For Valentine's Day, I had bought tickets to see Sinbad at the Genesse Theatre in Waukegan. We were planning on eating dinner before hand, so I made reservations at That Pasta Place in Grayslake. I made the reservation time for 6pm, because our show started at 8. I figured 2 hours would be plenty of time to eat dinner and then get to Waukegan. Boy was I wrong.

Now, we have been to That Pasta Place several times in the past and have always had a good experience. But this night was different. We parked in the last spot available in the whole parking lot. When we walked in, we stood in the lobby and were pretty much ignored by all the employees passing back and forth. No one even said anything like "One moment we'll be right with you".  This went on for several minutes. Colleen and I have realized that being ignored for an extended period of time upon arrival into a restaurant will most likely be a reflection on the overall service the entire time you are there. (We had a similar bad experience at Pat's Pizza a month ago)

While we were standing there, we were able to observe the staff frantically running back and forth from the dining room to the kitchen, shouting things at each other, trying to figure out what plates go to what table. One woman was constantly answering the phone taking carry-out orders.

We were finally sat at a table. Our server was a young blonde girl who was very nice, but it seemed to be a "fake nice". It seemed like she was putting on a front, and in the back of her mind she was saying "Fuck all these people, I hate my job!" Regardless, I commended her for staying cheery during an obviously stressful day at work.

Although service was somewhat slow, the first part of our meal was fine. We got the brushetta which was amazing, and had a couple glasses of wine. We were having a good time sitting and chatting. Then we had ceasar salads, which weren't spectacular by any means. Our sub-par ceasar salad was the turning point in our experience at That Pasta Place.

Our service from this point was non-existant. When it came to be 7:15 and we still hadn't gotten our meals yet, the shit was about to hit the fan. We still had a 20-30 minute drive to Waukegan, not to mention finding a place to park. We had to leave very soon. By 7:20, we told our server to just put our meals in take out containers. By 7:25 (an hour and 10 minutes since we ordered) we FINALLY got our meals.

Our server was very apologetic and said that she would be right back with our check. It was 7:30 and we still had not gotten the check. Colleen and I put our coats on and stood next to our table, hoping to get noticed. We did not. In a furious rage, I took out my wallet and slapped a $20 bill on the table and we walked out. $20 would not have been nearly enough to cover the bill, but we had to leave, so fuck them. I found our later, that in a last minute slight-of-hand, Colleen grabbed all the butter packets that were on the table. "These would be perfect to use in my lunches," she thought.

Pissed and crunched for time, we drove to Waukegan as our dinners sat in the back seat in black plastic containers. When we arrived at the Genesee, I opted for the $10 valet parking, since it was very close to show time. It was actually the very first time I've ever gotten my car valet parked, so it was weird for me. Once we got into the theatre and Sinbad took the stage, our night turned for the better. He was really funny and performed for a straight 2 hours.

After the show, I wanted to get a drink with Colleen. There was supposedly a nice restaurant/bar somewhere near the Genesee (which I found on the internet). But the building seemed vacant. Either the restaurant went out of business, or has not opened yet. Either way, they should not tease me with their cool website if they are not open for business. We drove around downtown Waukegan for a few minutes, but there really isn't anything except a few towny bars. I was looking for something a little more classy.

I remembered that the Monkey Dish restaurant in Gurnee had a cool bar area, so we decided to drive there. But The Monkey Dish was also shut down, out of business. This economy sucks!

Our 3rd try was The Vine in Grayslake. I was glad to see that our shitty economy has not taken it's toll on this place. The place was pretty hopping when we got there. We drank several martinis and Colleen got rather drunk. Even though the kitched was closed, we convinced our server to brink us a chocolate lava cake dessert. Amazing!

After a great time at The Vine, we went home and microwaved our pasta dinners at 1am. It was a Valentine's Day to remember.