I don’t understand the point of going out unless it’s for ethnic fare that you can’t cook at home (certain Chinese dishes, pho, duck, Phil’s BBQ, etc.).
Just throw down $20 for 2 lobsters, boil them at home, make a nice white wine/cream/clam seafood soup, and buy a nice bottle of wine. Or throw down some money for some nice steaks. Yeah, it might not be Ruth Chris quality steaks, but it’ll be a 1/4 of the cost. It’s amazing the number of professionals nowadays that hate to cook. It’s not like steaks and steamed broccoli are time consuming…..
Heck, you live in SoCal, get a nice smoker, hang out outside, drink a couple of beers while feeding wood chips and charcoal. Just had 20 people over a few weekends ago and tossed around 15 lbs of meat onto the smoker. Made a mango white wine sangria and some california rolls, and then just chill in the sun. Probably less than $50 in total food costs to entertain.
But for $6, I don’t think the Olive Garden soup and salad promo is that bad.
