Restaurant.com - Sweet Savings!

If you haven't heard about Restaurant.com yet, it's about time you did. It's a website that offers discount gift certificates for various restaurants around the U.S. Most discounts are over 50% off! Sometimes they offer sales of 80% off!

You can start by entering in a zip code, state, or popular city. It will then bring up a list of restaurants in the area you requested. Not every eatery is availible, but a lot are. Each will have a list of available gift certificate values, and the regulations for using it at the establishment of your choice. Each place has their own rules that they want you to follow.

Here's a list of some of them:

- Minimum purchase above the value of the gift certificate.

- Gratuity added to the pre-discounted check amount. This usually seems to be between 15% - 20%.

- Dine in only.

- Food only, no alcohol.

- Present gift certificate before ordering.

- Gift certificate can only be used on certain days of the week.

Here are some of the common gift certificate values and their prices:

- $10 for $4.

- $25 for $10.

- $50 for $20.

After you find a restaurant and gift certificate that you like all you have to do is give some info and buy it. Afterwards they e-mail it to you for you to print out and use!

Our Tip:

Restaurant.com is a must for anyone who dines out. I recently bought a $50 gift certificate for $4! What a deal! Check it out.

Oliver T's and Whole Foods Market - Going out to dine in, Episode I

Sometimes you want something good to eat but you don't have the time to make it yourself. Perhaps you don't have the time or don't feel like going out to a restaurant and sitting down for it. Maybe you're thinking ahead and you want something for the next day.

If you don't feel like getting take out from a restaurant you can visit either Oliver T's or Whole Foods Market for some excellent choices.

Oliver T's is located in Grand Blanc, Michigan, and can be easily found due to it's marquee style sign on the front of it's store. The first part of their store has a little bit of everything in it. From toys and tableware, candy to cigars, and gifts to picture frames. The rest of the store is all edibles. There is a great selections of shelf items that will make any meal better. Fresh foods of all kinds. A huge selection of beers and all other libations. Then there is the deli and the bakery. The deli serves up the "not your everyday sandwich's", and the bakery has some of the sweetest selections you can find.

When we were there last weekend I decided on a "Cajun Turkey" sandwich, and my wife got the "Tuscan Turkey". Mine had horseradish and a scallion remoulade sauce, and hers had a spread made with mashed artichoke hearts. We also picked up some "Salmon Spread" and crackers. All of it was very good!

We were also in the mood for dessert that day and wanted to try a cake. After hearing the run down of what was behind the glass we decided on a "Hazelnut Cappuccino" cake. Now I'm not a fan of coffee. I love the smell of it but don't like the taste. I do however like Tiramisu, so I was ok with this. The cake was good but was too heavy on the espresso for my taste.

Whole Foods Market has a few locations in southeast Michigan, (the one in Ann Arbor is our favorite) last weekend we visited the Rochester Hills store. We were pleasantly surprised to learn that this one had been upgraded. The store always seemed a little cramped with little room to move around in. But now they moved, just down the road! They took over a building previously occupied by another grocery store, with lots of room, and it looks great inside and out.

They are the world's largest retailer of natural and organic foods. Being a grocery store there are staple items we like to pick up whenever we go there: 365 Everyday Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Tea's Tea - Pure Green, and their Smoked Mozzarella Pasta Salad - which can be found in their deli. They too have a large selection of adult beverages. There is a salad bar that would rival any restaurants set up, hot food bars, prepared foods, deli, not to mention a sections for both middle eastern and Asian foods. Followed up by a great bakery with lots of bread choices and desserts to die for.

On this day we picked up one of our favorites, the "Smoked Mozzarella Pasta Salad", and also some "Cajun Potato Salad". Both of which proved to be excellent side dishes.

We stopped into the bakery for a dessert to help end the night. We found one that both of us could enjoy - "Chocolate Mousse for Two". It was so good and so rich we couldn't finish it and had to save it for the next day!

Our Tip: Both of these stores are well worth the trip. When you're at these stores please look through the whole store, who knows what you'll find! We plan on keeping the visits to these stores on the blog to further share their beauty.

Rainforest Cafe - Great Lakes Crossing

Have you ever been traveling around with your kids when one of them is having a really bad day? We have! Our youngest has been getting his two year molars in recently... all four of them. Last Friday we decided to take the kids to the Detroit Zoo. Unfortunately we had to keep stopping to try and sooth Mr. Cranky in the back seat. We ultimately realized that we wouldn't have enough time to make it through the zoo if we had kept going.

We needed to find a place that might help our son remain calm. We found this at Great Lakes Crossing. An outlet mall with plenty of restaurants and a play area for kids. Since breakfast was our last meal, food was our first priority.

