Dataset Viewer
Search is not available for this dataset
text
string | label
class label | review_length
int64 |
|---|---|---|
The only real thing this place has going for it is that it is a sports bar and it is in a location that is desperate need of more options to watch sports.
I arrived with my boyfriend on a Sunday morning to try to watch a big soccer game (FA Cup). He had called in advance because he wanted to ensure that the game would be playing. Someone told him yes, they could turn it on. Once we stepped in, we were greeted by a panel of girls at the hostess stand. My boyfriend asked if a TV could be changed and they said yes it wouldn't be a problem. We plopped down at a high table in front of a TV. Our waitress (who I will not name) came to introduce herself. May I just say she was weird... friendly but weird. And not very effective. She asked us if we had ever been before, and we both said no, so she started with a rehearsed couple of sentences about the place. I remember Kildare's and I thought Tilted Kilt was a step up in terms of what it could offer, but the experience was very "blah" and frustrating for my boyfriend. Our waitress continues to speak in what appeared to be a seductive manner. She asked my boyfriend what his name was and shook his hand. Then it occurred to her that she should ask for my name and shake my hand too. Very awkward weird interactions that I don't really need at a sports bar when all I want to do is eat and watch the TV.
After about 5 minutes, the TV was finally changed (we didn't order until it had been changed for us). My boyfriend ordered a wrap and onion rings and side of garlic bread, and I ordered the grilled wings. Everything was just okay.
Throughout our meal, our waitress kept coming to see how we were doing. Her timing was a bit off as she seemed to be more of a bother than a help. I kept feeling as though my meal and sports watching were being interrupted. On two occasions, our TV channel changed (this happened when the TVs above the bar changed to the same channel). The first time it happened, my boyfriend told a hostess (who I told him would not get anything done quickly), our waitress (who was MIA when this happened), and the bartender. It took 10 minutes for the channel to be changed back. Quite annoying. The second time it happened, it was about 3 min left in the match and it changed again. My boyfriend was soooo frustrated, couldn't get anyone's attention, and just went to the back of the restaurant to try to see the match on a TV there (the only TV on the first floor that had it on). As he walked back there, that TV changed to a different channel again. THIS IS SUPER ANNOYING. FIX YOUR TVs. We ended up missing the last goal of the game.
Another issue to point out is the sports credibility of a place like this. The sports being played when we arrived included bowling and some TVs were dedicated to the women in the Tilted Kilt calendar. Super annoying. My boyfriend wanted to complain to someone but didn't ask to speak to the manager who was in that day. Instead our waitress came over with the names of people we could email (unfortunately she forgot business cards with their emails...... ahem ahem).
There is much potential here but certain things need real fixing. 1) Don't have your waitresses focus on seduction at the expense of real, solid, well-timed service. 2) Fix your TVs so that channels don't change randomly. It was not a matter of someone else asking for the TV to be changed as we were the only ones in the section. Something is inappropriately linked. 3) I looked around and noticed the girls just plop themselves down to talk to guys. I also felt like our waitress was intruding on our time more than she was being of any real help/service. I've never been to a Tilted Kilt but really, is it really necessary?? If you want to attract patrons who aren't disgusting men or "a man's man" girl, I would suggest changing this... 4) I don't need breasts in my face while watching sports. If I wanted that, I'd go to Hooters. I also don't need to see a reel of women on the beach during a calendar photo shoot 5) I don't need waitresses feeling like they need to speak to the woman at the table too. Our waitress clearly was trained to focus on the guy (my boyfriend) and as an afterthought, acknowledge that a woman was at the table too (after a pause, she realized she should ask my name and shake my hand too).
Would only recommend if real changes are made to offer a great venue for watching sports in King of Prussia, without the seduction/sex appeal to draw in customers. I mean, it's King of Prussia. If a business thinks that is the type of service it needs to provide to draw customers, then I guess it considers the typical patrons in King of Prussia to be nasty men who need to go to a bar to get excited about themselves and feel attractive... this may be the case in this small town, but I hope not! | 0negative
| 913 |
Live Oak catered my wedding. We originally chose this caterer because we felt that the food was good, the pricing was competitive, and the caterer was willing to be flexible both in terms of menu and venue. However, things did not go so well for us.
We had our wedding and reception on the beach. However, our cocktail hour was to be on a patio by the property that we had rented. The house and the beach were a short walk away from each other, but certainly presented a bit of a challenge in terms of getting things between the two. It was about a 5 minute walk. I know this is not the simplest set-up, but I assure you that I paid through the nose for this service and they charged us extra because of that 5 minute walk.
Originally the caterer asked if they could just do wine and beer during the cocktail hour. This made no sense to us because it's called "cocktail hour" and we bought all the alcohol necessary. So, we asked them to actually serve cocktails and gave them a recipe for a signature drink. When we got up to the patio, there was a HUGE line waiting for drinks. Instead of premixing some of the signature drink so they could hand things out quickly to the crowd, every single drink was being made to order and the line was ridiculous. For me, that was a strike against them. It's an open bar- there's no reason why someone should be in line for 20 minutes to get a drink! Have they not heard of making pitchers??
Next, it turns out that the caterer hadn't split the alcohol supply between the patio and the beach. They had everything up on the patio, including things that really didn't need to be there, like the bubbly and the wine- things not being served at cocktail hour. So, they had to carry everything down with them. That took them a very long time. This meant that no one got any alcohol at the actual reception until after everyone had already eaten dinner!! Not to mention that the bubbly was never served, nevermind that it wasn't available during the big toasts.
It gets better though. By the time they drag all the alcohol down, everyone's done eating and they are once again incapable of figuring out how to serve the crowd. Again a large queue forms. At this point I can't take this anymore and I just grab the bottles and start opening them and handing them out to various tables. Honestly, a wedding for which you bought all the alcohol and where you intended to have an open bar, is not so much fun when after all that it's pretty much a dry wedding! No one is feeling courageous enough to get on the dance floor.
Now to finish the bar story- on top of everything, they run out of glasses!! They're talking to me about this issue and I'm amazed that they run out of glasses. You would think this would be just one of the most basic things a caterer does and prepares for. To top it off- the staff suggests picking up people's dirty glasses and reusing them, dirty! I was appalled. My wedding coordinator had to go drive to a supermarket and pick up plastic cups.
Now on to the food. We had a buffet - with metal trays that were heated from the bottom. The food tasted good. However, after the last table was called to get their food, the caterer started taking food away. They made no announcement that they were taking away the food. When I asked him what he was doing he said that food couldn't be out for too long or it would go bad and then he'd be liable for making people sick. Folks, I'm a lawyer and here to say that if that were true, then you'd see waiters coming to take people's plates out from under them if they didn't eat fast enough. So, no one got to get seconds, even though people had taken little in the first round to make sure everyone got enough. And because the bar was so slow in opening up, now I have a bunch of guests who are drinking but no longer eating. That's a great recipe for alcohol poisoning. They hauled away tons of perfectly good that I paid good money for. I have never ever seen anyone do that before at any event. ADDITIONALLY the waitstaff went around to all the tables and took all the plates away for anyone who was dancing or not in their seat. So, without any indication that someone was actually done, they took their food away and they closed the buffet. We had a lot of hungry people!!
The food was good, but the service was absolutely abominable. I really wouldn't recommend this company to anyone trying to do an event that requires any serious planning or foresight. These people showed themselves really incapable of problem-solving and really did not care at all whether the guests were getting everything they needed. When they ran out of cups, instead of figuring something out, they just didn't serve people! They also did not give a damn about my protestations with regard to the food. To think- picking a fight with a bride on her wedding day! If I knew that's how they were going to do things, I would have never in a million years signed up for this caterer | 0negative
| 927 |
I have been here twice in the last two months and I can officially say I probably won't be going back. I had heard great things about the food so when I got a postcard mailer with a free entree, I decided to bite the bullet and try something new.
I went with a neighbor and our girls at a time when the restaurant was nearly empty. We were one of two tables in the whole restaurant and yet I would have gotten faster service if I had driven home and gotten things for ourselves. My friend asked for water that didn't arrive (even after reminders) until almost the meal and the meals themselves while simple, took quite a bit of time. We were enjoying a "girls night" so we didn't have to be anywhere but finally at one point, the time everything was taking got to be too much and we just wanted to be done. We each had one of the mailers which said "one per household" and being that we were two different households together didn't think this would be a problem but it was and after even more of a wait, the unseen manager, owner or giant voice behind the curtain finally told our server to split up the check and use one for each...which, when you consider that they are using a manual, non-digital register doesn't make much sense but at least we were finally getting to leave. The food was "meh", nothing too great, very small portion and I had ordered no rice, just beans. I guess when they made the mistake of putting rice on the plate they figured taking some of it off and covering the rest with beans means it would go away...but if you don't like spanish rice and you get a spoonful of it sneakily tucked away in the yummy beans you were thought you were eating, it doesn't go away. Even so, I figured maybe this was just a one time incident and to give them another chance. Boy was I wrong!
We also had BOGO coupons in a book we bought for a fundraiser so when the occasion arose a few weeks later to not have to cook AND stay in the neighborhood, the entire family and us took our coupons down to the restaurant for a second go. There were four of us, I put the coupons out on the edge of the table to be seen, discussed with the server and the family that all of us had to order drinks to use the coupons and ordered our drinks. My husband and I ordered meals in the $12.99 range and my kids each got meals for $8.99. This time we had a different server, a female and yet, despite the restaurant again not being very full...everything once again took forever, plates weren't removed, drinks weren't refilled (and I get iced tea, all that takes is a quick pour out of a pitcher) and we waited and waited and waited. The meal tasted a little better this time around and they didn't mix rice in with my beans but the portions again were pretty small. However, my son and daughter's taquitos were meh and neither of them finished them which isn't like either of them considering the meals were pretty small. When it finally came time to get the check, we handed her the coupons which read "one per person, per day". Since there were four of us I knew this would be alright but she tried to tell us that it was only one per table. We argued over the disclaimers that THEY put on their own coupon and finally I told her to just split the checks. She went back to find this again, floating head that we never saw and came back to angrily split the checks which I went with her to the register to do. She tried to then tell me that it had to be the two cheapest items we got but as I said, my husband and I got meals equivalent to price and so did the kids. After much hassle and she being obviously angry about doing it, she put mine and my husbands on one check and the kids on the other. Both kids got adult meals so we weren't haggling over kids prices. She was so bitchy about it that I didn't tip a dime...something I never do even when the service is subpar (which it was anyway) and left.
Save yourself the trouble and the hassle, coupons or no and go to somewhere decent like Los Trojes or anywhere else. There are plenty of good Mexican restaurants in town who have both great food and great service. Fiesta Mexicana isn't one of them and if you have a coupon...toss it. It's better to pay full price somewhere else than go here. | 0negative
| 816 |
I was craving Thai summer rolls. Had I not remembered reading some decent Yelp reviews for this place I would have passed it by given the location in a seedy strip mall. Bottom line from our experience: Chiang Mai isn't a bad place to stop if you're in the area for food that is Southeast Asian or Chinese in concept if not authentic in execution. It isn't a place we'll go back to again but glad we tried it. Once.
Let's start with the GOOD THINGS:.
1) Summer rolls were freshly filled and expertly rolled. I would have been a bigger fan if they contained some SE Asian herbs in the mix, like cilantro, Thai basil and mint instead of only lettuce as the greens element. I liked the dipping sauce served with them was a vinegar tart, sweet, salty offering (although not fish sauce prominent as one might find for traditional nuac cham) instead of peanut sauce. I used red chili paste on the table to add spicy heat to the mix.
2) Very friendly service. It seemed virtually a wave of people were leaving through the narrow entry as we tried to enter just after 1:00 and we had the then advantage of few tables being occupied and attentive servers. Food was delivered promptly with hot food served hot and cold food served cold.
3) Decent seating options including booths with elephant pattern woven tablecloths topped with glass or formica topped tables and chairs all at standard height.
4) Music selection on the sound system of rock ancients like Jim Morrison and Mick Jagger. (Embarrasingly, I know all the lyrics to all the songs and wanted to sing along.) Set at at a low enough level to know it was there but not to override all else.
5) Prices were low ($19 before tax for three dishes at lunch) and servings were large. But I'd rather have higher prices and smaller servings of better food.
