Dining out...Do you?
- Thread starter Capt Steve
- Start date
bk43
Member
Sunday brunch at Brennan's or a steak at Bern's are experiences that cannot be equaled anywhere else. It's something you have to do yourself to understand. Bern's make places like Shula's, Ruth's Chris or Lugers look like dumps.
Bob
gunlovingirl
Member
Doesn't matter if I go out to eat or go to the grocery store. Either way, it's quite a finacial hit with prices what they are today! I used to go out at least 2 or 3 times a month. Went with friends, and we'd take turns picking up the tab. It got to be too expensive. I like to cook, so it's cheaper to fix it at home. I also love foods cooked on the grill, and I use it all year long.
BarbC
Member
Do you get to pick out your own steer from the steer tank out back?
Being retired now, my wife and I eat out about once or twice a week. In Phoenix, we have some local favorites. Check the 2-fer coupons available on the internet for Valle Luna on north Cave Creek Rd. Great food and service. Try to eat early or late to avoid the screaming kids that seem to be prevalent everywhere (we usually ask for the non-screaming kid section and are dead serious about that). Don't go on Wednesdays (family night), there will be a screaming kid at every other table. Tuesday nights are 2-fers for seniors. Another of our local favorites for Mexican food is Las Glorias, just south of Northern on 19th Ave. We got one of those coupon books and tried it out. It was fantastic! Terrific food, moderate prices, the best service anywhere (a couple of VERY nice-looking waitresses), and with $1.00 margaritas that are excellent, you can't go wrong. If you go late, be aware they close at 9 PM. It's in a strip mall, and looks like a hole-in-the-wall, but inside it's quite spacious and comfortable. I think it's the best kept secret for eating out in the Phoenix area.
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We go out for a steak once in a while....but it's the cholesterol fix that I look forward to.
Since my heart attack I really miss eating bacon. We stopped at Denny's this morning for breakfast and it was great. Eggs fried in conola oil just don't cut it for taste. I want my BACON!
Since my heart attack I really miss eating bacon. We stopped at Denny's this morning for breakfast and it was great. Eggs fried in conola oil just don't cut it for taste. I want my BACON!
godlessgael
Member
one of the perks of living in the Bay Area is that we have some of the best food not just in the US, but in the world. The wife and I spend far too much on eating out, and have run up a couple of those $400 tabs just for the two of us. We actually had to make a conscious decision to move out of SF and to the East Bay because we were going out too much.
Wayne02
Member
I got caught with that one a couple of days ago as well. I was being all frugal by only ordering the all you can eat Olive Garden salad (I love salads) which comes with bread sticks, and only drinking water. Then the bill shows up with the $3 dipping sauce added on.
We dine out more than we should, quite frankly. Maybe twice a week or so. We are pretty darn frugal in all other aspects of life - no debt, older cars etc. But the dining out thing has been hard to scale back on.
BarbC
Member
Another caveat is that at the restaurant "tonight's specials" doesn't mean what's on sale.
Very infrequently do we dine out.
Usually maybe once a month or six weeks we'll go to a local restaurant for a sit-down meal.
Twice or three times a year we go to NYC for a long weekend and a Broadway play or two and we have some favorite restaurants there that we hit (Carmine's, Ted's Montana Steak House, Zarela, Rosie O'Grady's, Meson Sevilla, Alto, and Mesa Grill, which we we fans of before Bobby Flay got famous) and that sort of makes up for being frugal at home.
Noah
Usually maybe once a month or six weeks we'll go to a local restaurant for a sit-down meal.
Twice or three times a year we go to NYC for a long weekend and a Broadway play or two and we have some favorite restaurants there that we hit (Carmine's, Ted's Montana Steak House, Zarela, Rosie O'Grady's, Meson Sevilla, Alto, and Mesa Grill, which we we fans of before Bobby Flay got famous) and that sort of makes up for being frugal at home.
Noah
Smitty500Mag
Member
I eat out quite often. My company pays for it 5 days a week and if I don't use it I lose it. I do have the option of buying up to $195 bucks worth of groceries a week instead of going out to eat if I want to.
Smitty
Smitty
R-Tex
Member
+1, Bob! I'd also be willing to bet that a sizable chunk of that $400 tab was due to the wine that was chosen from the phonebook-sized wine list. The most comprehensive wine list I've seen. My wife and I enjoyed a bottle of Mouton Rothschild that was nearly too good to believe and it's cost was less than what would have been the then-current retail (if it could have been found at retail). The cellar at Bern's is hard to believe - I forget the total number of bottles in it, but it's in the hundreds of thousands.
