Gotta Love It

Tim had class on Monday night ("I thought YOU had class!"*), so I headed out to meet up with a couple of friends at a local restaurant called Burger Continental. It turned out that my friends couldn't make it after all, but it's okay because they gave me a great recommendation, and because Weston and I were able to have a Motherboy* date together. I anticipate lots of Motherboy dates in the near future, now that Tim is back in school and is either on campus or glued to his desk until 3 AM almost all the time. (Seriously, he's exhausted. I think I'm going to initiate a new version of the "Back to Sleep" program in our house, where we make it a goal for Tim to obtain at least 15% of the amount of sleep that he was getting prior to the start of the term. But in this case, it doesn't matter if he sleeps on his tummy or his back. He just needs to sleep. Tim, get some sleep. Family love Tim.*)

Anyway, my Motherboy date was really fun! I'd never been to Burger Continental before, but on Monday nights they have a special: cheeseburger, fries, and a soda for $1.99. WOOHOO! That's a crazy sweet deal. PLUS, they have a karaoke DJ there, so folks were getting up and rocking it out Japan-style. (I did not participate in the rocking-it-out, by the way. I'm going to use the excuse that Weston would've been left at the table all by himself. So, yeah. Won't be able to do it in the future, either, looks like.)

Anyway, the food was tasty, and the roofed courtyard was large enough and loud enough that the bad karaoke singers didn't make me want to leave. Weston behaved superbly, so overall it was a good time, despite the fact that I was without Timmy or fellow diners. An added benefit of this restaurant is its downtown location, with a Pottery Barn Kids, Children's Place, Borders, and Cold Stone all within a short walk. I didn't partake of any ice cream, but it was fun to shop a little until my metered parking expired.

The funny thing about Burger Continental is that even though they offer a wide array of burgers and salads and sandwiches, they actually specialize in Mediterranean and Middle Eastern cuisine, and also offer items of other origins too. For this reason, you just gotta love it. Seriously, where else but Southern California can you find a restaurant that serves BBQ Western burgers, Chinese chicken salads, and Shawarma platters?? It kind of reminds me of that Seinfeld episode with Babu Bhatt, the Pakistani restauranteur who started out serving every kind of cuisine (spaghetti, franks and beans, etc.), until Jerry convinced him to revamp the place and focus entirely on Pakistani specialties. Does that ring a bell? Hahaha, good episode. But yeah... that's kind of how Burger Continental is.

For that matter, it also reminds me of this place in my hometown that was a combination laundromat/tanning salon. "Hmm... I have a load of wash to do, but however am I going to pass the time?? Why, I'll get a tan!!" Yeah, it's pretty awesome. I'm sure that genius is rakin' in the dough. So, what are some other random combo-establishments that you've seen? Or, what new combo-establishment should open? I'd kind of like to see a combined GameStop/H&M, because then Tim and I would be both be happy as clams. Or maybe a combined Dots/post office, because then you can sit and have a cupcake while you wait in line to buy postage. What do you think??

*Asterisk refers to Arrested Development. FYI.