That's/that was Marie Calendar's

My son offered to pay for my daughter's dinner, but my daughter refused and said that he paid for lunch yesterday. And he responds with:

"Yeah, but that's Marie Calendar's."

VS

"Yeah, but that was Marie Calendar's."

Are both useable here or is only the past tense correct here.

If you're saying that your son paid for Marie Calender's lunch yesterday, you need the second sentence.

Raymott said:

If you're saying that your son paid for Marie Calender's lunch yesterday, you need the second sentence.

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They were dining at a nice 5 star restaurant, so my son wanted to use his savings to treat his sister, but his sister refused because he paid for lunch yesterday. And my son was implying that it was Marie Calendar's, so it wasn't as expensive compared to what they were eating at the time. So, he goes:


"Yeah, but that's Marie Calendar's."

VS

"Yeah, but that was Marie Calendar's."

Should it still be the past tense since it happened in the past?

Yes, you need the past tense.

You could also say something like just Marie Calendar's to make your son's implied meaning clearer.

I'm confused. Is Marie Calender/Calendar the name of a restaurant or the name of the person whose lunch he paid for?

emsr2d2 said:

I'm confused. Is Marie Calender/Calendar the name of a restaurant or the name of the person whose lunch he paid for?

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Marie Calendar's the restaurant.

Batman45 said:

Marie Calendar's the restaurant.

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The correct spelling is Marie Callender's. :up:

Then I would say "Yes, but that was [just/only] at Marie Callender's".

I thought they were just a purveyor of frozen food.

SoothingDave said:

I thought they were just a purveyor of frozen food.

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They are more like an up-scale Denny's restaurant. There are many here in California and they do make great pies.