Tuesday, December 11, 2007

Another Sign I'm Getting Older

In Arizona there was a bar called Four Peaks that also served food. It was a very popular hangout, but I'd only been there once or twice. Anyhow, I was mistaken when a new place opened up in the now defunct seafood place off I-35 and Stassney.

The place was called Twin Peaks, but, you know, it'd been a while and I got the places mixed up. So we headed there, just to check it out to see if it was the same chain.

It was not.

The first thing I noticed when we walked in was that the hostess was in a trampy Mrs. Claus outfit. And then I heard Jamie mention, as we were getting seated "I'm the only woman in this place..."

And, aside from the waitresses, also dressed in trampy Mrs. Claus outfits, she was the only female I saw in a very packed restaurant.

The interior hadn't changed at all since it was the defunct seafood place, so you kind of had to wonder how much the new owner was even trying. And the menu wasn't terribly impressive, either.

Honestly, the place wasn't goofy and sort of intentionally low-brow as Hooters (which, yes, I have been to). Instead, it was just... weird. And kind of gross.

I looked at all the lower-back tattoos on all the waitresses, and all the kind of guys there having a drink with their pals, and for some reason tonight, I just couldn't put up with it. Plus, the menu was kind of lame.

I really couldn't see asking Jamie to stay, although she sort of shrugged the whole thing off. But I couldn't do it. The whole thing was so... dumb. And I knew maybe six years ago I would have giggled my way through the whole meal, but instead I just kind of found the whole operation depressing.

We looked at the menu, and I looked around for a few minutes, and then I realized, I just couldn't keep sitting there. I had to go. I just wasn't going to have patience for the whole thing tonight. So, Jamie and Jason being good sports, we left and went across the street.

I feel so old.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

I agree one hundred percent. There are a lot of places nowadays that cater to the lowest common denominator which is T&A and beer. Don't get me wrong I like checking the ladies out as much as the next guy but I don't necessarily want to go to a restaurant with my wife that is like the place you described.

J.S. said...

Wait?!?! We left that place because of all the hot chicks?!?! I just assumed you had seen a rat or something....

The League said...

The name should have tipped me off, as there was decidedly nothing Lynch-tastic about the restaurant. No backward speaking little people in red suits or anything.

Also, the promise of "scenic views" on the sign. Still, no tip off.

J.S. said...

Also, I have to take issue of your description of the waitresses as being dressed in "trampy Mrs. Claus outfits". I think that, technically, they were trampy Ms. Claus outfits.

Steven said...

Twin Peaks
Bone Daddys
Texas Roadhouse.

Taking the bankrupt "Hooters" concept and running it into the red.


I recall that when I got back from Europe I saw my friend Justin and we went to the Hooters over by Northcross. We were intent on some wings.

So we ordered the wings and the sweet girl standing asking how we were doing and, well, honestly, annoying me.

I turned to her, and looked at her sweet post-ethnic face which had braces and said:

"I realize that you're supposed to talk with us and all. But I've been out of the country for many months and we want to talk and eat wings. Don't worry, we'll tip well, but keep the tea full and enjoy not having to flatter our egos."

She stood there for a few seconds and then I said "Seriously, thanks very much". She walked off and kept the teas full.

I was 21 at the time, so, it's telling that I found that idea bankrupt even back then.

The League said...

Having been to Texas Roadhouse, I can confirm that it doesn't try to do much but raise your sodium intake to dangerous levels and remind you that Willy Nelson has been playing since the Pleistocene epoch.

I don't think I went into a Hooters between my senior year of high school and sometime around Christmas of 2004. I might be wrong, but if I was ever at the Hooters at Barton Springs and S. First, which is the only one near where I might have been, I have zero recollection.

I think my point had more to do with the fact that several years ago, I might have rolled my eyes and spent the duration of our meal teasing Jamie and joking that I didn't see why she might want to bail.

I'm happily married, and, as you say, do not need a 19 year old with a bad tan trying to pal it up with me in order to feel as if a lady has noticed me. I'm sure that plays some part in it. And while Jamie can ignore as goofy a set-up as this place was if there's a decent burger in it for her, I didn't see any reason why she should have to. It's not the first time I've walked out of a restaurant, and it won't be the last time.

Honestly, it just seems like a poor or cowardly man's strip club. And somehow I find that irritating as well.