Red Robins
(Fairlakes, Fairfax County)

Kelly's Rating: 4 ½ stars Maria's Rating: 4 ½ stars

What can we say? This is probably our favorite place. Not exactly a place to find gourmet food, but the hamburgers are the best with a great variety, the fries are always crisp, tasty, and lightly seasoned with Red Robin's special seasoning, the service is usually very fast, and the prices are cheap. The only real drawback is the service at times, being mostly very young kids without much experience in waiting tables. My usual request of what microbrews are on tap is almost always met with a blank stare and then the dreaded recitation of "Budweiser, Michelob, Coors…."

My favorite hamburger is probably the Lone Star burger, with guacamole and pepper-jack cheese, although a new item, the 5-Alarm burger has caught my attention with jalapeno peppers and other spices. If you aren't in the mood for hamburgers, the Cajun chicken fingers are wonderful, and the fish and chips aren't too bad either. For a change in pace, try the Macho Nachos as a full meal - if you order it as an appetizer, you better bring lots of friends, because you get a HUGE mound of nachos liberally laced with spicy ground beef, cheddar cheese, jalapenos, tomatoes, sour cream, guacamole, the works. The desserts are large and delicious, such as the Mountain High Mud Pie.

Sweetwater Tavern
(Centreville, VA)
Kelly's Rating: 5 stars Maria's Rating: 5 stars

This place was outstanding in every way - food, service and ambience was exceptional. The way the almost breathless waitress described the specials of the day had me nearly ordering every one. I settled for the Drunken Ribeye, a steak marinated in their own microbrewed beer, and Maria chose the Smoked Salmon Filet. I tried their Octoberfest beer, a spicy lighter beer with a real bite to it. I would have liked to have tried one of their darker beers, but maybe next time. My entrée, a huge ribeye steak arrived sitting on top of a generous portion of mashed potatoes and surrounded by succulent sautéed mushrooms. After cutting into it, I noticed that the steak, which I had ordered medium, was quite a bit less than medium and in fact was quite rare. However, no sooner had I cut into the steak than our waitress stopped by, took one look at the steak and exclaimed, "that's definitely not medium" and whisked it away, leaving me with a plate of mashed potatoes and mushrooms to tide me over. I expected they would heat up the steak and return it, but instead they returned with a whole new plate with a new steak and all the sides, this time cooked perfectly. I was impressed - I hadn't said one word in complaint, and probably wouldn't have said anything, but they took the time to really pay attention to our orders and make sure they got it done right.

The steak was tender and delicious, and Maria's dish was good too, although I would have preferred a real Alaska salmon rather than the far inferior Atlantic salmon. Still, with the smoked flavor and sauce, they did their best to make it an enjoyable dish. The desserts were fantastic - I had a hot chocolate "waffle" oozing with a creamy sauce in between and topped with ice cream, while Maria had her favorite - Key Lime Pie - which was a close second only to the Key Lime Pie served at the Oceanaire as far as taste. It was quite a bit tarter than most of the bland Key Lime pies served by most restaurants and definitely worth it.

Rocky Run Grill [note: no longer at this location]
(Fairlakes Mall, Fairfax, VA)

Kelly's Rating: 2 stars Maria's Rating: 3 stars

This place has it all - on paper. Boasting an impressive menu with dozens of appetizer choices and an extended list of intriguing entrees, Rocky Run nevertheless fell well short of expectations. We tried their Fried Cheese Squares as an appetizer during our first visit, which were pretty good, but the Southwestern Egg Rolls, and increasingly popular appetizer at quite a few restaurants these days, were bland and the crust was doughy and chewy instead of flaky and crisp. Of the entrees, the Rocky Road Road Kill, a great name for an entrée whose description had me thinking it would be a spicy flavorful dish, was instead a dry piece of chicken with barely any flavor accompanied by a low-grade slice of pepper jack cheese. The Buffalo Chicken sandwich was equally disappointing - instead of a fiery hot chicken patty dripping in Tabasco sauce and butter, I had a reddened piece of dry chicken twice the size of the bun with only the barest hint of spice.

