Montana's

Faith and I were in Moose Jaw yesterday for something, and a friend of mine was also coming in with more of my friends for his 40th birthday party. He chose to go out to Montana's because he likes their ribs. That and he had two gift cards for the restaurant from work. He claims to be Anglican, but there's got to be some Mennonite in there somewhere. Anyway, since it sounded like a waste of time for me to rush back with Faith to catch the guys driving back into Regina (approximately 2 hours of driving), I decided to stay in town and read a book for a couple of hours. Yes, it was homework, and it needed to get done, but homework is always better with appetizers. I was there from about 4:30 until the first person arrived around 6:15. I watched people come, eat, leave, and all the while I'm drinking water and eating Four Cheese Spinach Dip with little wedges with a rull kuchen like texture and flavour.

I got a fair amount of reading done. Since it was a birthday, I gave the waitress a good description of the birthday boy (can you say that at 40?) so she could nail him with the big ole horned Grand Poobah hat (almost) and a sparkly dessert. Everyone arrived, we had a good time talking, and things were just great. We had a lot of fun.


Ever since my family and I went to Montana's with Milt & Fil, I have ordered the brisket sandwich. Thanks Uncle Milt. Two minutes before the meal is supposed to arrive, the waitress informs me that they are fresh out of brisket and that I will have to order something else from the menu. She asked if she could bring everyone else's meal out before mine, which I agreed to as I scanned the menu hurriedly. I just gave up and ordered a Swiss burger with sauteed mushrooms and onion rings on it and a poutine on the side (which I asked them to discount for me - I figured they at least owed me some quality fries). My food came out with everyone else's two minutes later, which means that I likely got someone else's meal. We sat, ate, and talked some more.

At the end of the evening the waitress brought us our bill and we sorted out the meal. I was expecting to be paying for an appetizer, drink, and meal - instead, they only charged me for the appetizer and drink. It clearly stated that they gave me the meal for free. I figured the waitress deserved a decent tip for making this happen, and when my birthday buddy's gift card ended up covering less than he was told by the giver, I had the opportunity to clear up his bill guilt-free. It's nice to be able to give a little when we've been given so much, isn't it?

- Mark