Now the 'NOT SO MUCH' things:
1) Like many Thai restaurants in the area the menu seems an amalgam of Chinese - American and Thai items with the latter tamed down from the robust flavors I have enjoyed at Thai restaurants in cities like Portland, San Franciso, Las Vegas or even my former hometown of Bend. For a city of Bosie's size it is surprising to find so many Asian restaurants don't "pick a lane and drive in it" for authentic food.
2) The food is just OK "minus". Pad Thai is one of those dishes I am almost ashamed to hear myself order as it is sometimes so poorly done, but when it is well made it is a treasure. It was on the lunch menu here and so I ordered it as a good litmus test for any Thai restaurant which arguably ought to get this rice noodle dish right. (Like say an Italian restaurant's ability to turn out spaghetti marinara right.) This was not the worst Pad Thai I've ever had, but it was not good either.
My husband veered to a Chinese food item selecting Hoonan (not a typo, that is how it appeared on menu) vegetables. The mix of veggies, which included bok choy, napa cabbage and pea pods, was cooked to just right toothsome doneness. Oversauced, but that seems to be a trend in Chinese - American food service, with too much soy sauce in the mix of things, another trend, and just barely a hint of the Hunan heat as promised on the menu.
3) The infrastructure of the restaurant looks like it is falling apart, from the parking lot through the door and all around. Which may be nothing the restaurant owners can do anything about unless they own the building.
4) Getting in the door can be a challenge at the narrow entry as people are going out and you are coming in given they have a host station set up as "traffic stop". It is awkward and uninviting. This they could fix.
THIS N THAT:
1) PARKING: The ramshakle lot shows looks rode hard and put away wet, but it is a lot with parking and that is a good thing in spite of the condition.
2) NEIGHBORS: Bar to the left, Asian Market 2 to the right. The latter is an interesting place if you're trying to find some harder to find SE Asian ingredients like shrimp paste or a choice of half a dozen plus brands of fish sauce.
3) ACCESSIBILITY: One blue wheelchair marked spot in the entire lot is outside the Asian Market. It is not van accessible. Restaurant is level in and throughout. Table seating is standard height. Adequate path of travel to several tables. | 0negative
| 787 |
This place used to be amazing and I LOVED coming here, but lately it has gone down hill. And when I say down hill, I mean DOWN HILL. It absolutely SUCKS now.
Curious as to why? Please read below:
Wait Time:
The wait is always forever. I feel like I could knit myself a sweater in the time it takes to go through that drive through and that's if I'm the only car in the drive through. I completely understand that Starbucks is popular and very busy, especially during peak times, but why is it that management cannot staff to demand? Is it really to difficult to know that during peak hours, the establishment might need a few extra hands? Now, I know the reasonable thing many might be thinking: Mobile Ordering. An absolutely fantastic idea. And for a while, worked wonderfully. Unfortunately, it seems as though it is impossible for these orders to be made correctly. Not sure why mobile orders are any different from ordering at the drive through or in store, but there's something that just makes them impossible to be made correctly. Also, in case anyone is curious, I haven't ordered anything complicated, especially through mobile ordering. If I want non-fat milk or sugar free substitutes, I order at the Starbucks.
Cups:
Most recently, my sister and I came in and ordered some frappes and we received very liquid and disgusting drinks in sticky cups. Now I know I shouldn't have high expectations, but I really do not think expecting a clean cup is too much to ask for.
What really put this trip over the edge was that when I asked for new cups, the barista ignored the fact that they gave me sticky, dripping cups and just put my drink (in the same cup) into another cup. So I walked out with my drink in literally two cups. Now, I know it technically solved the problem, but this is not the first time this has happened. In fact, I cannot remember the last time I received a drink from this Starbucks and the cup was not dripping or sticky. The absolute worst is when you stop before work, in your work clothes, and you don't notice the liquid on the outside of the cup and it drips all over your clothes. Sorry Starbucks, didn't realize I needed to watch out for part of my drink on the outside of my cup. Is it too much to ask for my drink not to be on the outside its holder?
Quality:
I would also like to mention the quality of the drinks at this Starbucks. Now, I'm not a connoisseur of coffee. I do not have high standards when it comes to the quality and taste. As long as it tastes like it's supposed to - I'm good. That being said, I cannot remember the last time my drink from this Starbucks was actually right. It's been close, it's been drinkable, but it has absolutely not been correct/perfect, or what it is supposed to taste like. One might then ask, "Well how do you know what it's supposed to taste like?" My response: "I've been drinking Starbs for years - it's what got me through college. There's no way they changed their recipes for all my favorite drinks in the past few months." It's honestly just sad. I'm not a barista nor do I pretend to know the trials and tribulations of what it might be to be one, I'm sure it's difficult and my respect to all the amazing baristas out there, BUT don't many of your barista instruments have measurement marks on them? Doesn't Starbs use specific measurements for many, if not all, their drinks? Again, I'm not a barista, but it just seems like it would be really difficult to use the incorrect ingredient measurements. I'm sure if someone was new, of course it would be difficult to remember all the measurements and what goes in what drink, but come on. Eventually, after making so many drinks, it would have to become second nature or at least somewhat of a habit. Also, the amount of Starbucks trips that have resulted in a cup of milk being handed to me has been one to many. At this point, we must have to realize that there's something wrong in the coffee making process. I would never go to Starbucks and pay $5 for a cup of steamed milk.
Overall:
I'm just really disappointed in this specific Starbucks location. When I say it got me through college, it literally got me through college. I loved coming to Starbucks. It was my treat for the day and it just made my day better. That being said, I know it's silly to base my entire day on how my cup of coffee was, but is it really too much to go to an establishment which specializes in a product and expect their product to meet a certain set of expectations? The purpose of this review is not to hurt anyone or be rude, it's to help someone in charge realize that there is a problem and there are many coffee drinkers who want this problem to be resolved. It just makes me sad how down hill this place has gone.
I really hope this review makes it to someone who can do something to help this caterpillar of a store because I KNOW it has the potential to be a beautiful butterfly. Until then, I guess I'm reaping the benefits of saving $5/day. | 0negative
| 925 |
I will never go back to guppys again. After the scene the Bartender John caused last Sunday, it is a disgrace. Story below. This is also not the first of these stories I have heard from numerous people.
My three friends and I arrived to Guppys and walked into the bar area. We were greeted by the bartender (not John) and asked what we wanted to drink. I did not order the beverages, my friends sitting at the bar did. We received four beers and walked to the back area to get a little more room. While we were near the back, we saw a table with four empty chairs outside. Since it was nice out, we went out and sat down. We talked to the couple behind us with their dog, very friendly. We were out there for maybe 10-15 minutes and had not seen one bartender or server pass us. We just sipped out drinks and chatted. I received a phone call and took it at the table, outside. About two minutes into my phone call, John comes out and asks if we are ordering food. We said no and he then proceeds to tell me we need to order food to sit at the table. Understandable, so i asked for menus. He brought out menus and not even 5 minutes later asked what we had wanted. Since i was still on the phone and my friends were talking, we hadn't taken a good look at the menu yet.. I ordered 2 appetizers immediately so we can have a bit more time to look. When i ordered the two, John comes back and tells me "no, you need to have one item per person." Now, what i don't understand is why i need one appetizer per person. They are appetizers and meant to be shared. I complied and ordered four appetizers. He corrected me to tell me i only had mentioned three. My friend now has chimed in and with my phone call who heard me says " no she ordered four" and listed them again. John was obviously annoyed and went back in. He came back after 2-3 minutes to tell me then that I was too drunk to be there and we all had to leave. He proceeded to take all of my friends beers from them. We had already paid for these beers and they were MAYBE 1/3 of the way finished. That is it. He didn't take mine and i told him, we already paid and I"m no where near drunk. I also said i ordered the food you asked me to. He then goes to say you are so drunk you don't even know what beer you have and then asked me to name my beer. I didn't order the beers, my friend did. I've know him for 20 years and trust his beer choice. So now I'm EXTREMELY embarrassed. He went in, got my friends card, came out and said you were not charged you now need to leave. All of this was EXTREMELY humiliating, especially because i had had 2 beers since 11am being that i was the driver that night. So i was not drunk and I was VERY willing to order the food amount asked, even though you cant MAKE someone order a plate per person. He was very rude and condescending putting on a scene.
We left and as soon as we were across the street, a table of four ladies were sat.
I was so distraught and annoyed that i was kicked out for doing what was asked. We were just at guppys the weekend prior and were around EXTREMELY drunk people. We love going there so i didn't get it. I decided to go back to talk to a manager and see what and why i was singled out and humiliated.
My friend and i walked back to Guppys. We walk in and John is still behind the bar. The place was not busy at all. I went up to John and asked for a manager. He said he was the manager. So i asked why that incident happened. He claims again that I'm drunk and was slurring my words. He said we were drunk when we got there and too drunk to stay. IF this is the case, why were we served? When I asked him this, his answer was it wasn't him that served us. SO as acting manager, he CLEARLY was in the wrong then. Also, if we were so drunk by his standards, why did he tell me to order food, order more food than i had to, and make a scene of kicking of out of the bar? I asked this as well, he then changed his story to tell me he got two noise complaints from each table next to us. This isn't true, we A ) were not there long enough to be doing anything B) NO sever or bartender had come outside and C) the couple behind us we were chatting with perfectly find and had not left the table the entire 10-15 minutes we were there. So, now when i ask him this and tell him we were friendly with the couple, he asked me to say her name. I didn't know her name because i don't always need someones name to have a friends conversation with. He is now INTENTIONALLY embarrassing me again and in front of another (obviously drunk) customer at the bar. I also asked when i ordered food, why did you change your mind again. He said i needed to order 1 main entree per person and i didn't. he NEVER said that nor is that a rule. Also, i ordered four appetizer $10-$13 each, which VERY WELL could have been a meal per person. He told us we needed to leave and i asked for the managers name and number. He was clearly annoyed with that but got information and scribbled it down. | 0negative
| 1,001 |
Have you ever seen The Sopranos? This restaurant feels like Tony and the gang had business dealings over eggplant parmesan in a booth here. I dined at Bazil's just a few short weeks ago and have been thinking about it ever since. Allow me to paint a picture...
The ambiance....When you walk in there is a small waiting area with benches on either side of the main entrance to sit on. The night I went was very busy with a lot of reservations so we had to wait a bit. The hostess was really friendly and stood her ground when a woman came in and claimed to have made a reservation at 11am that morning (the phones weren't even turned on until 4) and this added to my love of this place. Back to the setting...you can't really see the restaurant from the front area where you're waiting, but to the left is a bar that looks awesome and to the right is the main seating area. The bar itself is sunken so you sit in a chair of normal height instead of a tall chair (as a short person, I appreciate this). A side note, the sign that says "pizza only available in the bar" means that if you want pizza you have to sit in the bar - not that it's the only thing you can get in the bar. The main dining area is fabulous! The booths are very private and each one has a dimmer to control the light. The tables in the middle are large enough to fit parties of eight. We sat in a booth and felt like we had a private dining area. There are little lights (Christmas lights in some cases) strung all around the restaurant and the ambiance in general is wonderful. It is good for friends looking to grab a good meal or for a romantic dinner.
The food....oh my gosh the food!!! I ordered the sausage and peppers which was delicious!! The only comparison I have for how good it was is the sausage that Corleone's had before it closed (which is a darn shame because that was my favorite east side restaurant). The sausage comes with a side of pasta and you can get fettuccine alfredo instead of spaghetti with a meat sauce. DO THIS! Make the substitution! You will not regret it. The alfredo sauce is simply the best I've ever had in a restaurant. The meals come with a delicious salad and bread. I cannot wait to go back to try other things on the menu. A woman at the table next to us had the clam sauce and it looked wonderful.
The service....this felt a little slow. We were in our booth for over an hour (probably close to two) but as my friend said, "it's an experience." That is a very true statement. They don't rush anyone through and we were never made to feel that we were taking up space when we finished our meals. Our server was very polite and made sure we had everything we needed or wanted, although there seemed to be long stretches that we didn't see him. This didn't take away from the overall experience.
