I would get excited every year to spend Christmas Dinner at Denny's restaurant for either some pancakes or a cheaply cooked steak. Mmmmmm
When I was a kid, my family was very poor. We spent Christmas Day with our extended family and had a lunch with them all afternoon. But when dinnertime came around, we didn't have the money (or kitchen) to cook a fancy Christmas dinner just for us. So one Christmas my parents looked up the few restaurants in town that were open on Christmas. We went to Denny's and ate out Christmas evening. As a kid, I was totally stoked about getting to eat out and loved doing it every year. I knew that when it was time to go, I could take one of my new toys to play with at the table. I always got chocolate milk or a chocolate milkshake with my dinner. And I usually got pancakes, although in my older years I advanced to the T-bone steak and eggs :-)
Even when my family was more on their feet, I still begged to go to Denny's because it felt almost like a tradition. I watched the scene change over the years. The restaurant moved locations. Every year the menu was different. Every year the cook ran out of something and they had to take it off the menu. Every year the staff got smaller and smaller, whcih made the food take longer and longer. But we usually got nice people and would be glad to leave a big Christmas tip.
Even now that I'm 'all grown up' my husband and I still go. We love going just to go and relax after a long day with family. We usually invite people along, but most of them have other plans. I can't imagine having Christmas and not going to Denny's that night. If they ever left Tyler I would have to travel to Kilgore just to have christmas dinner!
This year I went with my husband and some of my family. The waitress was not so great and the food took forever, and while I didn't get as much personal time with my family as I would have liked, it was nice that we were able to make it altogether because we never know when it will be the last time. If Denny's were to move out of town....I'm pretty sure they wouldn't follow me to Kilgore just to eat there...
No comments:
Post a Comment