Dinner at the Monocle During Lent

Inside the Monocle

Saturday night I just didn't feel like cooking so Hubster said let's go out for dinner. So, off we trekked to Capitol Hill and found ourselves at the rather dark and clubby looking The Monocle, a restaurant tucked away alongside a parking lot for the U.S. Senate.  Looking at the building you know it's all that's left of what probably used to be hundreds of similar 19th century brick buildings that used to  be on Capitol Hill. I'd been there once before but Hubster hadn't so we had a great time selecting from a menu we hadn't seen much of before. Since I'm not cooking meat over Lent I did allow myself a very juicy and delicious filet mignon steak with a wine sauce that we shared since Hubster only ordered an avocado salad (he too is on some Lenten dietary limitations).  Don't you just hate "avocado salads" where there are only two or three squishy little bits of avocado? This one was nothing like that. His salad included a full sized fresh avocado sliced with lettuce and tomato and a plain oil and vinaigrette and just what he wanted. They also provided us great bread and icy water and good service, not to mention a substantive vodka martin for me and a dark Amstel beer for Hubster. We ordered fresh fruit for dessert but it turned out not to be fresh so when they asked how we liked it we said "it's not fresh!" and they took it off the bill.  I like good food and good service at pricy restaurants, don't you?

Beer Til 2 A.M. at San Antonio Grill

View of the bar

For dinner we went out to the local Tex-Mex restaurant called San Antonio Grill as it was one of the boy's birthdays. Although the food was pretty good, and their small margarita does the trick, the service was really slow. It took over 35 minutes to get the special of the night -  a BLT! -- and nachos with black beans. We went through two bowls of hot tomato salsa and chips while waiting! However, the wait was likely because one of our party ordered lobster and steak so we all had to wait for that!  I did complain to the waitress a little but she said it was because they only had one cook that night.  Also, by the time we were finishing up dinner, about 9:30 pm, it looked like the restaurant was closing up. Waiters were scurrying around removing tables and chairs and stacking them in an adjoining room. A little annoyed as it seemed like they were shutting up the shop, I asked the waitress what was going on. She said it was Monday Night College Night and the place would soon become standing room only for the $3 margaritas and $2 beers they serve until 2 a.m. So that's why the chairs and tables were being removed. We also asked where all the pictures we usually see on the walls had gone. She said they take them down as the students get kind of crazy and will take anything that isn't nailed down!  We left soon after this and the manager apologized as we left, presumably for the late food and the furniture disturbance.  We just couldn't figure out why anyone would go out drinking on a Monday night and surmised it was recovery for the students from the first day of the week. Unbelievable! And how badly behaved, taking pictures off the walls!