Township Grille

After a rainy weekend, Sunday dinner was a welcome chance to get out of the house. We ventured out and met in the middle at Township Grille in Matthews. This small place in a strip mall has a sports bar vibe and is often full of Buffalo Bills fans. Their specialty is wings and the night that we were there the wings were 50 cents each. Jarrett & Steve opted for the wing specials - Steve with teriyaki sauce and Jarrett with the hot stinger sauce.

Margaret ordered a juicy burger and crispy fries. I decided to try the chili and potato combo. It was good but I wasn't expecting everything to be smothered in cheese.

 Afterwards, we zipped down to the other end of the shopping center to the Dairy Queen for ... you guessed it... ice cream! It's never too cold for ice cream.

Until next time...

Cabo Fish Taco

  Boy, this is a really late post but last weekend we headed to NODA and one of the coolest places in the neighborhood, Cabo Fish Taco. This Cali-Mexi cuisine is fresh and different for Charlotte and you always see interesting people here. They have recently annexed the space next to the original restaurant and added an indoor/outdoor patio. It was a little too cold (crazy weather) for us to eat outside this time but soon spring will come.

After margaritas and beers, our friendly waitress brought our food. Margaret ordered a guacamole, salmon salad and it was piled high and looked terrific. Jarrett and Steve both ordered the Rasta Pasta - a huge bowl of cajun seasoned pasta with chicken, veggies and cheese - almost too much to eat unless you're really hungry. I ordered my usual, the battered white fish tacos with cabbage slaw and and a side of yummy smashed potatoes. They are the classic fish taco that the place is named for.

After dinner we headed down the street to Amelie's where the french pastries didn't last long enough to get pictures. Oh well, we'll have to go back again.

Adios for now.

New Zealand Cafe

Well, this is a late post from last week but Sara was back at school after Spring Break and we hit one of our favorite spots. This tiny place on Monroe Road has both grilled items (for me) and sushi (for everyone else.)

The salad with ginger dressing is a refreshing way to begin the meal.

New Zealand's sushi is not only delicious but beautiful. Jarrett likes spicy so he went with a Spicy roll and a Mexican roll.

Margaret and Steve ordered a couple large and small items which was delivered via "boat". My usual is grilled tilapia in a teriyaki sauce. Yum, yum, yum! Great food and friendly service... you can't beat that!

  

Sayonara.

Hawthorne Pizza

What could be better after a beautiful, unseasonably warm weekend than to sit outside on Hawthorne Pizza's covered patio? Discussing and laughing about the week's events over beer and dinner while watching the bustling Elizabeth neighborhood is hard to beat.

Jarrett had a yummy pasta dish while I ordered the "ultimate spinach pizza". It was very tasty but I think chopping the spinach a little smaller would have made it easier to eat.

Steve and Margaret both ordered calzones. You can choose your ingredients and they are huge - almost filling the plate. Margaret chose spinach while I think Steve's was sausage and roasted tomato.

After dinner, we had to make a run over to Central Ave. to visit Dairy Queen for ice cream. Given the warm weather, the place was hoppin'.

Sara arrives home next weekend for spring break so maybe she'll be back with us soon.

Ciao!

Salsa's on Sardis

We met a little later last night because the big Daytona race was on earlier and it was a must-see for Steve. Salsa's is one of our simple go-to places since it is about half way between our homes and we all like Mexican food. When Jarrett & I arrived, Margaret & Steve already had chips, salsa, guacamole and a pitcher of margaritas waiting for us. The guacamole which according to Margaret "coats your mouth with lovely Omega 3s" was very tasty as were the margaritas.







Dinner conversation tonight ran the gamut from events surrounding a good friend's wedding to backhoes to pampas grass and criminal court (no, none of us were there as defendants). Of course we had to hear the news of Sara and what she received from her boyfriend for Valentine's day last week.

Jarrett, who is trying to eat healthier, ordered the tortilla soup which turned out to be a somewhat tasteless orange water with tortilla strips and sour cream globs floating in it. It was pretty though.

Steve & Margaret shared their usual fajitas and I tried the taco salad which didn't look like much but was pretty tasty.

Since we had heard that the fried ice cream was good, we ordered some. I thought we would all share one but apparently Steve had other ideas so two orders it was. That Steve... I can always count on him to help me eat ice cream. Although this fried ice cream didn't live up to my old memories of the same dessert at Casa Gallardo, it was really good - crunchy on the outside and soft, vanilla ice cream on the inside. I still prefer the way that Casa used to top theirs with honey rather than chocolate and strawberry drizzles served here.  

All in all, a fun evening! Salud!

How We Began

This adventure began last summer on a wonderful trip to Italy with long-time friends. Over the course of two weeks, we explored Rome, Tuscan hill towns, Florence and Venice. Along the way we wined, dined, laughed and enjoyed spending uninterrupted time with each other. Even though life necessitated returning to jobs, family responsibilities and other obligations, we longed to make the fun last so we began meeting each Sunday night for dinner. We touch base, recap our week, and plan new adventures. We've been at this for about seven months and one of our group is now away at college so we wanted to share our meals with her and others who may be interested.
Buon appetito!