Volunteering has many benefits, including saving up to $16.49 on a single order of pasta!…read more
This probably necessitates an explanation. Over a decade ago, I volunteered for a special event in Long Beach and was given a volunteer shirt to wear during the event. The shirt has the words "Long Beach", and it was a good thing I saved this shirt because it really did save me $16.49 on an order of pasta!
I only recently learned about 908 Day when I picked up a 908 Day booklet from a different business in Long Beach. After perusing said booklet and all the deals listed, I determined that, besides a free car wash, Tony's Kitchen offered the best deal: Any pasta for $9.08 from 2 to 8 PM, though there was a stipulation that stated some items, including steak, would be excluded.
I arrived just after 7 PM, and it was just about packed! There were a couple of tables open, but nobody at the front desk to greet me. I went up to the counter in the rear of the restaurant to ask about the 908 Day promo since it mentioned what I said earlier about some pastas being excluded from the $9.08 deal.
908 Day booklet in hand, I spoke to a younger server and asked her which of the pastas would be excluded from the $9.08 deal, and she mentioned all of the pastas on the menu would be eligible for that pricing. She then asked if I wanted to dine in or order to go. I initially said "to go", but then she said the deal was dine-in only even though the booklet didn't specify that as a stipulation. Well, okay I guess, but it didn't leave the best first impression, that's for sure.
She told me I'd be seated in a bit, and so I sauntered back to the front desk to wait until I got seated at a table for two closest to the front door with less lighting compared to all the other tables for four. The other, older server handed me a menu for me to look over.
I studied the menu and was intent on getting a $24 pasta dish since $24 was the highest price tag on their pasta menu. Furthermore, I saw that all but one of those dishes would use chicken as the main protein; the odd one out was the Creamy Chipotle Shrimp, which sounded like a winning combo that I had to go for. The pastas with chicken sounded good too, but the shrimp was calling my name.
As I was looking through the menu, I noticed a party of four was seated at a table right in front of me, and they were given glasses of water by the younger server before the older server came back to take my order.
Hey! What about me? Well, it only took a minute more for the older server to come take my order. Even though shrimp is not the same as steak, I wanted to confirm with her that the Creamy Chipotle Shrimp would still be eligible for the $9.08 pricing, to which she answered affirmatively, and that was my final decision. She then asked, much to my surprise, if I wanted for here or to go. I didn't want to walk back to my car through a dark alley in the dark, so I chose "to go".
She then took the menu and went back to relay my order to the kitchen crew. And so I waited.
They had two TVs, one showing the LA Dodgers and the other showing LA Angels, so that kept me company while I was scrolling through my phone during my wait. I wish I had remembered to ask how long it would take for them to prepare my order, but I timed the wait to be approximately 20 minutes before the older server approached me with a takeout bag.
I hadn't paid up to this point, so a part of me thought that an unethical customer could just snatch the order from her hands and run out. Of course, I'd never do such a thing, but she did instruct me to go up to the front to pay.
Wouldn't it have been easier to just pay up front instead of asking me to take a seat at a table? I guess they like to do things the long way.
When she rang me up, she did specify I had to be wearing "Long Beach", which was clearly present on my shirt, and so I had to point it out. I almost thought she was going to say "not good enough", but luckily, she still honored the 908 Day pricing.
When I got home, I saw the pasta came in an aluminum pie tin with a plastic cover, and a piece of garlic bread was wrapped in aluminum foil. However, they didn't include utensils?! Surely, they could have included at least a fork, don't you think?
The portion size seemed quite small for $24, but reasonable for $9.08 + tax. However, I counted only 5 pieces of shrimp in the pasta; I thought there would have been a few more for that price point, but at least the shrimp was peeled. The pasta was cooked al dente, and that creamy chipotle sauce was packed with so much flavor that I believe they added too much salt to the sauce.
Garlic bread was good too, especially when I used it to scoop up the remaining sauce on the pie tin after I finished the pasta.
Even though I enjoyed the pasta, I didn't enjoy my overall experience enough to give a 4th star. I'd consider a return visit for 908 Day next year if they offer the same deal, but not so much if I have to pay full price.