Breaking the Chains

When our daughter was born 3 1/2 years ago we were constantly told by other parents that "Your days of going to fine dining establishments are over. Get used to going to Olive Garden on a Saturday night."

Boy, we've been doing our best to defeat that theory and so far I think we're doing pretty well. Saturday night we dined at Brandywine Prime in Chadds Ford with our friends Joe and Theresa. (When the Foodie Girl gets back from the gym she'll tell you all about BP.)

However, I can hear those parents right now laughing at us with an "I told you so." Bookending Saturday night were two trips into the chain restaurant world: Hibachi and Carrabba's in the Springfield Mall.

Yep, you read right. Dinner next to a Halloween Adventure Store and inside the mall. Now here is the interesting part... neither were all that bad. Without getting into too much detail here is how it came down.

Our little one loves Chinese food. She has been eating noodles and rice dishes from Margaret Kuo's in Media since she was old enough to hold chopsticks (about two years old). We thought she would get a big kick sitting around the giant grill while the Hibachi chefs lit rice on fire and tossed shrimp in the mouths of diners. She was mesmerized and loved every minute of it. Those sitting around us got more of a kick watching her than the chef!

Anyway, I went for the Filet Mignon and Chicken combo. It was a bit of a small portion but very good anyway. The foodie Babe had a Scallops and Filet combo. She reported the meat not being as tender as you would expect from filet and the scallops being just OK. Because we were seated before 6:45, we qualified for the early bird price and saved about $12.00.

Now on to Sunday night and Carrabba's Italian Grill in the Springfield Mall. It was my big sister's birthday and my younger sister's 14th wedding anniversary, so 10 of us got together at 4:oo in the afternoon for dinner. Let me say I'm shocked how many people were in this place in the middle of the day. What ever happened to watching football on Sunday afternoon?

The staff there was quite nice. The only problem is I think every server in the chain restaurant world studies the same training manual. Just once it would be nice not to hear, "Hi, I'm Suzie Snowflake and I'll be taking care of you today. May I start you off with something to drink?" Actually the other thing that bugs me is when you're eating your 'salad' (iceberg lettuce with some diced tomatoes) and the entree comes out a mere 4-minutes later.

The good part about Carrabba's: they were flexible in altering their menu offerings to what we wanted. (They were nice enough to change a spaghetti dish to rigatoni with meat sauce for my dad and I.) My rigatoni was just OK. The Foodie Girl's salad with eggplant and goat cheese was a little small and on the salty side. Everyone else seemed pretty happy with what they ordered. Another hit was when they substituted my Absolut Citron with Kettle One Citron. You really can taste the difference.

The bad part about Carrabba's: as a group of 10 we were really confined in our pushed-together tables, our service seemed a bit rushed (see above comment), and the place is really dark. Next time we'll bring a flashlight to see the menu. Overall, this is what you expect from a place in the mall.

The best part: Having the family together to celebrate a birthday and an anniversary!!

Now get ready because as soon as the Foodie Girl gets out of the shower she'll be telling you all about our experience at Brandywine Prime. Caio.