My bank called last week to say I owed them money, so taking my sister out for a birthday dinner was pretty low on my priority list.

Then she decided, given the other affordable option of McDonald's, she would be happy with a dinner at Baby's.

So my sister and I headed out for a taste of the 1950s at Baby's Burgers & Shakes, 131 S. Garner St. We hadn't been there for years, but given that the decade had passed awhile ago, nothing had changed.

We were seated in a red vinyl booth with our own mini jukebox, right next to the brightly colored crane game machine.

A perky waitress with more flair than Jennifer Aniston in Office Space came over and took our drink orders for double-chocolate milkshakes. While I waited, I noticed the restaurant's menu isn't at all limited, as we could pick from breakfast foods, cheesesteaks, the smaller order "whimpy" selection, burgers and the always classy, deluxe dinners-in-a-basket.

My sister swore she wasn't hungry and promised to give me one of her little whimpy burgers while I settled on a grilled Cajun chicken sandwich. We gave the waitress our orders and then sipped our rich, thick milkshakes while being serenaded by Jerry Lee Lewis and The Beatles.

Unfortunately, the jukebox ate my quarter, so we missed out on listening to "Rock Around the Clock," but we settled for contemplating a decade that we missed out on completely while checking out the Coca-Cola advertisements and license plates that decorate the walls.

We killed the milkshakes within minutes, so while we waited for our meals, we went over the menu again, listing the things we should have thrown in with our order. Even though it was late at night, the breakfast pancakes are fluffy enough to eat at any time. The chili and soups are always good, especially when you follow them with a Baby's sundae. And we definitely should have thrown in an order of cheese fries.

By the time our dinners showed up, we had mentally eaten half the items on the menu, so we were more than ready to focus all of our attention on the food in front of us. My cajun chicken was the perfect degree of spiciness, complete with ranch dressing, and the sandwich filled me up before I even realized that my sister had eaten both the whimpy burgers and never actually had any intentions of saving one for me.

We did manage to split the fries, which were that perfect level of greasy where you just barely need a napkin and you don't feel that guilty about them afterward.

The dinner ended successfully enough. We were full and happy, and I knew it had been cheap enough that my bank wasn't going to prosecute yet. For under $15, I had gotten meals, milkshakes, my sister's present out of the way AND free Bazooka Joe gum, complete with my fortune.

Which reminds me that the best and most important thing to get out of a meal at Baby's is the comic and fortune at the end. After an enjoyable dinner, I was left with this piece of advice that I'd like to pass on, courtesy of Bazooka Joe: Follow your heart, and you will be famous.