Treo

Our third child was born in June and we haven't had a REAL date night since. We've gone out once or twice with our baby and left the other two with our excellent babysitter (or as my kids insist, kidsitter). Since it was just going to be just me and the hubby this time, we decided to eat somewhere that our children, as well as other people's children's presence would be frowned upon. With that in mind, we chose Treo in Sylvania. It is an American, French, Italian restaurant with a very intimate atmosphere. Treo is nestled in a historic building in downtown Sylvania, with exposed brick and what appeared to be original wood floors. As we entered our expectations were quite high. The feel of the restaurant met our expectations, no doubt. 


An assortment of appetizers were offered, including, jalepeno poppers, mussels, and Chevre Encroute (pastry wrapped baked goat cheese topped with walnuts and house made Parisian Dressing). The Chevre was excellent- smooth, and sweet with just enough walnuts, and the dressing was divine! I


As for the entrees, Treo offered assorted pasta, seafood, and poultry/beef dishes. All (except the pasta) come with two side dishes and a salad. I ordered the sesame crusted salmon with green beans and jasmine rice. The hubby ordered blackened tuna with the same sides. We expected an extraordinary meal, given the hype of this restaurant, yet it is unfortunate to say that it fell short. 


For one, I didn't get the whole French theme- except for the cheese appetizer. Furthermore, what f kind of French restaurant does not serve creme brulee!!! Talk about a real disappointment. Yet, by the end of the meal we were definitely stuffed and could not even fathom another dish. While the food was tasty and had generous portions, it really was nothing special. Nothing on the menu really jumped at us or seemed to be a "signature" dish. The food was rather ordinary.


This restaurant is definitely not child friendly- which was a good thing considering our needs for the evening (although a table near us did have two children with them over the age of 10). The big question, would we go back with or without a coupon? Without a coupon- no. There are so many other restaurants that we want to explore that I would not go back for full price.  If we were to go back (I have a buy one get one free offer from the Entertainment Book still available) If I have to give the restaurant another chance I would try the pasta dishes. Maybe pasta is more of their specialty....


Several weeks ago I purchased a $20 for $40 offer from Living Social.


Our Bill:$47.85
Savings: $20.00




Total Savings: $65.93

Wendy's

I know I said I was going to avoid eating Fast Food during this quest, but one thing that I cannot resist is a Wendy's Frosty- especially a free one. My mom gave me a book of 10 Jr Frosty Halloween coupons that she did not pass out this past Halloween. The kids and I swung over there on Saturday afternoon and ordered 4 Jr Frosty's. Ice Cold Chocalatey goodness!!!

Our Bill:$3.96
Savings: $3.96


Total Savings: $45.93

Ok, I admit, I cheated!

Only a few weeks into my quest and I cheated today- well kind of... As per my first post, the only time I would eat out is when I am not in control of where I am eating at. Today, I ate at El Camino Real with my hubby and his colleagues on his last day of work at his current employer. They picked the restaurant and since my mom was genraous enough to watch my 3 kids, I joined them for 2 and 1/2 hours (yes I had a curfew!!) If I had more warning that we would be eating there tonight, I would have found a coupon!!!

Anyways, it was my first time eating at an authentic Mexican restaurant and it was delicious! Would definitely go again.... Even without a coupon. A little tip- you can order off their A la Carte menu (which I did). One taco ($1.75) and one tamale ($2.25). So for $4.00 I got plenty of food. They have a combo menu which offers these two items, plus beans and rice for about $9.00. I saved more than 1/2 by skipping the sides and just ordering a la carte. Okay, so I'm trying to justify my cheating- whatever! If you go there make sure to order the homemade guacamole! To DIE FOR!! WOW!!

So no savings this time around :(

Chipotle Mexican Grill BOGO Deal!

