grunt if you...

my little sister always comments (over the phone...not on the blog..) about how i have all this money to spend on going out to eat "all the time." well, to preface this question, mr.right is the main culprit. we like trying different restaurants and eateries in the city. plus, we try and use gift certificates and mr.right's status from the hotel to help fit the bill. so, if you were wondering too, that is how i am able to try a million different restaurants and still be able to pay for gas to get me to mcwork.

beyond that babble, jtothej, mr.right and i all had brunch-lunch together at r.j. grunts. this chicago only hit-the-spot restaurant is the claimed inventor of the salad bar and conveniently located close to jtothej and my apartment. all three of us were able to walk to the r.j. grunts and enjoy another hands down delishy meal. i picked the grilled cheese and "temperature soup," which is the choice between two soups of the day (i chose chicken tortilla!) that are priced by the lakeside temperature. so, yesterday's temperature was thirty-one degrees, which means i only paid $0.31 to add the soup to my meal. totally cool idea. i also had to add the salad bar because it looked to goo to turn down.

the manager of the hour overheard it was our first time at r.j. grunts and presented us with a complimentary dessert, "cookie in a bowl," which is an oversized warm baked chocolate chip cookie topped with cold vanilla bean ice cream and hot ooey-gooey fudge.

our table was also informed of how the restaurant got its name, coincidentally after i asked if the manager was r.j grunt himself. back in the day, the two original owners' initials started with a "r" and a "j." that's where that came from. then, the "grunt" came from when one of the owner's wife would grunt when tasting new choices for the menu.

needless to say, i will be making a trip or two or many to r.j. grunts.. but i am not too sure about the grunting part..