TGI Fridays

Jay, Owen and I went to do a bit of bowling at Strikes, (way trendy, it felt like we were supposed to dress up and then bowl) and decided to grab a quick bite to eat afterwards. Since almost nothing is open after 9pm in San Jose, Jay suggested we hit up TGI Fridays, which is open to the wee hours of the morning (I actually have no idea when they close.) We basically got an appetizer each and shared it 3 ways. Get ready to look at some horribly fattening food. Looking at it again, it makes me feel incredibly guilty...
Spinach Artichoke dip, with multicolored tortilla chips. This is a favorite of Owen's so he had to order it. Globby, cheesy, caloric, it's all there in one bowl.
One of Jay's favorite things in the world is Irish Nachos (nachos with fries instead of using tortilla chips), but I think second favorite is loaded potato skins. Baked potatoes, split in half and hollowed out a bit, then melty cheddar cheese and bacon bits are placed on top, and you top each potato with your desired amount of sour cream and chives. These are not for the faint of heart. Actually, after eating a few of these, it can grease the arteries of your heart for a lifetime.

My order was an order of nachos, which was unlike most "real" nachos I've had here in LA. Each wedge of nacho chip had its' own spread of refried beans, cheese and one jalepeno, with guacamole, salsa and sour cream in the middle of the plate to dip. Ugh. Too much cheese. Yes, that is possible. The chips got way soggy really quickly, too.

I think I'm still digesting this meal today. And this was almost a month and a half ago when I was actually there.

TGI Fridays, various locations worldwide, but I went to:
10343 North Wolfe Road
Cupertino, CA 95014
(408) 257-2050
www.fridays.com

Piknic

For my cousins' graduation lunch, she had set up the restaurant to be at a place conveniently close to LMU, and her choice was this restaurant named Piknic. It's located in the new complex in Playa del Rey - I didn't even know it existed, since it was well hidden from the main street (I usually zoom by on Jefferson Blvd. in my best effort to get away from the gnarly traffic of the Marina..) This place almost seemed exclusive, since it was the only restaurant in the group of high end condos and apartments. The place was bursting with people, and most of them nicely dressed. This was the place to be!

Emileigh had a huge reservation with Piknic, but most of the party didn't get there until later because of traffic from LMU. A lot of second cousins were gathering, and we were encouraged to order...since we were starving, we did...

We ordered some spinach artichoke dip, which came at the same time as everything else, so it was kind of awkward. We were starving so I forgot to take a picture until we had dug into it a bit. It was pretty good!

A half demolished French Onion Soup...there was a ton of cheese on this, and the soup itself was rich and deep. A really solid french onion soup, enough of a crouton to broth ratio, with plenty of carmelized onions in the soup.

I ended up getting a Steak sandwich. Isn't it a thing of beauty? The steak itself was really good, not overcooked or dry, and a good amount of cheese melted all over it. The bread was especially good, and kept everything inside the sandwich - check those grill marks! The fries were really tasty, good mix of textures.

Owen got a turkey club sandwich, as he usually does and will whenever there's one on the menu and it's lunchtime. This was a killer club. The bread was nice and grilled, and thick, like texas toast. The bacon was ample, and I think there was avocado on there as well. The turkey was from a carved bird - the most preferred kind of turkey! Owen requested sweet potato fries, which he prefers over regular fries. He could not stop eating them!

Owen really wants to come back here for a breakfast sometime. They have an ample menu of smoothies with fresh fruits, and the breakfasts that the others had ordered looked pretty good as well.