want dinner out tonight: suggestions please?

tonight, BF and i are both off work. we want to go out to eat for dinner and i would like to try a place that's new to us. we need an affordable place (less than $50 including tip). we'll probably go late (8:30-9ish), so if it's not too hot out later, eating outside would be nice but not essential. i'm totally open to ethnic places, but the menu needs to be easy to understand because he is reluctant to spend his money on something unless he has a pretty good idea that he is going to like it. any suggestions?

[Robin Garr]

tonight, BF and i are both off work. we want to go out to eat for dinner and i would like to try a place that's new to us. we need an affordable place (less than $50 including tip). we'll probably go late (8:30-9ish), so if it's not too hot out later, eating outside would be nice but not essential. i'm totally open to ethnic places, but the menu needs to be easy to understand because he is reluctant to spend his money on something unless he has a pretty good idea that he is going to like it. any suggestions?

If outdoor dining is not essential, how about Palermo Viejo? Love that place!

L&N Wine Bar & Bistro has a nice patio, and you should be able to keep it within your price range if you're careful.

Caffe Classico turns into a bistro at night, and has at least a few sidewalk tables. Definitely will make your price range even if you go for the more top-of-the-line dishes, around $15.

Just a few ideas at random, since you didn't mention a preferred neighborhood ...

[Robin Garr]

http://www.varanese.com/menu.php

Varanese is great, but they want to hold dinner for two under $50 including meal, drinks, tax and tip. Think it can be done? Other than by ordering apps as main courses?

Mojito's
Red Pepper

wow! thanks for all the ideas, and so quickly! any of these places have a dessert place within walking distance? i'd like to polish off my night with a stroll and a slice of pie or a scoop of some good quality ice cream.

I would sit at the bar at Havana Rumba and take advantage of their happy hour specials! It is from 5-10pm on Monday but I am pretty sure you have to sit at the bar.

If you don't mind reading through a 3-page thread (hard work fo sho), here's a link to a thread I created about this time last year asking for the best restaurants to visit on a 50-dollar bill. I'd recommend, for your purposes, skipping the side conversation in the middle regarding sushi.

http://www.wineloverspage.com/forum/hotbytes/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=4109&st=0&sk=t&sd=a&hilit=sushi

i stumbled upon robin's el mundo review and i think we've decided on that. i appreciate all the suggestions and will keep them in mind in the future for sure! if we save room, i think we'll be hitting up sweet surrender as well. looks like we'll be getting rained on, oh well, i'm starving!

We went to Varanese tonight...it was flambe night. It was great and needless to say it was over $50.

what a night! we should have stayed in! we drove through the torrential rain over to el mundo only to find out that it's closed. is this a monday thing or have they gone out of business? BF said barbecue sounded good so we headed over to mark's feed store on bardstown road. the rain was still pouring and there was nowhere to park. we kept on driving. i mentioned kern's korner. i had never been there but have read on this forum that they have a great buger. we park at kern's as close as possbile and run in. we sit down and wait for the bartender to see what we'd like. finally she greets us and we tell her we want to eat and she directs us to a menu on the wall. we see that there are no fries or onion rings to accompany the sandwiches, only chips, and we are disappointed. no appetizers either. not really what we had in mind. so we head back out to the truck and ride over to bambi bar. their lot is filled with deep puddles and as i ran to the door, my shoes and feet became drenched. we approached the bar right at 8:00 and said we were there for a couple burgers to carry-out. the bartender grumbled that the kitchen closed at 8:00 without so much as a smile or an apology or a "please come back soon for a burger." we went back outside into the pouring rain and drove to sol aztecas. there was no parking close by so we parked around the corner and were both drenched when we sat down. i had carnitas for the first time tonight and they were actually fantastic (the only good part in this whole fiasco that was our date night). he is hung over today from grateful dead night at longshot tavern last night and so, said the enchiladas gave him a stomach ache. we shivered through our meal, paid the check and went home to change into some dry clothes.

ah. just had to get it all out. cross your fingers that we have better luck next time