Anniversary Dinner Results

Remember last week in my $5 dinner post how I said my goal for our anniversary dinner out was $12.33? 
We finally got around to going out on Sunday night. T.G.I. Friday’s was the location since I had found a $5 off Q last Tuesday.  I knew we would still blow the budget, but it wouldn’t be too bad.  We took both kids with us, since we have yet to find a sitter that can take care of the baby.  So it wasn’t set to be a fabulous night, but dinner out- and one that we actually pay for at a sit down restaurant- is rare indeed.  Here’s how it (and most other attempts we have made) turned out. 

I ordered an appetizer as my meal and it was brought out as an appetizer.  I asked that they keep it warm so that I could eat with my husband.  When his meal came out 15 mins later it came alone.  I inquired about mine:  “oh yeah, I’ve seen that sitting up in the window for a while.  I’ll get that for you.”  Sure enough, it was cold-tepid at best. Our waiter showed up about 10 minutes later.  He hadn’t stopped at our table since he took our order – 30 minutes before! To add to our frustration Turkey didn’t want to color or play with any toys or books I brought for them.  And then he needed to use the restroom. Despite his dislike for public restrooms he did manage to go but his clothes suffered from his untrained aim.  Or maybe it’s the “more points for hitting everything” mentality.  Little one also decided to eat just about the time Hubby’s meal arrived.  Needless to say the evening was a big flop.  They did nothing about the issues with the mixup or the waiter and the only one to apologize was the waiter who sound like a sad puppy with a broken record.  I don’t think we’ll keep the Tyler T.G.I Friday’s on our list of restaurants. 

So the result- our total was $12.88 including tax.  Tip was $0 for obvious reasons.  So technically we blew the budget, but I don’t care.  $5.10 is still a great average!  It was an honest mistake to bring my dinner early, but you’d think they could have kept it warm and that the waiter would have thought to refill our drinks at least once during those 30 minutes- it’s not like the restaurant was busy or we were two lovebirds who obviously didn’t want to be interrupted.  Maybe our next “date” will go better- at least on the restaurant end.