The desserts were so uninspiring I can't even remember what I had, but I do remember it was accompanied by bargain brand vanilla ice cream. Maria had a chocolate chunk cheesecake which tasted, like everything, bland and uninspired.

The service is nothing to brag about - it seemed to consist entirely of high school kids who didn't care about your dining experience whatsoever, this was just a way to make some extra spending money. Of course, at a less spendy place like this you don't expect great service, but even adequate service would be a vast improvement over what was provided.

Samia's
(Gainesville, VA)

Kelly's Rating: ½ star Maria's Rating: 1 ½ stars

Before you read this review, one caveat -- I received an email from someone telling me it was under new management and was much better than my review. However, based on my previous experiences, I have not felt it worth my while to return and try out. Maybe it was the new manager who sent me the email?

Boy, this place does everything wrong. From the surliest servers you will ever encounter to bad food in a horrible atmosphere, this place has all the other dives beat easily. The restaurant has a non-smoking section along one wall, and the smoking section on the adjacent wall with little ventilation so the heavy cigarette smokes wafts and envelopes the entire dining area. The waiting staff is rude and inattentive, and makes you feel like you are greatly inconveniencing them by just sitting down and waiting to be served. The wait for the food seems interminable (although maybe it just seems so long because you can't wait to get out of the place) and usually arrives lukewarm. And good luck ever getting a drink refilled!

The food is very ordinary. This is supposedly an Italian place, although they serve gyros along with sub sandwiches. This was about the only restaurant in the Bristow area when we first moved here, so we had the dissatisfying experience of trying this place several times, hoping the food or service would get better. It never did. Maria thought the gyros was okay (it's hard to screw that up), but my sub sandwiches or other entrée dishes were all bland and uninspired, although my taste buds may have been already biased against the food due to the pathetic service and the annoying cigarette smoke. The dinner salads are what you would expect from a dive like this - wilted iceburg lettuce with a few coarsely cut tomatoes thrown in, rinds and all. Avoid this place, by all means.

Joe's Italian and Pizza
(Gainesville, VA)

Kelly's Rating: 4 stars Maria's Rating: 4 ½ stars

Looking for a good old-fashioned Mom and Pop restaurant where the food tastes home-cooked? Joe's is the place for you. The restaurant is fairly small and humble, nothing fancy, but has a refreshing simple and honest ambience. The smoking section is in an entirely different room so that you don't share their smoke, and the servers range from good to exceptional, although there seems to be a high turnover, but unfailingly polite, and the service is always fast but not rushed.

All the food we tried was good. We usually start with the stuffed peppers for an appetizer - hot pepper shells stuffed with ham and cheese and liberally soaked in olive oil. Their pizzas are outstanding, large, messy and very tasty, much better than the generic mass-produced pizzas such as Pizza Hut and Domino's. They have a large selection of sub sandwiches such as the cheeseburger sub, pizza sub, etc, the portions of which are very generous. The entrees are typical Italian favorites, lasagna, chicken marsala, or combination plates of your favorites, all of which taste like they have been cooked by your Italian grandmother (if I had an Italian grandmother). Whenever we need a comforting down home eating experience, this is where we go.

Pargo's [note: no longer at this location]
(Manassas, VA)

Kelly's Rating: 2 ½ stars Maria's Rating: 2 ½ stars

We read an article in the Prince William newspaper about this place talking about how good it was, and about their signature Smoked Turkey on a hot pretzel roll, so of course, we had to try it out. Pargo's looks like any large generic Denny's type of restaurant, although the waiting staff seemed to consist entirely of high school kids who didn't seem really attune to what they were doing. Our waitress took our drink order, walked several steps away, and then turned around and came back to ask us what we wanted to drink again. We could never get our drinks refilled.

