Matt and I went to Frankie & Benny's tonight for dinner (the one in the Showcase park in Bargeddie; about ? miles away from here). Decent place. Mostly Italian stuff, but with the obligatory burgers and steaks etc (I had a 14oz t-bone; Matt had an 8oz NY strip).

They have a nifty system for letting you know when your table is ready. They give you this device which is essentially a drinks coaster, except it's about 1cm thick, made of plastic, and contains gadgetry. When your table is ready, lots of LEDs inside it all flash, and it emits a buzzing noise. You then take this little spacey coaster back to the front desk, and are escorted to your table. Pure disco madness with all these folk carrying a flashing little slab of plastic around.

The music they play is all classic stuff like Blueberry Hill, Rubber Ball, Why Do Fools Fall In Love, and that kind of thing, and they have several F&B's CD compilations you can buy. In the bathrooms, they have "learning Italian" tapes playing on repeat, so there's even an educational portion to your evening (hmm).

We each had a starter and the aforementioned main courses and then dessert, and also a bottle or two of Stella each; it all came to £50. Worth a look.

Here's a pic of me at the entrance, and one of Matt.