 Mr. Smith  June 24, 2010, at 8:00 am  When you think Italian fine dining, do you think of the Olive Garden? Well the obvious answer is no, of course not but for me and the misses we decided to take the plunge and visit the Olive Garden together for the first time. Our restaurant of choice this time around resides at NE 181 st. and Biscayne Boulevard in North Miami FL.
We arrived around 7 pm on a Saturday evening and the place was pretty packed, as we expected. We grabbed one of those black square things and waited around about 15 minutes before being seated at a booth, as we requested. Our waiter’s name was Daniel and as I remember it, he came over and offered us drinks immediately. Good Start.
As is tradition now when Mrs. Smith and I visit a chain restaurant, I ordered the sampler appetizer of fried calamari, chicken fingers and beef toasted ravioli. As an entree, I decided on the mixed grill (one chicken skewer and one beef skewer with grilled vegetables) and Mrs. Smith picked the Seafood Portofino, which was made up of mussels, shrimp and other seafood I can’t remember at the moment, on a bed of pasta with a cream sauce. While we waited, we were treated to unlimited salad and bread-sticks. FINALLY after 25 years of non-stop commercials, I was able to see what the fuss was all about. Salad great / bread-sticks not so much for me because I’m not a fan of garlic. Mrs. Smith liked ‘em, so I guess they were good.
While we were waiting for our food to arrive, we noticed just how many elderly people there were at Olive Garden this time of night. To our left was a very German couple and everywhere else we looked, there seemed to be senior citizens between the ages of 65 and 95. The poor bastard we had serve us also had some very demanding customers to take care of and I felt nothing but pity for him. I heard conversations about everything from WWII to if the television “program” called “Letterman” was on Saturday’s. Serious life changing stuff.
Appetizers arrived and the chicken and calamari was great. Unfortunately, I found the fried beef ravioli to be all bread and no meat so we plowed through the first two and reluctantly finished up the rest of our ravioli. Shortly after finishing our appetizers, our food arrived and the portion size was very nice. My skewers looked quite tasty and Mrs. Smith also found her dish appealing. Digging in, I found my medium-rare beef and vegetables to be absolutely fantastic. The chicken was somewhat dry, so I tried to eat that right away before it turned into a rock (which it did anyway). Mrs. Smith took care of all her seafood and left just a little pasta on her plate and I can’t remember exactly what we talked about but we chatted away for about an hour.
Around 9pm, we asked for our check and with tax and tip, our bill came to a flat $55. That’s somewhat expensive for a chain restaurant but I consider the Olive Garden on the Outback Steakhouse level. Just a notch above the rest. Overall, our experience was fantastic, the service was fantastic and our food was very good. We’ll definitely be planning a second and third visit to the Olive Garden soon. I certainly wouldn’t consider the Olive Garden Fine Italian Dining, but I would consider it Quality Italian Dining.
Mr. Smith April 16, 2010, at 10:40 pm
 The Mrs and I don’t eat out often, probably because we are diligently saving money for our future. Eventually, we would like to move from Miami into a colder climate and make a sizable down payment on our first house. When we are able to splurge, we usually visit a globally recognized chain restaurant, like you’ve seen in our previous Applebee’s, Chili’s and TGI Friday’s reviews. In keeping with the trend, we decided to go to our local Denny’s restaurant, located on Biscayne and 36th ave, about 2 miles north of downtown Miami.
We arrived around 7:00 pm ET and noticed right away that there was only one other family eating at that time. The location I mentioned above is extremely busy at almost every hour of a 24-hour day and I would have thought that this Denny’s would be buzzing on a Friday night, but the place was super dead. We were seated in one of the 1,000 open booths and checked out Denny’s new value menu that had a lot of choices at $2, $4, $6 and $8. The wife and I agreed on getting the sampler for an appetizer then I ordered the cowboy steak with cheddar mashed potatoes and hash-browns and she also ordered the cowboy steak (but with no onions) with sides of coleslaw and ranchero mashed potatoes. I would guess the orders were placed around 7:15 pm ET.
Well, 7:30 pm rolls around and our waiter was no where to be seen. We were getting worried because there is literally 3 other customers in the restaurant who arrived around 10 minutes after us and it’s at this time Mrs. Smith starts getting antsy. Another five minutes passes and she goes from antsy to angry. Five minutes after that, we are served the WRONG entrees. Not even the wrong appetizer mind you … the wrong entrees. So the three people sitting next to us received their meals first and right after that, we were given our meals. It would appear that the appetizer was forgotten about completely and with zero appetizer orders outside of ours, it was extremely disappointing.
So here we have our dinners but there’s another problem. Mrs. Smith no-onion steak was loaded with onions. To prevent her from throwing them around the room, I grabbed her plate and gave it back to the waiter. He said he put the order in with no onions and even tried to show me on the monitor where orders are taken but I didn’t care, I just wanted a steak with no onions. One minute later, the steak returned, obviously scraped free of visible onions. Problem #2 … there were still plenty of onions in the cheese and on the steak. The Medusa-like stare that I received from Mrs. Smith for the next 10 minutes would have turned any other man into stone I assure you.
