The Groupon Weekend Getaway - Part 2 - good eats

I meant to share with you yesterday the second part of our Groupon weekend, food!

Oh, we ate and we ate! Trust me... the old pants were tight.

One of the things that Groupon seems to offer (in my area anyway) on a regular basis is different restaurants. Everything you can imagine across the spectrum. Places I've never heard of... and that's the point, for the business to gain access to a new larger customer base, for not a lot of advertising dollars. Win-win

Our first stop was at O'Dowds authentic Irish pub. In North KC. Having actually been in a real irish pub, I looked forward to it.

I knew before I got there what I wanted. I wanted Bangers and Mash (sausage and mashed potatoes) just like the last time I was in an irish pub (when I went to the UK). Gene ordered a Shepherd's pie. He really enjoyed his, and I was a little disappointed. It was good but not *omg I want to quit my job and be irish* good. The decor was pretty good and seemed pretty real. Considering it's in one of the busiest retail developments in KC (zona rosa) and not in say, Ireland, I give them a solid B.

We got $20 worth of food, for $10 (plus a tip)


That evening, we went to Em Chamas which was a spur of the moment purchase for me. I bought this literally minutes before going to bed on Christmas eve (actually Christmas day around 1 a.m.!)

Em Chamas is a brazilian place, and the concept I knew Gene would love. You get a "coin" at the beginning of your meal and when it's on the blue side, it means you're interested in the waiters to stop. What do they have? Spears of all kinds of meats.

Gene is a carnivore. I knew this was a hole in one.

And it was, he really enjoyed it a lot and it was a unique experience. We got to try lots of different things that we'd never seen before, or often. Gene seemed to like it more than me. Probably because lots of things were more rare that I like them - which is well done.. WELL. I don't like to see blood on my plate.

*shivers*

(No idea who those ppl are on the left lol. I just wanted to show some decor)


We ended our meal sharing a apple turnover type desert. Very yummy. The down side was, it was very busy. We were sitting in the middle of a busy room (I hate that.. I want a booth lol), and even with a reservation, we had to wait around 15 minutes (after being told it would be 5).

I'd give it a B- Gene would give it a B+. There is a location in St. Joseph, so we'll probably try there at lunch time and see if we enjoy it more.

We bought $50 of food for $25 - plus tip

Tips on buying food on Groupon.
-Make sure that you check out the menu online first to see if you're getting a good value for your money. I want to know that I CAN eat on just the groupon if I wanted to. Plus, I want to know that they have things I'll like.
-If you want to take friends, make sure you can get multiple gift certificates and can use them all at once.
-Make reservations if you can, it could be very busy!


Over all, we enjoyed the experience. It was a way to try new things with not a lot invested.
For the weekend, we spent around $135 for $300 worth of "stuff" (not including tips).