Randy and I had an official date night last night. The first one in more than a year! I was elated to get dressed up, make a dinner reservation, and have a quiet meal with my husband where the kids were not the main topic of discussion. I had such a hard time believing we'd pull it off I couldn't relax until we showed up at Millwood Church to drop off the kids, thinking the parents night out event could have been canceled.
I tried making reservations at Mister B's but they were booked with 89 reservations last night. We decided to try a restaurant we have never been to since we heard they have great steaks. We walked in and I was surprised by the atmosphere, it made Chili's look like an upscale restaurant, but I didn't judge. I was hoping for some ambiance during our meal since I was planning on a steak dinner. Soon after we sat down we were approached by a bubbly, adorable waitress ready for our drink order so I grabbed the drink menu which included 100 beer options and several wine options. After she shuffled off with our drink order I opened the menu and nearly choked at the prices. I was even more so disappointed by the lack of choices. If I hadn't already ordered a glass of wine I would have left.
We ordered what we hoped would be the best meal we've ever eaten. When the salads arrived in what looked like a $0.50 bowl from the Dollar Tree I laughed when I looked down and saw that the waitress had dropped off some Parmesan in case we wanted it with our salad.
I'm really not a snob but a restaurant that charges $45 for a ribeye should 1) come up with a classier table cloth 2) provide cloth napkins 3) not hand out the same Parmesan packets I get from the pizza delivery guy. We didn't even get a choice for salad dressing!
The porterhouse steak and shrimp (we shared) was delicious and not something that would be available in just any chain restaurant. Having said that, we won't be going back. In no reality of mine is paying the kind of prices that require a double digit tip acceptable.
We did have a wonderful time together and didn't let the price of the meal deter us from a nice evening. We felt like we were in some alternate universe when looking around the restaurant who charges what they charge for a meal with the patrons in hoodie sweatshirts and pony tails. We were certainly over dressed for the restaurant.
After dinner we walked around a few stores at the mall before heading back to get the kids. They had a blast playing at church so it was a win win for everyone.
Now that our church is hosting parents night out monthly we may be able to get back into monthly date nights again. I'm eager to try out some new date night locations.
P.S. In case you are wondering if I would give up the name of the restaurant we went to, sorry can't do it. I won't say the town we were in either because it would surely give it away!