The next twenty or so minutes were spent trying to calm her down from a rampage in Denny’s that would have killed only me, because I was the only one there. To be fair, the hamburger steaks were actually pretty good, as were the sides. The waiter, admitting defeat, gave us our check without even offering dessert and even though the meal was like Chinese water torture, I ordered the $2 pancake puff dessert. By far, the best part of the evening as it’s well proportioned and quite tasty. $19 and change bill because there was no appetizer and I strangely left a very high tip to round the total to $21.00. (10% was not deserved but at Denny’s you pay at the cashier and I was compelled to leave a dollar more than I should have)
The empty restaurant on what should be a busy Friday night should have told us to keep on walking but we didn’t listen. Mrs. Smith undoubtedly had a worse go of it than I did but her anger quickly turned into my anger and rightfully so. We only received half of our order … and even that was wrong! Sadly, I was a big fan of Denny’s before this incident and while we might still go to Denny’s in the future, one thing is for sure, the Denny’s on 36th and Biscayne in Miami should be avoided at all costs. Sometimes good food is worth the trouble but this isn’t even close.
Mr. Smith February 9, 2010, at 9:46 am
It’s tradition of That’s All Folks to take advantage of low-priced quality food from chain restaurants and when TGI Friday’s relaunched their 3 Course Meal for $12.99, we weren’t gonna miss it this time. Our first restaurant chain review of Applebee’s didn’t go well at all and our second chain review of Chili’s was pretty awesome. TGI Friday’s has always been a favorite in the Smith household but how would their menu options and food quality hold up this time?
As is standard operating procedure, we patronized the TGI Friday’s restaurant located in the Biscayne and 146th Shopping Plaza. The Mrs. and I have been to this one a few times before, always walking away satisfied. We arrived at 6pm sharp and after a 15 minute wait for the dining room, we were promptly seated at a wobbly table next to a screaming brat! If any of you reading this are married, then you know that when your wife is not happy, she can stare a burning laser through your eyes right into the back of your brain. Well the second we sat down, I could feel that laser and knew that we had to move. Luckily for us, there was an open booth available and we quickly scampered over.
Our waitress found us fast and promptly brought out the Pepsi and water, ready to take our orders. Mrs. Smith decided to go with the Pot Stickers as an appetizer, Parmesan Encrusted Chicken as the entrée and finished off the meal with a Brownie Obsession. I on the other hand opened with the safe selection of Fried Mozzarella Sticks, ventured into new territory with the Ultimate Sicilian Chicken Sandwich and closed shop with the Vanilla Bean Cheesecake.
The appetizers came in good time and were both delicious. You simply can’t go wrong with mozzarella sticks, no matter you situation or your tastes and the pot stickers that the Mrs. ordered were quite tasty. Portions were six a piece and unlike the deals at Chili’s and Applebee’s, these were regular sized and very fulfilling.
Continue reading “TGI Friday’s 3 Course Meal for $12.99 Review»” »
Mr. Smith August 2, 2009, at 10:03 am
 Yet again, Mrs. Smith and I took to the streets and decided to try the 3-course meal that Chili’s had been advertising every 10 seconds. We paired this with going to see the horror movie “The Collector” (Review to follow later today) just to make sure this was a very memorable evening, one way or the other.
Our Chili’s of choice this time around was the one located right next to the Movie Theater (Biscayne and 199th) and we arrived promptly at 7:30pm. Packed as expected, I dropped the Mrs. off to get our place in line while I found a parking space. When I made it to the restaurant, it looked to be about a half-an-hour wait. We were given a black beeper, which seems to be the norm for chain restaurants around the country, and we found a cozy seat inside to wait our turn. After only about 15 minutes, our hostess was kind enough to seat us at a booth in the middle of the restaurant.
Hallie, our waitress was lightning fast in getting over to us and kindly pointed out the specials that were running. First came the drinks and I splurged this time with a Coke (Asked for Pepsi, but what can you do, no restaurant in the country carries both) and the Mrs. stuck to her water with lemon. 60 seconds later, we had our drinks and were ready to give the appetizer: half order of Texas Cheese Fries. Took us a few minutes to find the right entrée’ choice (15 total to choose from for this promotion) but we finally decided. Mrs. Smith chose the Mesquite Chicken Salad and I chose the Country Fried Steak. Again, I let my decision be based on the most expensive thing on the menu; I don’t know why I do that! We had also decided on the Molten Chocolate Cake dessert early, so we were straight to the gate.
