Mike B.
Yelp
Our Memorable Visit to Ryan's
This past weekend, we celebrated my wife's birthday with something a little special. She had asked me to take her somewhere really nice -- a local spot we'd never tried before. She chose Ryan's and made a reservation on OpenTable. Truthfully, I'm not the planner in the relationship (she knows this), but I absolutely love her and trust her judgment. She knows me well.
We showed up Saturday at 4:30 p.m. -- right when the doors opened. We're at that age where early dinners feel just right. As we approached the door, we noticed the sign which included: "Collared shirts for men."
Here's where I started to feel like I had already blown it.
I was wearing my best Lynyrd Skynyrd t-shirt -- fresh from a nearby recent concert, a gift from a friend, and I wore it proudly. But clearly, I was not dressed to code.
We walked in with optimism anyway and spoke with the hosts. When we mentioned our reservation, they kindly reminded us about the collared shirt policy, which, as it turns out, is supposedly noted during the booking process, something my wife does not recall seeing.
At that moment, I felt terrible -- not for being underdressed, but because my wife had made this plan, picked the place, and even picked my shirt. She was excited, and I wanted it to be perfect for her.
After we insisted we did not see the expectation, they said we could still be seated which is a testament to their customer service mentality.
I am not sure if this was intentional but we were seated in a far corner of the lowest dining area. As we walked to our table, we were amazed how many other tables were seated. It was literally their opening time when we arrived which means the others were seated before they officially opened.
Megan arrived shortly after we were seated. We shared our experience and how we felt. She assured us, it did not matter to her and we were totally good. We actually felt we bonded a bit with Megan. In the end, though, we handled it with humor and love -- just like we handle most things after years together.
We ordered drinks and were provided the complimentary bread. We both really enjoyed the warm bread and butter as we perused the menu. I ordered a local IPA and my wife ordered the Pink Old Fashioned cocktail which Megan assured her was delicious. When Megan returned, we placed our orders and my wife took the first sip of her cocktail which she assured me tasted incredible, in fact, she ordered a second one later during our meal, she enjoyed it so much.
For appetizers, we ordered the Waldorf salad with honey balsamic dressing and the meatballs. For our entrees, my wife ordered the Halibut Key West with citrus-basil basmati, broccoli and tomato caper beurre blanc while I ordered the Iceberg wedge salad with grilled chicken and a side of macaroni and cheese.
We enjoyed each and every bite and my wife decided to order birthday dessert. She narrowed down the selections and asked Megan for her input, She quickly decided the peanut butter pie not only sounded delicious but Megan also highly recommended.
While Ryan's might not have been our usual scene, the memory we made -- even just at the front door -- is priceless. This is not a place we will likely return to on a regular frequency but for us it is a great option for a special occasion.
Megan was amazing and took great care of us! This was an experience to remember!