Eating Out

Two weeks ago our good buddy Jess offered to watch Hadleigh for us, so that we could go out to dinner. Slowly we are working our way around to all of our favorite restaurants, so we decided on a nice dinner at Maggianos (we also had a gift certificate, so the dinner was free).

We headed out to dinner and had one of my most memorable cultural experiences...welcome to America! I thought going to Kroger was a shock, as I spent 2 hours walking up and down the aisles, comparing prices and marveling at the selections. But Maggianos topped this. We committed several mistakes in this escapade.

First, we went on a Friday evening.
Second, we went after 7pm.
Third, we didn't make reservations.

Roll these all up and we were given an hour and a half wait, and then a loud, rushed dinner. There were a couple perks that came with the esperience.

First, no smoke.
Second, my first cosmopolitan in 3 years.
Third, free water and free water refills.

Other than those perks, I left the restaurant wishing I was back in Europe. IN Germany we never waited for a table, if there wasn't a table available at that moment, there wasn't a table for the whole evening, so walk on. In Europe, once you sit down at a table for dinner, it is your table for the entire evening. I think this is one of my favorites things about Europe. I can always have a leisurely meal without being rushed out by the waiter or other crazed customers hovering over my table.

After that Friday I swore off chain restaurants, but today we had to go out to another favorite of ours, Ted's Montana Grill. This time we decided lunch was the better choice and we went early, so we didn't have to wait. We were still rushed off by the waitress, but in this case the perks out weighed the disadvantages.

Now that we are back in America we have to get used to how things are done around here, but I don't think I will ever get used to the eating culture. When you have experienced the best it is hard to return.