Making dinner for my husband and myself: baby back ribs, baked beans, corn bread, cole slaw, and mint-fudge ice cream sandwiches (with homemade mint ice cream courtesy of a David Lebovitz recipe, and double chocolate cookies). I have some sangria soaking in the fridge as well.
Twice a month, and they are usually nicer meals. Of course, I don't save very much by cooking every other meal as I will readily drop $25.00 on a pound of porcinis at the farmer's market. In college I didn't eat out for about three years, and cooked everything I ate on less than $100.00/month (except for the occassional meal out courtesy of my parents). I wish I could still do that, but an addiction to high-quality and sometimes pricey ingredients foils me.
Thai Tom in the University District of Seattle
Txori in Belltown
Tilth - organic, local, seasonal, and absolutely delicious. Has a very "Seattle" vibe.
Cremant - Casual but elegant rustic French fare (the duck confit is amazing). Bring an appetite.
Sitka and Spruce - the menu changes daily, but you have to arrive at opening (~5:30pm) if you want to get a table.
Quinn's - Gastropub in the Capitol Hill district.
Many of the little shops and stalls in the Pike's Place Market are great for a quick bite. You can get meat pastry at Piroshky Piroshky, lamb pita at Mr. D's, or macaroni and cheese at Beecher's Cheese, to name a few. And there is good Thai food everywhere.
That is my favorite produce stand in the market. They also put out signs for "Oh My God" fruit. I learned this when I was given a sample of pear, and the first words out of my mouth were "Oh my god", at which point the vendor pointed to the sign: "Oh My God Pears"
We did burgers and dogs, but all the sides were with a Mexican flair, as we were with my brother-in-law's family. Beans, rice, Nana's wonderful squash dish with corn and cotija cheese, Papa's homegrown corn on the cob with lime and chile, fresh salsa and guacamole, and my contribution: bacon-wrapped chicken cubes, dredged in a mixture of brown sugar, cayenne and chili powder and baked @400 for 12 minutes...spicy, caramelized goodness.
Ribeye steaks, baked potatoes, and corn on the cob, all off the grill. Gonna get started in an hour or so. (I'm in California - so there!)
Wasn't planned but...I ended up eating 2 1/2 pieces of sweet breads from a local Mexican panaderia, followed by a fresh bagel. :) Very patriotic, no? haha...I crave turkey too for some reason.
I moved away from Seattle 7 years ago, but our family LOVED Shanghai Garden across the street from Uwajimaya...especially the 7 flavor tofu and barleygreen handshaven noodles. I'm going back to Seattle for the first time in a few years next month...anyone been to Shanghai Garden lately?
We love to eat. And we especially love to eat out. However, we usually have at least two of our six kids living home with us, most of whom are teenagers. Satisfying those adolescent appetites can start to resemble the feeding of an Army, so the vast majority of our meals are prepared by me. Of course, since we love good quality, interesting food, even eating at home doesn't necessarily save us much money. It varies quite a bit, but I'd say, when we've got kids at home, we eat out and/or take-out about once or twice a week on average.
But we're also lucky enough to get weeks at a time where all the kids are away, and it's just the two of us. That's when we tend to eat out a lot, especially fine dining. At those times, we often find ourselves eating out 10-15 times per week.
We've noticed that eventually, we reach the point of eating out so much that we suffer from restaurant-food burn-out. It gets so neither one of us can abide the thought of another meal that isn't home cooked.
Does anybody else who goes on those high-frequency dining-out jags experience that?
Wow, I'm in the camp of a lot by comparison. I live on Long Island so the dining options are wonderful. Monday to Thursday, I prepare all of my meals, cereal and fruit for breakfast, bagged sandwich for lunch and home prepared dinner. Friday-Sunday, up to 2 meals a day are out. This always includes a stop at our local burrito bar where everything is prepared fresh and mostly organic, brown rice, whole wheat tortillas and tofu are also on the menu. It is my favorite meal of the week and I look forward to it and for less than $8.00 I am full for at least 8 hours with organic healthy and delicious food. We often have breakfast out one weekend day as well. We have a few local places that serve fresh healthy food always under $25 for 2 people and we are always too dull for lunch. The other meals are random (sushi, boulder creek, pubs, mexican, casual Italian but not expensive, always under $50 for two, unless its a holiday/b-day or anniversary and we go to a special (expensive) place. My boyfriend's apartment does not have a stove or an oven and we have a ton of delicious and reasonably priced options nearby so on our weekends together we enjoy going out. His birthday is next week so I asked him to pick a special place for dinner and he jokingly asked "What's wrong with Salsa Salsa"?
Hey!
You have many eatouts to eat there... check out this site for more information.. www.yummyuck.com.. you can also read reviews, other people's experience and price structure without steppin in to it.
Hey!
You have many restaurants to eat there... check out this site for more information.. www.yummyuck.com.. you can also read reviews, other people's experience and price structure without steppin in to it.
I'm like you, one meal a week, usually on friday night when we go grocery shopping after work. But now that it is farmers market season, we will have breakfast out before the market.
We typically eat in restaurants only while on business trips or vacation. We (I in particular) really like to cook. Also, there is just one decent restaurant within walking distance or a short car ride and it's a pub, not exactly healthy eating (which of course makes it fun). Other than that, fast food or truly marginal take-out are the only other local options.
This doesn't necessarily mean we save a lot of money. As per culinaryrabbit, we seek out and are willing to pay for specialty food.
Nor does it mean I am restaurant deprived. Fortunately, I find myself back home in the SF area often for business. I like to go places that serve food I don't know how to prepare or can't get the ingredients for myself, or to places where they've perfected something I'm trying to learn.
Net: 3 times a month on average, not including take-out Indian when feeling slammed for time.
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Last bite on earth: Roasted marrow bone with toasted bread and salt, creme brulee.