I've been to Helen's three times in my life: New Year's Eve 2014, New Year's Eve 2015 and the weekend after New Year's Eve. The two New Year's Eves were totally alright, but the brunch was really alright. Pretty awesome, in fact. But it didn't start out that way.

We rolled with a total of 7 of us, which I get is a number. I walked in first to see if they could accommodate, and the lady replies with, "We don't usual take that big of a party," to which I replied, "You can totally split us up and that's fine." And not in a way that indicated it wouldn't actually be fine, because it would have been 100% fine. They also were not crowded.

She goes to check with the chef to see if they are allowed to seat 7 whole people at one table. I turn around and give my crew the half-shrug indicating we may or may not make the cut.