Let’s make a deal

Jim and Nancy do not disclose the fact that they will review a restaurant before they attend, ensuring their reviews are unbiased and uninfluenced by their position with the Sun Day.

October is such a wonderful month. It is a month that has jack-o-lanterns, witches, and appropriately, Nancy’s birthday. Since she signs up online with every restaurant possible, she is inevitably inundated with offers for birthday “freebies.” With her purse bulging with gift cards, and her phone’s email inbox full, she was armed to celebrate her birthday at the Crimson Crustacean, aka, Red Lobster Seafood Restaurant in West Dundee.

I pride myself on accepting the challenge of dining out at a restaurant using every promotion, gift card, or coupon, and walking out stuffed to the “gills” without spending a dime. Game on, Red Lobster, let’s make a deal!!!

DEAL #1: It is the Ultimate Endless Shrimp ($21.99) time. We got to pick two from the five different shrimp entrees. Nancy wanted to try their newly introduced Parmesan Bacon Shrimp Scampi which was shrimp scampi going overboard with a cheesy bacon twist. Then she had to try their new Argentine Red Shrimp with rice which was shrimp sliced open like mini lobster tails, skewered, and then broiled to a smoky goodness. She said both of these entrees were awesome. The meal comes with one side and Nancy chose a Caesar salad.

Jim also had the Ultimate Endless Shrimp with a Caesar salad, but chose the Garlic Shrimp Scampi and the Parmesan Bacon Shrimp Scampi. The latter was clearly the winner. Winner, winner, shrimp dinner.

FYI: You can keep on ordering shrimp refills ad nauseam. Along with the entrées, you get an endless supply of those evil butter soaked cheddar bay biscuits. Did you know that they are 160 calories per biscuit???

DEAL #2: October is National Dessert Month, and Red Lobster Gold Club members receive a free dessert. Nancy chose the Meyer Lemon Cake which was lemon cake layered with mousse and lemon curd. She could only eat half of her cake since we all know she doesn’t eat dessert.

DEAL #3: Jim got a free dessert using my Red Lobster Reward Points. He chose the Chocolate Wave. This was a huge piece of chocolate cake served with vanilla ice cream. He ate the whole thing, all 1,110 calories!!! What a disgusting pig…

DEAL #4: For Nancy’s birthday she received another free dessert. She ordered the Chocolate Wave complete with ice cream to go.

DEAL #5: Again, being a Red Lobster member, I had a coupon for 10% off of my bill.

DEAL #6: Because Nancy saves us a lot of money by extravagantly using her charge card. This charge card rewards her with redeemable points. She redeems these points for gift cards to restaurants of her choosing. These gift cards were used to pay the entire bill.

This made my birthday. It was my crowning achievement. I got us two meals, three desserts, and a 10% discount. The price for all of this with my “freebies” was $51.39, not spending one red cent of our money, priceless…

FYI: This restaurant is handicap accessible.

A very big thank you to our patient waitress. She is being nominated for sainthood. She actually got a kick out of what we were doing and encouraged us. We all had a good laugh.

Jim’s take: The Chocolate Wave dessert was the best! I think the piece Nancy took home qualifies as her birthday cake.

Nancy’s take: I think those Cheddar Bay Biscuits were the best ones I’ve had at Red Lobster. They overdid the butter topping which made them awesome.

Have comments or restaurant suggestions for the Dining Duo? Send them an email at: thediningduo@gmail.com

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