I'd intended to pamper myself this weekend - at least one day out of it. Thought I'd spend Saturday book shopping and picking a nice restaurant. Plan A was to hit Rice Village. Didn't happen. Slept a lot on Saturday. Plan B was to hit the Barnes & Noble in West U on Sunday and settle on a restaurant between here and there. I went, couldn't find a book to save my life and dining ended up being at Taco Bell.
Monday rolled around, decided I'd hit the Galleria. Found a book at the B&N there ("Fortune Favors the Bold" - Lester Thurow) and dined rather splendidly at the Cheesecake Factory. The Crusted Chicken Romano was entirely splendid. No room left for what I hoped to be a Chocolate Tuxedo Cheesecake chaser. And worth passing along, the new restaurant that now occupies what was FAO Schwartz (name forgotten) looks worth a visit. Similar pricing to Cheesecake Factory, so it's not quite on the A-list for Clown Gatherings.
Still ... mission accomplished for the weekend.
3 Comments
Dude, are you kidding?!! Good luck to you, but that place in the FAO slot looks to me like the kinda joint that would not-so-politely show me the door unless I put on my "grown-up" act... and you know how hard that is for me to do.
In case you want to see what the Press said...
Interesting review, and in hindsight, I suppose it shouldn't quite register as a shock that the two restaurants would share ownership. Makes it an easier decision to try the alternate version next time, I suppose.
As for being suitable enough to get in the door, I think the Galleria gets some leeway as it tends to be a bit more touristy. At the CF, I dined between an upscale family of 5 out for some serious all-day shopping. The dad had more than one electronic gizmos going off and the kids were bragging about more high-end goodies retrieved during the day than I got in a lifetime of Christmases. To the other side of me was an obviously more modest couple enjoying a day out together. And across from me was a rather tacky couple of older ladies looking and pointing at everyone's plate to see what they wanted when a menu would have been sufficient. It was thanks to them that I noticed the jumbo pot pie, as their incessant hooting and howling made a glance necessary if only in hopes that my viewing it might shut them the hell up. I like to think I fit in just fine with my badass, book-reading self.
Quandry for next time is finding a suitable appetizer to munch on while waiting for food. French bread was offered, but I'm no fan of the breads that can be used as a legitimate self-defense weapon. A soup or salad might be in order. Still light enough to make desert a reality, I hope.
Still ... I gotta make it an objective to hit this place soon. Next month, easily. If I do a good job of keeping my change purse tight for the month, I might make this a late-in-the-month reward.