The food was ordinary, and after the write-up on the smoked turkey on a hot pretzel roll, I was disappointed. It wasn't bad, it just wasn't all that good either. Just an ordinary sandwich, enough to fill my tummy but that's about it. Maria got a shrimp sandwich which was bland. The desserts were awfully dull as well - not bad, but not exceptional. Maybe there are other better things on the menu, but nothing we ate inspired us to go again a second time.

Red, Hot & Blue
(Arlington, VA, Fairfax, VA, Warrenton, VA)

Kelly's Rating: 5 stars Maria's Rating: 4 stars

This is about as good as barbecue can get. This restaurant chain plays the Blues constantly and is decorated with posters and pictures of Blues and Jazz legends, creating an ambience that fits perfectly with what you would expect from a true barbecue place. The service has never been exceptional, but always prompt. And the food…ohhh, the food. If you like barbecue, you must go here. Everything from the pulled pork to the ribs to the beef brisket to the barbecued chicken is fabulous. I probably like the pulled pork the best, but I usually get a combination of two or three items just so I can sample some of each. The ribs come either dry or wet, both of which are good, and are very meaty and tender. You are provided with a selection of about 5 different barbecue sauces from the tangy vinegary North Carolina barbecue sauce to the sweet tomato-based Texas sauce, and you have a choice of either mild or hot barbecue sauces. The baked beans as one of the side dishes is excellent, and their onion loaf is crispy and tasty without being too soggy like many onion loafs usually turn out.

Red Hot and Blue makes their own microbrew, which although is a far cry better than the mass-produced beer, isn't my favorite. However, they have a reasonable choice of other microbrews to go with the meal if you don't want their home brew, including the ubiquitous Sam Adams or Pete's Wicked.

Desserts are huge and delicious, if you still have room for dessert. All in all, Red Hot and Blue is a very enjoyable dining experience, and one of our favorite stops.

Old Glory
(Georgetown, Washington, D.C.)

Kelly's Rating: 5 stars Maria's Rating: 4 ½ stars

Maria gives the nod to Old Glory over Red Hot & Blue as the best barbecue place in the DC metro area, but to me it's a toss-up. The food is every bit as good as Red Hot & Blue, but one thing they do have going for them is a vast array of barbecue sauces to choose from, all conveniently located in a wooden tray on your table.

Old Glory starts out with a bang - a huge sheet of butcher paper is placed on your table (good barbecue is always messy!) and they stamp it with a huge stamp with the Old Glory label on it. Once when I had a few too many Long Island iced teas I had them stamp it on my arm, but that's another story (it didn't come off easy!). The service has always been quick, and the menu is much the same as Red Hot & Blue, with your choice of a combination plate if you can't decide. Trust me, if you like barbecue, everything tastes good. If you can't fit in dessert, they always give you a tootsie pop after the meal with your check. That alone is almost worth an extra ½ star!

Les Halles
(Pennsylvania Ave., Washington, D.C.)

Kelly's Rating: 2 stars Maria's Rating: 2 stars

Okay, I admit I only dined here once so my rating is based on a very limited menu and experience. We were lured in by the promise of the best french fries in the DC metro area, according to an article I read in the Washington Post. They weren't all that great. I hate to say it, but I actually prefer McDonalds fries to these.

We ate here during a network upgrade with my crew of computer geeks over a weekend, and were very nearly the only people in the restaurant. Despite this, and a waiting staff that outnumbered us, the service was slow, and, as I guess is to be expected in a French restaurant, stuffy. After 5 ½ long and arduous years of French lessons, I figured I knew how to pronounce the menu, but when I ordered the waiter repeated it in English as if I hadn't pronounced it right. However when the next person ordered their entrée in English, he again repeated it in French as if that person was too dumb to know how to speak French. Well, maybe he didn't mean it that way, but it sure came off like that. Anyhow, back to the food. I ordered blood sausage, more out of curiosity than anything else. It certainly was bloody. It was also barely warm, as was all the food. I can't say I cared for the blood sausage - a mushy disgusting consistency - but maybe I just haven't acquired a taste for it. I don't know what a "good" blood sausage is supposed to taste like, so I can't really criticize it too much. However, everyone else at the table seemed equally uninspired by their entrees, so at least I wasn't alone.

