“Dining Out/In”

~ Elizabeth

Friday was my husband’s birthday–the big 70! We always go out for a pricey sit down dinner somewhere in the area. Fortunately we live near an array of restaurants since our town abuts an expensive suburb. His favorite is an old fashioned steak house which features—–STEAK! But takeout steak didn’t appeal to him. Neither did the option of buying the steak from the place and cooking it at home.(I wonder how many people do use that option.) So we ordered food from Suyalita, a small, no reservations, fairly authentic Mexican restaurant. We drove down and a young man put the bag of our dinner in the trunk(no contact delivery.)

We ordered fajitas. Suyalita does them up exquisitely, serving them as pictured on the left. The meat and vegetables come on a sizzling platter, the tortillas, hot off the stove, wrapped in a warm towel. Little bowls of condiments fill another small tray.

Well…..We received the food in a plastic container, the tortillas wrapped around themselves, the meat and veggies layered underneath, the condiments in little plastic cups. The taste was there, but the experience was sadly missing. No sizzle from the meat, no warmth from the towel, no aroma from the kitchen, no attentive waiter, no Mexican music.

The contest between dining in and taking out cannot even be called a contest! We were glad to support the restaurant, and we may get takeout from them again, but we certainly will love eating there in person one day.

41 thoughts on ““Dining Out/In””

  1. I agree completely. I love to eat in restaurants, and before this pandemic we did that once a month. But I rarely if ever order delivery or take-away from the same places. It never tastes the same, essentially becuase it cannot be served and presented in the anticipated style.
    Best wishes, Pete.

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  5. Happy Birthday to your husband! I think we all now realize how superior the restaurant experience is compared to takeout. I’m sure you’ll have a wonderful do-over when we are finally released from our homes.

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  7. Belated happy birthday to your hubby. Metro Manila will be on modified community quarantine, our two though would be on a modified community quarantine starting tomorrow. Not much difference we still can’t go out but some business establishments will be open.

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  8. Pizza is about the only food I prefer to eat by takeout. I’m sure your husband won’t forget this birthday.

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  11. We buy takeout from one local Thai restaurant but have not ordered out at all since the pandemic started. The Thai food stays nice and hot and my Panang Curry handles reheating very well. Happy belated birthday to your husband!

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      1. Grateful for the same! I don’t know how people who can’t cook are surviving right now. I used to eat out once per week on Tuesdays. Now, I get frozen pizza or something as a treat to replace that when I buy groceries.

        Fast food is just not worth the health risk for me. I wanna go drive over sand dunes in the desert and kayak in Lake Mead and watch Shadow be delighted by desert bunnies before I kick the bucket!

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        2. We have several here too! Maybe half a dozen passes through our yard every day, but there are even more desert bunnies everywhere out in Joshua Tree. 😅 I think Shadow will love the change of scenery though, everywhere he goes. He also likes to watch the leaves blowing around and you guys definitely have more of those in the fall than we do! Georgia has way too many evergreens!

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        4. Wow! I plan to do most of my driving during the daytime, but we shall see. It’s truck drivers I want to avoid mostly. They seem a little more reckless during their sleepy hours!

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        6. Definitely! I make sure I never get in front of them unless they see me. I toot my little horn if necessary and wait for them to slow down or try to get a good 20 feet ahead of them before pulling into the lane. 😅

          I plan on trading in the car this year for an SUV in preparation for desert living, but even an SUV is a teeny tiny vehicle compared to a semi!

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        8. I went to defensive driving classes when I first got my license so I could lower my insurance. The instructor was married to a truck driver and she once drove with him for Cali to Atlanta. The stories she told us……I stay CLEAR of them on the roads. If I’m driving and see one coming up behind me, I switch lanes. I’m not playing with them. 😂

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  16. I understand what you are saying, Elizabeth, and you are right. It isn’t the same to eat takeout from a lot of restaurants that have personality. It is my husband’s birthday this coming weekend and we are going to braai [barbecue] at home. I am making homemade rolls and a special birthday cake.

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