Tonight, I called up my best friend Brandon and his wife Joy to see if they wanted to go to dinner. This is a nice arrangement since they are two of my favorite people. Also, Claira comes with them, so I always have a cute date. (She doesn’t talk much, and she’s only thrown up on me once so far.)
Brandon wanted to try the new deli in town, McAllister’s. Apparently, when a restaurant opens up with a brand new staff, they go through a test run, like a recital or something. I’d never heard of that before, but it seems like a good idea. Joy explained that they typically do this by invitation, but tonight they let us in anyway. Brandon always was a smooth talker.
Hands down, the best thing about this rehearsal dinner (beside the fact that it’s not for a wedding) is that they provide free food… and there is a lot of food. I had veggie chili and a veggie baked potato. In retrospect, that was too much food. These baked potatoes are gigantic… easily as big as two or three of the normal-sized variety. For those who feel more carnivorous, there is a fine selection of roast beef, chicken, and even salmon. If you can manage to eat anything else when you’re finished, you may also take on one of their eight desserts (yes, there is cheesecake, freaks).
I’m wagering the entire staff was on hand for this ordeal, because they were on the ball. I dare anyone to try and finish a glass of their sweet tea (of mythic proportions) before a server offers to refill it. I’m not kidding, three different servers offered us refills in the space of 60 seconds. As for the tea, it may not be Philip’s addiction from Starbucks, but it’s very good if you like Southern style sweet tea.
At the end of our meal, Yolonda and Haley (forgive me if I’ve misspelled the names) introduced themselves, asked how we enjoyed our meal, and then got to know us. In addition to her work with McAllister’s, Yolanda runs a cleaning business and interacts with some of the Harding professors on a regular basis. Haley just returned from a year long mission trip in Honduras. I suspect I’ll be seeing more of them, as I intend to return after they have their grand opening. Yolanda told me that they even offer free WiFi, so I can do my homework or stalk facebook from there.
If you have the opportunity, I recommend checking them out. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need get going… too much sweet tea.
Left to right: Yours truly, Yolonda, Haley