The clientele....it's a lot of older people, which isn't surprising based on the location. A lot of reviews mention the outdated decor, but in reality it should be a hipster's dream because it's so dated. The restaurant is run the same way a restaurant would run in the 70s or 80s and the interior matches. I am in my 30s and was easily the youngest person there. A lot of the interaction I saw between diners and the staff were off putting. The diners were rude and demeaning at times, with one older gentleman making a very crude comment to his waiter. The same gentleman also took a napkin off of a stack that a young lady was folding and walked out with it. There seems to be a sense of entitlement among some of the guests (at least the night I was there) that was surprising because we tend to think of teenagers and very young adults as being entitled. The employees remained polite throughout each interaction, which made me appreciate the whole place even more. A lot of people who were waiting to be seated claimed to be regulars, although it was obvious they were not because the hostess knew the regulars. A lot of these regulars also knew each other and would stop to chat on their way out.
Overall - Bazil's is awesome. It may feel outdated but that's because the bulk of their customers tend to be older and don't need many upgrades or modern technology to function. The service may seem slow, but this just means that there's more time for you to enjoy everything about this place. The decor may seem outdated, but this just adds to the charm. Bazil's isn't trying to be something it's not; it's simply focused on great food and allowing guests to enjoy their experience. | 2positive
| 844 |
What was I looking for? I don't know, but I may have found it in Butcher & Singe. This place...hit every nail I needed it to this year. I expected it to be like Musso & Frank In Los Angeles, and it is, just a little darker and a little taller, and obviously not true Old Hollywood. But it tries, and it tries well.
The large dinner room had very tall ceilings with mirrors lining the tops, which give it the appearance that it's even larger. The tables, while spaced somewhat close together, still have an intimacy to them that makes you feel alone. It could be the general buzz of the patrons so perhaps it's a real-life Muffliato charm. Harry Potter, you infiltrate my life. Anyway...the servers are prompt without being annoying, specific though almost too specific, but helpful and gracious. We were there for more than two hours, happily conversing our way through a lot of food. Food! I almost forgot this was a food review. Or...is it?
I started with my vodka martini with three olives, ice cold. Mr. V always with his iced tea.
We started with a half dozen raw oysters, steak tartare, and escargot. The first one, we split; the second one was mine; the third was his. I, of course, ate some of everything and he ate mostly the escargot. Some tidbits about those dishes:
Raw oysters-on-the-half-shell - pretty much exactly what you'd expect from fresh oysters that were both West Coast and East Coast. They were chilled, still in their shells, and served quickly. I thought they were refreshing with my martini, a nice mixture of texture and flavor.
Steak tartare - I really liked this dish and I was served more than I expected to be. The steak was rich and flavorful, served with little toasted bread bits that could hold the weight of the piles I loaded on each one.
Escargot - Super garlicky with lots o' butter. I am not complaining in the slightest, as they were tender and warm with succulent juices, but the garlic was not the best mixture with my martini, so I tried one or two, and let Mr. V scoop out each snail and mop up the remnants with some of my leftover bread bits.
Our entrees took some time deciding. Mr. V immediately went for the porterhouse, but after the server's good, if long, explanation of each steak, he changed his mind and chose the Delmonico. I went with the filet mignon. Sides are listed below.
Delmonico - Mr. V ordered it medium rare - something I have had to coax him to do since we started dating, and my efforts have finally paid off. It was fatty, rich, tender and uber flavorful. It also was not for the faint of heart - bother literally and figuratively. He actually stopped eating it about half way through due to the richness, but hey, it's a special day...feed yo'self, free yo'self. I won't judge.
Filet Mignon - this is my go to choice for steak when I'm out. Most because I don't eat portion sizes larger than 8 ounces of meat, but also because I do like this cut very much. I ordered my Pittsburgh style rare. I order most things rare, and since I rarely eat poultry or pork, I can get away with it. Mine was warm (well, duh), very tender, and cooked almost perfect. The filet was almost sweet, but so much savory that I was surprised when I ate it all.
Brussels sprouts - Brussels sprouts are something I've learned that I like when made FOR me rather than when I make them myself. I liked these a lot and even ate them from the to-go box next day.
Stuffed hash browns ¬- Stuffed hash browns were their specialty and Mr. V said these were "the f*****g s**t". Nuff' said. They were pie-sized, crispy brown, and stuffed galore. We barely could eat a quarter of them, so we gave them to a less fortunate individual on Walnut Street after dinner.
Lobster mac and cheese - Actual freaking chunks of lobster in this ooey-gooey mac and cheese dish. Warm and toeing the line of properly cooked pasta. With Parmesan on top! So. Much. Cheese. Cheese = land life and seafood = water life. Add those together = spiritual zen.
Yes, we really ate all this food. It didn't end there - He had cheesecake and I had Baked Alaska (because it's old school and I needed to fit in).
I guess this adds up to a "We would go here again". | 2positive
| 769 |
It's only because Calvin Trillin, wrote a piece about Mosca's in the New Yorker last year that we found ourselves last week, driving over night-darkened two lane blacktops to find this restaurant in the middle of what seems like nowhere Louisiana.
As Calvin Trillin quotes a local friend: " 'Mosca's always had the feel of a neighborhood restaurant, without the neighborhood.' "
There is simply nothing else around here but road.
It was an adventure, the kind of mysterious road trip that I love. And when we finally arrived and saw this old-timey roadhouse as the only beacon lighting up the dark, I felt ridiculously happy.
And believe it or not out here, reservations really are a must .
The locals have known about and loved this place since 1946.
I don't think of Louisiana as an Italian-food kind of destination but the history and lore surrounding Mosca's was intriguing enough to take a chance.
We entered and felt like it was still 1946. It feels frozen in time leaving one to wonder if you've fallen down the rabbit hole and done some time travel.
You walk into a main room with a bar, a few tables and an old jukebox filled with oldies crooners. Love!
We were then ushered into a second room which is the main dining room. It was little bit like walking into someone's great-aunt's dining room .
From the moment we walked in we were greeted warmly and immediately brought to our table which was situated near a faux fireplace. I swear it made me feel warmer but in reality the undulating "embers" gave off no heat.
What happened here has happened to me in a couple of other Louisiana restaurants and that is, we were waited on by everyone.
Rather than being confusing, it simply felt like all the staff was really looking out for us and making sure we felt cared for and attended to.
Nothing was duplicated, it's just that everyone made sure our water and wine glasses were filled, that the warm and tasty bread basket was at the ready, and that our every need was being met.
You are told upfront that each dish is cooked to order and depending on what you've selected, your meal could take up to 50 minutes to prepare.
So sit back, relax and have an appetizer and a drink, no one is rushing you.
We ordered wine and what's simply called "an Italian salad" to share. The portions we were told are large and indeed they are.
Out came a very big mixed salad which was plenty for two of us. It was iceberg lettuce (which I happen to love) with a variety of raw and pickled veggies. It was simple, a bit different and quite delicious.
We heard the oyster casserole was a must, so we ordered it. While the flavors were good it was unfortunately much too salty. This was a disappointment because I think it otherwise would have been a wonderful dish.
For my main I ordered a simple bowl of spaghetti with the Mosca's version of a red sauce. For me this can be the true test of a southern Italian-style restaurant. How the pasta is cooked and the flavor of the sauce is often a barometer of authentic goodness...or not.
I was also in the mood for some familiar comfort food after a few days that had been heavy on ultra spicy Cajun-Creole delights.
While the dish was good, it wasn't amazing. I wondered how Calvin Trillin was waxing poetic about his decades of visiting this restaurant.
Yet the restaurant was filled.
For us as it turned out, it was less about the food and more about the experience.
The menu has stayed the same over the years of Mosca's long existence.
There are never any "specials". The menu is what the menu is and always will be.
One of the favorites is something called Chicken a la Grande.
There are a couple of shrimp options including Shrimp Mosca which is a simple saute version with white wine. There are sausage and peppers, quail dishes and a steak dish.
This is not a vegetarian's paradise and therefore does vary from other southern Italian restaurants with which I'm familiar.
Nonetheless, this is the tried and true menu for this beloved Lousiana shrine and who am I to quibble with it?
We may not have ordered the entrees that put Mosca's on the locals' radar for all these years.
I don't know. But it was still a good adventure.
Even if the food didn't transport us, the experience in many ways did. It's hard to describe why. It's a place that reminded me of something vaguely very good from my past. That's all I can tell you.
The food we ordered was a 3 star experience but this is unfortunately based on one meal in one visit. Clearly, others would strongly disagree. If you come, note that it's cash only.
Lots of times, just being in Louisiana and interacting with people who hail from these parts, trumps everything else. This visit counts as memorable on that front.
I'd say go visit Mosca's and let me know if you fell down that same magical rabbit hole too.
P.S. Happy Thanksgiving to all my cherished Yelp friends. | 1neutral
| 884 |
Back in my college days Nimbus was my favorite local brewery but their location left much to be desired. I am so happy that they have now created some friendly, accessible, comfortable spaces where fans can enjoy their beers... which have only gotten better with time. From reading the other reviews it sounds like we all agree that this is a pretty cool environment with great bartenders and fantastic beer. But maybe the food is not so good? Well, I sat at the bar and did not order any food so I can't comment on that.
I did a full tasting flight when I was there with my husband last weekend and I really enjoyed the experience though I will say these guys are pretty heavy handed with the hops! Whoa, settle down fellas!!! How about making something for those of us with a more bitter sensitive palate? On the plus side, in almost all of their beers they do balance it out with some sweetness. The six four ounce pours I received were arranged light to dark which in my humble opinion was a mistake since the super-duper hoppy pale ale should be tasted last so that the bitterness doesn't wreck the palate. Fortunately the barkeep was Johnny on the spot with some water when he saw me make the bitter beer face after sampling that one. So, here are my impressions on what I tried... please note the opinions expressed here are entirely my own.. you must try for yourself to see what you will like. You never know until you try it. That is the beauty of the craft beer movement. Each one is unique!
1. Dirty Guera - Love the beer, love the name (so perfect for a Tucson brewed blonde ale). This is light and very drinkable. If you are not a regular beer drinker then go with this one and you can't miss.
2. Pale Ale - Description mentions "intense bitterness" and that is accurate. This beer is not messing around. I can handle some American pale ales but this was way to hoppy for me! If you are an IPA fan you'll love it.
3. Red Ale - A bit less malt and more bitterness there than I expected. But I found it to be pretty light and drinkable and the caramel flavor came thru in the finish so overall a pretty good beer. It also had a beautiful color.
4. Brown Ale - This tastes exactly like the Oak Creek Nut Brown to me. And I mean that as a compliment since that beer has won a bunch of awards and stuff and is probably the most famous AZ beer. I love the nuttiness of course but also there's a little sugar and spice thrown it. Really great beer.
5. Oatmeal Stout - Of course the stout was destined to be my favorite because that is just what I like. I will say that this was the most hoppy stout I have ever had. Usually a stout will have very little hop flavor. However, there was also a good amount of malt in there so it was still delicious. Also much lighter bodied than some other stouts... it's not too heavy where you feel full after half a pint. I could drink this one all night. Which was surprising since the color was pitch black. Try holding it up to the light. Seriously, its like a black hole or something.
6. Old Monkeyshine - I sampled this one at the Strong Beer Festival in Phoenix last year and fell in love from there. Watch out, its got an ABV of 8.2%. I think the one at the festival may have even been stronger. Even if you are a light weight you need to try this beer because of the flavor. It has an awesome sweetness so that makes it very appealing to me but there is also a lot of complexity. I can't even put my finger on exactly what it tastes like but I just know I like it!
7. Sonoran White Chocolate - This one was a bonus sample since the super nice bartender heard me say that it sounded good but I didn't want to order a whole pint (hey, I'd already had the equivalent of 2 beers worth of sampling). Unfortunately I didn't care for this one at all. It was too dry and the chocolate flavor tasted very artificial to me. I will say I think it is really, really cool that they offer a wide selection of beers from other breweries (esp. AZ ones) in addition to their own. Not a lot of breweries do that but I don't know why because it just gets more people in the door who may not be fans of your beers but maybe while they are there they'll give yours a try too! | 2positive
| 814 |
Let me preface my review by saying that we have known Nick's family for a very long time. We have known his family since the mid-90s. We are very familiar with the quality that his mother @ Nippon Tei, as well as his aunt @ Saffron. Flawless execution day-in, day-out, with tireless attention to detail. Nick's grandmother was indeed part of the royal family and she learned how to cook great food. All of her techniques and recipes have been handed down to all of her family. Nick is the third generation to inherit the skills and it shows with this new establishment.
