We Went To Denny’s For My Partner’s Birthday
The food was satisfying and good and we had plenty to celebrate
Long absence from Denny’s
It had been over five years since the last time that my partner and I had eaten at a Denny’s. There were a few factors behind this long absence. One of the factors was that there is no Denny’s in the Erie area. We did eat at a Denny’s when we first got to the Chicago area in Arlington Heights. It was the last time we had eaten there.
Additionally, Chicago has way better food than Denny’s and we didn’t want to settle for that. This changed on July 15, 2022. This Flying J Travel Center in the Corfu/Pembroke, New York area had Denny’s inside.
Walking in and joking
I joked to the waitress that we were coming to celebrate my dad’s birthday. To make it even more clear, I had to joke that the balding man next to me with the messy red hair was not my dad but was my partner and that his birthday would be the day after.
In fact, I went a little further and said that I was the one who was older in fact and that my partner is six years younger than me despite appearances. I told them that my dad was in California and that we would have a celebration without him but also celebrate my partner’s birthday the same day. The waitress thought that this was humorous enough to let out a light, polite chuckle.
The polite, nice waitress and ordering our food
She led us to our booth. We took the first available booth to the left and marveled at all of the memories of all the times we’d previously been in Denny’s in California. We took our time to order because we weren’t in a hurry and plus we hadn’t seen the menu in five years.
Mike wanted something special for his birthday so I didn’t hurry him. He eventually landed on ordering the chicken dinner with two sides and bread. His two sides were the green beans and mashed potatoes and gravy. He also had a coffee with his meal that he refilled exactly one time.
I always take more time than Mike to order but I went against one of my regular orders this time for a reason
I wanted to order a double cheeseburger because that’s usually what I always ordered at places like these. I always love the consistency and the taste of the cheeseburgers at diners like Denny’s. I decided against ordering my usual and ordered a full order of the zesty nachos.
I also ordered a Diet Coke as I usually do. I just don’t drink sugary drinks at all but I do drink fake sweeteners. It’s probably something that I should cut back on. I did only have two refills of the drink instead of asking for an endless supply as it seems to happen every time I’m around it. I figured that the chips dish would be enough to fill me up.
I also realized the significance of ordering the dish at Mike’s birthday celebration. The dish I ordered was the same one that Mike had five years ago when we last visited Denny’s. I was hoping that Mike would remember that. He actually mentioned it during our meal as he watched me carefully chow down the plate as I made sure not to make a mess of myself and to clean the plate.
Making a thing about my messy eating habits
I normally always get something on my shirt and we always make a thing about it. Surprisingly, I didn’t get anything on my shirt. We pretend like we’re surprised when this happens because it’s definitely the exception and not the rule. Mike always takes his time eating and always takes small, manageable bites. We finished around the same time this time which is also unusual.
We just both sat there and had a fun conversation and admired all of the different sights and sounds around us. There was a cool wall behind the cash register in the front with every state’s license plate. I almost wish that I had taken a picture before we left.
People watching and observing rude and odd behavior
For a time, Mike and I were just sitting there doing one of our favorite activities while we were eating. We were people-watching and commenting on odd or rude behaviors. We watched as a couple with a young baby that looked well-to-do walked out of the restaurant and left a $4.00 tip on a $40.81 bill.
Actually, get this, it was really the change on $45.00 cash, so technically a $4.19 tip. If they had left one more penny, it’d been $4.20, but I digress. The bigger crime here was that they tipped about 10% on essentially a $41 restaurant bill. That might be acceptable in some countries but in the United States, that’s insulting.
High chair for them, perhaps?
Before that, there was a group of four people who walked in and one of the girls in the group made really handy use of the cashier counter. She had probably like DD, maybe F cup breasts and just super large and the girl had to come up to the counter to tell the waitress that there would be four more in the party.
She literally and basically leaned over the counter and flopped those things squarely in front of the register. I mean, it’s cool that she gave them rest while she waited but Mike and I said among ourselves if they would need to give that table a high chair for her. Okay, that last one might’ve been a bit mean but we were celebrating and that was a very hilarious thing to witness right in front of us.
Enjoying our meal and taking our time
We took our time to finish. We were probably in the restaurant for about an hour before we had concluded. We finally had gotten to experience Denny’s again and we loved everything that we had, the time we got to spend together eating, and the sights we saw while sitting in there.
I don’t know if we’ll go to another Denny’s again for a while but it’s not a bad meal to have every once in a while and definitely okay on a budget. Our bill came out to 30 dollars and some change. I don’t remember the exact amount as I had pulled out cash the night before to make sure we had enough money for the rest of the week.
Leaving a tip and mentioning the couple one more time as we concluded
I did a few calculations and left our waitress six dollars, way more than the couple who had the $41 meal. Knowing that the waitress would know what I was referring to, I said already knowing the answer asking the waitress if this tip was a good tip. She smirked and said that it was a great tip and we both walked out smiling and happy after the experience.
The only downside to our trip was that Denny’s has gotten rid of most of their desserts. Despite the fact that it was Mike’s birthday and they knew it, we couldn’t get him a special topper for the meal he just had. He was full anyway so he wasn’t worried about it. I’m just happy that we got to do something for his birthday and we made it our own extra special celebration. I’m happy to share it with everyone else.
