fullAfter a stop at Grocery Outlet, we went over to the Atlantis across the street to use the restrooms and play Lisa's favorite slot machine there. She was down about $10 when she hit a decent-sized jackpot on The Monkees (Thank you, Peter Tork) and cashed out about $4 ahead. We then used a $2 slot credit I received on my club card there and got another eighty cents.
Then it was up to Winco for the largest part of the shopping. I had another prescription to fill — as my bronchitis is no better, I'm going to give the antibiotics a try — that I dropped at CVS before we did our shopping and picked up afterwards. Lisa is now well stocked with groceries for the few weeks.
Finally, we went to John Ascuaga's Nugget. We were starting to get hungry, but with Lisa having developed what appears to be a dairy allergy, shrimp pan roast at the Oyster Bar is contra-indicated. After a nice run of luck at the Paradise Fishing slot machine (Lisa hit two bonus rounds in a row and walked away with a $16 profit on the $20 buy-in), we decided to splurge at The Steakhouse Grill, the only restaurant (except for the Noodle Bar) at the Nugget we haven't yet tried.
We have to admit we were hoping that William, the bread server/table-setter who was a our "regular" server at the Oyster Bar but who had been promoted over to the Steakhouse after being named Employee of the Month the last time we'd been here, would be there. And sure enough, he was. He seemed genuinely happy to see us and asked that Lisa and I be seated in his section.
As we were going in to the restaurant, Stephen Ascuaga, the Nugget's Chief Operating Officer (and son of founder John Ascuaga), was going out. He said hello to us because he recognized
travelswithkuma from a previous time we briefly chatted. Lisa told him how much we continue to enjoy coming to the Nugget.Lisa and I both had the Filet Mignon; I had the smaller piece because I could have a side dish (possibly the best macaroni and cheese I've ever eaten), while Lisa took the larger serving because all of the side dishes that interested her had milk, cheese, or butter in them, so she concentrated on the meat. And she was very happy that she did. The steaks were excellent.
I recall someone complaining at Renovation that "there was no places good to eat around here," which is simply absurd. There are lots of good restaurants in Reno, and several of them are at the Atlantis. We've never eaten at the Atlantis' steakhouse, which looks great but has prices that have scared us off. The Steakhouse Grill at the Nugget isn't cheap, and we won't be able to afford to eat here that often, but we both had meals that left us full and happy and that we can afford from time to time (particularly after winning $20 on slots to help offset the cost).
Reno-Sparks is bracing for flooding tomorrow as the next in a series of storms moves through. Parts of the Sparks Industrial Area may be under four feet of water. I'm just hoping the water in downtown doesn't get into the Reno Railroad Trench, as my train back to the Bay Area (which is on time at Salt Lake City as I compose this) is supposed to be there at about 8:30 tomorrow morning. Lisa has to take me there tomorrow since there's no transit from Fernley. I'd considered staying in a downtown Reno hotel tonight, but Saturday is not the night for inexpensive hotel rooms in Reno. Maybe if I were going back on Monday instead I'd consider it.