EAT | BENIHANA

 My besties know me so well - especially when it comes to food. They know it takes me forever to finish a meal, partly because I eat really slowly and partly because I talk a lot. And they know I eat ice cream especially slowly (they usually finish before I even get to the cone). They know how much spicy I can handle (not much!) and that I like my hash browns extra crispy. If it has bacon, pork belly, or unagi, I'll probably order it.

Joyce also knows that when she tells me to "leave now!" that's when I start getting ready, haha. So, naturally, I was the last one to dinner last night even though I was the only one sitting at home (well, actually I was sewing Joyce's holey clothes and Wreck-it Ralph pillowcases & capes for Traci, so there's that.) When I arrived at Benihana, Traci told me what I was going to order since they had already looked over the menu, and I handed the server my birthday coupon.

I wasn't surprised when our food came and our table was full of my favorites.

 Splash 'N Meadow - Hibachi steak, grilled colossal shrimp. 

 Land 'N Sea - Filet mignon, sea scallops, shrimp. 

 Las Vegas Roll - Tempura battered salmon, avocado, crab, & cream cheese topped with jalapenos and spicy mayo. ($4.25, happy hour menu)

 Dragon Roll - California roll topped with unagi (!!!) and avocado. ($6, happy hour menu)

 Green tea ice cream

 Matching Nike Free Flyknits!

Now I need to go run in my new shoes because we ate way too much last night! Don't forget to sign-up for their birthday club, so you can get a $30 birthday certificate (with the purchase of another meal) - basically BOGO.

xoxo, allison

EAT | BUCA DI BEPPO

 One of the things that has been on my to-do list for a while is "sign up for birthday freebies." Ya know, the ones that give you free food on your birthday? Yes. Those are the best. Since Traci and I have our birthdays in the same month we can sometimes use both our coupons at the same time. (Like the one time we left Disneyland at lunchtime to get free Burrito Especials at Rubio's...score! and then we went back to Disneyland and ate our leftovers while waiting in the line for Indiana Jones.) But the last couple of years we haven't been taking full advantage of our birthday freebies, mostly because I was away at grad school. So this year, we decided we are going to sign up for more birthday freebies. (I'll do another post on my favorites soon.)

 I signed up for the Buca di Beppo eclub and they gave my a coupon to get a free small pasta (Spaghetti Marinara, Fetticuni Alfredo, or Baked Ziti)! The last time I was at Buca di Beppo was when Natalie and I surprised/crashed Traci's birthday lunch with her bf (he was totally cool with it, btw). Usually customers order a few pastas and share family style, but the table next to us each ordered their own dish. The man sitting next to us had the baked ziti; Traci and I both looked at each other with wide eyes and loudly whispered, "we have to get that next time!" So imagine my excitement when my coupon said we could have it for free!

Ready to eat!

 Chicken Carbonara (chicken breast, prosciutto, peas and garlic in Alfredo sauce)

 and Baked Ziti (mozzarella, Parmesan, provolone and ricotta with rosa sauce)

Our waiter felt bad for making us wait -  so he brought us free ice cream!

The pastas have small and large sizes. both of our pastas were size small (but obviously, still huge!) And as we sat there full, Joyce and Traci imagained how good the leftovers would be with the addition of more cheese (Joyce) and canned corn (Traci). The baked ziti was super yummy, but the chicken carbonara is our new favorite!

xoxo, allison