Well, that was lame.

Our cheap date? Kind of a bust.

I mean, we did still go on a yoga-dinner date. The yoga (BodyFlow) was good, as usual, even better than usual because it wasn't as crowded as it can be, and we did the new release class, which is killer on the abs and legs (love it).

When we got to Milestones at 9:15 pm (thinking that surely the dinner rush would have died down), they told us it would be an hour and a half wait to be seated. I'm not sure who waits until 11:45 to eat (especially when the restaurant closes at midnight!). No, thanks. I had, by the way, called last week to make a reservation, but was told they weren't taking reservations for the date night (they did last time). Booooo.

So we drove back to the mall where the gym is, and ended up having dinner at the Pickle Barrel. And it was about 20% bad and 80% mediocre. The restaurant was very quiet, with only a few other diners inside. We stood at the entrance for about 10 minutes before the host noticed we were there. Meanwhile, we examined the decor and determined the theme was "the 80's threw up all over rustic Italy".

We hadn't eaten there before. I was happy to see lots of vegetarian options on the menu. I opted for a roasted veggie and smoked gouda wrap, with fries instead of a salad (lettuce doesn't sit well with me). I asked for couscous (offered with their burgers) instead, but they said no. Serious loss of points for not trying to work with customer needs. It's not like the kitchen was too busy for custom orders. And it's not like I wouldn't have paid a little more if necessary.

The wrap was decent - but it had lettuce in it. So I was picking out soggy lettuce throughout. And the fries on my plate and my husband's were cold. We had matcha green tea smoothies, which were okay.

It was really nice to spend a night out with my husband, but both of us agreed, we won't be returning to that restaurant in the future!