly. I ate at Osteria the other night and my fork-- which otherwise performed superbly-- did not glimmer in the same way that my knife did.

This was certainly quite different from my brunch at Il Fornaio last weekend, when the fork and (especially) the spoon sparkled in the light sunlight coming in through the patio. It was quite refreshing, and it even made up (slightly) for the somewhat metallic taste of the spoon when I ate my sorbet.

Doing my one person silverware review again (although I really can't remember doing the last one or even eating at Osteria or Il Fornaio).

I had a meal at Olive Garden and although the service was excellent in all respects, we only received silverware for 2 instead of the 3 sitting at the table. This was solved by the fact that each napkin wrapped 2 forks so we were able to share. The silverware looked great, but one fork was really bent and misshapen. There was no sign of tarnish on any.

Have been to Chilis and found their forks OK, but don't ask for a knife as the one you get will cut a steak made out of dinosaur and is really a lethal weapon.

Have also been to Fresh Choice and their silverware is fine, though often still hot and wet from the dishwasher which can be said for the plates also. I have often found that their plates are not very clean and have to take a second. While we are at it, really miss the Fresh Choice at Stanford.