Monday, Tuesday, hungry days. Wednesday, Thursday, hungry days. And so forth. It's time to address the inevitable truth that there are certain days meriting certain foods.
On specific days of the week, some restaurants taste better. Taco Tuesday, Sunday Morning Mimosas, and Thirsty Thursdays may seem like only marketing ploys, but these reveal a deeper magic. One that goes before the dawn of your appetite and begins in the scientific space of the calendar.
Making Dinner Plans
This pattern of food for certain days started to really reveal itself when I was making Friday night plans. My friend Irene suggested we go to La Nopelera. I countered with Mellow Mushroom. She parried with The Loop. I rebutted.
"Let's do La Nopelera. Lol," I texted.
"No Loop?" Irene responded.
"Lucy likes the chips so that will be fun for her. It's just more festive"
"Ok hahaha"
"Loop is good but more of a Tuesday kinda place ya know"
"Hahahaha ok"
"Bento is a Thursday spot. And La Nop def qualifies as Friday"
"Hahahahaha somehow I get it. Today is definitely a Mellow Mushroom day."
"Every day is a Mellow day. And that's precisely why pizza and pasta are trying to murder my health."
So we La Nop'd with festive chips and salsa, very Friday feasty.
Spaghetti Mondays
Which came first, the tomato, the noodle or the rose? It had to be my love of pasta. Then I started realizing how much fun it was to experiment with tomato sauces. And somehow, the regularity of spending Monday nights watching The Bachelor made for the perfect storm of Spaghetti Monday.
It gives me a reason to look forward to the first day of the week and all of its drudgery. Cooking can be slow and laborious, or quick and effective. Both results will satisfy. There will likely be leftovers to take to lunch the next day. It's a win-win-win.
Tuesday & Wednesday
While the convo above purports the Loop as a Tuesday winner, I would instead suggest Chipotle. The convenience of ordering online then picking it up in the drive-thru makes this a simple solution to I don't want to cook. It's another good chance for leftovers, if your burrito bowl was really loaded high.
For Wednesday, you can keep it simple, like Panera. Soup, sandwiches or any of their crazy new options (they're obsessed with adding random things to the menu. Like a drunk executive got hungry and said, forget broccoli cheddar, I demand pizza and max).
There's not as much to say about these nights, because it's mid-week, you should still be flush with groceries, so staying in and cooking isn't an offensive option.
Thursday Night with the Girls
By Thursday, we're all getting a little psyched for the weekend. Thursday night is like a soft roll out for Friday. It's a dress rehearsal without quite so much pressure to have a blast. I would say it's an excellent sushi night option. There's two great sushi places I go to meet the girls, Fusion on University and Fuji Sushi in San Marco Square.
Confession: I probably won't order sushi. Even though I like it, I will see noodles and get the chicken katsu at Fusion. And although Fuji such is all you can eat, I'm pretty much just there for wontons and crabcake. A bit unsophisticated, but it's the truth.
Pizza Fridays
It's really hard to stay-in on Friday night if pizza is not on the menu. We don't plan ahead and get it during Sunday shopping. Instead, on the way home from work one of us will hit up the grocery store for a cheap, frozen pizza pie. We usually go cheese, supreme or pepperoni, the staples.
On special days, we buy ingredients to make the crust. On healthy days, we get a cauliflower crust. On extra lazy days it's a $5 Little Ceasars run. And on my very favorite days it's Papa Johns veggie pizza. Their sauce slays me.
Saturday Secret
Saturday provides endless options for breakfast, lunch and dinner. I like roll-out of bed, no shower, shimmy into yoga pants and a tee, drink three cups of coffee at the diner brunches. (Check out Charlie's for this, if you haven't yet.)
If you are going to go out for a dinner meal and look sort of casual to sort of dressy, I say go to Poe's. You can soak up the Neptune vibes and chow down on an excellent burger.
Other than those, the sky is the limit and it depends on the rest of your plans for the day. Amp up a slow night by choosing a place with live music. On Saturdays, ambiance is truly a must.
Subway Sundays
I really can't endorse Subway. Their quality has plummeted over time, though at least their prices are low. Sunday is often time for grocery shopping, so splitting a sub and pretzel after church and before shopping at Walmart kills two birds with one stone.
The afternoon requires a little convenience, so drive-thru may be in order. The exciting meal will be dinner at Casa Salussolia for family night with the parents. Nothing is better than mom's cooking or dad's grilling.