In my 13 Date Night Tips, I said not to do fast food on date night.
We broke that rule last date night.
Why? Because I was curious and so was Hubby. Could a fast food date night still feel like a romantic date?
Hubby had a coupon on his iPhone for Extreme Pita, a new international franchise chain. They have a location in Bothell that I had driven by almost daily, without knowing it.
Inside Extreme Pita
Walking in, it looked like a subway sandwich style restaurant. Very no-frills, but clean. We stood in line and browsed the menu of endless rolled pita combinations like Rustic Italian, Chipotle Steak, and Thai Beef.
Everyone in line was straight-faced, but Hubby couldn’t hide his enthusiasm.
“Ooh. They have gyros! I’m gonna have to get one of those.”
“What are you gonna get, honey?” He asked me.
I couldn’t decide between the Thai wrap or the Chicken Souvlaki.
Since I haven’t had Greek style chicken in a while, I went for the Souvlaki pita.
Marco, the smiling young man behind the counter had just finished taking an order and walked up to us at the counter.
“What can I get for you today?”
After we told him our choices, he pointed to the sticker on the glass food case, which listed all the ingredients in the combinations.
“Are you okay with these ingredients listed on here?”
“Yes” I said. Then, a young blonde-haired woman named Elvina came over and began assembling my pita. Like an artist she added in seasoned chicken, red onion, olives, lettuce, tomato and filled the pita like a purse and then wrapped it.
Then, Marco took Hubby’s order.
“Wow, I’m impressed that they took the time to make sure we wanted all of the ingredients in our pitas,” I whispered to Hubby.
“Yeah, I like this place,” Hubby said.
When it was time to pay, Hubby pulled up his iPhone to redeem the discount voucher he paid for.
“Crap!” he whispered.
“What?” I asked.
“It says I can’t redeem it until tomorrow! How did I miss that?”
Just then I remembered the sign advertising the Pirq discount.
“Can you pull up the Pirq discount on your phone?”
He pressed a few buttons to get into the app and Elvina directed him to scan the Pirq barcode on the food case and, viola, our total was cut by 30%.
Phew. For $13.92, we got two HUGE meals with tip and saved a big chunk thanks to Pirq’s easy availability.
Since most of Extreme Pita’s customers were getting takeout, we scored with privacy and seating. I grabbed a spot in the corner while Hubby grabbed us some iced water. The only bummer was that they didn’t have my favorite unsweetened iced tea. (So, Extreme Pita-please carry unsweetened iced tea on your menu!)
It was nice being inside and looking out into the chilly, wet and rainy fall weather. We felt safe and warm inside.
“Check out all the good stuff it says about them.” I pointed to the wall where a variety of sources endorsed Extreme Pita as the next big franchise.
“This is SO good! You gotta have a bite!” Hubby held up his gyro for me to taste.
“Oh my gosh, It’s Amazing.”
He was right.
“It’s like Greek Festival quality,” Hubby said.
My souvlaki pita hit the spot. They did a good job with the Tzatziki sauce and the veggies were crisp and fresh tasting. I liked that the chicken didn’t taste like a hot dog, like some fast food chicken tastes. It actually tasted like real, grilled chicken.
“Hey! Wanna go for frozen yogurt after?” I asked Hubby, remembering that we didn’t hit our $20 limit yet.
“Yeah, that would be fun, and guess what?” Hubby pulled out his iPhone.
“We get the maximum Pirq discount since we used it once already tonight.”
There’s nothing like the rush you get when you realize you can have double the fun for half the cost. We decided to revisit Abs Coffee Company and World’s Tastiest Frozen Yogurt in Mill Creek Town Center again, since their atmosphere and frozen yogurt flavors are some of our favorites. On top of that, they always have Pirq discounts available.
We left Extreme Pita very satisfied and headed toward Mill Creek.
Just like last time, Abs was clean as a whistle. Considering they sell frozen yogurt with toppings like marshmallows and gummy bears, you’d think there would be fingerprints everywhere. Nope. It looks brand new with nothing out-of-place, like I wish my house looked all the time. Lots of people were doing take-out here too, which gave us the place to ourselves.
Hubby had met the owner awhile back and introduced me to her. She was very friendly and welcoming.
We had fun trying the new flavors Abs had since we’d been last time. Maple Bacon Donut was causing the most buzz among everyone who entered the shop.
I finally settled on sugar-free strawberry and cable car chocolate with sliced almonds and Ghirardelli Chocolate sauce on top. Hubby tried a bit of all kinds of flavors: peanut butter, strawberry, and cable car chocolate with the same toppings I had.
When we went up to weigh our yogurt bowls, I could not believe how cheap it was. With the 50% Pirq discount it came to only $7 and change with a generous tip. Unbelievable.
We sat and talked and watched the wind blow and the rain pour down while we ate our frozen yogurt. The cable car chocolate was rich and creamy and did not taste low-fat or like it had a hint of yogurt in it. That was definitely my favorite flavor.
“We should go,” Hubby said, looking at his watch and remembering I had a long day at work the next day.
“Yes, you’re right,” I said.
As we ducked from the gusts of cold wind and rain, I said to Hubby “This was a surprisingly fun time. I’m so glad we went to the places we did.”
Atmosphere (romantic appeal): 4. Extreme Pita doesn’t have candles burning, cloth napkins and dim lights. The fact that the place was clean and quiet and not many people were there on a Friday night contributed to the romance factor though. Abs is a 5 because it’s just a classy place that always impresses us and saves us money.
Food:5. In fact, it was tough writing this, as my mouth is watering and I really want to drive to Extreme Pita and devour another Souvlaki pita right now.
Budget friendly: 5. Pirq saved the night. And no, I was not paid to say that.
Fun and unique: 5. Doing something different from the normal plan is always fun.
Memorable: 5. Good, affordable food and yummy dessert after.
The moral of the story? I guess fast food can work for date night after all. Still, I will choose carefully and make sure it’s a place that can still be romantic and reasonably healthy.
Details:
Extreme Pita
www.extremepita.com
* Stores are located internationally, so check their website to find the location closest to you.
Abs Coffee Company and World’s Tastiest Frozen Yogurt
Abs Facebook Page
15224 Main Street
Mill Creek, WA 98012
425-357-0812
