Resolution No. 2 eaten up

I guess in the last couple months I stopped keeping track of where I was with my resolutions. In fact, I completed resolution No. 2 to eat out at five new restaurants this weekend and didn't even realize it. It turned out to be really easy to try new places - it just took being open to getting out of my comfort zone and spending a little more time socializing than usual. After all, grabbing a meal is a great way to spend time with friends.

I already blogged about the restaurant that put me across the line when I wrote about eating out all day on Saturday - Aqui was a new stop for me. I actually visited restaurant No. 4 a few weeks ago for my cousin's bachelorette party. Her friends made plans to go to a pub-like place in Monterey called the Mucky Duck. I'd never heard of it before, but a few of my friends from the area seemed to have fond memories of it. All I knew about it was that a band with a guy named Junior (whom my cousin and her friends new) would be playing there and a coworker said he used to hang out there when he was younger.

I checked out the menu before we went because I wanted to be sure I had the option f a hearty meal if I was going to be drinking for a long time for the bachelorette party. It seemed to have typical pub grub - burgers, sandwiches, greasy appetizers. It looked perfect.

Some of the group, which included about 15 of us, opted to skip the meal while others ordered a full meal. I opted to order a few appetizers to shared with a couple of other people. We went with the nachos, which came piled high with beans, cheese, sour cream, tomatoes and were pretty much enough to food a whole table of people; the Guinness sliders, little mini burgers that had a distinct Guinness beer smell without the overwhelming flavor; and some chicken strips. The food was good enough that I would eat there again - on a rare occasion since, of course, it wasn't all that healthy.

As for the drinks, they had a few original concoctions on the menu but the one I had - something with rum and pineapple juice - was okay, but not exceptional.

Even though I've completed my resolution, I hope to continue to try out some new restaurants - especially since I still haven't made it to the Los Gatos place a friend recommended. I'll keep it on my to-do list for now.

A few go-to lunch spots are a must

It's a necessity to have a few good restaurants within walking distance of where one works. Even though I bring my lunch from home most days, there are those occasions when there are no leftovers to pack or when I just don't feel like eating a meal two days in a row.

When I worked at San Jose State University, I had an hour lunch so it was easy to select a place that I could walk to, order and eat while still getting back to the office on time. Grande's, an Italian and pizza place, on the corner of Fourth and San Carlos streets was the go-to place. It was just up the block from my office in MacQuarrie Hall and I ate their countless times with my friends. I think the keys where that it was close and it was relatively affordable. Other favorites included Togo's, also on Fourth Street, Iguana's taqueria and (at least when someone else was footing the bill) Il Fornaio.

Since my job is a busy one now, it helps to have a place that will take phone orders and is a quick walk from the office as my go-to place.

When I was working in the Pinnacle office in Gilroy, I went home for lunch most days. But on the days when I wanted to eat out, it worked perfectly that my favorite Mexican restaurant in town was directly across from the building in which I worked. Cielito Lindo is a little whole in the wall place in downtown Gilroy that has the best flautas ever. The service is good. The food is good. It's a place that only locals know and I make sure to take friends visiting from out of town there.

Now that I've been working in downtown Hollister for a while now I know most of the restaurants within a few block radius. The top choice most times I want to grab a quick lunch is The Elegant Touch. They serve sandwiches, homemade soups, a daily special and mini eclairs that are delicious. The main reason it's at the top of the list is that it is right across the street, I can call in my order and they have the menu up online so it's easy to decide what I want.

This week I wanted something light for lunch and decided to try a new restaurant that's been open for a while in downtown. The spot on San Benito Street has been a bit of a revolving door for restaurants. I stopped going to it when my friends and I went for lunch one day to eat in. We ordered sodas - and had drunk half of them - when my coworker noticed ants floating in the drinks. When we informed the girl at the counter that there were ants in the soda, her response was "Oh yeah. that happens every morning in the soda machine." That was enough to make me not go back.

But the place is under new ownership again, with a new chef, a new menu and a new name. My coworkers had been mentioning how good the food is at the Knife and Fork Cafe for months. So finally this week when I didn't have much of a lunch packed, I decided to try it out. The restaurant doesn't have a Web site, which is a minus, but the staff was willing to fax me a copy of the lunch menu. I selected a Mediterranean salad with greens, kalamata olives and feta cheese. The salad was slightly overdressed for me since I usually prefer my dressing on the side, and it had green onions in it, which I don't really like. It came with a couple slices of ciabatta garlic bread. But overall the ingredients were fresh and tasty. The salad was about the same price as others at downtown restaurants. I'm not really counting this as eating at a new restaurant (Resolution No. 2) since I didn't technically eat at the restaurant. But the salad was good enough I will be back to try the sandwiches or specials.