Daily Grill
(18th & M, Washington, D.C.)

Kelly's Rating: 4 stars Maria's Rating: 4 stars

Have you ever had the urge for Eggs Benedict and home fries for lunch instead of breakfast? Then this is your place! And they don't just serve your ordinary bland Eggs Benedict, but Eggs Benedict done right, with an obviously homemade and delectable sauce. Other entrees I have tried have been equally good, including a smoked salmon and lox pizza, which was fabulous.

The only downside here is that the service is atrocious. The entire waiting staff seems to treat you with a haughty attitude as if you are beneath them. We went there for brunch one Sunday and received probably the worst service we have ever had. Maria ordered her entrée, and the waiter repeated the order as if she was ordering a toxic waste sandwich and added, "for brunch???!!" as if this was unheard of. Well obviously for brunch, dodohead, that's all they serve during those hours on Sundays. He then repeated the same routine for my benefit as well, making me wonder exactly what we had done wrong. To make matters worse, the brunch was supposed to come with a basket of muffins and pastries, plus a plate of mixed fruit, and other assorted items. We didn't receive anything else. In fact, our waiter didn't even deem it necessary to visit our table even once again during the entire brunch - we had to flag down another waitress to get our check, and she even processed it. I wrote a letter in complaint and actually received a courteous letter for management and a certificate for a free meal, but I would be too embarrassed to actually use it - it would be pretty obvious why we received a hand-written free meal certificate. "That's the guy who ratted on us!" they might say. Still, all told the food is very good, and if you can ignore the poor service the food is definitely worth it.

Rumours
(19th and M, Washington, D.C.)

Kelly's Rating: 4 stars Maria's Rating: 3 ½ stars

I really enjoy this place. Although I've only tried a few dishes I have stuck to those few because they are so good. The first time I ate here they had Cajun Nachos as their special of the day. Nachos as an entree? Cajun nachos? Weird! So of course I had to try it and I loved it. It was a huge platter full of chips and cheese with spicy cajun sausage, jalapenos, and all the other good things that nachos should have. Delicious! Only one problem — I have never seen it on the menu since then, which is a real shame. You have to admire a restaurant that is willing to put something like Cajun Nachos on its menu as an entree.

However, my new favorite dish is their buffalo chicken pasta. This comes in a huge bowl of steaming hot angel-hair pasta and a creamy blue cheese sauce with a generous amount of spicy hot chicken tenders on top. The only offsetting note is the melon pieces that come in the bowl — they're not mixed in, but sitting on top of the pasta means that by the time it reaches your table the fruit is steaming hot. But still, strange as this dish may sound, it is excellent.

Oodles Noodles
(19th and M, Washington, D.C.)

Kelly's Rating: 5 stars Maria's Rating: 5 stars

If you are looking for something a little out of the ordinary, try this place. From Malaysian dishes to Singapore dishes, from Chinese, Japanese, Thai or Indonesian, it is all fantastic. Appetizers are small, delicate and tasty. The Spring Onion cake is delicious. The servers are always courteous and prompt. Choosing an entree is the hard part, although a fun task, because there are so many choices. The Pad Thai is excellent, although my favorite dish is a spicy Malaysian noodle dish (you don't expect me to really remember the names of these dishes, do you?). A friend of mine swears by the Noodles in a Boat dish (and yes, it actually comes in a boat-shaped bowl). Everyone who has been here have their favorites, and everyone I know loves this place.

ESPN SportsZone
(Downtown, Washington, D.C.)

Kelly's Rating: 2 stars Maria's Rating: 3 stars

This is a puzzling restaurant - a great theme (if you love sports, that is!) and a seemingly great menu, but when you actually try the dishes everything turns out to be a disappointment. The meal starts off on a sour note when the server proudly announces that they serve "all Pepsi products." Isn't that the same Pepsi endorsed by the talentles Britney Spears and by that unnerving demon girl that speaks in strange voices? I'll just stick with some iced tea or water, thank you. Of the appetizers, only the Sliders (eight tiny hamburgers) are worthwhile, but the nachos are no better than what you would get at a movie theater with that disgusting velveeta cheese glop over some stale chips. The Spinach-Artichoke dip, usually one of my favorite appetizers, tastes almost rancid, and the Cheese Fries, a pile of congealed fries, potatoes, cheese and bacon bits, always turns my stomach after eating just a few.