The name iNDO is supposed to signify Indo-Chinese cuisine, with a splash of what already knows: pan-Asian cuisine. His focus is more towards specific types of sushi with very clean execution. It's an experience unlike anything I've seen in Saint Louis. After reading several local articles regarding the opening of his own place in Saint Louis, I was intrigued to try his nigiri due to what he's learned by moving to Austin.
First up to bat were the sea urchin and the fatty bluefin. Each serving of nigiri had two pieces. This is enough to get an idea on his skill. Sea urchin was a splash of the ocean in your mouth; fatty bluefin was a seafood version of American Wagyu beef, if there's such a thing. Both were not fishy; quite fresh indeed. Hard to believe, considering STL is landlocked for at least 900 miles. His supply is flown in and fresh, NOT frozen. Many upscale restaurants have to do this and it is reflected in their scarcity and their pricing. If the quality is there, I'm willing to pay the price.
Next up was the salmon belly. This was another banger...BUTTERY and melted in your mouth. My 7yo didn't really care for any type of nigri, but this salmon belly made him a believer, insomuch as to put in another order just for him.
We ordered a round of enchante's...think Long Island Iced Tea, but with Thai Iced Tea. The spicy basil is nice touch. It might have been July, but we were lit like Christmas at iNDO.
Main entrees were the cabbage salad, chili prawns, japanese eggplant, seafood laksa, and dungeness crab in the clay pot. The japanese eggplant was well-executed, no complaints. The seafood laksa left much to be desired. I may be spoiled, but as a fellow SE Asian with roots in Malaysia, this is not an accurate representation of the laksa that my mother and grandmother made, nor is it what I've experienced during my visits in Indonesia and Singapore. One type of Malay-style laksa that I'm familar with has rice noodles, squeezed tamarind juice, nor was there any hint of ground fresh mackerel with a hint of shrimp paste aka belacan. There is also another type of laksa that is more of a curry-style, i.e. Singaporean. As my wife said...it's not what it's supposed to be; it was more coconut than spice.
Rather than have me compare laksa with what's back home, I will give him the benefit of the doubt that his training is in Japanese cuisine,; perhaps he was trying to tone down the recipe to accommodate a wider audience?
The chili prawns were all right. I noticed the taste for the chili was very similar to the maggi brand sos cili. I expected a bit more out of those.
Cabbage salad and japanese eggplant were just all right as well. They're spot-on for pan-Asian cuisine. Indo-Chinese? Not so.
The dungeness crab was also another dish that we have not encountered during any of my experiences in SE Asia. We have experienced plenty of chili crab by the kilo and that was phenomenal. Again, I will give Nick the benefit of the doubt because the taste seem to be geared towards American taste.
Considering that iNDO just opened a week prior to us trying this place, I'll let them tweak and tune the menu. I'll consider coming back after a few months.
Indo-Chinese cuisine can be quite polarizing at times. Ironically, that is also a charm of the food. Very simple ingredients, bangin' flavor, and exotic tastes with little effort. If it weren't for the missteps from main entrees, I would have given this five stars. Maybe I'm being a bit harsh, but I think it is fair to be honest. I really do want iNDO to succeed. Please, everyone that is reading this review, give this place a chance.
Most importantly, follow the restaurant on Instagram @indo.stl. He has many more cool features rolling out, such as the omakase. Think of the restaurant as the nightly performer, and the DJ brings in a guest to perform. It will be sure to catch on and keep customers coming. | 2positive
| 800 |
Below is an excerpt of a more in-depth case study of Aldi perfomed by the 2o5 group, but the tldr is Aldi is great!
1.) Lower prices, especially on staple items.
In a game like grocery, price is often the deterring factor, and here is where Aldi comes in the clutch. From eggs and milk that are generally at least 25% cheaper than most large chains, to health foods, dressing, vegetables, almond milk, cheese, meats, nuts, frozen goods, and pretty much anything else you would need that come in minimum 15% cheaper, the price points at Aldi are a no-brainer advantage to shopping. While not every item will be cheaper, and there will be some speciality and specific items they do not carry due to their design, most items are available and significantly cheaper.
2.) Actual really good random weekly deals. and overall selection
In addition to very low prices, Aldi has not only a very well rounded selection of the essentials, but also has weekly specials that are legitimately good deals, from electronics to furniture to all the between. They will also occasionally carry name brands at a lower price and items like flowers are consistently half the price of conventional stores. While Aldi does not overwhelm you with numerous choices and brands, for most items you can choose between standard or organic if appropriate. Should I also mention Aldi carries quality beer and whine for reasonable prices.
3.) Employees are well-rounded Hustlers
Despite the fact there never seemed to be more than 6-10 people working (probably more), every single person there is always working very efficiently and focused. In fact, on average I would say that Aldi has the fastest cashiers of any grocery store. While I've never timed it, it seems that their rate is no slower than a cart a minute. Even with the occasional long lines, generally I'm in and out of lines very quickly. Even the people stocking and working in the store seem to be far more focused than any other store. Perhaps due to the smaller size and lower product ambiguity of the store, the people generally woking seem much less lackadaisica and wondering you might see at a Walmart or larger chain.
4.) In and Out Fashion of the store.
Most grocery stores are designed by sociopathic business people who want to keep you inside the grocery store as long as possible, wondering for items, throwing 1000 bright colored ads and discounts aimed directly at your dopamine receptors to get you feeing like you are in a casino. They put the eggs 400 yards away from the vegetables and you essentially become forced into getting your 2000 steps for the day if you want cheese and apples together. Aldi does not do that shit. For the most part, once you know the layout of the store, everything is always in the same place. In addition, Aldi does not carry 1000 competitor brands and used less products in the store. In about the size of a square basketball court, Aldi ranges 3 rows with about 7 isles of 90% of any food you would ever need, and 100 % if you have a normal diet. Instead of a 60 yard line of peanut butter and popcorn choices, Aldi has about 1-3 choices of their different in-store brands. While there remain choices for things like gluten free, the store is not bloated with unnecessary product lines and gimmicks to keep you wandering. In addition to the fast lines, the actual layout and product placement and arrangement is meant you keep you moving and on your way.
5.) Customer First Design and Experience
-minimalism and leanness for the sake of the customer.
-At first, things like paying 25 cents to rent a cart, having to pay for bags, and bagging your own groceries can seem a little underwhelming. After some understanding however, it all made cents.
- I realized Aldi does not have the problem of stray carts or any sense of confusion or carelessness with how they interact with the store. The quarter rental is such a genius tactic because it organizes and attaches carts to customers in a way that is efficient for customers and store staff. Not only do they not have stray carts in the lot and someone who has the push them in, it keep the inside of the store uncluttered and eliminates any confusion in the cart adoption process and user flow.
- In regards to priced and customer bagging, I realized that this allows for not only maximum cost reduction in all their food, but also encourages eco-friendly bag reuse and speeds up the check out process for all parties involved. By saving X dollars on buying bags that are terrible for the environment, they can pass those sayings onto consumers.
- overall layout and selection aids to customer easy decision making and logical arrangement. | 2positive
| 818 |
Wow Wedge. Thank you for taking a risk in this economy to start up such a specialized shop- and doing it well! Service was awesome, thank you Laura, as was ambiance and selection considering they just started up.
I went to Wedge on a Saturday afternoon with a girlfriend. We browsed the modest selection of one free-standing cooler and then two cool cases that made up the counter.
We asked to sample the cheeses of the day and were served promptly, and other customers in were asked to join us as they sliced. It's nice when the tasting host includes everyone- makes for a nicer ambiance and then we all made comments about what we were tasting as a community- no one left out. I loved the feeling of comfort not only in the store but with the strangers around me who were sharing a sensory experience and offering insight that I may not have thought of.
Not particularly loving any of the samples to take home- but making note of a chevre topped with savory fig jam I wanted to buy in a couple weeks as an appetizer for a shower- my girlfriend and I asked if we could sample a few hard cheddar wheels that had peaked our interest in the counter cool case. Without hesitation, 'Of course!" and we were instantly served the six-eight samples we had been interested in, as well as a bright green buttery olive and pate that others in the shop had asked to try and we were invited to partake in. I loved being able to taste everything before deciding if I wanted to take it home.
I've heard you can taste things at Whole Foods, but have never had a sales associate offer- so it's a bit of a mystery what you will be getting. I enjoyed being able to discern the really good from the excellent- and then taking home reasonable sized slices cut to order that I can go through in the next week.
Also- 25% off Cheddar SALE- who could resist!!!
I ended up with five small wedges, wrapped nicely in paper as cheese should be:
Red Dragon Somerdale England Pastuerized Cow's Milk #1306- Softer white cheddar with Mustard seeds. Yes, whole Mustard seeds. It adds an amazing texture and little flavor pop as you burst the tiny spheres amongst the creamy pungent cheese. If you like Mustard- you must try.
Harlech Somerdale England Pasteurized Cow's Milk #1308- So this is one I knew after picking up at Whole Foods. It is a white cheddar, softer and creamy as above, but has Horseradish and a bit of Parsley. I was told it would be an amazing finish on a roast beef sandwich. If you are a person who loves Horseradish, but not the sinus cleansing effect, this cheese is for you. Full of Horseradish flavor and texture without any burn- cut by the creaminess of the cheese perhaps? A must try.
Barely Buzzed Beehive Utah Pastuerized Cow's Milk #1104- SO UNIQUE! If you love Lavender infused foods, this will impress you. This is a hard cheddar with a rind that has been rubbed with Espresso crumbles and Lavender. The dry rub on the outside of the rind makes for a nice textural chew. The flavor results in a creamy cheddar flavor with hints of Espresso flavor and a Lavender scent that fills your nose while you are tasting the cream of the cheese. Does that make sense? Tricky to explain- just TRY IT!
Honey Buzz Chevre Uniekass Holand Pasteurized Goats Milk #1304- A harder chevre that dissolves from the pungent goats milk flavor to creamy honey! It's a wild effect- but so delicious. Would be amazing on a cheese board alongside some raw honeycomb and walnuts. Honey lovers, TRY!
Okay, Last one had no sticker :( But the # is #578 and it is an Apple Smoked Cheddar. The rind is brick red-orange from some kind of spice that could be smoked paprika. The smokiness of this cheese is phenomenal- not too overpowering- and will gently remind you of campfires. It is a dry and pungent cheddar, and I look forward to trying some with my home made apple butter to add some sweet and spice to the smoky and dry pungent cheese.
Please stop in, try at least one of these, and others you may be interested in, and support a small business in MidTown!
*I think I will keep a small book with the cheese title stickers and flavor notes for future reference. | 2positive
| 757 |
"Food Castle Express" - is it a good name for a Indian Restaurant? Or any Restaurant, for that matter? Clearly, the answer is no.
The name brings about images of a grease laden fast-food pushed, conveyor-belt style, down the hungry gullets of the American populace and Grade D meat. Consequently, I am sure this restaurants name has scared many a potential client off and, frankly, whoever named this place needs their head examined. But yet again what is in a name? For rosewater, by another name, would taste just as sweet. (see what i did there, rose, rosewater... sweet..Indian cuisine, nah, forget it) And that is doubly so in the case of Food Castle Express.
All fears of ending up eating at a low-end burger joint vanish once upon entering Food Castle Express and realizing that a good sum of money was spent on this place and its decor. The glassed off kitchen customers can peer into, the tile floors, the LCD televisions playing Bollywood music videos and painted then glass-tiled walls make the place, with its red color scheme, seem modern yet warm. And with one whiff, the aroma brings home the point that this is no fast food joint. Once you peruse the menu you'll notice a quirk, this authentic Indian restaurant features both Southern and Northern Indian cuisine with a Head Chef for each, as well as a third Chef who handles Chines food, along with the few Thai dishes offered on the menu. (I bothered to ask!)
