Taste of Alpharetta

I have been slacking off again on this blogging.  Its actually really hard to keep this going daily (I don't know how you guys do it! ^_^)  I had a whole bunch of things I had to take care of, so blogging just happened to fall to the last thing on the list to do...and then the list never got finished...

Anyhoo...I went to Taste of Alpharetta for the first time this year.  There were alot of advertisements and people talking about how great of an event it is, so I decided to try it out.  I didn't know what to expect, and definitely did not expect the crowd that showed up!!!

This is only maybe 1/10th of the people shown!  And it was extremely HOTTT!  But it was extremely worth it!  What it was was basically booth after booth of restaurants that offers food.  You buy tickets - one sheet of ticket is $5 and there's 10 tickets on there.  I went with two other people and we purchased $30 worth of tickets.  And surprisingly, we had leftover tickets!!!

I was sure that we would've ran out of tickets after the first couple of booths.  We ate sooooo much and we had leftover tickets that we got to gos with.  I think I had everything from pulled pork sandwich, fajita, sushi, calamari, salmon (which was the BEST), chicken wings, pizza, chicken lettuce wrap, shrimp salad, ice cream, hot dog bagel, smoothie, satay chicken sticks...omg...I don't even think that is the full list!  Your mouth is watering now, isn't it?  lol...mine is too!

Definitely, definitely, going back next year!!!

Buckhead Week - Captial Grille

This is the first time my friends and I tried Buckhead Week and we picked Capital Grille in Atlanta.  The restaurant looks really nice as it is on the 8th floor of the Capital Building so you can see the city's view out the windows.

The deal was $25 and you can choose from the following:

Appetizer:  clam chowder, caesar salad, or field greens

Entree:  Filet Mignon, Sirloin or Seared Citrus Glazed Salmon

Sides:  It comes with family servings of mash potatoes and creamy spinach

Desserts:  Creme Brulee, Chocolate Expresso Cake, Peach Sorbet, or Chocolate Ice Cream

I picked the Clam Chowder, Salmon, and Expresso Cake.  I felt that the food was good but not exceptional.  I've certainly had better elsewhere...but for Buckhead week and $25 it was definitely a deal!  Since most of their entrees by itself is already over that.

However, the service made my dinner experience awful and the food was not good enough to make up for it.  Maybe they assumed that we had read the menu before we got there (I didn't...so maybe I'm to blame?) so they came pretty quickly after we sat down and after they gave us the menus to look at...We had a group of about 12 people and so we had two waiters going around taking orders. 

The waiter that came around on my side took my sister's order and then asked me what I wanted...I was still looking at the menu and haven't decided yet...My sister told him to give me some more time...He said ok, then proceed to say well would you like clam chowder or salad?  I thought he was just asking so he can get the appetizer down first...so I said I will have the clam chowder please.  Then he goes so do you want the filet mignon, sirloin or the salmon?  I just looked at him...I was thinking did you not just hear that I needed more time???  Are you trying to trick me into ordering?  I didn't get it...I just looked at him and said I'm trying to decide if I wanted something from the menu instead, like another entree!  He goes ok and went down to the next person...After he was done with our side, he just left...He didn't come back to take my order!  I mean, what kind of service is that?  I just felt like he was trying to rush us into ordering so we can hurry up and get out of there!

So I was already upset, and just ordered from the other waiter that was there...He was about to leave too until my friend told him that I didn't order yet... The food came out pretty quickly, but they would constantly mess up on things...We had to ask for stuff soooo many times...I don't know how many times we had to ask for water before they would come by to fill our glass...I want to say we had to ask more than five times...and in a high end restaurant like that, is that the type of service you would expect?  I mean, I know we are there on Buckhead week but still, shouldn't the service be the same?

They forgot to bring us some of our desserts and we kept telling them and telling them...and finally after everyone else was already done with theirs...they finally came by the table again and said oh my gosh, are you missing your dessert?  OoO  We still tipped them though about $70 tips... for that type of service...lets just say its a safe bet that I'll never step foot in there again!

Restaurant.com certificates for $2

I am not sure how many of you uses Restaurant.com.  It's a great website to get some great gift certificates to use at local restaurants that participate for cheap.  Usually the normal deal that goes on is you can get $25 worth of gift certificate for $10, which is great for those of you who like to dine out.

They do periodic promotions though and I've just received an email that you can purchase $25 gift certificates for only $2!!!  Can you imagine, in this economy, that would be great to be able to eat out for $2!  Well some restaurants do have certain restrictions like a minimum you have to spend in order to use the certificate, or drinks are not included, etc.. So please read the fine prints or information fully before you purchase!

To get one of these gift certificates, click on the link below and put in the area where you live to search for local restaurants that participate.  If you find one that you wish to purchase just add it to your cart.  The discount code when you checkout in order to get it for $2 is to enter BITE and then hit apply. 

You're ready to dine out every day!!! :P