Martinis

UPDATE: Martinis is now out of business. 

VERDICT: Come here to talk about your 6-figure deal, not for amazing food.

I got a Groupon for Martinis.  It cost $15 for $35 worth of food.  I didn't even know where Martinis was, but I saw it was near and thought I would give it a try.  I'm all about the Groupons, I recommend all Vegas people take advantage of them.

First, Greg and I noticed the large amount of "luxury" cars in the parking lot.  I'm talking about cars that aren't bought because they are nice, but rather bought to show wealth.  At least, that is what I think of Mercedes and BMW.  They certainly aren't bought because they don't break down and let's leave it at that.

When we entered at around 6:30, we were faced with a crowded bar area.  I mean packed with loud "successful" people, trying to talk louder than each other, as they discussed about how much money they have in some sort of money-fueled mating ritual.  These were the type of people that use phrases like "six-figure deal", "team building", and "after this, I'm going to the gym".  Greg, of course, wanted to leave immediately, as did I.  However, I didn't want to be stuck with a Groupon that I already paid for.  I didn't want this to be a lesson learned about pre-buying food. (Groupon is great...try it, I get $10 if you use my links and buy something).

Luckily, someone was there to assist us to the dining room, which was separated by a wall with fireplaces from the yuppie-packed bar.  The restaurant area was nice and sufficiently separated from the din.  She said that if we waited around, the live music was going to start later.  This only made us want to finish our meal quickly and leave.

We had the pork and shrimp dumplings.  They were good, but only came with 5 tiny dumplings for a substantial price.  I had the flatbread pizza. Among its toppings were pepperoni, Greek olives, and jalapeños.  I love jalapeños, but with the olives, the pizza was too pickle-y.  I ended up taking them off.  Greg had the shrimp scampi, which he reported was good, but the shrimp was slightly overcooked.

All in all, it was good, not great and a little spendy.  A place to see and be seen, which is just not my scene.

Gordon Biersch - Boca Park

VERDICT:  I don't get the appeal of this place, but everyone else seems to love it.

It's hard to believe that I've only recently gone to Gordon Biersch.  This place is very popular.  Actually, I've heard reports that Gordon Biersch near the strip is actually a bit of a meat market.  Watching the mating habits of straight, young hipsters is actually pretty disgusting to me, so I've always avoided the place.

So, how did I end up there?  The Poo-Poo game™!  The Poo-Poo game™ is the smartest thing that I ever invented, although I think I need to rethink the name.  The Poo-Poo game™ is used whenever two or more people want to go out to eat (it can work for eating at home too though).  It used to be that when Greg and I had to choose a place to eat, we would end up in endless repeating cycles of saying "I don't know.  Where do you want to eat?"  Greg then would expect me to rattle off restaurants until I named one that pleased him.  The problem was that I could go through the entire phone book, showering him with the name of every restaurant and still he wouldn't hear anything that he liked.  What a princess?!?

The Poo-Poo game™ is easy to implement and take care of all that BS.  It's as simple as making a suggestion and when the other person disagrees with or "poo-poo's" that selection, you say "You poo-poo'ed, now you choose."  Greg hates this, because I'm no longer showering him with choices.  It makes him come up with suggestions, too.  If I don't like his suggestion, I also have the option of poo-poo'ing him.  It goes back and forth until no one poo-poo's.  Of course, one of the rules of the Poo-Poo game™ is that you can't repeat the same restaurant twice.  As an added bonus, if the other person names a restaurant that they know no one likes and it is not poo-poo'ed, it becomes a game of chicken.  Who is going to cave and admit that they want to poo-poo it and come up with another suggestion?  This really is the most democratic way of restaurant choosing.

Anyway, it was the Poo-Poo game™ that made us end up at Gordon Biersch.  It was Greg's suggestion and I've secretly always wanted to try it and see what the fuss was about.  OK, first, I have to admit that I thought it was a German restaurant...it isn't.  It has German beer and that is the extent of the German-ness.  That's not a bad thing.  I'm not a big fan of bland sausage with soured cabbage followed by a flavorless, sugar-dusted, dry pastry for dessert.  Instead they have an assortment of pub food and some restaurant items bordering on Applebee's territory.

I confess, I didn't have a restaurant item, which might have been delicious, but I didn't want to spend a lot of money and while they were not that expensive, I just wasn't even in the mood for moderately priced food.  I ended up have the Kobe Beef Burger.  I have had Kobe beef before, in steak form.  I actually had it in Japan and it was amazing, tender and flavorful.  I couldn't imagine what Kobe hamburger would taste like.  The hamburger that I got was dry and flavorless.  I've read elsewhere that their burgers are notoriously dry.  Greg got the corned beef sandwich which was good, but you could get better at a pub for less.

Their notorious garlic fries were unremarkable in my eyes, but they take great pride in them.

I'm sure the restaurant food is better, but for good pub food, find a local pub!