So What Did I Do With The TGIFriday’s Gift Card?

Oops, I spoke too soon. This is my 6th consecutive day of blogging.

Did I finally find someone to take to the restaurant so I could blow my gift card? Well, no. Instead, I decided to order takeout last Friday and made it a real Thank God It’s Friday. Remember that movie and Donna Summer during the days of disco? This time there was no dancing involved, just eating.

 I’ve been looking on the internet to find the nearest TGIFriday’s and also get an idea what kind of food they served. I found a website with a menu and prices and started making a list of what I might order without exceeding the amount on the gift card. Based on the prices I saw, it appeared like I may be able to order about 5 dishes, which was a mix of an appetizer, a salad, a pasta dish, a meat dish, and dessert.

The nearest branch was at the Long Beach Towne Center which was six miles away. I called them up and told the guy what I wanted. He said their menu had changed recently and some of the things I wanted to order were no longer available. I asked him for alternatives and he offered some. By the time we got to four items, I asked what my running total was. It exceeded the card amount so I told him to take off the salad. With that, the remaining items just barely made it to the limit with 46 cents to spare. Here is what I ended up ordering: Jack Daniels appetizer sampler, full rack of baby back ribs with French fries, and angel hair pasta with bruschetta sauce and grilled chicken. I asked the guy who took my order to please substitute the French fries with some vegetables. I had a mistake though. When I got home, I realized the appetizer sampler already had a half rack of ribs so in retrospect, I should have kept the salad and dessert and that still would have kept me within my budget. Oh well, a little too late, but at least the ribs weren’t fatty. I polished that off on Friday, ate the pasta on Saturday after the AREC run, and still have the appetizer sampler in the fridge.

Somehow, with the menu change, the prices also increased. As an example, the price for the rack of ribs I saw online was $14.99 but the new price was $17.99.  I ended up having only three dishes instead of the hoped for five. By the way, when you order takeout from a place like TGIFridays where you pick up your order at the bar, do you still have to tip the server? Because I didn't.

The food I ordered didn't look as pretty as the pictures above though because they all came in styrofoam containers.

Wanna find out how I got the gift card in the first place? - A Computer Problem at Work Which Became a Gift Later

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