Whine and Dine

Sam's grandfather just celebrated his 90th birthday, and for the grand occasion the whole family got together. The whole family is quite extensive. Gram & Pap had 9 kids, they all married and had kids and they all have married now. Most of the grandkids have kids. Don't even ask me to count up the great-grands. Gram would have known. She knew all their names, birthdays, and favorite foods. She was one of those Super Grandmas.

So for the event we reserved an entire restaurant and had lunch. The lunch was not on the less expensive side of the scale, but you only turn 90 once and we decided to celebrate in style. The problem that I had with the price was the fact that this was a super high-end restaurant back in the 70's. And they haven't done anything to the interior since. As in nothing. If I'm paying top dollar I expect top quality in food, service and ambience. The service was good, the food good and the ambience was non-existent. Seriously, the ladies room had orange and yellow flowered paneling with dark brown chunky wood trim. And don't forget the single-bulb fixture making sure lighting was at a premium.

And the restaurant went to pot. I'm thinking it's no longer the place to have things such as 90th birthday parties. It's more like the place to grab a six-pack for the road. At least based on the Coors Light 6 Packs To Go sign out front. And in case you don't have anywhere to go you could always sit at the bar (which is the size of my kitchen island) and enjoy your Coors Light right there, blowing smoke into the non-smoking rooms.

I think Luke summed it up rather nicely. We were sitting at the tables waiting for the show to get on the road when he leaned across and asked "does this place have a mumble-jumble-fumble?"

What?

"Does this place have a mumble-jumble-fumble?"

I'm sorry. Does it have a what?

"Does this place have a butt-fey?"


It did. It was an all-you-can-eat buttfey.

19 comments:

Michelle said...

On the plus side, at least your kids can call 'em when they see 'em! Impressive and astute observation by Luke.

Oh and you also have less than two weeks before you don't have to worry about the smoke being blown in, right?

I will say though that I'm guessing you didn't organize this dinner, huh? Here's hoping you all had fun anyway!

Anonymous said...

Every family should be lucky enough to have a 'Luke' in it!

Hubby's grandmother rang in her 90th at Red Lobster . . . enough said.

Don Mills Diva said...

Uggg - well at least you were all together right?

Happy birthday Gramps!

Flea said...

Ooooh. A butt-FEY. Otherwise known as a pig trough.

Laski said...

But think, if it were in one of those fine dining establishments, you wouldn't have such an awesome story to tell.

Happy 90th Grandpa!

Cecily R said...

Okay, so I know that the evening wasn't exactly what you all envisioned, but that made me laugh til I snorted. Luke is my FAVORITE.

Danyele Easterhaus said...

i love it! this makes me smile!!!

Burgh Baby said...

Most of the food at the butt-fey tastes like butt, so I think Luke has it about right. He's a smart one!

JennyH said...

Your kids crack me up. Luke is a smart one! Hope you had fun anyway!

Anonymous said...

EWWW I hate going to a butt-fey. I'm gonna have to remember that word since my dad loves butt-fey. I can't stand them. The idea of people sneezing and flies landing on the food. Def a good word for it.

Unknown said...

butt-fey!!! LOL!! Thanks for the laugh. I can always count onyour kids to make me smile :)

caramama said...

hehe. a buttfey.

Too bad the ambiance wasn't better. I don't why people don't realize the importance of updating the look of a restaurant! I hope you all had a good time together, at least.

Wineplz said...

I love Luke!

we used to call the buffet at school the Butt-fat because it was chock-full-o-carbs. More variations on a potato than I could keep track of, as well as long-suffering crap-mac-n-cheese that was at every.single.meal.

Paula Lynn Johnson said...

Well, did youi at least grab a six-pack to go?

the planet of janet said...

that luke is one smart cookie. he knows a place with qual-eeee-tay when he sees one!

Leanne said...

Good boy Luke!
And I'm with you on the decorating. If I gotta spend a lot I want a pretty bathroom too! Sad aren't I? :)

Anonymous said...

I love buttfeys! Who picked the restaurant if it wasn't nice?

Aimee said...

Oh, I just love butt-feys, even though sometimes the prices can be ass-tronomical!

imbeingheldhostage said...

Where are the photos? I'm craving some orange shag carpet. butt-fey-- funny funny Luke!