A visitor in town, part 2: Silver Grill Cafe, Red Robin

Catch up! Day 1

The day after Thanksgiving, I took TL to Silver Grill Cafe to fuel up before heading out to explore Fort Collins for the day. Having already sampled something from the "Lighter Side" menu earlier in the week, I wanted to see what their other stuff was like, and settled on "Country Scrambler" plate: scrambled eggs on a grilled corn muffin and topped with sausage gravy. I really liked the way the sweet, moist muffin played against the scrambled eggs and creamy, salty gravy, and the fried potatoes were good too, crisp and well-cooked.

In an ongoing effort to acquaint myself with the appeal of hollandaise, I swiped a fork tine through the lemony sauce on TL's eggs benedict and gave it a try. Unfortunately, I still found it kind of gross. TL declared this version "good but nothing exceptional."

After Silver Grill, we spent the afternoon checking out a holiday craft fair, driving around Horsetooth Reservoir, taking photos at Swetsville Zoo, and shopping at Centerra and the outlets in Loveland. It was kind of funny, because once I was in a car, amusements that I assumed would take up a lot of time suddenly took a lot less. I guess I was still thinking in terms of biking!

Beat from all the shopping (I bought me a cute pair of sneakers!), we went to Red Robin to have dinner. I'd never been to this chain before, but TL had memories of hanging out there throughout his high school and college years, so we went for nostalgia's sake. Most notable about this restaurant—which fell, complete with flair, squarely along the lines of T.G.I. Friday's, Ruby Tuesday, and Applebee's—was their feature of "bottomless steak fries" along with every burger, so I got the "Whiskey River BBQ Burger," which came topped with bbq sauce, cheddar cheese, fried onion strings, and lettuce, tomatoes, and mayo. It was a monster, but nicely wrapped in paper so that it was fairly mess-free to eat. The advertised steak fries were good. After the first portion I knew I could have asked for more, but after eating the burger I was just totally done.

After only a moment for digestion we went to watch the new James Bond movie, which was showing in the theater nearby. Definitely no popcorn or candy for me.

A Visitor in Town
Day 1: Thanksgiving, away from home
Day 2: Silver Grill Cafe, Red Robin
Day 3: Earl's, Sri Thai, Rio Grande
Day 4: Cafe Bluebird, Celestial Seasonings tour, Sherpa's
Day 5: Nyala Ethiopian Cuisine, Austin's American Grill