The entrees don't fare much better, with the dominant theme being extremely bland. Even the lowly hamburger (how can you screw that up?) comes so dry that you can barely force it down your throat. The Philadelphia Steak Sandwich is equally dry and comes with almost tasteless cheese and peppers on it. The chicken tender salad comes, bizarrely enough, with a barbecue ketchup drizzled on top. On a salad! The steak sandwich wasn't half bad, with a blue-cheese butter adding some flavor and moisture to the dish, and the apple-walnut salad entree was better than expected, although they are a little too liberal with the overly sweet dressing. They have more expensive entrees, such as Filet Mignon, but considering their lack of success at even cooking hamburgers I didn't dare try it.

The desserts are good, although they are fairly standard desserts. A word of warning: the desserts are HUGE. Definitely plan on sharing with the dessert. You can get a Sundae or an immense warm brownie with huge scoops of ice cream and hot chocolate syrup on top. Perhaps the most original, and undoubtedly the healthiest, was a huge Angel Food cake filled with raspberry sorbet and covered with fresh fruit.

Ortanique
(Downtown, Washington, D.C.)

Kelly's Rating: 2 1/2 stars Maria's Rating: 3 stars

This is a relatively new and spendy Caribbean themed restaurant around 11th and G Streets NW. The place looks fantastic inside — high arched ceilings, high booths on the tables, grand staircases leading to the upper level, and perhaps most impressively a huge fish tank spanning nearly the entire wall behind the bar full of colorful fish. An impressive atmosphere, certainly.

The waiter was annoying beyond belief. Not only was he highly pretentious, but he spoke in a voice so soft we had to strain each time to hear him. We ordered a couple of ice teas for our lunch, and he kept asking us over and over, "do you want sparkling water or mineral water?" We finally asked for sparkling water, and got both the iced teas and the sparkling water, but found out when we got the bill that each sparkling water cost us an additional $6. The waiter continuously plugged the specials, not listening to what we wanted but insisting on what he wanted to order for us. We finally gave in, but regretted the choices later.

So how was the food? The presentation of the food, like the restaurant, was grandiose. Our crabcake appetizer, which we let the waiter talk us into, had sauces swirled in patterns on the plate and huge stalks of something at least a foot high poking out from the crab cake. The crab cakes, which were tiny, were placed on a base of cold corn and red peppers, which I didn't care for that much. The crabcake (small as it was) had plenty of real lump crab, but had a very strong taste of a peculiar tasting spice that overwhelmed the whole appetizer and turned it into a rather disappointing dish.

The main dishes were equally disappointing. My fish, although admirably presented again with stalks and served on a base of mashed something or other, was nearly raw on the inside. Rather than return it and deal with our pretentious waiter again, I ate around it, eating only the outermost layer which was the only part cooked. Maria got a fish sandwich which came on a thick roll, but tasted bland. We noticed only two desserts listed on the menu earlier which we were prepared to order. However, our always-helpful waiter insisted on bringing us a "surprise" for dessert instead of allowing us to look or even ask about the desserts. Lo and behold we received ... the same two desserts on the menu. Gee, what a surprise. However, the desserts, one a berry tart in custard in a pastry shell, the other a chocolate dessert with fruit, were outstanding, and helped pull the final score up a notch. We would try this place again in hopes of getting better food selections (and better service I hope!) except for the steep prices — our total came to over $100, and that without any spendy wine or drinks, unless of course, you consider mineral water a premium drink.