Here's a pair of links for the curious:
Bern's Steak House > Home
http://www.bernssteakhouse.com/Portals/0/docs/BSH Menu.pdf
As to Barb C's question, "Do you get to pick out your own steer from the steer tank out back? " - They do (or did, at least) have stainless steel saltwater tanks on the roof in which they kept the fish. I suppose you could select the particular fish you wanted. Nevertheless, many of the fish dishes served featured a critter that had been cavorting around in the tank just minutes before.
If you go, be prepared to spend most of an evening - a really unforgettable experience.
godlessgael
Member
always the wine that gets ya (and pre dinner cocktails to get you warmed up).
bk43
Member
CLOSE!
Their steak is aged longer than other places and each steak is cut to order by butchers in the kitchen. You just tell the waiter what you want, how it's to be cut and how big and they'll do it. Since they offer kitchen tours for diners you could probably go tell the butcher how to cut it in person if you wanted to.And as R-tex says, the wine list is stunning. Hummmmmmmm...no plans for dinner tonight... only a 2 hour drive over...off season so probably can get a table. What to do, what to do.
Bob
CAJUNLAWYER
Member
Most of the really memorable food down here is cooked at someone's home. My particular area really is a resturalt desert unless your thing is chinese buffets, Ryans, Mr. Gatti's or Ruby Tuesday's. The 3-4 good resturants are pretty good, but one gets tired of fried seafood and (insert item here) etouffee. The casino here has a memorable steak house that is better than anything I grew up with in New Orleans, but other than that the best time to get a good meal is at lunch time at one of the little resturants.
Now Lafayette 40 miles away has some good resturants and New Orleans is the mecca, but I ain't driving to either for Friday night out with the wife.
What I REALLY miss is a good little neighborhood Italian Ressturant-we had one close by in New Orleans that was great for a Friday night "couple of beers and dinner and see what's going on in the neighborhood" evening.
Now Lafayette 40 miles away has some good resturants and New Orleans is the mecca, but I ain't driving to either for Friday night out with the wife.
What I REALLY miss is a good little neighborhood Italian Ressturant-we had one close by in New Orleans that was great for a Friday night "couple of beers and dinner and see what's going on in the neighborhood" evening.
The Highlander
Member
Keep eating out folks. I own two independent (not chains or franchise) restaurants, and we appreciate the business. One of my restaurants is the oldest in our county, opened in 1954. In addition to my family, we have approximately 20+ employees, in a town of 1500 I might add.
Because we are family-owned, I can buy where I like, instead of paying some franchise such as McD's a large percent of the pie just to put there name on my property.
We purchase everything we can from local farmers, and add a fairly substantial, secure, dependable payroll to our community. We serve homemade food, cooked just like we were serving it to our family. We do it all from breading our own fish, grinding our own burgers, and making our own salad dressings.
If you want an extra slice of tomato, all you gotta do is ask. If little Johnny wants his meal fixed a special way, we are happy to do it.
If you are eating out anyway, find a locally-owned, independent restaurant. Your dollars will stay in your community, and you will find a group of people that are happy to serve you top notch food.
Thanks,
The Highlander
Because we are family-owned, I can buy where I like, instead of paying some franchise such as McD's a large percent of the pie just to put there name on my property.
We purchase everything we can from local farmers, and add a fairly substantial, secure, dependable payroll to our community. We serve homemade food, cooked just like we were serving it to our family. We do it all from breading our own fish, grinding our own burgers, and making our own salad dressings.
If you want an extra slice of tomato, all you gotta do is ask. If little Johnny wants his meal fixed a special way, we are happy to do it.
If you are eating out anyway, find a locally-owned, independent restaurant. Your dollars will stay in your community, and you will find a group of people that are happy to serve you top notch food.
Thanks,
The Highlander
parallel
Member
sipowicz
Member
My wife and I dine out alot...usually we bring sandwiches to the restaurant and just order a kettle of hot water for our tea.
Spotteddog
Member
Your livin' the high life then Sip!
What we do is go in, ask for the hot water then make tomato soup out of the ketchup packets.
What we do is go in, ask for the hot water then make tomato soup out of the ketchup packets.
