"WHAT have you been doing today, then? Are you enjoying the holidays? Do you come from around here? What brings you to Bristol?"
Our waiter was full of smiles and even more questions as he stood at the tableside ready to take our order. Had I been with a girlfriend or eating alone I might have had cause to feel flattered.
As it was, I had my two sons in tow and the questions were mainly directed at them. What's more, the cheeriness wasn't exclusive to us. I heard him ask at least three other families the same things during the course of our meal. He was just one of a rare breed, I guess - a genuinely nice guy who aimed to please. We'd gone to Bristol to visit the IMAX theatre in the half-term holidays.
The 3D cinema is due to close in April, along with its sister attraction Wildwalk, and we wanted to wear those fetching 3D goggles one more time before it goes.
Emerging into the light after the film, the boys were reminded that it was at least 90 minutes since they had eaten last. Time for a top-up, surely?
We've visited quite a few of the cafes on the Bristol harbourside before, but never the Chicago Rock Cafe. I always thought it was more a nightclub chain than a restaurant, and perhaps not the kind of place to take your children to. But the sound of noisy chatter from inside told me that plenty of other parents knew otherwise. That - combined with a huge poster advertising a daytime deal of two meals for £6.95 - drew me in.
The menu has all the dishes you'd expect from an Americanised chain; fahitas, barbecue chicken, every possible type of steak imaginable and enough burger varieties to rival McDonalds. Prices range from a mere £1.50 for the sweetcorn and red pepper chowder to around £12 for the most expensive cut of beef.
All eyes on the Tompkins table were restricted to the meal deal menu, though, which offered a selection of around 10 main courses to pick from.
One poor starving child went for the All-American burger, a colossus of a dish which came with several thousand chips on the side. The meat was fat and juicy, the salad garnish kept to a minimum. Just what the little boy ordered.
The other malnourished lad ordered Smoky Mountain chicken, a dish of chicken breast, barbecue sauce, bacon and cheese. He must have been at least half a stone heavier when it was gone.
There were no complaints over my steak fahita wrap, either. It was a wrap, there was steak in it, and a fair amount of fahita spices on the veg. Full marks for description, then, and not half bad, with a massive jacket potato on the side. But the best was yet to come.
When the very jolly waiter had stopped chatting to the customers, he brought our bill. Three meals and a total of five drinks came to a grand total of... wait for it... a whopping £13.50. Smiles don't cost you anything at the Chicago Rock Cafe, it seems.
Chicago Rock Cafe
Watershed, Canons Rd, Bristol, BS1 5UH.
Tel: 0117 929 1361
Open for food from 11.30am to 2am (yes, 2am!) Monday to Saturday, and from 12 noon to 2am Sunday.
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