Lunch Report: Friendly's...

I had posted earlier about my daughter's favorite restaurant just outside the gate of Ft Dix called Yordana's. If that pizza and seafood place is her favorite, then she has a close second when it comes to regular American fare; a chain called Friendly's.When she first described it to us, we thought it might be similar to Freddy's Frozen Custard, a place we have here in San Antonio. I was way off.Friendly's is closer to an IHOP with an attached Ice Cream stand. It has more of a real restaurant feel with waitresses seating you and such. And of course, a wide selection of food on the menu.I would even say it had sort of a Village Inn feel to it as well. It doesn't matter, the food was good.My daughter went with a bacon cheese burger that looked good and was apparently quite tasty for her. She had the standard fries which she enjoys.My wife went with one of those plates of mini-burgers and special waffle fries covered in cheese and some mini cheese sticks. Hell, she's probably still stopped up after all that cheese!I could not pass up a chance to try a Reuben sandwich, and I will tell you, it was stuffed, and done right. The best ever? Surely not, but certainly worth a try if you are in the area. You'll note that my waffle fries came without the aforementioned cheese, but I do confess to having dipped into my wife's. Good stuff.We couldn't help ourselves, what with being on vacation and all, and where normally I decline on dessert, I ordered up a scoop (or so) of ice cream, trying out the new mint chocolate chip and the peanut butter chocolate. My daughter got the same. Just a note between me and you: Peanut butter does not belong in ice cream. But my daughter enjoyed hers.It isn't fast food and the food is good and fairly reasonably priced. I can see why my daughter wishes Friendly's would make their way to San Antonio. Bring 'em on - Friendly's is a Tasty Treat!

But the story isn't over just yet. You see, towards the end of our meal, an SUV pulled in to the lot and parked right in front of the window where we were seated. An older retired couple got out (I make that comment based upon the white hair) and proceeded into the restaurant. Within a minute or so, we could see the vehicle had a dog (or two) in it. My wife started getting nervous immediately.

You might recall an incident I posted about some time ago where we found a dog in a parked vehicle with the windows rolled up in the heat. That is some cruel and illegal and stupid business. Anyway, in my line of thinking, the temps outside were not Texas style scorching, maybe in the mid 70's, and perhaps the rear window of the SUV was cracked a little. My wife was having none of it, and she was getting more and more upset by the minute.

When we left the restaurant, my wife was pretty intent on calling the police and in fact wanted me to find the people (who by the way were seated in the both directly behind us unbeknownst to my wife) and kick their elderly asses.Instead, we found this comforting plate posted on each of the rear passenger windows. What you can't read is a message that says the owners are in fact very concerned about the welfare of their pets and that the vehicle air conditioning is running so the dogs can remain comfortable. No need to call police or jack with the blue hairs. If only more people were so thoughtful.