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<\/a>Left door restaurant, rt. door saloon\/dance hall<\/p><\/div>\n
A couple of Fridays ago, I felt like I was part of an O. Henry short story<\/strong>, known for their surprise endings<\/strong>. This story actually begins before Christmas of last year when we usually enjoy a great evening of dining and entertainment at Bistangos<\/strong>, one of Orange County\u2019s top restaurants, where Linda\u2019s company, Blue Violet Networks<\/strong>, has their annual Christmas party. It\u2019s a great affair, delicious food, great wine and a gift exchange. Last year, for reasons unknown to me, there was no party. When I learned of this I jokingly told Linda to tell John Paul, the company owner, who has a good sense of humor, that he owes us a dinner. Linda delivered the message and John Paul agreed and a date was set to meet at The Ranch<\/strong>, <\/em>one of the very best restaurants in Southern California.<\/p>\n The Ranch is an interesting place; the location of this restaurant\/saloon\/dance hall<\/strong> is on the ground floor of a six-story office building in an industrial area of Anaheim<\/strong>. The building is the headquarters of Extron<\/strong>, an electronics company started and owned by business tycoon Edward Andrews<\/strong>. He loves dancing (He says that the guy that can dance has the best chance to succeed with the girl of his choice) and he loves country music, so the first floor of his office building is divided in half, one side houses a high-end restaurant (Oh yeah, he loves eating good food too) and the other side is home to the biggest and best country western saloon and dance floor in Orange County.<\/p>\n The restaurant is elegantly rustic, in keeping with the country western theme; the food is outstanding (all the produce comes from their own local ranch in Orange Park Acres<\/strong>) and the service is top notch, as are the prices. John Paul, a wine connoisseur, brought a couple of bottles of excellent wine and he and his partner, Linda, and Linda and I enjoyed lively conversations on a myriad of topics and delicious meats – steak, pork chop, lamb chop and braised short ribs – you won\u2019t find bean sprouts and tofu on this menu!<\/p>\n Bushwhacker on the rt., bushwhakee on the left<\/p><\/div>\n After dinner we were escorted next door to the saloon and dance floor, where the cover charge was waived and we had a reserved table waiting for us. The dance floor was packed with 20 and 30-somethings dancing to a live band. Edward was right, there were about 40 people on the dance floor and only four of them were men and each had a lovely lady on his arm. I told John Paul that since he bought dinner, I would like to buy the after dinner drinks.\u00a0 He agreed.<\/p>\n As we were settling into our seats, a server presented us with a drink menu,<\/strong> as we perused it, we were amused by some of the lofty prices. I’m thinking this\u00a0is\u00a0<\/em>a high-end saloon as I pointed out to John Paul the Glenmorangie 1974 single malt Scotch<\/strong> – $1,000 for a 1.5 oz glass!<\/strong>\u00a0The server appeared and Linda and I order a beer and John Paul and Linda each order a glass of whiskey. The second round shortly followed with another glass of whiskey for John Paul and two more beers for us. Linda and I could no longer sit and watch the dancers having all the fun, so we got up and did the \u2018Electric Slide\u2019<\/strong> \u2013 we were by far the oldest couple on the dance floor, but we hung in there with those young whippersnappers.<\/p>\n I still hyperventilate when I look at it<\/p><\/div>\n It was time to call it an evening and so I asked for the bill. When I first looked at it, I couldn\u2019t see it that well, I thought it read $300<\/strong>, but it was dark and I didn’t have my glasses on. Once I put my glasses on and got some light, I could see that it was not $300, it was $3,000! $3,058.00 to be exact. Eyes wide and heart beating rapidly, I showed it to Linda and looked over to John Paul and said, \u201cYou ordered the $1,000 Scotch?\u201d He smiled and nodded, \u201cYes . . . two of them and Linda had one\u201d. Now my mind was racing, was this some kind of joke or was this John Paul\u2019s way of getting back at me for saying that he owed us a dinner for not having the Christmas party? He kept his word about buying us dinner, but apparently he was going to have the last laugh. \u00a0I looked at the bill again and swallowed hard; yes it was $3,058.00 and I did offer to buy the after dinner drinks, so I surreptitiously switched the debit card I had in my hand with a credit card. As I continued to hyperventilate, I kept staring at John Paul . . . really?!! After way too long a pause he cracked a big smile and said, \u2018Got ya!\u2019 While Linda and I were out dancing, he got the bartender to print up the bogus bill and our server to present it to me.\u00a0 I was never so happy to pay the real bill for $94!<\/p>\n In summary it was a very fun evening interrupted only by a few moments of stark terror.\u00a0 This was a great spoof and fortunately I am able to laugh at myself . . . let\u2019s hope John Paul can too, revenge is going to sweet.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u00a0<\/u><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" by Bob Sparrow A couple of Fridays ago, I felt like I was part of an O. Henry short story, known for their surprise endings. This story actually begins before Christmas of last year when we usually enjoy a great … read more![\"\"](\"https:\/\/fromabirdseyeview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/John-Paul-300x169.jpg\")
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