Phipps Feeding Fiasco

The experience

It was an easy choice today since we’d be right around the corner.  We decide on the very-well-known-to-be-kid-friendly The Purple Cow.  Benji and Ogre would be meeting us there.  Mina immediately commented on the train above and the decor behind the counter.  She also noticed the jukebox in the corner, but said she didn’t really like the music.  (Not much for the oldies, I guess.)

We arrived well ahead of Ogre and Benjamin so I decided to go ahead and order something to munch on along with our drinks.  Mina got started on coloring her cow and was excited to see the cup full of crayons at our table.  She and I did the activity on the back of her coloring page and I helped her spell words while we waited.  Our breaded mushrooms arrived and I gave her one to eat for tonight.  She put it off saying that the mushrooms were hot and she wanted to finish her picture first.  Since Ogre and Benji hadn’t arrived yet, I told her that would be okay.  Of course, in no time at all, it was time for a bathroom break. She and I went to the bathroom where I can tell you they have changing stations and right after we sat back down, the boys arrived.

Benji had “carseat face” from falling asleep and he immediately started pining for Mina’s drink and then he noticed Mina’s popcorn ball from cooking class that I made her hide because he wanted that, too.  Our waitress popped by and we ordered drinks for the guys and cut up some of the mushrooms for Benji.  That appeased him.  As soon as he got some food and drink in him, he was in quite the good mood.  Mina and I decided on our dinners long before the boys arrived.  Ogre requested the help of our waitress to order and he finally decided that having one hot mama at our table wasn’t enough, he ordered the Hot Mama Burger.  I ordered the Tuna Melt with fruit and Mina wanted the Corn Dog Nuggets with applesauce.  We also order a hot dog and mac-n-cheese for Benjamin. 

Our waitress is keeping up with Ogre’s constant emptying of his Vanilla Diet Coke -must’ve been thirsty!  Ogre and I are able to have some adult conversation about politics while the kids busy themselves with food and coloring.  In short order, our waitress brings our dinner.  Mina comments that are waitress is “pretty” and that she likes her ponytail holder and earrings.  She refuses to tell our waitress that though.  Ogre dutifully cuts up Benjamin’s hot dog.  Benjamin sees Ogre’s onion rings and says “coo-coo” and indicates that he would likes some.  Ogre tries to tell him that they are not cookies, but Benjamin is insistent.  He gives him some and Benji uses it as a vehicle for his ketchup shaking his head up and down as if to say “I told you so.”  I have to remind Mina about her breaded mushroom and she finally takes a bite and tells me that it tastes like chicken and that she likes it.  I look at her as if to say “I told you so.”

Benjamin is enjoying spooning himself the mac-n-cheese and has even more pleasure showing it to me inside his mouth.  He is really enjoying the food.  Mina asks for the strawberries and banana from my fruit cup, which I give her and she is kind enough to share the strawberries with her brother.  Her brother later returns the favor by sharing his hot dog with Mina.  Mina doesn’t really want it, but we ask her to take it from him anyway just to be kind.

I have to coax Mina a little to finish up her dinner and her mushroom.  In the end, I tell her that if the waitress comes back and she is not done, she won’t be getting any dessert.  No problems after that statement.   Our waitress comes to clear our dishes and Benjamin scowls and screeches when he sees her try to take the last onion ring away.  We grab it for him and he scowls at us before he dip dips his “coo-coo” in ketchup to eat. 

I had also decided on my dessert long before the boys got there.  Dinner was just a gateway to dessert for me.  Ogre and Mina decide that they will share the Triple Chocolate Milkshake.  Ogre says it’s almost as good as the best milkshakes he’s ever had (Aglamesis Brothers in Cinncinnati, Ohio).  

I am going to get a Purple Vanilla sundae with hot fudge and I decide to get Benji a cone with Purple Vanilla ice cream.  We are all excited to see our dessert.   My sundae is perfection.  The ice cream is perfectly creamy with really good hot fudge and whip cream to top it off.  I’ll let the pictures of Benji and his ice cream speak for itself.  What you can’t see is Benjamin refusing to give up the ice cream and I basically had to tear it from his hands, hide it and get Ogre to take him to the restroom to clean him up and forget about it!

The food

For diner food, we thought overall the food was really good.  I didn’t love the breaded mushrooms, but they weren’t bad.   I just didn’t get much of the “herb flavor” they described.   I liked my Tuna Melt.  The bread was nice and buttery with a good amount of tuna.  The tuna melt was the classic tuna with onions, celery, and, I’m pretty sure there was a little bit of relish in the mix.  I tried Mina’s corn dog nuggets and Ogre tried Benji’s hot dog and those were both good, as well.  Ogre thought his burger was excellent, the Hot Mama Burger had salsa, chipotle mayonnaise and jalapenos atop a burger with pepper jack cheese.

The kids menu has grilled cheese, PB&J, chicken tenders, hamburger, hot dog or corn dog nuggets.  You get your choice of side, which can be the applesauce, mac-n-cheese, veggie of the day, fruit, fries, chips and a few other things I can’t remember.

The prices are very reasonable and I noticed that the appetizers are half priced from 7 until closing (sucks for us, the one time we eat early!).  There is also “Adult Shakes” on the back of the menu, which are alcoholic shakes.  They sounded pretty tasty, but we didn’t want to partake of these tonight.

The service

We had a very attentive waitress tonight and our food was brought out in a nice tempo.  No complaints about the service or the wait today!

The kids

Obviously VERY kid-friendly.  What’s nice though is that it’s for anyone who is a kid at heart!  The decor is very cute and fun and you feel comfortable eating here with your family, no matter what ages are present.  There is something for everyone here.  While the main kids menu items are not necessarily the most healthful choices, they have a lot of choices for the side dish that can be healthy.  Dessert is not going to be healthy anyway -and you will be getting dessert, but it sure is going to taste good!!  The purple ice cream is really cute and fun, not to mention yummy!

Total: $47.47

What did Guidelive say?

Rants, Raves, and Ramblings

When we lived in Nashville and would visit Ogre’s grandmother in Indiana, we’d often make the drive to Cincinnati to have milkshakes.  Yes, our family LOVES milkshakes.  When we went up there for Oktoberfest and I was pregnant with Mina, we went to Aglamesis.  I sucked down the milkshake in record time and it sent me into contractions!  So much so, that I decided to skip out on walking around Oktoberfest since I was about 34 weeks pregnant and I really didn’t want to have her in Cincinnati (we were living in Nashville at the time).  Luckily, the contractions stopped and Mina chilled inside for another 4 weeks.

Mina took this picture of her coloring and writing

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