Houston... We Have Finally Eaten Out!

This is close to my nightmare here.  My nightmare was that the first dining out experience I blog about would be a fine dining establishment that involves some golden arches and a red haired clown.  Close... the red part is right.

Restaurant name:  Red Robin
Food type:  American Grill
Category:  Previously frequented... well, frequently
Location:  Seattle Washington Waterfront
Reason for dining out:  Taking care of that "hangry" button/Earning my mom-of-the-year badge
Bonus features:  Winning the Diet Coke award (this is important in my world), very good experience for the kids
Food ordered:  Banzai Burger, fries, diet coke
Items of inspiration:  None
Chance of return:  More than likely... sigh.

The Ever Important Diet Coke

The Little Guy's grilled cheese with cantaloupe

So first, a very cool moment for me.  The Guys (my 5 year old is The Big Guy and my 4 year old is The Little Guy) and I headed into downtown Seattle for a special occasion... the chance to be on live television with their favorite music band.  Total bonus for me (and, no, I'm not referring to the complimentary Chocodiles they gave us... but that was nice, too).  Walking back I glipse over to see none other than Chef in the Hat Thierry Rautureau!! 

Get used to it now, folks.  Celebrity chefs are better than rock stars in my eyes.  I spent the rest of the taping waiting anxiously for his segment, hoping we got to taste his food (we didn't... grrrrrrr....).  I spent the remainder of the taping scheming how to get The Big Guy to take my picture with him after the taping.  But he didn't stick around (double grrrrrr....).  So this picture is the closest I have to prove that I was in the same vicinity with the man.  Still dreaming of eating at Luc someday...


But on this special occasion of being on live TV, I decided to take The Guys out to lunch.  I could have packed a picnic and taken it to a nice park on this gorgeous occasion of a summer day in Seattle, but really, and if I may, I'll be totally honest, I wanted to be able to create an entry here.

I did offer The Guys their choice.  I knew it was a lost cause, but coming up on those gorgeous numbers of 66 down on the water front, dreaming of my favorite crab and corn chowder, I knew I'd kick myself if I didn't offer.  "Guys!  We have two choices for lunch today.  First, I can take you to a place where you can get some amazing fish... fish and chips or broiled fish, the kind you LOVE (believe it or not, The Guys truly are suckers for sea bass, which they enjoyed at El Gaucho once... we truly are crazy).  And then, almost under my breath as an afterthought, I said, "orwecangotoredrobin...".  CHEERS!  ERRUPTION OF UNADULTERATED JOY!  "RED ROBIN?!!?" they both cried.  "We've been wanting to go there!"

So I pass up the beautiful fish sign of Anthony's on Pier 66 (sniff), still saying, "Are you sure?" (like I had to ask) and slowly, very slowly, attempting to get used to the inevitable.

Don't get me wrong... if you're going to have a burger, Red Robin is a good place to go.  I'm just tired of it.  So is The Critic.  So this was my chance to earn my mother-of-the-year badge, for today anyway (until I offered a bike ride at the park later only to find the bikes weren't in the car.... easy come, easy go).

The other thing you must get used to with our family is the phrase "hangry".  The Critic claimed this name for that really quick change of attitude (the angry one) that comes when one is hungry.  And by one, I probably mean The Big Guy (though I'm a safe bet as well).  And today, the hangry Big Guy was in rare form.  We needed to eat quickly at a place that was special to him.

And it turned into quite the fun experience afterall.  I do love their kids' menu, when The Guys actually are hungry enough to eat those meals (and if I could create a machine to detect that before one orders, I would be a rich woman).  Anyway, I do love that The Little Guy's eyes light up at the idea of fresh cantaloupe as a side dish.  Love that The Big Guy is so busy eating his "delicious hamburger" that he forgets about the french fries.  But I also love that it's a safe place to begin introducing them to basic requirements for dining out... being patient, waiting to be served, being appreciative, using good manners, speaking politely to food servers (just to name a few).  And we enjoyed some fun playing I Spy with the menu as well as a little Tic Tac Toe.  Outside, we had a perfect view of an Argosy ship that rocked back and forth and gave us the impression of dining on a boat... fun for the imagination.  And of course there is the awesome 80s music to enjoy (The Guys can belt out a mean rendition of Girls Just Wanna Have Fun, when the occasion presents itself).

So my food... Banzai Burger, ordered as it appears on the menu without mayo.  And you know what?  It wasn't bad this time.  Maybe it satisfied my own "hangry" feelings.  Maybe it was the fun we were having.  Whatever it was, it was a good burger... this time.  Maybe it was that it was cooked well (and by well, I mean medium rare... apologies for being confusing... should have said it was cooked correctly).  Or maybe it was that my burger was comped thanks to that rewards card I got from them a few months back.  Whatever it was, it wasn't a bad experience and I'm glad to have a break from this place again for a while.

Nothing that I had inspires me to be creative in the kitchen this time around, though a Banzai Burger was likely the inspiration for the famed "Yoshida Burgers" we often have.  They are simple enough, mixing a good amount of Yoshida Gourmet sauce with ground beef, shaping into patties, they topping with pineapple and monterey jack cheese.  They are best grilled and we have even been known to grill the pineapple slice before topping the burger.

In conclusion... not a bad "first" eating out experience (in the blog, anyway).  But I'm still drooling for that crab and corn chowder instead.  Are you SURE you guys don't want to go to the fish place???