Reeves Restaurant and Bakery
Downtown Washington, D.C. (around 13th and G Streets NW)

Kelly's Rating: 3 stars Maria's Rating: 4 stars

Ever feel like going way back into the past into a simpler time? Go to Reeve's and you will feel like you stepped in a time machine and are somewhere in the 1950's. This is a no-frills place with no-nonsense waitresses, home-cooked food at a reasonable price, and a huge selection of bakery items.

You won't find anything very exotic on the menu here. Lunch entrees are more in the line of the roast beef sandwich which I ordered — a large quantity of roast beef on two plain pieces of white bread and heavily doused with a plain brown gravy, or the Cuban sandwich — ham and turkey with some tomatoes and sauce. Fries are extra. However, if you are in the mood for some quick comfort foods, Reeve's is a good place to go, and a great value.

The desserts are probably the best thing about Reeves, who are famous for their wonderful pies, including my favorite, strawberry-rhubarb. Why is it so hard to find rhubarb pies around D.C.? This alone is reason to keep me coming back!

Friendly's
(Warrenton, VA)

Kelly's Rating: 0 stars Maria's Rating: ½ stars

Wow, is this place misnamed. My wife swears that she has been to Friendly's in other areas that are much better, but this place has absolutely nothing redeeming about it. The service is decidedly unfriendly, never a smile or a cheerful face to be seen among the server staff. We went here quite a few times, determined to like this place, but the last straw was when we went for breakfast and had to wait an hour before getting our meal, while diners at other tables were fed and replaced with other diners several times. We kept trying to flag down our waitress who deliberately turned her back on us each time, and told us quite indignantly when we did snag her that our breakfast would be ready when it's ready. Wow. Service can't get any worse than this.

So how is the food? At its very best, below average, and at its worst, pretty bad. Everything here is bland and uninspired. So how about the ice cream it is supposed to be famous for? Many of the meals come with a free sundae, but the sundae's consist of melted ice cream with much less consistency than a normal milkshake. I ordered an orange creme smoothie once, and what I got looked nothing like the picture, and tasted like Tang poured on barely crushed ice. The "smoothie" was so rough with pea-sized ice pieces, I couldn't drink any of it through a straw, and tried to "drink" it with a spoon, but the taste was so awful I didn't bother to finish it.

Please, if you are considering going to this place, DON'T!!! Or at the very least, go to a Friendly's somewhere else and let me know if other Friendly's are this bad...I'm really curious, but don't dare suffer through another horrible "Friendly's" experience.

Outback
(Warrenton, VA)

Kelly's Rating: 4 ½ stars Maria's Rating: 4 ½ stars

This would be one of my favorite places to go except for the cost. We have always received prompt and excellent service, and the food is wonderful. My wife loves the Victoria's Filet Mignon, always moist, tender and tasty, while I prefer the Outback Prime Rib, which is flavorful enough that no dip or sauce is needed. The other dishes are tasty as well, but my favorite is a new item on the menu, the Hearts of Gold Tilapia, cooked just right and covered with a delicious sauce with artichoke hearts and sun-dried tomatoes. You have to taste it to believe it; it is exquisite. There is one other dish that I adore, which isn't even a main dish, but a side dish. Their steamed vegetables are the best I have ever tasted at a restaurant, and even my vegetable-hating wife likes them. They are steamed just right with a light seasoning that extremely good.

Their appetizers are good, but not great, except for the outstanding Bloomin' Onion, which is artfully presented and oh-so-unhealthy (but worth every bite!), and their desserts sinfully delicious, my favorite being the Chocolate Thunder from Down Under (great name!) which is ice cream on a pecan brownie covered with chocolate sauce. Unfortunately, after a full meal at Outback, I rarely have room for the desserts!

Glory Days Grill
(Gainesville, VA)

Kelly's Rating: 1 star Maria's Rating: 1 ½ stars

Don't get me wrong, I love barbecue (see my reviews of Old Glory and Red Hot 'n Blue , but this place just doesn't cut it. The barbecue tastes curiously bland, which makes me wonder just what their barbecuing procedures are. We tried this place several times, thinking we must have gotten the one bad dish, but everything we tried induced the same reaction: bleah. Their sides are even worse. How can you screw up cornbread? And yet, they have the worst cornbread I have ever tasted. Their parsely red potatoes are simply boiled potatoes with a sprig of parsley put in. Haven't you guys ever heard of seasoning? Coleslaw is always a hit-or-miss affair with restaurants, and predictably, they miss by a long shot.

