Florida Dining Manners and Etiquette – What foods can you eat with your fingers and how to know when it is OK?
Picnics, barbecues, and fast-food restaurants are all prime candidates for finger foods, while more upscale restaurants, weddings, etc. are not. Another clue is the messiness factor. If the food is sauced, has gravy, or is loaded with toppings, choose your fork.
A few examples:
Asparagus
Fingers when served on a separate side plate with a dipping sauce
Fork when it’s served on a dinner plate and already sauced.
Bacon
Fingers when it’s crispy and would break into little pieces if you tried to cut it
Fork when it’s limp, thick, greasy, or already in pieces.
Chicken
Fingers or Fork when it’s fried. In the South, fingers are the norm.
Fork when it’s broiled, baked, roasted, or covered with sauce or gravy.
French Fries
Fingers when served with a sandwich or other finger food.
Fork when served as part of a main meal that’s eaten with a fork.
Fork when the fries are covered with gravy or ketchup.
Pizza
Fingers when the pizza can be picked up without too much mess.
Fork when it’s gooey or has lots of toppings.
In either case, use your fork to eat any of the toppings that fall to your plate.
Shrimp
Fingers when served in a bowl or platter with a dip, or tail-on in the shrimp
cocktail.
Fork when served tail-less in a shrimp cocktail or as a main course.
Tacos
Fingers when the taco is crispy.
Fork when the taco is soft, unless it has little sauce and can be eaten neatly.
As with pizza, use your fork to eat any filling that falls to the plate.