As we walked in we quickly decided that the Rainforest Cafe would probably be our best chance at happiness for the kids. If you've never been there, the idea is a restaurant inside of a forest, with lots vegetation, animatronic animals, and fish tanks full of colorful swimmers. They have a thunder storm that comes around every fifteen minutes, complete with rain. Since it's a big chain restaurant they also bring out a flaming volcano paired with a song, if it's your birthday. They even have a gift store in front filled with stuffed animals and others toys that will probably break within two weeks of your purchase.

After a quick story to the hostess as to how crazy our day had been, we were seated right next to one of the small aquariums. It wasn't small like ones in your house, but small in comparison to the others in the restaurant. My wife's chair was dirty, but easily replaced with one from an adjacent, empty table, thanks to our early afternoon dinner time. The kids took the window seats so they could watch the fish.

Our oldest son order a slushy drink that comes in a sport bottle with a toy inside of a second compartment screwed into the bottom of it. He gave the toy, an alligator action figure, to our youngest. Who, when he got back from exploring the sites with mom, was happy. Good job big brother! I had a beer and mom had a "yummy" mixed drink.

We started with some appetizers. "Cheese sticks" for the boys, which were good. "Lettuce wraps" for us, which were great! They came with noodles, cheese, and shredded, spicy chicken that was delicious!

For dinner we ordered "pepperoni pizza" for the oldest, and "mini burgers" with fries for the youngest. My wife had the "Macadamia Crusted Tilapia & Coconut Shrimp", which came with rice. I picked the flat iron steak, with coconut shrimp and shrimp scampi, which came with mashed potatoes. It was called the "Triple something?".

When they brought the food out they mistakenly brought out mini hot dogs instead of mini burgers for our youngest. After three folks from the wait staff and about five minutes he had his food.

Our oldest enjoyed his pizza as always. Our youngest dismantled his burgers and ate only what he wanted to, and barely touched his fries. Everything I had was overdone except the potatoes. I "needed" A1 for my steak, and you should never need it, but only want it. I did like the dipping sauce for the coconut shrimp. The fish for my wife was good, and she enjoyed her coconut shrimp. Though for some reason they decided to make the rice for this island style dish, a Mexican style rice. It was in my wife's words, disgusting and dry. It didn't go along with the theme for the dish at all.

After receiving the almost triple digit bill we realized that we were paying not only for the food but also for the atmosphere.

Our Tip: If you need a place to eat that will keep the kids happy, this could be the place to go. Just remember what your paying for. Locally they have a deal where kids eat for $1.99 on Wednesdays. Go there on this day and at least make your wallet a little happier.

Tia Helita's Mexican Cuisine

Ask anyone who grew up eating Mexican food at home, where to eat, and they usually have one or two places they can name that serve it up just like mom used to. In Burton, Michigan there is one such place, Tia Helita's. I was first brought to this place by my wife (girlfriend at the time), and we come back every so often. Tonight we dined with our youngest son and our friend Chrissy.
The service tonight was ok. Our waiter had a little memory problem trying to remembering which lady had which drink and dish. The servers usually live up to a good reputation here. We were seated at a big round table with plenty of room for the fare we were about to receive. They have a lot of room here and a few different dining rooms to sit you in.
We started off with some "Chips and Guacamole". These chips aren't from a bag. They are fried up in the back just like they should be. The guacamole is also homemade, being of the chunky version with tomatoes. My wife likes the guacamole that is heavy on the cilantro and lime juice. That is not how this was made, so she thought it was kind of bland.
We ordered "Chicken Strips" for our son, who feel asleep shortly after arriving and stayed asleep the whole time. This was the toughest challenge of the night because he would only sleep if my wife or I held him. We end up having to take shifts holding him. I choose the "Dry Burrito Dinner" with chopped steak. Which according to the waiter is "way better than the shredded steak". My wife picked the "Steak Fajita Dinner". Chrissy chose the "Chicken Quesadillas".
Almost everything came when it was supposed to. The only item that needed a second trip was the plate of lettuce, cheese, etc. for the Fajitas. We all enjoyed our meals.
If this place was in Texas, it would fit right in, because the portions are always bigger here. Everyone but me needed a take home box.
If you have someone with you, or maybe the kids, who aren't in the mood for Mexican, they also offer up some American choices as well with burgers, chicken strips, and others.
Weird fact: at least on three other visits to this restaurant I have either saw, or saw commercials for, the Miss Hooters International show. I saw another commercial tonight. Very odd.
Our Tip: Tia Helita's has rarely disappointed us. If you are craving a real Mexican dish, and maybe some leftovers for the next day, you'll be happy when you leave.

