Adventures in Casual Dining
Thursday, September 8, 2011 at 12:31PM If you don’t know what a “casual dining” restaurant is, it’s basically the same as a fast-food restaurant, except they have table service and a full bar. To my mind (at least one part of it), that’s like a dream come true. I don’t seek them out, but I sometimes end up at these places while traveling. Like the time I ate at Chili’s two nights in a row, because it was the closest option to my upstate motel (a.k.a. “the lost weekend”).
Or another time when, for complicated reasons, my wife and I celebrated our first wedding anniversary at Ruby Tuesday's. (The reasons don’t involve me being cheap, unromantic, or disorganized, by the way.) I thoroughly enjoyed it: they have an impressive salad bar, the steak I ordered tasted good to me, and I threw back a couple of 22-oz. Sam Adams. What’s not to like? I suggested making it an annual affair. We could honor our union in a casual setting with lowbrow charm, proving that love doesn’t have to be expensive or extravagant, I argued. Plus we'd get "uncompromising freshness & quality" and $2 off apps at the bar! I don’t know why she wouldn’t go for it.
