Free Birthday Eats And Then Some at the Monte Carlo

Here we are at Rubio's at the Monte Carlo's food court (they also have several locations around town). If you sign up for their Beach Club at their website, they'll e-mail you a coupon for a free taco. They'll also e-mail you a coupon for a free meal, up to $7, on your birthday. I had the mango habanero mahi mahi (spicy sweetness on a flour tortilla) and a chicken "street taco" (grilled chicken on a bed of chopped onions, cilantro and avocado in a corn tortilla).

As long as I was there at the Monte Carlo I stopped at the MLife desk and asked what kind of offers I had on my player's card. Apparently if you stop at one of the MLife casinos anywhere near your birthday, you have a $30 food comp coming. They gave me a choice of the cafe or the Dragon Noodle Co. Decisions, decisions. I went with the Dragon Noodle and faced more choices: Sushi bar or kitchen menu? And then what from the kitchen menu? I went with the Seafood Chow Fun: shrimp, scallops, squid, fish and vegetables on a bed of big old rice noodles. When I saw the size of the meal I thought I might have to ask for a take-out box, but it was just too addictive not to finish.

Free Eats Update: Thanks to our old friends at Panera Bread for loading a belated free birthday pastry onto my card (to make it up to me, they gave me two months to use it).