Though Thai, Chinese and Indian, all on one menu, may seem unconventional, the fact that each chief specializes in what they know best makes the food shine here. Particularly the the Northern Indian lamb and Paneer (cheese) dishes. But be warned, spice levels here are, shall we say, are not for the faint of heart. Medium heat in the minds of the Chefs here is a good burn, so order accordingly. Even when you say not hot, there maybe a mild heat to *some* dishes. Moreover, stay away from the Goat dishes and stay with the lamb unless you understand what you are getting into. Many of these dishes are a lot like achar gosht, a Pakistani dish with bone-in goat meat braised with spices, salty pickled vegetables in a dark delicious curry. The bones are part of the lip-smacking, marrow sucking, goodness and they add to the flavor and the experience.( An article i would suggest about goat and a recipe: http://eatingasia.typepad.com/eatingasia/2008/06/got-your-goat.html)
If neither goat nor lamb is your thing just crack the IMMENSE menu, totaling about 300 dishes, and choose something more to your liking. A task that may be easier said then done since the menu mostly in another language with little to no explanations. Thankfully, however, the menu is broken up into cuisine and category. (i.e Northern Indian - Chicken, Southern Indian -Vegetarian) If you are confused, and you likely will be, this will be of some aid. If you are seeking something with chicken order form the chicken category OR note that the only word that repeats in the Chicken category is "Murgh," hence it is the word for Chicken and if seen elsewhere, such as in the "Non-vegetarian" category, you now have some idea what that dish is. Be dually warned, however, English is not the primary language of the wait-staff and all but one can offer little help in your selection. Safe bets are anything form the tandoori category for your protein,
Somosa is a great starter and garlic or cheese nan (bread). You will also have to shell out for rice but the rice it's worth it, as it is perfect, and there are many variates to choose from (enough for 3 per order). Curd rice is great since it will keep the capsaicin in the spicy dishes in check but if cheesie/milky rice sounds odd take a chance on the 20 or so other verities.
All in all, the prices are mid-range for Indian food, averaging $13-$14 per dish and ranging widely in price, with everything served family style. That is unless you choose to take out, in which case it prices drop 15%. A bargain when considering Food Castle blows every other Indian place in Bensalem and Northeast Philadelphia out of the water both taste, plating and atmosphere wise. Definitely in the top 5 of the best Indian restaurants in Philadelphia.
P.S
The Buffet idea that Food Castle has been trying to create is something of a dying project of theirs it seems. I have not tired it and do not recommend it. I think the problem is that there is not enough turnover during the lunch crowd. Most people choose to order-out, making the restaurant itself relatively quite. (which is ok by me) | 2positive
| 795 |
This was not a pleasant experience like I've had in the past. Masks were not worn by staff. It's fine we chose to wear ours. We were sat at a table but left and not greeted for some time. A table was sat right next to us almost immediately after we were sat. My mother and I looked over the menu some and realize we had not been greeted yet but the table that was sat next to us and after us had already been greeted and given drinks. After another 5 or so minutes I looked up and finally made eye contact with someone and she came over and was not very polite and asked us what we would like to drink. We just asked for some coffees and she brought them back and said someone else would be taking our order. More time had gone by and no one had come over to the table yet but that same woman who took our coffee order asked us to move over a table to a booth so we did that. Then someone was sat immediately after at our previous table and they had been greeted. So finally the server does come over. She had acknowledged that I had taken some time for her to get over there and asked if we were ready to order. the food came out in a timely manner. I got chicken and waffles and a scrambled egg on the side. The chicken was very overcooked and the waffle was extremely dry. I do also work in a restaurant so I get that they are very understaffed because our current restaurant is going through the same exact thing as is my husband's that he works in. Although I tried to eat the food it was in edible for myself. I waited for her to come back so I could simply just get New chicken tenders that weren't overcooked. The server never came back for at least 20 minutes and I had my plate pushed to the side of the table and when she came over she said she would bring a box. She tried to walk by so quickly but I finally asked her to stay and explain to her why I wouldn't be needing a box and she just kept trying to ask me to explain what I meant by the food being dry. I think it may have been a language barrier but nevertheless the chicken tenders were super dry and the waffle just didn't taste very buttery and I had to use a lot of syrup but the syrup just wasn't enough. So she looked at me and said "that's how they make their waffles: dry."Again why I think it may have been a language barrier because I think she thought I meant dry because there was no fruit or something on top I meant dry because it literally just tasted like Batter that was cooked. So she said OK I'll take it off the check. So five or so minutes later she finally comes back with a check and walks away immediately we go to look at the check and realized she gave us the wrong check. We tried to flag her down but could not find her until she came back to the other table she had waited on. She was a server to the table that was sat after us and taken care of before us and finally my mother looked at her and said we have their check. She did not even fully turn around to look at us but she took the check, gave it to the other table, and then gave us our check. So when we go to cash out the woman who brought us our coffees was greeting everyone and cashing everyone out and very polite to everyone else but as soon as we came to the register she did not say a word. Did not tell us a total or ask how our food was like she did with the previous guests. She just took my mothers card. After she slid my mothers card she was signing the receipt and the woman reached across and told the gentleman behind us that she would take his payment. Mind you that there are people sitting to the right of where we are signing our check eating their meal and to the left of a wall so that gentleman could not get around my mother to pay his check. It was just simply rude service from the moment we sat down. It just is really a sad time because we as restaurant people are so short staffed and I truly get that in a business you want to make all the money you can especially in times like these. I'm pretty sure there were only three servers on and almost the entire day lace was filled. Just too much chaos and not enough help. It does not justify how we were treated. We unfortunately will not be returning. The food isn't what will keep us from returning but the way we were treated is unacceptable. | 0negative
| 859 |
This was the worst dining experience I have ever had in my entire life. Where do I even begin? From the top....
My husband and I were craving bbq for dinner and it just so happened that same day Groupon was offering a deal for Blues Ship Cafe which was right down the street in historic Ybor in Tampa. Since it was a Saturday night, we thought it would be cool to get some dinner there and then walk to some of the local bars after. The website suggested there was live music on Saturdays at 8:30pm and we timed it so that we could sit down and eat before they started playing and if they were good, we would hang out and have a couple of drinks there to enjoy the live music.
Groupon was purchased and off we went! When we arrived it was drizzling so there didn't seem to be a lot of people walking around like usual but it didn't matter to us. We walked up to the restaurant, the doors were open yet it was so dimly lit we weren't sure if it was even open for business. We tentatively walked in and asked if they were open for dinner and there were two people there, both employees who responded that it was. We were both unsure of the atmosphere, it was not welcoming at all and no one greeted us which only made things more uncomfortable. There were literally 0 patrons except us but we had already purchased the groupon so there was no going back.
There was no background music at all, only one tv mounted on the wall that was blaring Extra or one of those other celebrity entertaining shows. It was so dark (keep in mind, it was about 7:30pm so not dark at all yet outside) that it was difficult to see the menu which was very limited. The groupon consisted of 2 entrees ($18.99 value) 2 drinks ($8.00 value) and two side salads ($3.99 value for $30 total. It was a pretty good deal....or so we thought.
The waitress was an older woman that seemed as though it was her first day, she had a heavy accent and wasn't friendly at all. We let her know we had the groupon, put in our drink orders (a jack & coke and a margarita) and asked for the side salads to start. My drink arrived first, a small glass with a salted rim (I never got asked if I wanted salt) and what appeared to be margarita juice without ANY ice. Not a single ice cube...I also never was asked if I wanted to hold the ice (I didn't.) My husbands came out a few minutes later and I kid you not...it was a small, clear platic cup (not a full solo size cup) which is identical to the cups you get served on an airplane. It looks like a mouth wash cup. It's that small. It was laughable except that we were already getting more frustrated by the minute and were sitting there in shock. It went from bad, to worse quickly.
The salads came out after a long wait...if you put them both together it would *almost* make up a normal side salad portion. This was priced at $3.99 on the menu and if I had to pay that full amount, i'd be pissed. By this point, we are starving and had put our orders in- Mine, pork & chicken with 2 sides. His, ribs & shrimp with 2 sides. After all, the website had close up pictures of fabulous looking bbq ribs with large side items.
The food comes out...again, it would be laughable if we weren't already livid by the entire experience. She brings mine first (who does that??) and tells my husband they won't have the ribs ready. What?? Why didn't you tell us that to begin with? So he orders pork instead. It eventually comes out. Both of our portions are TINY. I'm talking maybe 3-4oz of pork. The shrimp looked like shriveled up popcorn shrimp that were room temperature. Nothing was fresh. Even the corn bread was room temp and stale (I didn't think you could screw up corn bread.) The waitress never apologized, refilled our drinks or asked how anything tasted. Worst service we have ever had.
We scarf down our food because at this point, it's 8:30pm, we are starving and the "band" started playing a few yards in front of us and it was so loud we couldn't talk.
Let me just say, I never complain at restaurants. I always try to give the establishment and hard working employees the benefit of the doubt. Both my husband and I used to work in the restaurant business so we do expect some level of service and quality but are overly easy on people when mistakes are made. However, the biggest mistake that was made was taking a huge leap of faith and going to this place. I only wrote this review because I want other people to avoid the mistake we made. It wasn't on yelp before now and if it had been, I am sure we would have never gone. | 0negative
| 869 |
"You'll never know what heaven means, until you've been down to New Orleans"- King Creole, 1958
For my 400th review: I present, in no particular order, the top 10 things I love about NOLA.
1) The food. Where else in the U.S. can you find a delicious shrimp po-boy in a convenience store that is better than any other fast food out there? New Orleans cuisine is world famous for being some of the best food in the world. Lucky me, I can get it anytime I want. Crawish etouffee, catfish Louisiane, shrimp gumbo, beignets...'nuff said.
2) The culture. New Orleans is a city that was built from the gound up by many different cultures. The ancestors of those who built New Orleans remain here today. Our culture is as diverse as our food and there are many different flavors. Spanish, French, African, Irish, Italian- it's all here. It is reflected in the architecture and music of the city and it is what makes New Orleans unique.
3) The music. Walking through the French Quarter, you can hear the music flowing like the Mississippi River. Musicians stand on street corners and entertain the passers by with their euphony. Their accompaniment is tap dancers and singers. These people don't do this for the few dollars they make, they do it because it is their passion. It is their love. They take pleasure in sharing a piece of New Orleans with the tourists and the locals alike. They take pride in the flavor that they add to the city and we love them for it,
4) The French Quarter. Only in New Orleans can you decide at 4 in the morning that you are tired of being home and you want to go out and party (or eat!) and places are actually open. Make no mistake about it; New Orleans is truly the city that never sleeps. We are up and at it 24/7. You can walk around and listen to the music coursing out of the bars with a beer in your hand. You can dance in the street and have a good time any day of the week and any time of the day.
5) Mardi Gras. It is about more than beads. It is about spending time with family. It's about going out to a parade, with a packed lunch and a lawn chair and sitting on the neutral ground. It is about that smell of 18 wheelers that reminds every New Orleanian about this special day. It is about yelling at strangers to throw you a 10 cent pair of beads that is worth more than gold at this magical time. Spending time with your friends and just forgetting about your worries and troubles for a few hours. It's about getting a day off from school and work in order to just enjoy the day, rest, relax, and celebrate life. Where else in the U.S. is an entire city given the day off just so that it's citizens can go and celebrate life, even if it means going to a parade and yelling at stangers?
6) The streetcars. I love the streetcars. Not only are the environmentally friendly, but they are a fun way to get to where you are going and a good way to see the city (especially if you don't like to walk). I'll take a streetcar over a taxi cab any day of the week.
7) Faith. Say whatever you want about New Orleans being a party town. Just know that we know that there is a time and place for everything. New Orleans is a city with deep religious roots. One of our major landmarks is St. Louis Cathedral. New Orleans is the home of many people who believe many different things. We go to church, we have faith, and we believe in the goodness of people..
8) The architecture. Unique to New Orleans and admired by many. Most who visit the city are quick to notice our unique builidings and our beautiful balconies. Many of them are as old as the city itself and when I walk down the street, I sometimes feel that I am in an old movie. It's classic and it could never be duplicated. Anyone who has ever lived here has driven down St. Charles Avenue and admired the beautiful homes that line the street. Where in New York or LA could you find old, classic, beautful homes such as those?
9) Magazine St. Our very own Rodeo Drive right here in the Big Easy. Ok, not quite, but you can find whatever you need on Magazine, that's for sure. It has antique stores and jewelry stores and vintage clothing boutiques and fine shoe stores. It has bars and restaurants and groceries and chocolate shops and everything else you could possibly want.
