Where do you want to go for dinner?

My MiL asked me a simple question earlier this week, or rather it should have been an easy question. They wanted to know where I wanted to go for dinner to celebrate my birthday. If this was years ago, the answer would have been easier to decide on. We don't eat out too much anymore so it was a bit of a difficult decision. We've gotten to the point where trying to make a restaurant item at home is a fun challenge. (Hubs makes a version of the cajun chicken shrimp and pasta that I think is better than TGIFridays.) I looked at this more so of a learning experience while trying to figure out a restaurant. If I go somewhere that I can learn an idea for a future recipe, meal, or recipe hunt then that is totally a plus.

We ended up going to a local cajun/BBQ place. It is a place that we all have gone to over the years and the quality is always there. We had a slice of cheddar jalapeno cornbread and a loaded potato skins each for an appetizer. I had a grilled chicken sandwich with Jamaican jerk mayo topped with tomato, lettuce and red onion with fries and cole slaw. The sandwich was amazing and now I need to figure of how to make the mayo. Hubs & my FiL had ribs. My MiL had a grilled portabella sandwich that looked amazing and I am planning to try in the future. A piece of key lime pie followed me home as well. Of course, I had to keep it.

One of the best parts of dinner though was no singing waitstaff. No sparklers in a cake. No pomp and circumstance in the restaurant with everyone starting at us. I was very happy. While at times I do like being the center of attention, I don't like it as birthday centered in restaurants. When I was younger it as cute. Now just give me a slice of cake/pie etc and I am a happy girl!

We planned to watch a movie or something mellow that night but that didn't happened...