Announcing a really good deal: Chipotle! There food is always fresh and delicious. Even at regular price it's worth a visit for a filling and satisfying meal. Have you been there? If not or if you are looking for a reason to go back, here's a good deal to get you in there:

Check-in at Chipotle using Facebook Places Mobile on your smart phone on Nov 20-21, show your phone with the check-in offer on your screen, and get a BOGO (Buy-One-Get-One) burrito, bowl, salad, or order of tacos.  How to do it: In order to qualify for the BOGO, you must be physically at the restaurant. Then, you'll need to check in at that restaurant either through the Facebook Places Mobile app on your smart phone or, if that is not possible for you, through touch.facebook.com on your smart phone's web browser to qualify for the BOGO. This BOGO offer will pop up as a deal at the restaurant at which you check in. Show that deal to the cashier from your phone. How not to do it: Posting "checking in" on the wall of this particular Event, posting "checking in" on our or your Facebook page wall, changing the status on your own Facebook profile to say "checking in at Chipotle," and other non-geo-locational check-ins, unfortunately are not acceptable check-ins. Sorry.  Here is a helpful link too, if you have further questions on how to do it:http://blog.facebook.com/b log.php?post=446183422130

Have you experienced a good deal lately? Share with us!

Jet's Pizza

Has anyone out there ever tried Jet's Pizza? Well if you haven't you really should! It's a really yummy way to end a very hectic day- They have a delicious rectangular pizza with scrumptious edges! You can always get a great deal on pizza, and for the most part its affordable, even without any coupons or specials. However, staying in line with my quest, I made sure that I would order our pizza from their special menu. We ordered one large rectangular pizza and an order of small Jet's bread with a  side of Ranch dressing to drench our breadsticks in (just in case we needed even MORE calories in this meal!). The food was delicious and since they offer deals daily, expect to see more Jet's Pizza dinners at our house!  I could eat it at least once a week if it wasn't for the fact that I could feel ever bite ending up in my hips. So I dined on only 1 1/2 pieces and 2 pieces of cheesy bread. Mmmmmm! Until the next Jet's splurge!


Our Bill:$15.67
Savings: $3.39


Total Savings: $41.97

Cold Stone Creamery

After 5 hours of cleaning our "messy (bonus) room"without our kids pestering us, the hubby and I decided to reward them by going out for some ice cream. We went to Cold Stone Creamery on Talmadge Rd. They offer nearly a dozen different flavors of ice cream, and more than a dozen add-ins (sprinkles, candy pieces, gummy bears....) Seasonal flavors are also offered and that's what I got- pumpkin cheesecake with graham cracker crumbs! This is definitely the type of place that you do not consider your caloric consumption. Just enjoy! As usual the ice cream was delicious, however, overpriced.

A family of four would ordinarily pay about $12. With the Entertainment Book, we were able to save quite a bit, making our visit more reasonable. We used 2 coupons:  a free kids ice cream (savings of $1.99) and 2 Like It size ice creams for $5. I would definitely go back again in the winter time, since this is one of the only places around here that offers ice cream in the winter (Baskin Robbins, Handles and Charlie's on Sylvania Ave are three other local places). During the summer time I would be hard pressed to justify going there. Toledo has plenty of ice cream parlors that offer delicious soft-serve ice cream for about $4 for a family of 4.

Our Bill:$10.58
Savings: $3.59


Total Savings: $38.58

A good tip for you: If you sing a song when ordering your ice cream, you get a free waffle bowl!
You also get a free Like It size ice cream on your birthday when you join their Birthday Club- nothing beats free ice cream!!!

Spaghetti Warehouse

Two posts in one day!!!

I am proud to announce that my savvy dining quest is catching on with my husband. He took his colleague out to lunch today in honor of his last day of work. I asked him where he was going. His response, "Spaghetti Warehouse. Why do you have a coupon?" (laughing) With my "hehe!" grin, I smiled! Of course I did! The Entertainment Book is featuring a coupon to take $5 off when you spend $15 or more. I gave him the coupon, doubting whether or not he would use it, but alas- He did!

His Bill:$18.23
Savings: $5.00


Total Savings: $34.99