Sunday, January 6, 2008

He Works Hard For The Money

On Friday, the kids and I headed over to Wilmot, WI so Oldest Daughter could do some snowboarding. The rest of us aren’t snow bunnies, were seeking one of our unplanned adventures for a couple of hours.

We found one!

By the time we got there, everyone was starving so we punched in restaurants on my TomTom GPS and headed for the closest one. 4.8 miles away.

The first place TomTom took us...closed. The second place TomTom took us now appeared to be some sort of boating shop. The third place....closed. Now that I had driven 15 or so miles without even a hamburger in sight, we tried for place #4.. Nana’s Pizza and it was open!

We walked in and almost immediately I was taken aback by, let’s say, the eclectic decor of this place.

Pictures do speak a thousand words, so I’m not going to say anything further.




Our waiter came over and told us that while he didn’t work there, he’d be glad to take our order. WHAT? This was getting better all the time! The kids were becoming fearful of eating anything there, but I insisted on staying. I could tell this place had adventure potential.

We checked out the menu and decided on a bucket of cheese sticks ($3.00), an extra large pepperoni pizza ($13.50) and 4 cokes ($1.00 each). Yes, I’m going somewhere with this.

Our "not working there" waiter came back with the cheese sticks and they were delicious! We really gobbled them up in an instant, which left us really desiring the cokes we had ordered and still had not received. It really wasn’t like they were busy or anything.

I asked for them and our waiter said he figured we’d want them with the pizza because it’s a little greasy, (LOL! Fabulous!) but if we wanted them, he’d go get them now. We did.

I don’t know if you’ve worked in restaurants at all or if you’ve ever seen busboys clear tables, but with dirty glasses they kind of hook them around each finger so they can carry four or so at a time. This is fine for clearing tables. You do not serve drinks this way. Unless you are our waiter. Ahhh, what the hell. Who could I complain to? He doesn’t really work there anyway.

I assured my kids that since Coke will make a rusted bumper shine, it probably kills germs, too. They need not worry that he had his fingers in their drinks, but just in case, when we leave we will all swish with some anti-bacterial mouthwash. It’s an adventure, remember?

The pizza arrived and I have to say, it looked pretty good. Our waiter was nervous so he asked us to move everything to the outer edges of the table so he could put the pizza down. We obeyed. He flopped down four napkins and took off for the back room.

No plates. No forks or knives. Just four napkins. We used the napkins as plates which really upset my son (I have no idea why) until the waiter returned and I asked if we could possibly have some plates.

Ummm, yeah, they don’t have any
. No plates? A restaurant with no plates? No problem, we’re on an adventure, remember? Can we have more napkins then?

Even though the kids were a little grossed out, the pizza was, in fact, delicious and we devoured the entire thing. We were also having a hard time stifling our giggles and comments to each other about pretty much everything going on in that restaurant when from the back room, an argument erupted.

It was between Nana and our waiter. Nana wanted him to keep checking on us, but he thought he was checking too much as it was.

I’ve eaten in restaurants, Nana. People don’t like it when you bother them too much.” he insisted.

Hey, bother me all you want. Just bring more napkins! My son is already wiping his hands on his new American Eagle sweater!

Covered in pizza grease, we still couldn’t stop giggling. Nana herself came out to the table to see how we were doing. Great, we just need a napkin or two!

She sat for a minute and chitchatted about the lovely weather and then disappeared into the back. The waiter came out and I asked for our check. If there was one. Kind of hard to tell how this place operated.

“Let me ask Nana”. Ok, you do that.

He came back out and said our total was $11.20. I said that can’t be right, we had at least $20.00 worth of food.

He said that Nana was so thrilled to be hosting such a happy bunch of people that she gave us a big discount! I protested because I felt guilty. It’s not that we aren’t happy people, we are, but most of our jolliness during dinner came from totally making fun of their business. (I didn’t tell him that, of course.)

Nope. Nana insisted. I guess Nana gets what she wants because he wouldn’t budge.

I gave him $20 and told him to keep the change. Before we could get our coats on, he brought the change back and put in in my hand.

No, that’s for you. Your tip.” I explained.

I told you I don’t work here.” he said.

I left the money on the table and we walked out to the car. The waiter chased me out with the change.

I can’t take a tip. I don’t work here!

You just did work for it! Take it!” Now I was getting irritated.

Like two lunatics we pushed $9.80 back and forth. He wouldn’t take it.

I guess he really didn’t work there. I didn’t get that at all, but whatever! I took the money back and we decided to find some ice cream. TomTom told me it was 6.3 miles to the Dairy Queen so off we went.

You know what was there when we arrived, right? Yes, a closed for the evening Dairy Queen. Dunkin’ Donuts? Only 16 miles round trip! Let's GO!

We spent most of the night in the car driving on very dark roads, but we had a good time laughing and singing in the car. Oldest Daughter had a great time snowboarding, too. I could never live in an area like that, but we had a great time exploring.

And if you’re ever up that way, be sure to stop at Nana’s Pizza. The food really is great and the atmosphere? Well, let's just say there's little like it anywhere else.

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

We're having pita pockets for lunch but your post sre made me hungry for Nanas!!!

JAM said...

That's a hoot! At least the food was good. I worked for a pizza restaurant chain in Louisiana and Florida, and I was freaky about cleanliness and taught all my employees to be that way as well.

But when you're out and in a strange place like this, you have to go with the flow more or less.

Jessica Morris said...

How fun, glad you shared pics!!

Let me know how your shopping adventures go! I hope you find some good deals!

Rebecca said...

That's absolutely crazy - can I ask what city was this in?

Happy Monday!!

Karina said...

Glad you had that camera, but even more, I'm glad you and your kids went out with your sense of adventure! ;-)

Karina said...

Glad you had that camera, but even more, I'm glad you and your kids went out with your sense of adventure! ;-)

The Rock Chick said...

damien: I see I have inspired a greasy pizza run for you :) I personally like greasy pizza, but maybe that's just me :)

jessica: I took lots of pics of the kids but nothing that got approved for posting. Teens! Maybe next time!

frigga: you know, I think it was in Antioch, IL...not 100% sure...

karina: I love our adventures!! Usually they are a little more entertaining, but this one was fun!

Anonymous said...

I am rocking and rolling on the floor! Hilarious!! TomTom sounds as reliable as Yahoo! I wish I had been a fly on the wall (bet there were flies on the wall..and maybe cockroaches?). It WAS an adventure, you did NOT get ptomaine, AND you got a great story out of it. Thank you for making me giggle.

Anonymous said...

this helped make my day extra complete... you have such an inane (i think thats what i mean) style of writing, and then the content is always so storybook like.
the little tidbit about 'the guy not working here' sounds like some uber-important plot point that will come up later when we find out that the pizza was magical, Nana is an ancient greek goddess, and mr. not-waiter was her minion in a human guise.

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anwho, i just wanted to say that youre writing iz nice.
uhm... yeah... thats it

Fourier Analyst said...

So do we get to read the post about the food poisoning later on?

So funny! You do have adventures Darlin'!