Panara

Well, hubby had his first Why Catholic? class last night, and I spent the evening at Panara (National, near St. Louis.) I've said it before, and I'll say it again. I LOVE Panara's tomato soup in a bread bowl, which is what I had last night along with their tomato and parmesan panini. I had liked the panini before, but it just didn't taste right, last night. It seemed like there were fewer tomatoes, and it was just a bit on the burnt side. Not enough cheese, either. The tomato soup, however, was fantastic, as usual. I love being able to sit by the fireplace with my laptop, enjoying  the free wi-fi, and really enjoying my dinner instead of rushing  through it.   Is it really any wonder why we invade this place every November for NaNoWriMo?   $-$$

Taco Bell

Well, hubby and I have been anxious to try the new Blackjack taco at Taco Bell, so yesterday, we stopped in at the location on Campbell, across the street from the Wal*Mart Super Center there. Decoration-wise, a Taco Bell is a Taco Bell is a Taco Bell. Nothing really spectacular. Just the same cheesy southwest theme. (With the notable exception of a Taco Bell that I saw in St. Louis that still had the old style brown sign that I remember from the 80s.) The one thing really wrong with Taco Bell is the seating. Too many booths, not enough tables with regular chairs. And when the booths are sized for Twiggy, a size 30/32 like myself just can't get into them. (My mother escaped the fat gene in my family. She's a size 14 and can't even get comfortable in these things.) There were three tables with regular chairs at them. One sized for four, and one on each side sized for two. Sitting at the one sized for four were three elderly people. Well enough. But did the old biddies REALLY have to take up both of the other two tables with their purses? Nothing against Taco Bell. Just saying they might want to rethink their seating arrangement so that nobody has to deal with this problem. If my husband hadn't been there, I probably would have mouthed off to the old biddies. Can't say the third member of their party, an old man, would have objected much. He looked absolutely miserable.   But I digress.   The Blackjack tacos are really good. I've had them at the location over on National and Cherry, and I've had them at the location on National, near Battlefield. Of the three locations, the Campbell location does it best. Just the right amount of pepper jack sauce. I love it. It's quite possibly the perfect taco. The only improvement I can think of would be to add tomatoes.   $

Outback Steakhouse

For our anniversary, recently, my husband and I went out to the Outback Steakhouse.

The food was phenominal. I love their brown bread that they bring out, fresh, hot, and with plenty of butter. We had two loaves.

We also shared a bloomin' onion, which is always a good thing. It was a little spicier than I was used to with most onion blooms, but it was a good spicy. It was just enough to give it a nice kick.

I had a ceaser side salad, and Mike had the French onion soup. Both were fantastic.

Then came the main course. I chose the "No Rules chicken parmesan pasta." It was just the right amount of parmesan, and the chicken was so tender and so flavorful. Mike ordered the lamb, and he liked it quite well, but had a bad reaction to the red wine sauce due to his meds (a reaction he probably wouldn't have had if he hadn't had the sangria beforehand). As a result, he was unable to eat more than a couple of bites.

Our waitress, who had already been giving us fantastic service all evening, became concerned about my husband's medical reaction, and immediately fetched the manager, who was also worried. We assured them that they had done nothing wrong, that their staff had done everything right in the food prep, and that it was merely a bad choice on my husband's part to ingest so much alcohol when he knew what the side effects could be. Despite our reassurance, however, the manager still removed the lamb from our ticked, refusing to make us pay for something that we were unable to eat.

Now, normally, I don't feel the slightest twinge about not being able to leave a cash tip and just leaving the tip via the debit card that I pay with, since I almost never have any actual cash on me. But this time I felt really guilty that I had to leave the tip on the card. If I'd have been able to afford it, the tip would have been much bigger than it was. (I was able to afford a 20% tip, and she deserved at least twice that.)

Mike was unable to eat anything else, but I did order desert. They had gotten rid of the Sidney's Sinful Sundae for a while, and only recently brought it back, and am I ever glad! If you have not yet had this delightful desert, and you're not alergic to any of the ingredients, I strongly suggest it. It is a ball of vanilla ice cream, rolled in coconut, topped with hot fudge and whipped cream, and fresh strawberries. There is nothing better.

In all, despite Mike's medical reaction, it was a really great evening.

$$-$$$, depending on what you get, whether or not you get an appetizer or desert, and whether or not you get alcohol.