Service is none too good either. The server staff consists mostly of young kids who appear completely unconcerned over the needs of the customers, and seemingly oblivious to any tie-in between good service and a good tip.

I really can't say anything good about this place except the food isn't horrible, it just isn't up to par. And with such excellent alternatives, I don't know why anyone would bother with this place.

The Inn at Little Washington
(Washington, VA)

Kelly's Rating: 2 1/2 stars Maria's Rating: 4 stars

I'm probably the only reviewer not to give this place a top rating, and I firmly stand by my rating! It's not that the food was bad, it was very good, it was just the whole experience was, well, a bit off-putting. Read on....

First of all, you will need to take out a second mortgage to eat here; even a dinner for two will cost you a few hundred. The only reason I agreed to eat here was because it was my birthday, and a big one (okay, I was turning 40, but a youthful 40!). It's a long drive to get to this very out-of-the-way place, but I figured this would be a night to remember. It was, just not in such a good way....

When we arrived, my wife, my mother and I were escorted to a waiting room and seated on some couches by a tiny little table. Why? They offered no explanation. After a short wait, someone came to us and asked if we would like anything. What do I want, I asked myself, a game of tennis, a new pair of pants, a winning lottery ticket, peace on earth? I assumed he was asking for something more mundane, like drinks, although we were given no wine menu or drink menu or any clue what he might be asking. In a fit of pique, I asked for water. Hold on, make that Perrier water, after all, this is a classy joint, right?

From what I am led to believe, waiters at "The Inn" are trained for a full year or two before they become part of the wait staff there. What exactly did they learn, obsequiousness, how to be a snob? Our waiter certainly had the air of someone who could just barely condescend to serve us, even though we were all well dressed for the occasion. Indeed, one got the distinct feeling that he felt he was the superior one, and we were lowly inferiors that were being tolerated. Not exactly the celebration that I had hoped for.

When it came time to order, I had to order delicately -- my mother is a vegetarian, and can be outspoken about it at times, although she tolerates my carnivorous appetite to a point. However, if I was going to pay the outrageous prices that were the norm there, I was going to get what I thought would taste the best, which happened to be the tenderloins of veal. There being no other menu item that said "tenderloins" and to mask my choice from my mother, I tactfully asked the waiter for the tenderloins as my main course. "You mean the veal??" he practically shouted at me while my mother shot me a stern, disapproving look. Oh great, I was caught ordering baby cows. Can this get any worse?

I stuck with my meal choice, although my guilt prevented me from fully enjoying it. It was now time for dessert. I had heard of a much-heralded dessert choice called "The Seven Deadly Sins" which piqued my interest. I told him that I had heard The Seven Deadly Sins was quite good, although I didn't know what it was, and he replied stiffly "very good" and wrote it down, without any recognition of my broad hint that I desired a description. His arrogance so annoyed me, that I was unable to enjoy what was probably a very good dessert (by the way, the seven deadly sins is so named because there are seven small versions of other items on the dessert menu, such as cake and tarts).

Finally, after our dessert, he gave two baskets of candies to my wife and mother, who were a little confused over what to do -- do they eat the candies here, are they supposed to take the baskets home with them? Of course, no explanation was given. And meanwhile, despite that the waiter had been told it was my 40th birthday, and the menus were printed with "Happy 40th Birthday Kelly," I got nothing and had to sit and watch them eat their additional sweets. I couldn't even save the menus as a memento, they were whisked away earlier with a mention of me keeping one.

The final bill came to nearly $800, for just three people. A lesson learned. Next time I want to celebrate my birthday, I'll blow $40 for appetizers, meal and dessert at Red Robins and will have a LOT more fun!!!