Feb 14
I bet most people hate trying to plan a night out on Valentine's Day. It seems to be the one night each year when every guy in town wants to take his wife (or girlfriend) out for a nice dinner. Think about the other holidays that involve togetherness. Thanksgiving and Christmas are handled at a family member's home for most people. Birthdays don't cause crowded restaurants (with 1 hour waits) because they are throughout the whole year. Valentine's Day can be dined at home if the husband wants to cook. Most husbands, myself included, aren't good enough chefs to deal with that. Guys should
never ask their wives to cook on this day.
This all leads to endless streams of couples crowding the waiting areas of every restaurant in town. In our area you can't throw a rock without it ricocheting off several major chain restaurants (
Applebee's,
Ruby Tuesday,
Olive Garden,
Red Robin, etc.). The bad thing is that none of these places take reservations in advance.
My wife and I tried that deal for several years in the past but came up with a better solution this year. I picked up a movie of her choice (
Notting Hill) at
Blockbuster and then utilized Applebee's "Carside To Go". This allowed me to arrive home at a normal dinnertime with food and a romantic comedy in hand.
I highly recommend this to any couple that is just too sick of waiting in line every year for a Valentine's dinner.
NOTICE TO GUYS: If it's your first Valentine's with a girl, you better make reservations to a fancy (expensive) restaurant that allows you to call a week in advance. Anything short of that will make you look like a lazy cheapskate.