10) The people. The people in New Orleans definitely have flavor and are never boring. The people are friendly. They have their traditions and their rituals. They are stubborn and strong. They have seen the worst and lived through it. They have seen the best and told you all about it and celebrated it. They have been through hell and back and they have survived. There is no stopping a true New Orleanian. And even if you weren't born here, they still consider you one of their own.
There are a lot of more things that make New Orleans a great place to live: City Park, the art of the cemetaries, etc. You'll just have to pay us a visit and see for yourself! | 2positive
| 928 |
Came here for a friend's wedding reception, which was held on the patio and in the ballroom concurrently with the inn's regular restaurant operations.
Cocktail Hour on the Patio:
The evening began with a cocktail hour with butlered hors d'oeuvre service in the patio garden, which is an area next to the parking lot enclosed by fences and hedges. The patio had an open bar with heat lamps by the entrance, a gazebo at the far end, and a water fountain and DJ setup in the middle. A few counter-height tables and chairs were available, but most of the guests opted to eat and drink while standing. The hors d'oeuvres selected by the hosts included Tuscan bruschetta, scallops wrapped in bacon, spanakopita, crab cake meatballs, as well as a fresh fruit & cheese display that included grapes, pineapple, strawberries, blueberries, and three types of cheese. Servers were friendly and professional throughout, quickly clearing away napkins and plates.
Warming Up in the Ballroom:
After an hour, servers announced dinner and instructed guests to enter the ballroom through the inn lobby. Table assignments were printed on paper hearts glued to wooden dowels that were arranged alphabetically in glass jars on a table in the lobby. The main entrée selection for each guest was coded as a letter on the back of each paper heart, which helped when servers came to confirm entrée orders. Each table was set with champagne flutes, a bread basket, and either a candle in a glass case or a floral candelabrum centerpiece.
The front third of the ballroom was taken up by a dance floor, a photo booth, and an open bar.
Dinner:
The four-course meal included pommodoro pasta, a garden salad with balsamic vinaigrette, and a choice of either prime rib, salmon filet, or chicken. Guests who opted for the slow-roasted black angus prime rib, including myself, were given a steak knife after a server came by to individually confirm our entrée selections. (The only person at my table who ordered salmon mistakenly took her neighbor's steak knife when she thought she had been left out.) My medium-done ribeye prime rib was tender and flavorful but still a bit difficult to cut with the unserrated steak knife. The roasted garlic jus, sautéed green beans, and red bliss potato halves were not overly seasoned and paired well with the prime rib.
(On the other hand, the toddler seated at my table [with his parents] received a plate of very salty breaded chicken fingers and French fries--which were arguably saltier than the pasta or potatoes on my adult dinner plate, or anything I'd ever ordered from a fast food joint. After sampling a few bites, I quickly understood why most of his plate remained untouched for the rest of the evening.)
The two tiered wedding cake had a cannoli-like filling and a light pound cake-consistency, and was served with some strange-tasting decaf coffee. Aside from this, a little too much vinaigrette on the garden salad, and way too much salt on the chicken fingers, I thoroughly enjoyed everything that went through my mouth this evening.
Restrooms:
The six restrooms here have candles and those thick, expensive, cloth-like paper towels, though you might find yourself waiting in line to use one, since the restrooms are single-occupancy only. The one behind the piano in the lobby is unisex and the largest (and the cleanest), but the others are gender-specific and on the second floor.
Parking:
Was disappointed that the only parking option was valet, so I opted to rebelliously park in an empty lot of one of the businesses across the street (not telling which one). Apparently, this is against inn parking policy, so I can't openly condone that you imitate my behavior.
Miscellaneous Tips:
-Being directly across from the working fireplace in the lobby, the ballroom was so overheated after three hours that several guests were spotted fleeing to the freezing outdoors for momentary respite. If you can, dress in layers so you don't overheat.
-The inn itself doesn't have free wi-fi, but Optimum customers can use the Optimum wi-fi signal for free.
-Except with the Wells Fargo and Circle K strip mall across the street, street lighting here at night isn't great, so you might want to GPS your way back home since street signs may be hard to read.
-The intersection of George Washington Memorial Boulevard and Rt. 32 is an uncontrolled 4-way intersection, so be prepared to stop for pedestrians and other vehicles.
-Arrive early and enjoy the Washington Crossing Park if you can: the backdrop of the trees and the Delaware at sunset makes for some very romantic photo ops. | 2positive
| 774 |
Why sit here at 5am and write a restaurant review? Confession. I grew up in the UK when all the pubs closed at 11pm and the best way to stay out was to find an open Indian restaurant and 'get a curry'. As a result my early introduction to Indian food was generic mass produced dishes consumed in rooms that all seem to have been decorated with the same red furry wallpaper in 1982, the exception being the Sheba on Brick Lane in London which had mildly pornographic paintings featuring the Taj Mahal, Indian women bathing in a river being watched by a slightly mangy, hungry looking tiger. I digress.
Whether it was the late stage of the evening, alcohol consumed or revenge for 150 years of colonial rule, the spice level for these meals was invariably painfully hot. Strip epithelial cells off your mouth hot. Get it on your clothes and they were permanently stained if they didn't simply dissolve on the spot. The generic go to was the spicy regional chicken Madras, bright red, spicy, and hot hot hot. Garlic, ginger, onion chili, cumin and tomato based, this is a biological warfare recipe for halitosis, night sweats, and a 5 am dash to the bathroom when your digestive system cries havoc and decides to repel boarders.
Since those days I've been lucky enough to visit India many times, over 20 at last count. I've travelled all over and eaten everywhere from hole in the wall dives in Delhi, Puni Puri in Dharamsala, beef curry in Darjeeling (yes, they do eat beef in the Ghorka regions) and so on. In short, I am no stranger to the wide diversity and subtlety that is Indian cuisine. This is something that should not be simply described as 'going for a curry'.
In the US many Indian restaurants are similar to the generic UK formula, but without the spice levels. Regional dishes dumbed down, any fire removed and then overlooked to the point of being colored mush. Our Indian food is, with the exceptions of places like Tamarind and the Bukhara Grill in NYC, a bit shite. You know what it is supposed to be, come in with high hopes, and are often disappointed. Not at IndeBlue.
So last night we went for a curry. We've been going to IndeBlue for a few years, both here and in their old location at Collingswood. And my how the place has evolved? When we first ate here the restaurant served well executed traditional popular dishes from all over India. Good food. Solid food. Stuff you can get anywhere. A decent chicken tikka. A nice saag paneer. The bread, an acid test for any Indian restaurant, is light, fresh from the tandoor, fluffy and perfectly seasoned with traditional Indian recipes. Garlic, keema, paneer and so on. It is, to my mind, perfect.
Since then the food has developed. It has become more complex. It has worked in the layers, textures and complexities of royal Indian food that one only sees in the multi course banquets served at places like the Oberoi in Agra or the Taj Falaknuma Palace in Hyderabad. Last night we ate a scallop appetizer that was delicately spiced, multi layered with textures of roe, blini and paneer, and simply the best thing I've had in my mouth for a while. Put simply, you bite it and ride the wave.
Service is crisp, the decor is suitably Indian without the curry wallpaper and there is a well stocked bar where you can eat or wait for a table.
Which leaves the main course. Obviously rice, dal, naan. What to have from their many splendid delights? How to avail myself of the chefs genius? What subtle new cuisine to explore among some old favorites?
Nope. Chicken madras for me. Extra spicy (if you really want it hot ask for Hyderabadi spicy and get a towel, a glass of milk, put a roll of bathroom tissue in the fridge. Then wait, because in 5-6 hour you will prove that a man can indeed pass through the eye of a needle and it's hotter coming out than going in). Because at my age things that remind you of drunken nights in London with 4 guys walking in and ordering 8 beers? Those are to be savored and enjoyed. If that's not you then the subtle flavors of India are truly well represented in this excellent restaurant.
And for that, for making me sweat, both last night and as I sit here in the bathroom enjoying significant temporary weight loss, with a butt that feels like it looks like the Japanese flag, it gets 5 stars. | 2positive
| 779 |
Having heard of California Pizza Kitchen for years now and passing it numerous times in my home state of Tennessee, I finally had their food while in California in LAX Airport at that. For it to have been prepared there, I was very impressed with everything from the aroma, to the taste, and how willing they were to prepare my pie to my vegan specifications especially with airport food being rather underwhelming and uncompromising.
With an ensuing migraine, hangry 3 year old, and family I had bragged about that airport pie to, I decided to treat everyone out to dinner. When we arrived we were told that although the restaurant wasn't "busy", the staff was short. After waiting 10 minutes we were seated and our drinks were taken buy a young man I don't recall telling us his name. I asked for water with lemon. A simple request and yet the drink was brought out with no lemon. "So what", I thought. After our order was placed he asked if we'd like bread while we wait. I was starving so I gave a big smile and bold YES! He left and would return three times to exchange a gross cucumber reviver my husband hated after one sip. He seemed rather annoyed by that remarking "aw, this drink is great" with a tight smirk. His drink was exchanged. I asked about the bread and he said coming right up. He came back to ask if the exchanged drink was good to which my husband shrugged and said it was okay. With lips pressed looking more annoyed he said hmm, okay. I asked if the bread was still coming and he said yep let me check on it. He came back 5 minutes later STILL NO BREAD to tell me that a topping on my pizza that they couldn't do, they were going to put on with manager approval for $2. I said that was fine and thanked him. I followed up with "and the bread"? to which he said he was getting right now.
When the bread came it was hard, came in 5 pieces we all struggled to eat. Carrabas, Maggiano's, and the like all serve the same type of bread with olive oil BUT this bread was exceptionally hard and tough. 20 minutes after all the back and forth, our food was brought out. He sat a very dry looking pie in front of me that appeared sauce less. I ordered the California Veggie and all I saw was spinach, black basil leaves that looked like dead leaves in the fall, huge hunks of artichoke, tomato, and the thinnest thin crust that was crisped to hell with about 8 small dallops of what appeared to be pesto. My migraine was in full swing and i could barely remember what my pizza was supposed to have on it. Before he walked off I said "wait, there is no sauce on here. I didn't want cheese only" to which he said oh there is pesto on there. Frustrated and hungry, I flagged him off. The pizza was akin to eating a tosado. It crunched like no thin crust or flat bread I've ever eaten. Having been vegan for a year and a half I've ordered many pizzas and never have I eaten something so dreadful dry and hard. By the second slice I realized I was eating the spinach Artichoke pizza my husband ordered and he was eating mine. It was comical because we waited so long to eat we just ate whatever he put in front of us which was wrong since we forgot what even ordered at that point.
When he returned he said "so do we need to-go boxes, dessert, or just the tab" and I said "To be honest and I have to give this feedback because everyone else enjoyed their food and mine was dreadful. I just had CPK in California and it was amazing which is why I brought my family here tonight and look at this pie. I understand restaurants have if you eat it you pay for it policies and that's fine because I don't mind paying for what I ate because I was starving but its important to know that" AND THEN he cut me off! With hands on his hip he said "we will remove the cost of the pizza for customer dissatisfaction" He rolled his eyes up to the ceiling and ran his fingers through his hair visibly frustrated and continued with "We were understaffed tonight and busy. Anytime to you order a pizza without cheese in a stone fire oven its going to be dry so, I said, we are sorry and don't worry about paying for it. Do you want the ticket now". I wish I could have filmed how he spoke to me as if he was upset about his dining experience. He was completely terse in his response! He brought the check and walked off. We continued the talk and he returned and said "I will take that from you now". I said "well we are still finishing our food and talking. I haven't taken care of the check yet is that okay". He threw hands up and walked off with a slight eye roll. At that point I had had his nasty nice, curt, and smug personality.Being the only patrons of color, I am not sure how he conducted himself with the other patrons but I occasionally watched as he smiled and appeared engaging at other tables except ours.
