Pre-Dinner Friday 12/3

What an experience tonight!  Today, Groupon had a coupon for a place called The Bistro at Our Town which is located in Exton in the Giant Shopping Center at Swedesford Road and Rte 100.  Normally I buy Groupon coupons for local restaurants in my area, but for whatever reason I forgot today to do so and when we were deciding on a place to eat dinner, the place had stuck in the back of my mind.

We arrived at the restaurant around 7:40 and had to wait more than a few moments for someone to come up to seat us.  We did notice friends of ours eating with another couple and figured the place had to be good because I would put my friend Terry as an honorary "Foodie".

When the young lady came up to seat us (not sure she was a designated hostess in a restaurant this small) she immediately asked if we had a reservation.  Again, I thought this was odd in a restaurant in a strip center as well as the fact that there were several open tables.  We responded that we did not and she proceeded to seat us, but cautioned us that they were out of penne pasta and chicken at that point.  Albeit a little strange for a Friday night, when looking over the menu there seemed to be enough on there that this would not affect our choices.

After too long of a wait, the waitress arrived to take our drink order.  After she came back with drinks, we told her we were ready to order.  She said, "Before you order, let me tell you what we're out of."

I responded, "The hostess already told us you're out of penne pasta and chicken."

She then said, "We are also out of all pork, veal, pizzas, macaroni and cheeses (which is what we were going to order--seems they have 5 or 6 gourmet types of mac and cheese), and most things to go on salads.

Not trying to be a smart ass in any way, I said, "Why don't you tell us what you still do have."

This seemed very difficult for her to understand that she had just eliminated probably 80% of the menu and we were trying to decide if there was truly anything left to eat.

I finally just said, "We'll try you guys on a different night."

The hostess came back over and apologized and explained that they buy everything fresh for each day of operation and they have no freezers and they are a cook to order restaurant; thus, the real need for reservations especially after 7:00.

Not sure I really still understand the logic, but we will probably give them another shot at some point since they are local and independent which is of vital importance in a small community.

I also did follow up with honorary "Foodie" Terry who indicated his dinner was phenomenal.  He had the crabmeat mac n cheese and said there had to be a pound of crabmeat on the dish.  We did see the order and it would be large enough to split for non-Foodies, but not real Foodies like us!!