by Pete Codella:
We were out to dinner with friends. My wife was delivering a glowing review for a new restaurant we had tried with another couple a few months ago. She was convinced the restaurant we had liked so much was called Ho Hut, but then came around to the idea of it being Hu Hot.
It's been a joke with us since we ate there, a hut for hoes? No, that wasn't it. What was the name of that place?
It was a place we really liked, where you pick fresh veggies and pile 'em high in your bowl, then they grill them in front of you on a large rotating round grill with a handful of cooks moving around, spraying the grill with water to clean it off, then oil to season and sauté the veggies. It's an Asian stir fry joint.
I was convinced the place was called Hu Hut.
In front of our friends, we proceeded to stake out claims on the real name of the restaurant.
They were laughing and we were verbally sparing.
Finally I said, "Fine. I'll Google it."
Then my friend chimed in:
Google has saved our marriage so many times. There's really no need to argue any longer when a quick Google check on your smartphone can get you the right answer.True enough.
For the record: The restaurant we enjoyed so much is called HuHot Mongolian Grill. It's a restaurant chain. You should check it out if there's one by you. Be prepared to be very full when you leave, even though it doesn't seem like you've got a very big bowl to fill with food.
Debate over. Name found. Now on with our double-date. It was a splendid evening.
And both of us—my friend and his wife and me and my wife—are still happily married. Thank you, Google.
Pete Codella: I've lived in New York, Texas, Nevada, Idaho, Wyoming and Utah. I've traveled to four continents, shopped in Fez, parasailed in Tunisia, eaten caviar in Moscow and would love to visit my namesake and great-grandfather's stomping grounds in Italy. I was married in the Salt Lake LDS Temple four years after graduating from BYU, so you could argue at one point I was a ‘menace to the community.’ I'm a former singing gondolier at The Venetian in Las Vegas and BYU Young Ambassador. I work in digital public relations and travel to consult and speak about corporate communications and social media. I graduated in 2013 from the University of Utah's Executive MBA program. My awesome wife and I have two great kids, currently twelve and eight and full of life. Twitter: @codella.