Needless to say, I was disappointed with the experience. I WOULD NOT recommend this location! I will take my black dollars elsewhere! | 0negative
| 946 |
One thing you have to be careful of when opening a new restaurant is the name. Leading with words like 'best', 'world class', 'greatest', and other superlatives can be a slippery slope, especially when you have to live up to that name. In the world of restaurant ratings, 'five-star' is a term associated with top-of-its-class, none better. So, when I spotted a burger joint in the Clayton area along the busy Maryland strip, I was intrigued. It was pretty obnoxious for them to name a burger joint, Five Star Burgers, as there is really nothing five star about a burger joint. I checked up on some of the reviews to see if there was any buzz surrounding this place, and I was surprised to see that people were giving this eatery some rave reviews. I had to check out what all the fuss was about and on a Sunday afternoon I made my way to the Mid County area with a friend and gave it a go. Here's how it went:
We entered into a tiny, clean space with tightly organized tables and a bar near the front with two televisions. All the servers were dressed in plaid. One of them made way towards us, and we were seated in an elevated area near the back of the restaurant. The place was buzzing with people, and was close to capacity. A menu lay before me and I opened it up to peruse my options. It was a small menu with very little glitz or glamour, and consisted of soups, salads, and burgers. They, also, have a full bar and offer up milkshakes if you're looking to go the burger and shake route. We made our selections and relayed them to our waiter, who was a little awkward, giving him the rundown of roasted tomato soup, a small mixed field greens salad, and a freshly ground lamb burger with a small order of sweet potato fries.
The wait wasn't long, and our food was expedited to our table. I looked down and noticed that I was without a few things. I asked where my sweet potato fries were and the waiter quickly returned with a mini deep fryer basket full of beautifully deep fried sweet potatoes. He, also, realized that my burger was without their fried pickles, and was back with those on a side plate.
My burger looked eerily circular, which was evidence of a burger form, and was visibly juicy. A dollop of tapenade was heaped on top of the patty and a side of tzatziki lay at the side. I piled all of the ingredients onto the sandwich, and cut it in half, revealing a perfectly pink patty. I took a large bite of my burger attempting to get a little bit of each element in the first bite. The olives hit first adding salt, with the creamy, cool tzatziki following. It finished with the fatty flavor of medium rare lamb. It was pretty damn good, but five stars....eh.
I was offered some of the roasted tomato soup, and took a steamy spoonful of the chunky soup. The large chunks of roasted tomato popped in my mouth adding a mix of acidity and smoky flavors straight to my palate. This was a really nicely crafted soup and even contained crispy cheese curds, making it much like eating one of my favorite comfort foods of grilled cheese and tomato soup.
The sweet potato fries awaited my judgement, and by appearance alone, looked like they were going to be a winner. The presentation was magnificent. I grabbed my first spear and dipped it into the maple cream sauce to see if they tasted as good as they looked. These were a complete success, and probably top the list of sweet potato fries I've ever had. The maple cream was a perfect complement to the fries and left me plunging my fingers into the ramekin long after the fries had been thoroughly wolfed down.
Five Star Burgers builds up a big game with their superlative name. It's a really great place, and upon further research, has a few other locations in New Mexico and Colorado each with different menus. But, to go so far as to claim five star is a little bit of a stretch. It's not even my top burger joint in town with a place like Bailey's Range out doing them in ambiance, selection, and execution. It looks like they might need a FORKing new sign and go with the name 'Four Star Burgers' as they are good, just not great. | 2positive
| 763 |
Taking my boyfriend here to celebrate our first dating anniversary was a bit of a gamble for me. The view and the drinks were highly regarded in the reviews, but the problem was that it was cold and raining, and we were bringing our own wine, so we wouldn't be able to experience either of those. Influenced by the sentimental value the name of the restaurant had for us, and that the stuff on their online menu sounded pretty good, we decided to go for it and check the place out.
I am SO glad we did. This was a five star experience, hands down.
It's everything a fancy restaurant should be. Nice enough to feel high class, but not so stuffy you feel like a complete twat staring down 8 pieces of silverware arranged on your table while the waiter looks down his nose at you. The ambiance was really romantic and cozy, and the service was stellar from the beginning to the end.
Our server, Stephen, was great. The first thing he did was wish us a happy anniversary (they asked when I made the reservation if we were celebrating anything), which I thought was very sweet. Had to explain it was a dating anniversary, though (he addressed us as "Mr. and Mrs. F____", haha). I had called ahead about the corkage fee, which was pricey at $25, but I enjoyed getting to share our special bottle over dinner, and Stephen was perfectly accommodating, and attentive in keeping our glasses full. He patiently answered all of our questions about the menu, and did not appear to be at all annoyed when I questioned whether veal could be substituted in any of the meals. He also had no issues with having the chefs substitute tomato sauce for the cream sauce in Devin's dish. I felt like our dinner was truly personalized for us and that we were really well taken care of here.
We decided to go with their tasting menu option, which I feel was a great choice. It was a small plate, an appetizer, an entree, and a dessert for $35. For a restaurant of this caliber, I thought it was a great price. The portions are a little bit smaller, as it IS a tasting menu, but it was definitely enough to be comfortably satiated.
For the small plate, I had the pork belly and Devin had the arancini. I only got two bites out of the small portion of pork belly, but it WAS very tender and delicious. Devin had three arancini balls, and they were very tasty (tasted exactly like the ones we had at Copia, actually).
Devin and I each got the tagliolini with shrimp, mine with the cream sauce and the Lactard's with the red sauce. Definitely take it how its meant to be, if you can. =] This was my favorite dish. Very simple - noodles, butter cream sauce, tomatoes, spinach, and shrimp - but so good. The sauce is just perfect, and the shrimp are juicy and delicious. If (WHEN), I come back, I definitely want the full plate of this! Devin enjoyed his too - the arrabbiata sauce they used apparently gave it a bit of a kick (I refused to taste his because I didn't want the delicious taste of mine to go away!).
For entrees, I did the duck and D did the seared ahi tuna. The duck was very good. Not greasy, just flavorful. My only gripe is that it was a little tough (not sure if that's how duck is supposed to be) and I didn't have anything other than a butter knife to cut it with. I requested a steak knife, and while it was bigger, it was not serrated, and did a worse job cutting than the butter knife. I eventually got it into pieces, and the flavor was very enjoyable. I wasn't a huge fan of Devin's seared ahi tuna - the meat itself was great, but the Eggplant Caponata gave it too much of that tangy olive-y taste. Devin appeared to like it though.
The dessert was tiramisu for me and the Italian Chocolate Tasting for D. The tiramisu was definitely a different take on it - not the spongey lady fingers I am used to, but instead a little crispier with a kind of pudding piled on top. I like the original, but the flavors were still really yummy. I couldn't finish it, though, because it was so rich. As with Devin's: it was three layers of dark, milk, and white chocolate mousse, which was also extremely rich and chocolatey (even though it didn't look it at all), but tasty.
I really enjoyed the model of a tasting menu. I think by nature, humans like choices, but not TOO many choices, so to be able to go down the line and pick from 2-4 things, bada bing, bada boom, and then sit back as they bring them out to you the rest of the night was...satisfying. And stress-free, in a way. Ya know?
A really sweet touch was that with dessert, Stephen brought out two chocolate-dipped strawberries with "Happy 1st Anniversary!" piped in chocolate on the plate. The manager also came by and asked how things were and wished us a happy anniversary, as well.
Cielo does an excellent job of making your special night wonderful. We left with huge smiles on our faces. Thank you, Cielo, for making the evening so memorable. We'll be back. | 2positive
| 916 |
So I normally give a restaurant a few tries before I write my review and to be fair this one I have visited twice. Qdoba has legendarily slow service when it comes to making meals so in the past as with other Qdoba's I placed my order online so I could pick it up without having to wait 30 minutes for them to make a few tacos and a burrito. The first time I stopped by the restaurant there was another "call-in" order ahead of me. A woman sitting in the restaurant area with a quite sour look on her face. I have worked in restaurants before and I know unhappy customers come with the business. So I didn't think anything of it that I had to wait an additional 15 minutes over the 30 minutes I was instructed to wait prior to my arrival. For those Qdoba execs who are a little slow with math, that is 45 minutes for 3 tacos and a quesadilla. Again I didn't think much of it but the one other person in line and the other person in the restaurant is hardly a rush by any stretch of the imagination. I also ordered a cookie and a brownie with our meal. Sadly they were out of cookies but I was offered to my money refunded for the cookie with a tone that indicated that she was doing me a favor. I also ordered a brownie with my meal which I should have checked before I left the restaurant but for some reason I thought this place would serve good food.
When I got home the meal was decent, a little overpriced for what it was but not horrible. However the brownie was dead and by dead I mean I actually stood on the brownie with my shoe on and it didn't crumble. Its not legal to serve food to prisoners like that I cannot fathom why someone would think it would be okay to sell food to a customer that is obviously past date. That would be what is the word I am looking for? Oh yes illegal. Honestly at that point it wasn't worth the gas to go take the brownie back so I cut my losses and tossed it into the trashcan where it made a resounding thud.
Cut to 02 May 2016 7:00 pm I figured I would give this place a second shot. Again placed the order online but this time I didn't put my credit card information in. I will pay with cash once I get my order and check it to make sure I haven't been sold more dead food. Place my order a few minutes after 7:00 pm so the machine tells me that my order # 19 will be ready in 30 minutes. I wait the required amount of time, roll into the restaurant and there is 1 customer in line. I say yeah I am here to pick up my order. Order #19. Low and behold 3 people staffing the restaurant. More employees than customers and my order is not only not in progress but they haven't even started it yet. So why was I told to wait 30 minutes? I told the girl behind the counter hold on. I am not interested in the order anymore don't make it. I will go somewhere else. She cops an attitude with me like it is my fault she didn't do her job. At this point I was a little angry that they hadn't started our meal at this point but i was happy I wasn't dumb enough to put my credit card info in this time. I took a deep breath walked away and the girl behind the counter offered up a sarcastic "have a nice day" on my way out. At this point she has now escalated what could have been a simple bad experience to an intentional insult. So I turned around and asked her who that manager on duty is, she stuttered for a moment and then said "Orlando is the manager in the back" do you have a problem. I said no, no problem I will take this up with someone that cares.
I went to subway to pick up quick dinner for my wife and I. Reno is not known for any kind of take out experience once you get away from the midtown area and I really wasn't in the mood for anything that required a deep fryer.
I checked the Qdoba corporate page and I was actually appalled that their corporate site is littered with customer complaints about experiences very similar to mine. Here are some quotes: "Don't know if anyone has ever tried the New Mexican Restaurant QDOBA on Gratiot & Masonic in Roseville, MI, but after our 1st time there last not, I would suggest not wasting your time or Money!! Its not like a sit down restaurant, the people serving you behind the counter are Rude, Mr. Princess behind the cash register likes to pick his nails while your standing there holding your money out to pay him!"
"In Feb2013 I had complained about the lack of customer service in the Rapid City store. Well once again last night(4-25-2013) the service was bad. My wife had requested schredded beef well once she started to eat she realized that they put pork in and not the beef it also had a Huge piece of fat that was disgusting. When we went to pay the person at the register was going so fast the he forgot her tortilla and Crushed all the chips for my Nachos."
This is a corporate attitude of we don't care about our customers, Its not just my experience it happens nationally. How is Qdoba still in business? Here is a better question why is Qdoba in business? | 0negative
| 975 |
There's something about Firecreek that draws a person in. The aesthetic is sharp, industrial and modern with lots of raw stone, steel and glass elements enhancing the former paper mill structure. In the middle of the large main dining area is a stunning raw-cut wood table that, alone, could accommodate 16-18 easily. Aptly named, Firecreek sits along the Brandywine Creek in Downingtown. It features a fantastic wrap-around porch perfect for dining outside on a nice day. Clearly someone, once upon a time, cared about what this place would be.
I suspect that this "someone" is gone.
We were a party of three. It was Sunday before Memorial Day, midday, and we were stopping for lunch before a day of fun in the sun at nearby Marsh Creek State Park. We received a lukewarm but otherwise typical welcome, and were seated on the patio as we requested. Service seemed quick enough - we had drinks in a couple of minutes and placed our food orders with the drink order, which turned out to be a good move.
Then we waited. Creekside on the patio in great weather a half hour goes by fast. An hour, not so much. An hour and 20 minutes waiting for food, no matter how nice the place, seems like an eternity. We'd come to find out that Firecreek had a party of 40 - yes, fourty - seated just before us. But for a place with seating for at least 200 that really shouldn't be a big deal. On this day, however, it was.
With no updates after an hour we flagged our server (who had disappeared just after our drinks came out) and asked if something was wrong. Something was. Half of the kitchen staff didn't show up today. They had four scheduled to come in, but the two who were supposed to cook didn't show and weren't answering their phones. Instead of letting customers know there was a problem I guess they thought it was better to just let the two poor prep cooks try to keep up with orders for the sixty or so people (including the large party) who were waiting to eat.