Ponderosa Steakhouse

Nothing says steak and all you can eat buffet like Ponderosa. Dinner with the family on the cheap! The glow in the dark surprise of a place like this is that you don't have to get dressed up to go. Jeans and a t-shirt are as much of a dress code as you'll need.

Both the wife and I ordered the sirloin with the buffet. The kids both got the buffet, the youngest being free!

The hostess was nice and talkative. Our waiter was also nice, but I swear he had selective hearing. Ignoring about a third of our questions.

The salad bar was made for the pickiest eaters... you had to pick through the bad lettuce to get to the good lettuce. Not to mention a few other items up there. There was a pasta salad that was good. Our oldest son easily found the smiley face fries, and chicken drummies, and was nice enough to get extra for his little brother.

After the first round, our steaks arrived. If you've never been to Ponderosa, understand you can order your steak to any doneness you wish. Also understand that you will receive it one of two ways: well done or overdone. My wife ordered it at medium doneness, I, at medium/well. What showed up were two steaks, hers was well done, mine was overdone. They came with corn on the cob and baked beans. Neither of us tried the corn, but it looked good. The beans were excellent. Being of perfect tenderness, a good sauce, and little pieces of bacon sprinkled in.
During the next round to the buffet we found pizza, and bread sticks for the kids. Our oldest enjoyed the pizza - one of his all time favorite dishes. The bread sticks got a mixed review. Our youngest had no problem eating his. Our oldest found out that his bread stick could be used to pry open a bank safe.

I decided to sample some of the other dishes: stuffing, mac and cheese, meatballs and gravy, meatloaf. The meatloaf tasted like meatloaf, but had that "I've been sitting under the heat lamp" glaze look to it. The meatballs tasted like a round version of Salisbury steak. The mac and cheese was the standard creamy buffet style dish. The stuffing had that great classic, stuffing taste, but there was a problem. The cooks decided to put big round slices of carrots in it??? I love cooked carrots! Easily one of my favorite cooked veggies. Just not when paired with stuffing. It didn't even look right!

You can't leave this place without a visit to the ice cream bar. We all went up for a cone of soft serve. Good stuff!

Our Tip: This staple of blue collar dining has been around for a long time and probably will be for some time to come. The standard of mediocrity that was set long ago still stands for this establishment. Don't be afraid to visit this guilty pleasure every once in a while.

Blackstone's Pub and Grill

For those of you who haven't been through Flint, Michigan recently, watch out! There are some folks here trying to revive it. The auto industry has left this area for the most part. When they left years ago, a lot of other businesses followed suit. Drive through downtown today and you'll see construction of lofts, old buildings getting a new face, and new restaurants opening their doors. One of those is Blackstone's Pub and Grill. An Irish pub with a loaded menu.
They have an outdoor patio that faces the street, which is where we started our dining on a Saturday afternoon. We were seated right away, and given menu's with waters following shortly after. The menu has lots of options - warning - most items had a name, which meant you had to read the description of each, and that took some time since we were first timers. Checking out the menu on-line before hand might help. Our waiter was quick at first but took some time getting back to us once we put the menus down.
I ordered a turkey vegetable soup for a starter. It was so good our son wanted to have as much of it as he could get.
Both of us ordered sandwiches. I ordered "Ridg's Way" a turkey sandwich, with irish bacon, avocado, swiss. My wife ordered "The Fisher" a beer battered, fish sandwich. Both with fries. Our son (2-years old) picked the mac and cheese.
The fish sandwich was very greasy, and bland. Not too sure about the "beer battered" claim. Even the tarter sauce didn't provide the spark it should have. The turkey sandwich on the other hand was very good! The mac and cheese was creamy and but bland. Bland for a kid's menu isn't always a bad thing. Most kids don't like foods that are heavy on herbs or spices. The main problem on this dish was that the noodles, a bow tie style, were about 2 inches long, by 1 inch wide. This would've been fine for our 10 year old, but for the younger one it means extra cutting and/or cleaning work for us parents. My wife thought the fries were good and perfectly seasoned. I though the fries were ok at best, needing salt and pepper after the first taste.
One of my favorite drinks is a "Poor Man's Black Velvet". It's half Guiness, half hard cider. It's like a Black and Tan, only tastier! As any good Irish pub should have, Guiness was on tap. But I was sad to not see a hard cider on tap also.
Other People's Tips: One friend went there for a midweek lunch. She said she had really bad service, and they were given the wrong plates and had to switch with each other. But still called it nice.
Our Tip: The atmosphere was great, and looks to be an inviting place. Even though some of our meal choices weren't winners, we both agreed that we would be willing to try it again. I'm a sucker for Shepherds Pie. Perhaps a visit for dinner will be our next trip here.