March-The Valley

Our March spot is The Valley in downtown Valparaiso. This restaurant focuses on locally raised meats and produce.

The staff was polite and was very knowledgeable about the food, and was able to tell the people at the table next to us what would go well with different kinds of wines even though our table did not personally partake in any wine. They also had what seemed like the world's longest Martini menu. The restaurant was small, but we went early in the evening so we didn't have a wait.

The menu was small because of their focus on local, in season foods. I ordered the special which was chicken served over grits, and Brian ordered Walleye. My food was good and filling. The grits, which is something I am normally not too excited to eat, were very flavorful. Brian's walleye was way too lemony for my liking, but I am not a huge fan of fish to begin with. Besides our meals, we had salads and fries as an appetizer. I do not know what they do to their ranch dressing, but it was amazing. After all is said and done, Brian and I were both underwhelmed with what we ordered. We both agreed that it would be interesting to go back during the summer to see how different it is when the menu changes.

Food: 3 STARS

Price: Make your boyfriend pay.

February-ZAD

For our February pick we traveled across state lines. We went to ZAD which is on Broadway Street in Chicago. Zad is a small Mediterranean restaurant. Before this I had only had Mediterranean one other time in my life. I am not really one to try ethnic restaurants. I was presently surprised.

It is a small restaurant and would be suitable for a nice date or a casual stop after an afternoon of shopping. The staff was friendly and it was very laid back.

I loved the food! I ordered chicken shawerma and Brian ordered lamb shanks. We also ordered a variety of appetizers. Brian and I both agreed that mine was the better choice. It was super creamy and flavorful. Brian's was good, but we both agreed there should have been more meat for the price. The falafel and hummus appetizers are mouth watering, and once you start eating them you can not stop. This place definitely made me a fan of Mediterranean food.

Food: 4 STARS

Price: Make your boyfriend pay.

January-The Battle of the Texas Themed Restaurants

Our January choice is a chain restaurant, and not really thinking outside of our dinning box, but when a new restaurant comes to town, one feels a little obligated to give it a try.

In December a new Texas Roadhouse opened in our town. I had never been to one before and wanted to give it a try. We have a Texas Corral right down the street that both Brian and I enjoy. I asked a few friends who had been to a Roadhouse before how it compared to Texas Corral and everybody said it was so much better. I half agree.

The service and atmosphere at this Texas Roadhouse was much better that at the other place, however I chop that up to it being a new restaurant. Everything was clean and new, and of course their newly hired employees were eager to please. The staff was very friendly. I think five different employees smiled at us and asked us how things were going. As far as the layout and design of the restaurant, it looked like every other Texas themed restaurant I have ever been in. By the way since when did Texas become such a popular theme? Seriously?

The food was good, but I wouldn't say it was so much more amazing than the other Texas restaurant in town. I would say they were pretty equal. The one thing that I did enjoy much more at this place was the house salad. It was big, fresh, and the ranch dressing was tasty. For my main dish, I ordered an 8 oz sirloin and baked potato. The steak was good, nothing fancy. I wasn't a fan of their house steak sauce. It had an unusual taste that I was not expecting (I have told others it tastes like egg nog and they think I am crazy). The baked potato was seasoned with a lot of salt, but was pretty good.

I have been back to this restaurant a couple of times since this first trip, and I am sure I will be back many times as it is right down the street from us. It will be interesting to try different things on their menu to really see if there is a difference between our dueling Texas restaurants. After all it's hard to judge based on what I ordered. You can't really mess up a steak.

Food: 3 STARS

Price: Offer to pay.

Introduction

Do you and your significant other ever find yourself in a food rut?  That is exactly what was happening with my boyfriend Brian and I.  We love going out to dinner, but we always find ourselves going to the same three or four restaurants over and over again (not to mention we always order the same thing at these three or four restaurants).  We decided, or rather I decided for him, that this year we were going to challenge ourselves to expand our dinning horizons.  We are going to try one new restaurant a month (a place that neither of us had been before).  This not only encourages us to find a new date spot once a month, but it also encourages us to try a different variety of foods we would have not tried otherwise.  I recommend this to any couple, because three months in and we are already having a lot of fun with this, and as they say variety is the spice of life!

I recently decided to turn our adventure into a restaurant review blog, so any friends or family looking for new date night ideas in the Northwest Indiana/Chicago area can get some ideas from us :)  Oh and I am obsessed with blogs and creating my own thanks to the movie Julie and Julia.  Now to see how good my memory is from our first three months of dinning experiences...