What kind of eatery do you prefer when dining out? I like Seafood and Pasta. My wife likes Steaks. We go to Steer & Stein, where Steaks and Seafood are served. Wife has Wine, I have Beer. Hal
MY wife had severe digestive issues, so we are very limited as to where we can go to eat. She can usually eat salads, and she can eat meat and veggies, as long as there is no flour or rice involved. We usually go to a place called Red Robin, as they serve burgers on lettuce. Texas Roadhouse is okay if she doesn't eat bread. She can't eat anything breaded, so that usually eliminates all fried food in restaurants. She can drink wine if it is only a small glass.
Let me take the opportunity to remind anyone who would like to review a specific restaurant, whether you love it or hate it, we have an underused sub-forum for Restaurant Reviews, particularly ones who have a website so that you can leave a link to it. As for types of restaurants, unless we're traveling we generally go to restaurants only for breakfast. While traveling, if I am with my wife, as I usually am, we are at odds and she usually wins. I would prefer taking a chance with a local restaurant that is not part of a chain, partly because I like to support them, but also because there is a greater likelihood of finding something special. My wife prefers chain restaurants because she likes to know what to expect, I suppose, so we generally end up at Cracker Barrel if there is one in the area, or at one of the chain steak restaurants. She generally wins in such cases because I know that if we were to stop at a local restaurant, and everything wasn't to her liking, I would take the blame.
I enjoy trying little local restaurants also, and I totally agree with the part about never knowing what kind of food you might find there; but that just goes along with the adventure of trying something new. When Robin and I went to Florida, she took me to several really nice restaurants to introduce me to some different kinds of foods. Some were large restaurants and some were little “hole-in-the-wall” type places. One that we stopped at was a tiny Greek cafe, and the food we had was seriously awesome, at least in my opinion. It was different than anything that I have ever eaten before, and can probably never find that exact same thing again, just because it was a small one of a kind restaurant. What we ate was something with rice sautéed with onions on the bottom, layered over with beans and lentils, and then some kind of a salad dish called tabboulah . On top of that was meat, avocado or hummus if you preferred, and there was some feta cheese in there somewhere, too. I think that my description of this meal does not even come close to describing it, nor how delicious it was, and it was much better than anything we might have found at some chain restaurant.
A world-reknowned (so they claim) steakhouse along I-40 in Amarillo, Texas, has numerous billboards posted far and wide advertising their 72-ounce steak dinner, FREE, if you eat it all in one hour! Now, in the process of passing by that place some dozens of times, my father in law and I often spoke of taking them up on the offer, but never did. Both a bit "chicken", I guess, but both steak lovers. Frank
We generally go to our favorite steak house "Steer & Stein", but occasionally we'll go to Olive Garden, La Casita, or Red Lobster. Here's a shot of us at Steer & Stein: Wife is 74, daughter visiting from Chicago is 45, and I'm 81. Bon Apetit! Hal
@Hal Pollner Very nice! If I make it to 81, 6 more years, and could look as happy, spry, and good as you do, I would be one surprised old-guy! Frank
We don't go out anymore due to inability to chew some foods. We do order in. We generally prefer chain restaurants we have dined in past times. Never found local restaurants very good. But our cooking has deuteriated so that ordering in is preferable most often in those times when you want to go out.
We had a favorite local Mexican restaurant that we really liked, but the noise has gotten so loud, we just can't stand it. The margarita's were darn good, but not good enough for us to keep going there. We found another Mexican restaurant that is much quieter that we now go to. We absolutely love Ruby Tuesday's burgers and their rib eye is also good. For breakfast, we'll hit Metro Dinner, iHop or Waffle House. Basically, breakfast out is only on Saturday. perhaps a Sunday morning. On some Saturday nights, we'll go to Golden Corral Buffet or, if we don't feel like going out, make something easy at home. During the week for supper, it will be my cooking, Cracker Barrel or a local take-out. A local grocery store has excellent potato soup (already made). We will sometimes have a digestive problem as well, but now take a product called Digestive Gold if the supper meal is fairly big. That way, won't have to take Pepto later.
Ruby Tuesday is my favorite restaurant, too, @Cody Fousnaugh ; but the one that was closest to us closed and is now some other kind of restaurant, and we never go across town far enough to go to one of the other ones here. There is a small Oriental place just a little ways away, and a Mexican one down the road; so that is where we usually go when we do go out for lunch somewhere. When I go with my friend , Evelyn, we usually go have CiCi’s salad and pizza, which is also one of my favorites.
WOW, some of you folks sure eat out a lot. We haven't really been to enough places to call any of them a favorite.
This could be Thread of it's own, but, the only time my wife goes anywhere without me, it's when it's with her co-workers at work for lunch, paid for by the supervisor. This is very, very rare, but it does happen at times. Other than that, it's her and I for everything done. No "girls or boys out" for anything. Neither of us has buddies or girlfriends. As compatible as we are, we don't need any.
Evelyn (@Joyce Mcgregor ) and I have been friends just about ever since Bobby and I moved here to Alabama. She has not had a car for quite a while now, and depends on the Handi-Ride or someone to take her when she needs to get groceries or go to the doctor. It is a special treat for her to be able to go out to lunch together, so I almost always include a lunch stop when we go to the grocery store or to her doctor appointment. She lives alone in her tiny studio apartment, and it is important for her to have a friend who cares enough to help her and take her places. Other than going somewhere with Evelyn or my daughter, Robin; Bobby and I do most everything together now, too.
Having lived on the Mexico border for twenty years, I have never found a Mexican restaurant north of Texas that I liked much.
I can't really say that I have any favorite restaurant at the present time and since I have worked in so many different types of restaurants I'm never really that impressed any longer. There is one though that comes to mind if I were to go back into time. Arnaud's restaurant on corner of Bienville and Bourbon streets in the French Quarter of New Orleans. I pretty much cut my teeth there starting from assistant dishwasher and in the 14 years I worked there, I rose to experience every aspect the house had to offer with the exception of the Executive Chef's position. Uh, I was also slated to hold the position as the owner's son-in-law but that's a whole different story. Short an sweet though, war changes a lot of people including me. At the time I worked there, there were 620 ala carte items on the food menu and 230 wines in the cellars. We seated 1,400 which included the banquet rooms and easily flipped the tables 3 to 4 times per shift and at the end of the night we'd still have a waiting line around the building when the doors were locked. The restaurant also touted a wait staff of 35 waiters and 1 bus boy for every 3 to 4 waiters all commanded by 1 maitre'd and 4 or 5 captains. There were 26 cooks and prep people, 13 cook's helpers, 2 passiers, 1 sous and 1 exec. If I were to state my favorite meal on the menu it would be either be the red fish with a lump white crab meat saute' or possibly the pompano en papillote.