@Override
    public List<FoodCombo> getCurrentMenuChoices() throws RuntimeException {
        List<FoodCombo> items = new ArrayList<FoodCombo>();

        try {
            // Make sure you always open a connection before trying to
            // send commands to the database.            
            db.openConnection(FoodOrderDAO.DRIVER, FoodOrderDAO.URL, FoodOrderDAO.USER, FoodOrderDAO.PWD);

            String sql = "select * from menu_item order by item_name";
            List<Map> rawData = db.findRecords(sql, true);
            for (Map record : rawData) {
                FoodCombo item = new FoodCombo();
                String id = (record.get("name").toString());
                item.setName(id);
                String name = String.valueOf(record.get("description"));
                item.setDescription(name);
                Double price = Double.valueOf(record.get("price").toString());
                item.setPrice(price);
                items.add(item);
            }

            return items;

        } catch (IllegalArgumentException ex) {
            throw new RuntimeException(ex.getMessage(), ex);
        } catch (ClassNotFoundException ex) {
            throw new RuntimeException(ex.getMessage(), ex);
        } catch (SQLException ex) {
            throw new RuntimeException(ex.getMessage(), ex);
        } catch (Exception ex) {
            throw new RuntimeException(ex.getMessage(), ex);
        }
    }