As with many aspects of life, there are choices you can always count on. And food selection on a menu is no different. It's similar to the concept of the safety school for colleges. You apply, knowing full well that you're going to get accepted. I think this concept can be applied to restaurants and the food selection.
No matter what type of restaurant it is, it's seems like I have a "safety" to go to for various cuisine. For example, tonight, I went to Cebollas, a Mexican restaurant and my safety choice was chicken quesadilla. For American-Chinese restaurant, I usually choose beef-broccoli. For American restaurants, you can usually safely go with a burger. I usually go with the safeties in my first visit to a restaurant, while the next visit is usually something different. But it is usually safe to assume that my safety foods will be decent, if not, the restaurant isn't probably of great quality. It's a great method in comparing restaurant based on a standard dish. But a recommendation of a specific dish by someone may convince me to break this habit.