Eleven Forty Nine--East Greenwich

1149

I recently submitted my review of Cafe Dolce Vita to www.theprovidencelife.com as one of Providence's best Al Fresco Dining spots. Lucky me, the Providence Life chose my review as their winner, and I received a $50 Gift Certificate to 1149! Whooo hooo :)

I dubbed this past Saturday night as "Date Night" and MB and I made 8pm reservations for Dinner at 1149 in East Greenwich.

We arrived around 7pm and sat at the bar for drinks and apps prior to dinner. We both decided on a fancy cosmo style drink to start...mine was a Pomegranate Cosmo, and MB a Strawberry Smash. Followed by an order of Calamari with Pepper Relish and Chipotle Scallion Mayo, and the Grilled Trio of Beef Tenderloin, Chicken and Shrimp. The bartender service was less than good. It took anyone way too long to even greet us once we seated ourselves, and they were basically non-existent the entire time we sat there.

We were then shown to our seats, a 4top against the back wall, white linens and comfy plus leather high back chairs. Our 2nd round of drinks consisted of Red Sangria, which arrived in these huge goblets and were delishhhhh....

Our server Brett was very "military-esq" in his greeting, speaking and dealings...(we later asked him and indeed, he is in the military...the Coast Guard stationed at Quonset).

I ordered the Pork Tenderloin Special served with Acorn Squash and a Raspberry compote...Mmmm...Absolutely Delish, and MB ordered...can you guess? Bingo...Chicken and Pasta.....Shocker! Haha...it was Cavallari pasta with Chicken in a tomato basil sauce....tasted good as well, but why am I gonna order chicken and pasta when I can make it and eat it at home for about $3! (MB claims he can't cook chicken!)

We finished our dinner experience with a sampling of "Cheesecake Lollypops" which were 4 bites of cheesecake on lollypop sticks arranged on a plate with caramel sauce and brown sugar. Just enough to satisfy that sweet tooth despite being sooo full!

1149 receives a B+....our entire bill came to $100 for 4 drinks, 2 apps, 2 entrees and a shared dessert...not too shabby considering $50 of that was on TheProvidenceLife.com. Thank you very much :) Hopefully 1149 will consider joining Restaurant.com!

Texas Roadhouse

Advertising Yum!

So, upon my return from my cousins wedding in Florida on Monday, I had to go and re-collect my poochies from their respective dog sitters. (3 dogs, 3 different dog sitters).

MB and I were driving along RT 6/10 to get to Cranston to pick up Brandy Boi....we had plans to grab a quick bite on the way

As a Sales and Marketing Major from University of Delaware, I have always been fascinated with advertising, and the ability for an ad (print, billboard, radio..etc) to actually MOVE you to buy the product it was advertising....I mean, how many times have you driven by a Dunkin

Donuts billboard? (btw, billboard ads cost an average of $8,000 for 3 months)

Do you really need a Dunkin billboard to drive you to get your ice coffee? No, there is a Dunk on every corner in RI and you're gonna go there to get your daily caffeine fix anyway!

As we were driving on Rt 6/10 there was a Billboard for Texas Roadhouse: 20 meals under $10.......Errrrrrrrr.....Pull over! So we quickly exited the highway and made our way to Texas Roadhouse.

As I had never eaten there before I have heard nothing but how awesome their fresh bread is. The hostess grabbed us a basket of bread from under the heat lamps as she showed us to our seats. I'll give the bread a "C" in the realm of restaurant bread rolls.....although the maple butter was delish...how can you go wrong with maple butter?

And the best part about the Billboard advertising, is though we planned on going in for 2 meals under $10, we both ended up choosing dishes that cost more than $10!

Bens had Sirloin Steak and BBQ Chicken and I had a half slab of FALL-OFF-THE-BONE RIBS

"Our "blue ribbon" winning ribs are slow cooked with a unique blend of seasonings and signature BBQ Sauce. Available in half slab or full slab."

Each of our dinners were served with a choice of two sides.

I chose house salad--yummo with cheese and hard boiled egg..light ranch dressing..delish and a Baked Potato (loaded with butter and sour cream...Mmm).MB had the house salad and a Sweet Potato.

All in all BRAVO to Texas Roadhouse's Advertising Team..not only did they "drive" us in there for a meal under $10, they achieved the ultimate advertising goal of making more $$!

Texas Roadhouse Received an A..We'll definitely be back..

Oh and our server, Jack Black's long lost twin, Matt, he was good too....good as servers go...not fabulous, but did his job...he received a 20% tip.