got shrimp?

So our night on the town in NYC last week began with dinner at one of the places in Times Square I've always wanted to go.

I've done the Planet Hollywood things ad nauseum. Hard Rock Cafe? They've got great food, but I've been going there since I was a little kid, back when it was down the street from Carnegie Hall.

No, I finally made it to one of the coolest places in Times Square: Bubba Gump Shrimp Co.

Admittedly, going to a restaurant themed on a bit reference in a movie made in the mid-90s had me thinking how cool could the place really be, but if was soooo cool!

First, it's got two things I love: shrimp and props from movies! (Like the suit that Forrest wears throughout the movie, seen here. I mean, how cool is that?!)

I know, it's so corny, but I love being able to see things that were used in movies right in front of my face, even if it's clothes. (Planet Hollywood, for example, used to have the T-shirt and sweatpants that Britney wore in her debut movie, "Crossroads," on display in their lobby and I took tons of pictures of that. Oh! OH! And they also have one of the original Darth Vader and Chewbacca suits at Planet Hollywood, too! Maybe we should've gone there for dinner? Hmmm.....)

Anyway, just in case that "Forrest Gump" stuff wasn't cool enough, the food was de-lish, to steal a line from Rachael Ray! (Though there was no EVOO in mine!) The portions were huge and they have the coolest thing at your table:

There are a pair of license plates from Greenbow, Alabama (Forrest's hometown, of course!), one that says "Run, Forrest, Run" and the other saying "Stop, Forrest, Stop." If you have the "Run, Forrest, Run" license plate showing, it just means that you're all good at your table and that the servers can keep walking around. But if you need one of them to stop and get you something (cocktail sauce, the check, whatever!), then you flash the "Stop, Forrest, Stop" license plate and they stop! Cute, right?

Yes, as you can see from my plate at the end of the meal, the food was just as great as the ambiance, and the excursion to Bubba Gump's was well worth the wait!

You can also see that I'll take a picture of anything!