The Cheese Fries arrived promptly, about 10 minutes before the Entrée’s and were very good. Melted cheese with jalapenos, bacon, and proper seasoning went a long way and were quickly devoured. A few minutes of digestion time later, our meal was ready. First, the large salad was placed down and I smiled knowing there was no way that could be taken out in one sitting, then, when I was presented with my meal, I quickly hit my head with my hand thinking “There’s absolutely no way I can finish this!” In addition to the massive amount of Country Fried Stake, I also was given a healthy portion of Mashed Potatoes and a nice piece of Corn-on-the-Cob. Just as quickly as I laughed at the Mrs., I knew I too was doomed. Rather than try to eat the whole thing and be in pain for the movie, I made the decision to eat half, box half, and leave room for the looming dessert. (Certainly the right move)
My steak was crispy, very tasty and well presented. The corn was fantastic, well buttered and salted, and easily stripped of the cob with my chompers. The mashed potatoes were thick and creamy … very tough at a chain restaurant from what I have experienced in the past. The Mrs. quickly went through her salad, knocking out everything but some lettuce. She mentioned it was good too, though needed more BBQ sauce to make it better. When finished, Hallie was quickly over to provide a box and take our plates. (I also did not mention that she provided refills without us asking, another rarity these days). With room to spare, we were ready for our Molten Cake.
Wonderfully presented, we smiled when we saw what was shortly to exist only in our stomachs. The chocolate cake provides a foundation for the one scoop of vanilla ice cream, which is encapsulated in chocolate. Drizzled on the plate was a little caramel, just for effect. A few minutes later we placed our backs against the plush booth seats after a job well done. Certainly a great finish to a great meal and experience.
The total cost of the meal was $30.00 (Including Tax and a generous tip which was well-deserved). I also walked out of there with lunch for today, which only adds to the good time we had. Unlike Applebees, we WANTED to go back and do this again, rather than hope it goes better the next time. A great way to kick of the Saturday Night!
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Mrs. Smith July 16, 2009, at 9:07 am
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Mr. Smith May 31, 2009, at 6:25 pm
 Mrs. Smith and I like to occasionally dine-out on a Saturday Night and being that we have no money, the Applebee’s 2 for $20 sounded just right. After a quick trip to Google Maps, we were on our way to the Applebee’s located in Doral.
We arrived around 5:45 pm, which seems a few minutes too late, as there was a good size amount of people waiting. Not a problem, when people wait, they wait because the food is good, so we were handed our black beeper (cool little device that blinks and vibrates when your table is ready) and we patiently waited outside. About 20 minutes we were seated at what was undoubtedly the coldest table in the Restaurant. Although there was no vent next to us, we were seated by a very drafty window. South Florida seems to have a case of recent wet weather, so it was somewhat chilly outside.
Anyway, after being seated we waited for just over 15 minutes before a waitress came to our table asking for our drink or menu order. Mrs. Smith gave every passer by a glaring look of anger but I managed to keep my cool. We decided to order the Boneless Buffalo Wings as an appetizer and the Mrs. had the A1 Stake-house Burger, while I chose the Three Cheese Chicken Penne (The most expensive thing on the regular menu for this promotion, I thought I would get a maximum return on my selection).
The Buffalo wings (10) arrived shortly thereafter with 5 pieces of celery and a blue cheese type sauce. Too small to be worth the $8.65 they are on the menu, we gobbled them down pretty quickly as they tasted pretty good. Only a couple of minutes later, our entrée’s were ready! Mrs. Smith was served her Burger first, (so few serve the lady first) then I was given a big bowl of Pasta. Absent from my pasta was the focaccia stick it should have come with and the serving of grilled chicken that was used was smaller than I had anticipated (About half a breast, sliced)
The first words out of Mrs. Smith’s mouth when describing her burger was “a little pathetic” and I was less than impressed with my meal. Considering the advertisement we were bombarded with when we logged on to Applebee’s website, we expected the Burger to be much more impressive in look. Setting our early feelings aside, we dug into our meals and finished around the same time. While the wife had good things to say about the taste of her Steak-house Burger, and the taste of the Honey-Mustard sauce they gave her, I struggled to down my Pasta filled bowl as the mix of cheeses and lack of chicken made for a very heavy meal.
To finish the meal properly, we asked for the desert menu, which we didn’t realize was considerably short. Only four choices to choose from, we decided to share the Triple Chocolate Melt-Down (Heated Chocolate Cake with fudge, vanilla ice-cream and whip cream). Two spoons and 5 minutes later, it was devoured and undoubtedly the most delicious and well presented part of the evening for the both of us. With tax and tip, the meal set us back $32.00. Was it worth it? Probably not but with the right waiter, table and meal, it certainly could be.
For huge dining savings check out Restaurant.com
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When you think Italian fine dining, do you think of the Olive Garden? Well the obvious answer is no, of course not but for me and the misses we decided to take the plunge and visit the Olive Garden together for the first time. Our restaurant of choice this time around resides at NE 181 st. and Biscayne Boulevard in North Miami FL.
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