Noodles & Company

While everyone else seems to go out to buy and decorate their Christmas tree about an hour after Thanksgiving dinner, my husband and I wait until the weekend, which, for us (Catholics) is the first weekend in Advent, the beginning of a new liturgical year, and the official start of the holiday season. I have yet to locate someplace convenient where we can cut our own tree, but there is a small lot next to a local shopping center close to home, so before buying a tree, we had lunch at the nearby Noodles & Company.

My husband ordered the steak stroganoff.

My husband also had a side of Wisconsin mac & cheese.

I had the chicken vera cruz salad - one of my favorites.

Tepanyaki Japanese Steakhouse

My husband's birthday was earlier in the week, but since we were traveling, we were unable to go out to dinner. This evening we went to Tepanyaki Japanese Steakhouse, his favorite place to go on his birthday. 

My entree came with a salad, which is one of my favorites.

My husband really likes gyoza, so we always get an order.

And I rather like the Japanese egg rolls.

I ordered the Samurai Special, which came with salmon,
shrimp, and filet mignon, as well as veggies and fried rice.

We also shared two rolls. This is a tater tot roll: shrimp
tempura, hamachi and crab mill roll topped with tempura
baby scallops, crab, spicy mayo, and eel sauce.

This is the T.N.T. roll: shrimp tempura, eel,
and avocado roll topped with crab,
spicy tuna, tobiko, spicy mayo, and eel sauce.

Sakana Sushi Bar & Japanese Grill

To celebrate the start of another school year, my husband took me out to dinner to Sakana Sushi Bar & Japanese Grill. 

We started with the Asian lettuce cups with seasoned beef.

We also shared the calamari tempura.

We also got a number of rolls: from top to bottom, the Playboy roll, the G2 roll, the Vegas roll, and the Spider roll.

Johnny Carino's

My husband has been in a persistent mood for Italian food lately, so we went to Johnny Carino's for dinner tonight before heading out to see Star Trek Beyond. The movie was good - we were glad we went - but dinner was a bit of a bust, and we decided we wouldn't go back. The food was mediocre and bland, a step down even from The Olive Garden.

We started with the calamari. 

I ordered the traditional margherita pizza.

I also ordered a side of meatballs.

Black Bear Diner

A teacher friend and I decided a few weeks back to get together for lunch today. Originally we'd planned on getting lunch closer to her own home, but she planned to work at school for awhile, so she picked me up and we headed to Black Bear Diner. It had a lot of burgers and southern food options, but I stuck with a chicken Caesar salad and a side of fries (healthy, no?)

Tepanyaki Japanese Steakhouse

Today is my husband's and my fifth anniversary, and to celebrate, we had dinner at Tepanyaki Japanese Steakhouse.

appetizer: ocean salad
(seaweed salad with smoked squid salad)

appetizer: tatertots (tempura baby scallops)

 I also ordered a lot of sushi rolls but I can't remember which was which:

• Daynes: salmon, hamachi, and tuna, deep fried and topped with green onion, spicy mayo, and eel sauce
• Layton Snap: spicy tuna and crab roll deep fried and served with eel sauce and wasabi mayo on top
• Las Vegas: salmon, avocado, cream cheese, and cucumber roll deep fried with eel sauce on top
• Dragon: eel, avocado, cucumber, crab, and eel sauce
• T.N.T.: shrimp, tempura, eel, and avocado roll topped with crab, spicy tuna, tobiko, spicy mayo, and eel sauce

Noodles & Company

Noodles & Company is a local place that I've driven by for literally years at this point, but for one reason or another have never actually remembered to try it, even though there are several items on their website that look pretty good. My husband, bless him, agreed to pick up the Thai Hot Pot and a small chicken Caesar salad for me tonight for dinner.

Joe's Crab Shack

I had a milestone birthday earlier this week, but unfortunately it was on one of my very long days so my husband very kindly took me to Joe's Crab Shack for dinner tonight.

We shared an order of crab nachos. 

I had the Arctic Bay Steampot (Queen crab, shrimp, a whole
Maine lobster, smoke sausage, potatoes, and corn in a garlic
bath and topped with Old Bay seasoning).

Sakana Sushi Bar & Japanese Grill

My father-in-law got in last night for a visit, and he, my husband, and I decided to go out for dinner tonight. After considering our choices, we decided upon Sakana Sushi Bar & Japanese Grill.

I started with a seaweed and ika salad (sesame-marinated
mixed seaweed and squid).

My husband orders some dumplings.

New York roll

California roll

We got quite a few other rolls; unfortunately, I couldn't remember which was which: the Jordan roll; the salmon crunch roll; the spider roll; and I think the angel roll.

We also got some nigiri sushi: the smoked sake salmon roll (left), the hamachi yellow tail roll (right), and unagi fresh water eel roll (bottom).

Bombay House

A teacher friend had a birthday today, and because I'm always looking for a reason to go out for dinner with people I like, I managed to convince her to let me take her to dinner; we went to Bombay House.

We shared some vegetable samosas.

I had the Rogan Josh.

I also tried the Channa Roti, a bread made with chickpea
flour and spices.

Chili's Grill & Bar

I was in the mood for going out for dinner tonight, and my husband was agreeable, so we went to Chili's Grill & Bar.

appetizer: crispy cheddar bites

appetizer: classic nachos with chicken

appetizer: loaded baked potato soup

Sante Fe chicken salad

Sakana Sushi Bar & Japanese Grill

The scene for tonight's dinner was Sakana Sushi Bar, for no other reason than it's been awhile since we've gone out for dinner.

appetizer: calamari tempura

appetizer: Asian lettuce cups with  beef

We got four rolls: funky roll, Vegas roll, angel roll, and and the salmon crunch roll.

Five Guys

As my husband and I wandered over to our local T-Mobile store to upgrade my iPhone (into which I could no longer talk and be heard - a problem with a cell phone), we discovered that the T-Mobile store wouldn't open until noon. We had planned on grabbing lunch after our purchase, but we were nothing if not flexible (and, more importantly, hungry), so we had lunch first, stopping at Five Guys.

We shared more fries than you can shake a stick at. 

I got a bacon cheeseburger with raw onions, pickles, mushrooms,
mustard, and mayo. It was delicious.