I am not one for fancy, expensive restaurants, and it goes beyond the expense and the formal attire. There were occasions while I was directing an ambulance company competing with other companies for contracts, that I have eaten at such restaurants for networking purposes, and I simply don't like the food. I'm thinking that I am not alone in this because expensive restaurants tend to serve very small portions, so maybe no one likes it. My wife and I were on a Caribbean cruise along with my in-laws and other members of the family. The in-laws wanted us to join them for the formal dinners onboard the ship every now and then. At these dinners, we would be presented with four options in a meal, none of which even sounded like they would be good, and they weren't. The buffet that was open 24 hours a day on the ship was great, but the formal dinners were just not very good. I was the health inspector for a Texas city for six years and, while there were no fancy restaurants in that town, the restaurants that I preferred to eat in were not the ones that scored the highest on my inspections.
When I worked for Catalina EMS, the owner arranged a Christmas dinner for us at one of the fancier restaurants in McAllen, Texas. This wasn't a hugely expensive restaurant but one in which people didn't wear tee-shirts and ball caps. I was the training officer, and I was sitting next to our director and a couple of supervisors. The food was okay, but stuff that I would have expected to be hot was chilled, and stuff that I would think would be chilled were heated, so everything was a surprise, and the portions were small. I was thinking that it was a nice gesture for the owner to have set it up for us, but the meal wasn't really very satisfying. Then, after the speeches were over and the awards were given out, and things were starting to break up, the director said, "Okay, let's go eat," and we went to a Mexican restaurant.
In days gone by, people actually dined when they went out to eat and in some of the older restaurants, they were entertained during dinner. The table was theirs for as long as they wanted it and the diners would enjoy an 8 to 12 course meal which is why the small portions were necessary. By the time the last course was served, a person would have consumed about 2 lbs + of food with each food product weighing in at 2 to 3 ounces each not counting their choices of a beverage before dinner, the wine during dinner, champagne with dessert and an after dinner drink.
Because it's easier that way. If we were to stop at a local restaurant somewhere because I wanted to, and it was a bad experience, she would act as though I had planned it that way, or that I should have known better than to stop at some restaurant that no one has ever heard of.
Ah, but could you not pass off a bad experience with a: I just wanted to do a culinary review and it was so horrible I think I will give it a half a star. The good people on SeniorsOnly will need to know where Not to go. Of course, it would have to appear in some blog, on FB and Here to make it believable but.....................
For reasons that are incomprehensible to be, I am never able to use a bad experience at Denny's to my advantage.
Easy! Call the corporate office in Charlotte and apply for a job as a shopper. When you go to a Denny’s you will officially be looking for things like bad service, food and management. You will even be able to score the place and the corporate office will have it placed on the location’s cork board for employee review. Problem solved. Next case!
What I meant was that I should be able to use a bad experience at Denny's as a reason why we shouldn't stop at chain restaurants, as my wife would a bad experience at a local restaurant.
We don't patronize expensive restaurants ether, mainly because there aren't any the semi-rural High Desert! We usually drop $40-$45 for our weekly dinner for two at the Steer & Stein. Hal
You all know that my wife and I like to dine frequently at the "Steer 'n' Stein", the High Desert's best steak house. Since I don't eat steak, I'm posting their "Not Steak" menu. Last Thursday I had the full rack of Baby Back BBQ Pork Ribs with a Super Stein of Beer. Delicious, but sloppy...I should have worn my raincoat! (The prices have since increased) Cheers, Hal
Looks good and even with increased prices...A good deal. I would choose anything off the first menu except the teriyaki chicken and the chicken fried steak. Now I'm hungry and I already ate my 180 calories lunch. Spinach and artichoke flatbread pizza.