The one thing about having kids is going out with just the Mrs. on a weekend night becomes a once-every-two month sort of thing. You have to plan, line up sitters. The whole deal. It's easier to stay home.
Well, last Saturday me and Mrs. Pendleton did something we hadn't done in a year - clear your dirty minds - we went to the movies --- AND DINNER on the same night.
Actually, I believe it was the first time me and her saw a movie in a theatre in about 13 months. DVD players and kids do that.
Anyway, after this one night out, I realize I'm not missing a damn thing.
Ok, the movie - King Kong - was great. The key is we went to a 4:45 show (it's 3 hours) and then afterwards, wanted to get a bite to eat. This is when the total bullsh-t began.
I got a gift certificate for my birthday to Outback Steakhouse. We went there around 8:15, only to find out the wait was 1 hour and 15 minutes. Are you f-cking kidding me?
Then we shot down Route 1 and were gonna check out Houlihans in New Brunswick. When we pulled to the front of the place, the site of about 25 people sitting on benches and the floor in the lobby prompted us to visit downtown Hub City.
After paying $5 to park in the New Brunswick, we headed to a joint called Tumultys. It's a good place. Pub grub for the most part. Some overrated electric train on the ceiling. Well we were in there about 2 minutes (which, by the way, was 1 hour and 10 minutes less than the wait for a table). We actually were going to wait in the downstairs bar and up the beer count a bit, but halfway down the stairs, the cloud of smoke started forming. We told the cat at the desk we'd see him in 6 months when the Great NJ smoking ban goes into effect and walked out.
Taking a shot, we then walked to the Harvest Moon in N.B., only to be told the wait was 90 minutes. I mean, are they giving out blowjobs with every meal or something? So I said to the wife, fuck this trendy shit and we headed to this great Italian joint in Franklin Twp. called Cafe Primavera.
If you've never been there, get there. Food is excellent, prices pretty good and there's no trendy a-holes there. No B.S. Just good food. We didn't have to wait a second for a table, and about 15 minutes later our food was there. The best is, it's one of the those joints where you can bring in your own booze. However, since I wasn't planning on going there - I was however planning on raising the beer count - I was taste less, and therefore the count is stuck on 12.
Listen, I'm not totally against waiting for a table if it's a quality restaurant. But if anyone thinks I'm gonna wait an hour for a blooming onion or wait 90 minutes to have some dopey RU student - I know, that's redundant - screw up my order. Think again.
I know. I'm officially old. But if being young is dealing with that crap every saturday, I can't wait til I'm 50.
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2 comments:
Cat,
My favorite is the half-head of lettuce served as a salad at Tumulty's.
Anyway, this is slightly off topic, but I hate eateries that refuse to accept reservations. Like you, I loathe waiting in horseshit lines.
The line itself is the first pain in the arse. But the anti-reservations restaurants are a double whammy.
I'm to the point where if they refuse reservations, I refuse to do business with them. F them.
And it seems like a growing number of outfits no longer accept reservations. I don't know why this is, but I bet it would make an interesting tale for some enterprising business writer.
Where is J. Harrington?
I'm with you on the reservation front. Screw them. The 1/2 head of lettuce is why we went to Tumultys, but it's not worth waiting up to 70 minutes in a smokey bar for.
As for Harvest Moon. What a lame, trendy arse crowd was in there.
What ever happened to having a Bud and a Steak in N.B.
Now, it's artichoke hearts over pork chops with a blueberry ale or some bullshit like that.
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