This week we went "South of the Border" to "On the Border"

I told you in the first blog we were going to be all over the map when it came to where we like to eat. Last week was fine dining this week it is a chain restaurant with low to mid pricing but it is truly one of our favs! As a matter of fact, I usually hit this one once a week, usually with Debmac because we can get a good buzz on and be filled with yummy chips & salsa for around $10. For those of you who know me, I have a $10 & under rule and when I can keep within that limit, it makes me very happy!

This week we took Miss Miss out for her birthday dinner. Her choice & a superb one at that I might add! Depending on whether you choose to drink or not you still can have a full tummy for the $10. We usually choose to drink. Monday thru Wednesday Margaritas are $3.25 and mugs of beer $2.00. All the chips & salsa you can eat for free. I am perfectly contenting getting 1 or 3 margaritas and chowing on chips. This time though, since we had a $25 gift card (Thanks Mom!) me, Miss Miss & Jero each got an appetizer which I don't think I have mentioned yet, are half price on Monday thru Wednesdays 5-7pm. The apps don't include the sampler app or guacamole but my personal fave is the steak quesadillas. I always bring some home with me, mostly because I have gorked on chips & salsa (by the way, they know me now where they bring me both the regular(hot) salsa & a bowl of the mild salsa so I can mix them!) For this special occasion Miss Miss had signed up for their "Cantina Club" which I recommend and promptly did when I got home and she had a coupon for a free brownie a la mode which we all shared. It said you needed to purchase an entree to receive the brownie but the bartender knows me so well he said that the 1/2 price app would qualify. Gotta love being a regular :) Their normal entrees are very reasonably priced too. Right now they are running an all you can eat enchilada special for $7.99. So if you drink water you can get out of there still for close to the $10. We each had 2 margaritas, total of 6, 3 half priced apps & the brownie dessert for a grand total of $45 including tip. We tipped a little extra because of the brownie but we were very close to the $10 each! We also go to the one at Northlake Mall and my 2 favorite bartenders/waiters are Chris & Daughtry (don't know his real name, he just looks like the Idol singer Daughtry!)

So to summarize, good buzz, good salsa, good night!

Welcome to my new blog!

This one has been “stewing” in my mind for several months. Debmac and Patty actually inspired me to make it come to fruition. Hey, if they can do it . . .

Let’s call this: Dining on a Budget by I’m just one of you; I like to eat out too for the least amount possible; Let’s eat out – on a budget; Let’s eat out – for as little investment as possible; Let’s eat out . . . We'll come back to this.

We like to eat out but due to unforeseen financial circumstances over the last few months we have less and less to discretionary funds to do so. We have always utilized coupon books such as The Entertainment Book & Citipass, along with Valpak coupons and Coupon Quarterlies that come in the mail. Those are almost the “give me’s “. What I like to revel in are the “seek out and finds”. Some do a great job at advertising these specials, partially thru the above mentioned sources, others, word of mouth, any and everyone’s best form of advertising. Well, here’s your “mouth”. Some of these you might already know about. Others, I’m hoping I have shared a gem with you that you think is pretty cool and find helpful & informative. If you know of any, please pass them along, because not only will I share the specials with you, I am going to personally check out each individual restaurant and critique them. What’s so out of the ordinary about that? Exactly that, I am ordinary, I am you. Just a poor schlep wanting to go out and partake in the culinary delights of our fine Charlotte restaurants, from diners to upscale fine dining on a shoe string to see who has the best meals for the best deals. Oooh! Just came up with the name of the blog . . . . Nevermind, my husband gave me a better name . . .

Dining Outside of the Box (in Charlotte & the surrounding areas) by Terri Johnson

We delayed our romantic Valentines’ Dinner by one day because one of our favorite restaurants, 131 Main has Tuesday specials that we love absolutely love to take advantage of. The big draw here for us is ½ price bottles of wine. We basically can get 4 glasses of our favorite Riesling Barnard Griffin Riesling, Columbia Value for $12, normal price is $24 for the bottle. We get almost 4 glasses of wine for $3 each glass. To make this offer even more appealing is (Mon-Thur) from 5-7 they offer all appetizers for $5. This is more than half off for a couple of them, one of them being our absolute favorite the Smoked Salmon, normally $13. So for $40 (not including tip) we got (2)Smoked Salmons, (2) Blackened Scallops, (1) Artichoke & a bottle of Barnard Griffin Riesling. Did I mention we used a $50 Visa giftcard? So this meal was free for us (including tip) but even if you were paying, where could you get this much food & a bottle of wine for $40? I actually took some of my salmon & artichoke home with me - it was too much food! We agreed, next time, a scallop each, split a salmon & split new app we haven’t tried yet for $32. Truly, a great deal! Plus I haven’t had one app from 131 I haven’t liked and I have now tried them all. The cornbread is another awesome deal, as is the The Double Dip which includes 3 different dips. The best half price app deals look like this: The Double Dip 6/10, Home Smoked Salmon 9, Cast Iron Cornbread 7, Grilled Artichokes 11, Cast Iron Scallops 13

Bottles of wine range from $24 to $36, which remember, take off half on Tuesdays only.

I will probably get fat from this blog, but hey, what’s a couple extra pounds for being able to experience and share these delectable deals with all my friends! Bon Appetit!