A good friend of mine has this thing about coupons. She cannot let one go to waste. She jokes that her grave marker will read, \"I got this headstone with a coupon\". I think that is true. Anyway, she received a coupon for Fleming's Steak House from American Express. The coupon was for $40 off the total bill. The coupon could not be used for the early dining special offer. We arrived at 5:30pm and the place was reasonably full. The crowd looked fairly young and we surmised these folks were here for the low priced special. The others diners may have been corporate, dining on the boss's dime. The dining room is large and brightly lit. Many of the tables are round booths inviting you to have a romantic dinner with your honey. Despite the small crowd and lighting, the room was fairly quiet making you feel as if you were enjoying an intimate experience.\n\nWhen we were first seated a young man came by and asked if we wanted to start with the \"complimentary bread course\". Since when has bread become a course? They wanted you to know how lucky you were to get free bread these days. We jumped on the offer knowing that this was the last complimentary thing to come our way. The bread was a crusty French bread and was really quite good. We each ordered a glass of wine.\n\nOur waitress was new. She was friendly and helpful. It was clear she was practicing a specific patter she was to use when describing options and menu items. I ordered a wedge salad with blue cheese dressing and a petite fillet. My friend had mashed potatoes with Parmesan and peppercorn and the bone-in rib eye. Both of our steaks were prepared perfectly, medium- rare just as we had ordered. The meat was flavorful and tasted even better cold the next day. The serving size was reasonable. The mashed potatoes could have been shared with three people and the wedge salad was also a generous serving. The potatoes were \"ok\". To put the costs in perspective, I will tell you that a baked potato is $9.50. Despite that fact, we shared a slice of cheesecake which I thought was \"fine\". I had coffee, she had tea. I kicked myself for not asking for a second cup but truthfully I was too full to swallow another thing.\n\nIn the middle of the meal the manager came by to see how things were going. His affect was so over-the-top we were speechless, a cross between Guy Smiley and The Joker. Made us want to cringe. The whole experience seemed staged... bright lights, pretty props and actors with a script. We had a good time (we generally have a good time no matter where we are) but it sure was clear who benefited from the coupon... Fleming's. $150, really?
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