Whether you call it frugality, cheap-skatedness, or down-right unethical…I call it practical.
I (acting on behalf of the entire KTOWN crew) often order from the Children’s Menu when dining out.
Sure. You may laugh at me, and some of you might even look down your noses in disgust. But after last night’s dining experience, I am proud not only to admit to this behavior, but share some inside tips to maximizing your Children’s Menu dining experience.
KTOWN discovered this technique a few months ago when trying to maximize our entertainment/dining out budget. And last night we may have reached Children’s Menu dining highest level of efficiency.
You see, the theory behind Children’s Menu dining is that the quantity of food is actually enough for a moderately hungry adult, but at a much lesser price. This theory is supported by the fact that most Children’s Meals come with side and a drink…oh and sometimes a cookie. But I don’t want to confuse you with lots of scientific and statistical data about theories, postulations, and permutations, so I’ll give you an example of how to put the High Efficiency Children’s Menu dining theory into practice.
It all starts with a coupon. You can dine without it, but you loose points for efficiency. As you may know, the Wife, is a ninja when it comes to using coupons. KTOWN usually doesn’t leave the home without one…dozen.
In this case we had a $5 Off a purchase of $15 or more at Don Pablo’s. DP’s was also featuring this special (to the right).
That’s a lot of food.
So we order the $9.99 special, and two meals off the kids menu (one cheese quesadilla meal and one beef soft taco meal…and these came with drinks and sides for $3.99 each).
For $17.97 here’s what he had at our table:
Three grilled chicken soft tacos (from the $9.99 special)
One cheese quesadilla (kid size but big enough for our two children)
One beef soft taco (see kid size above)
Two sides of rice
Two side of beans: one black and one refried
A side of fries (came with one of the kid meals)
Two “kid” drinks…these came in 16oz styrofoam cups…I guess the ‘lid’ on them classified as ‘kid’ drinks
Another key to this dining method is to bring the boys drinks in sippy cups. But I don’t feel this is unethical because restaurants don’t have soy milk. Plus no standard lid on a styrofoam cup is going to hold up during a normal dinner with the KTOWN crew. I am actually doing the restaurant a favor by BYOSC…(bring your own sippy cup).
All that food, not to mention the endless baskets of chips and salsa, for under $20 (including tax, tip, and coupon adjustment).
AND THE BEST PART…we couldn’t finish it all…well I could have, but I didn’t. We had lunch for the boys the next day.
Not bad for a family of four.
But if this theory and method catches on, does it spell the end of the Children’s Menu? I hope not.
Do you have your own method of saving money on family dining? I’d love to hear it, and when it come to saving a few bucks I’ll try almost anything….within reason and the law.