Ventano's has been our favorite southern Italian restaurant since it first opened. Although this was a Friday night, the restaurant was not as busy as usual. We took a pass on the bread and shared a delicious spinach salad with onions, hard boiled egg and mushrooms in a warm bacon dressing. As is customary, we shared our an eggplant rollatini, but the portion size had been reduced by 50% and the ricotta filling was a memory compared to prior visits. It was initially served in one dish, as opposed to 2 in the past, and the amount of marinara was barely covered the top of the eggplant. I had ordered a side of sauteed spinach in order to approximate the value of our Groupon, but the waiter substituted it for the usual sides of ziti so we were forced to order a creme brulee. LOL Unfortunately it was overcooked and very disappointing. I don't know whether we caught the restaurant on a bad night or not, but I am not inclined to rush back. (2 Forks)

After 8PM on Tue-Sat in October, all drinks plus the entire tapas menu were being discounted by 75%. Do I hear a Hallelujah? I ordered a mojito (3 Sips) while Ann wisely chose the Espresso martini (espresso vanilla vodka, coffee liquor, Irish liquor and a shot of espresso) (4.5 Sips). Each of these drinks cost a mere $2.50. Give me another Hallelujah and a 2nd round of drinks!

Our first order of tapas included stuffed mushrooms (chorizo, chicken and parmesan cheese) (3 Forks) and bacon wrapped dates (3.5 Forks). Service was extremely slow so our waitress, cum bartender, Michelle gave us a complimentary order of bacon wrapped shrimp with an adobo BBQ sauce as an apology. (3.5 Forks)

For the second round, Ann ordered a glass of Chardonnay while I went with a Zombie martini (light and dark rum, coconut rum, Bacardi 151, OJ and pineapple juice). (4.5 Sips) Our last tapas order included piquillo peppers stuffed with garlic cream cheese (4.5 Forks) and red potatoes in a spicy aioli sauce (3.5 Forks). Our bill was $61, reduced to $15.36 with the happy hour discount which was covered by Ann's points. ( 4 Forks out of 5)

This recently opened Indian restaurant was not very busy on the Monday evening of our visit. We recived complimentary papadum with a spicy mint sauce and the worst tamarind sauce I have ever encountered. Our entrees were boti kabob masala (lamb chunks in a rich yellow curry) and Murgh madras (boneless chicken in a tomato/cream curry). In addition, we ordered naan and zeera rice (lightly spiced basmati rice with cumin seeds). Neither entree scaled any culinary heights though the amount of animal protein in each would likely have caused Hannibal Lechter to rejoice. I felt menu prices, separate charge for plain rice, were on the high side. (2 Forks out of 5)

11 For entrees Ann ordered the 8-ounce filet while I went cowboy style by ordering the 16-ounce prime rib. Both entrees were perfectly cooked to medium rare as requested and included a baked potato with all the fixings. My prime rib, served with au jus and a horseradish sauce, turned out to be a mammoth slab of beef with most of the outer ring of fat and near fat removed. I only wish our dog Max had been with us because it took a Herculean effort for me to finish it alone. Dessert was out of the question. (3.5 Forks out of 5)

10/11 We made 3 visits to Ronald's for the world's best apple fritters over the course of 2 week vacation. (4 Forks out of 5)

05/11 Another trip, another apple fritter. We also ordered a buttermilk bar which neither of us cared for. (3 Forks)

03/11 Two more visits with a coffee for Ann and a shared apple fritter. (3.5 Forks)