Garden Dining

This weekend we decided it was time to go back to one of our favorite restaurants, one that doesn't even have chicken nuggets/tenders/strips, etc. on its menu -- in fact, in has two things on a kids menu and they really are just small portions from the adult menu. It's great. The best part about this restaurant though, well one of the best parts, is that it has the most delightful patio. It is all enclosed with surrounding buildings, but you can't see them through all of the lush greenery. With beautiful greek statues and fountains and flowers adorning the area, you completely forget that your car is just on the other side of the store you can't even see you are sitting near. Plus, the outside is usually not crowded, and perfect for small children who don't have the patience or desire to be interested in more than a fleeting moment of flower, about 90 seconds of a fountain, and that's it.

So besides the ambience and surprisingly kid-friendly (even stroller friendly outside, though at this moment we didn't need that) the food is divine. And when I can say that, it must be good because usually a good meal is one of the least important things to me in life.

Hummus though. Real. Greek. Hummus. It will make your toes curl. And the homemade pitas that come with it, well you're just about done for. And the fresh from the oven bread -- so fresh that the crust melts in your mouth, and you don't even realize how fresh it was until you go to take another nibble a half an hour later and the crust is crispy. That fresh. The rest of the meal is just as wonderful. (The kids even ate the meat sauce and pasta! And when Greta eats anything, it's a good day.)

The only downside was that you are in for a long meal here. Where our meals usually don't go past 40 minutes in any 'normal' restaurant we go to, and you don't even want to know the lightning speed we tend to make at our own kitchen table for some reason, the length of a dinner that get dressed up nicely for is a big deal; obviously part of the meal is to enjoy company in beautiful surroundings. Unless you're 10 and under. We had books, paper, pens, dolls, etc but 90 minutes in one restaurant did finally get a little taxing -- and that was 60 minutes waiting for dinner, 30 minutes eating and paying the bill. It was still a great time, although I do believe Chris and I mentioned that perhaps we'll go back for our anniversary and splurge on a sitter.

The following pictures though are from the restaurant. They were from the 'waiting for the bill' portion of the evening. The girls were really well-behaved considering, and enjoyed their restaurant photo shoot. (* Author's note: no dining guests were annoyed while photographing, I promise.) I AM CURRENTLY HAVING TROUBLE PUTTING THESE PHOTOS IN, SO I WILL TRY A FEW NOW, AND ADD SOME TO ANOTHER POST LATER.