The food, when it finally came, was a letdown beyond our wildest imagination. We had three selections from the sandwich menu. The Barbecue Pulled Pork was probably the strongest of the three. It had a thick sauce with good flavors but wasn't very warm. The Salmon Burger had the potential to be a decent item with multigrain bread, some greens and a hearty burger. The advertised wasabi aioli was absent, the multigrain bread was machine-cut, too thin to support the patty, and looked as if it had come off a supermarket loaf. The salmon itself was lacking the ginger and scallion flavor, cold and slightly undercooked. Both of these were accompanied by yam fries. These were decent - they tell us that they're cut fresh daily - but they're not enough to save this review.
The final entree gets a paragraph all its own. The Hot Roasted Turkey Melt. Sounds great, right? And being on the menu with the other sandwiches one might, wrongly, suspect that bread was involved. When the plate arrived after it's 100-minute trip from the kitchen, it was a sad pile of dry turkey slices - so dry that much of it was inedible - topped with some bacon that looked like it had been cooking since last Sunday and a few slices of not-so-melted gouda on top (with a fingerprint in one spot). The look on our faces must have been enough to prompt the server to tell us what she had, undoubtedly, needed to tell many diners before us. This particular sandwich had no bread. But they would bring us some (in about 10 minutes, actually). The accompanying Firecreek Caesar was a joke - two intact leaves of romaine heart with a little dressing and cheese on top. Caesar Cardini must have done backflips in his grave.
The yam fries notwithstanding, there's not much good to be said about the food that day at Firecreek. And it's really, I suspect, a symptom of a much larger problem. A kitchen built to hold at least eight kitchen staff and support a dining area for a couple hundred should, under no circumstances, be running with only two prep cooks. Better to lock the doors and send everyone home than to try. Upon closer inspection it appears as if no one is really taking care of the facility or the food - at least not the kind of care that went into the original design. It makes me wonder if the owners or managers have just lost interest. The wood on the patio furniture is fading, unmaintained after a few seasons in the sun. A pile of defective patio umbrellas stood propped up in a corner. Even the lovely gas lanterns that line the deck were misshapen and broken, missing the glass around the spot where the flames should be. In the mens' restroom a few of the fancy lightbulbs were out and in the middle of the row of urinals there was one with a sign taped to it, as though it alone had the good sense to warn people about the dining experience they were about to have. "No Good," the urinal sign said.
Indeed. No good. | 0negative
| 893 |
Here is another catch 22.. We had dinner here two nights ago prior to a movie and last night we went back after having dinner elsewhere. I understand Dave & Buster's and the concept well. I'm from St Louis, Mo and we had several of these. So, let me start with dinner. We started trio dip and chips. I really loved the main dip it was a white spicy cheese with little chunks (yummy) of beef in it and there was bean dip (no thanks) and I guacamole dip (needs a lot of work no spice). Then I had NY Strip cooked Med. Rare and that was wishful thinking. The steak was Med Well if not completely Well. When the waitress walked by she ask if all is well. I ask her "what temperature do you think that is, pointing to my steak)? She opened her little book went down to my order and said Med Rare. Literally laughed out loud. I wasn't asking her what I ordered, I was asking her the temperature she thought it was cooked. She then ask if we need anything else. I told her just the check because we we're catching a movie. She didn't come back for 20 minutes and when she did she ask if we we're ready to pay. I told her we never got the check. I mentioned the movie starts in five mins and she finally went and got the check. However, she dropped it instead of waiting after being told we were in a hurry. My fiancee had a burger and fries and liked it, which helped this review a bit. Side note I never eat a over cooked steak I just didn't have an option due to time restraints. The funny part was I got stuck waiting for the bill and likely could have had steak re-fired. Now, last night was interesting. We have been to Dave & Buster's often we have been saving our reward tickets for quite sometime. This was our first time back to play in several months. When I arrived I ask the guy at the desk to check my card and see how many tokens I have and how many card. His response flabbergasted me. He said he didn't see anything on this card. I was trying to not cause a sceen because I brought my fiancee there for a date night. I sent him over to the bar to get a drink. The guy started checking the card and said "Sir, I don't see that anyone has ever played on this card." I replied "Sir, we have been using that exact same card since the first time we came to this Dave & Buster's. We used a majority of the tokens but we should have had over 8500 reward tickets. Then the guy says "oh, I see the issue.. Sir, did you register this card to yourself or your friend" I replied "No".. Then.. "Sir, you likley lost all your rewards because you didn't register your card and balances fall off sometimes and since you didn't register your card, there's nothing we can do!" Me "WHAT" as I'm looking at the corner of my eye and seeing my fiancee waving me to hurry. Then I hear the guy say, "Sir, I can sell you a new card tonight for $2 USD and then you can buy tokens". I ended up buying 365 tokens for a little over sixtie dollars. I follow up and ask "why do I need a new card?" "Sir, that's our old card this card will work much better for you." I'm so annoyed and honestly want to walk out but I made this date night and had to follow through. I'm starting to walkaway and I hear "Sir, if you walk down this Hall and turn left swip your new card and you can register your card, where this doesn't happen again". The guy was nice buy he didn't care I lost all those tickets his complete purpose was to sell me more tokens. The entire situation has made it where, I won't likely go back. Tonight I spent $65 and earned 1400 tickets that's not enough to even get a teddy bear unless you want a very cheap one. The best bet is to buy candy. My fiancee kept asking why the balance was off and I didn't have the heart to say we lost over 8500 in tickets. I left the card with the guy he said he was going to have his manager follow up with me the next day. The next day was yesterday. I hope the manager fix's our card. I did register the new card in my fiancee name, but if this isn't resolved we won't be back sadly. | 0negative
| 798 |
Update:
We came to Vault yesterday after seeing the Christmas lights at shadybrook farms, as it is becoming tradition to go to both places every Christmas season now. We were excited to come here again as the first couple times we had a great experience. We brought our friends along with us as well. We arrive and were told it was an hour wait. We said that's fine and we just hung out and drank at a table by the bar. We were supposed to get a text when our table was ready, but we didn't get any cell phone service here so my husband had to keep going outside with my phone to check if they texted us. The hostess said she would come get us when it was ready.
An hour later it's ready and she leads us to a big table in the basement area of the restaurant. I was kind of disappointed because the main reason I came here was to listen to Christmas jazz music, and all you could hear in the basement was regular music. I didn't even hear any Christmas jazz music while we were waiting upstairs for our table either, just regular jazz. I don't know if it was still too early in December or what, but I think they should be playing it after Thanksgiving.
Anyway, so we're all sitting at our table and multiple servers had eye contact with us but no one came over to our table to take our order or at least check on us. After sitting there for 15-20 minutes I got annoyed and went to the hostess to tell her no one came to our table yet. I also said I would like a table upstairs to listen to the jazz. She said I would have to wait longer so I said no we already waited a long time.
Eventually our waiter comes over and says sorry he didn't see us because no one was sitting there all night they don't normally use that table. That was a lie because there was food left on the ground from whoever ate there before us. I noticed the menu we got was different from the one upstairs. I wanted the butternut squash soup. It was listed on the menu we were looking at upstairs but ours downstairs said tomato bisque. We asked our waiter and he said they still had it. 10 minutes later he comes over to us and says there's no more butternut squash soup left they just ran out. My cousin and I were extremely disappointed. Well maybe if we got service faster we could have got it.
The night keeps getting worse, the next thing that happened was very disturbing and gross. A food runner brings my pizza and my friend's grilled cheese out. We both poked at our food. A few minutes later someone comes back and said that wasn't our food, they got the wrong table. They asked if we touched it. We both said yes. My friend said she ate a carrot off the salad, and I touched my pizza trying to find the best slice. They took it away from us anyway and gave it to a table across from us. I work in food service and you are not allowed to re serve anything if it hits another table, whether they touched it or not. We both said we touched it and yet they still served it to another table. The logical thing to do would be just let us keep the food, and give the next table our order but I guess no one has common sense here. We are both getting over colds as well, so I guess the other table will catch our cold that we had. So that means the food that we ate could have been given to a different table as well, gross.
Our food was decent overall. I asked for a Togo box but our waiter forgot it. We asked again and he brought it but didn't bother clearing my dinner plate. I had to try to eat dessert while trying not to get my shirt dirty from my pizza plate. The dessert I got was nasty, I got the black and white. It was a spiced custard with chocolate mousse. It had a bad mouthfeel to it, it was grainy and there was too much nutmeg in it.
We each got separate checks. My husband and I were not satisfied with our service at all so we didn't leave a great tip. My husband gave him the money and said we didn't need change. Our waiter took 53 cents from us and gave us the remaining few dollars back, to hint that he wanted a bigger tip than that. He even confronted my husband about it as we were leaving. My husband said when places keep the change like that and use it towards their tip then that's what they get. He was a scumbag.
I don't know what happened to this place. We were sad, because we loved going to this place before. My husband said this was one of his favorite microbreweries. Maybe they got new management. It seemed like a lack of communication and poor management/ discipline. We probably won't come back, maybe just for drinks but probably not. This place is 45 minutes away from us and parking is a pain too. We can probably just find other places closer to us. | 0negative
| 916 |
I ate at Hugo's Frog Bar & Chop House a dozen times over the years. After the money spent, & money gambled at Sugarhouse, I can type this harsh review guilt free. I expect restaurants inside Casinos to aim to please & are held to a slightly higher standard in my opinion.
I never had problems before. I always ordered the same item (which was removed from the menu but that was not an issue - a Pork Chop that was amazing with a sweet stuffing served along side of the Chop always cooked to perfection). I always sat at the bar very happy with the service I received from different bartenders.
I went for the 1st time in about 16 months, because I've been away. My experience was a disaster! Management should be fired by the food & beverage Director, at the very least written up, & taught how to multi task in order to provide proper customer service to guests & parties simultaneously. When a polite customer or guest has an issue, you handle it, above & beyond, especially if they ask to see a manager, & especially if the problem they have is big black pubic hairs in their food!
We had several issues dining at Hugo's. Starting with the pubic hairs in my beet salad shown in the photo below! And followed by the wrong menu item explained & the wrong item even well over cooked! And the fried calamari was over cooked! We were disgusted but polite about the hairs. I couldn't find or see our server or a manager anywhere for 2-3 minutes, so I grabbed a bus server that walked by 2-3 times & asked him to get a manager. At which point, the original clueless server came to our table, who I didn't want to talk to, so I asked her to send a manager over. The female manager came over & saw the hairs right away as I pointed to them & I said "I know stuff like this happens but it's really gross & I wanted you to see it".
I don't even think the lazy careless woman heard a word I said because she began to talk over me saying "oh yes that's a disgusting hair, I see it, I'm so sorry" grabbed the dish, & disappeared for the remainder of the night. Never saw her again!
My friend ordered what we thought was sea bass over black rice with slaw. That's the dish we saw a customer eating & told the server we wanted. Even told the server pointing discretely at the fish dish that was being eaten eaten by another customer. She ensured us it was the halibut dish not the Sea Bass despite us saying it had black rice & the menu says the sea bass has black rice. She insisted it was the halibut. We said to each other "ok maybe that customer got Halibut with black rice instead of the menu listed sweet potato purée". The Waitress clearly was ignoring us & said again "yeah that's the halibut he's eating you want the halibut". And we said yes. I wasn't even sure she could see the guy 3 tables away, but whatever, we trusted our server. Dumb!
When dinner arrived it wasn't the dish we saw, nor the fish dish we pointed to. "That's the halibut". No it wasn't, it was the sea bass dumbass. How do I know the food & menu & dishes better than an employee?
The kicker was, the halibut was totally over cooked! I took a bite thinking my friend was complaining just being disgruntled about the wrong dish & the hair in the food & the overcooked calamari, but the fish was totally over cooked & actually burnt on bottom! How do you f**k that up? Let me tell you how, by not giving a shit about your job or your customers. From management, to the waitress, & whoever cooked the fish.
Did I mention a bartender seated us in the restaurant because no hostess was present & I guess Servers & management were too busy or preoccupied elsewhere. Crazy. What a total shit show.
Now, you would think management would remove the beet salad with the curly pubic hairs in it from the check right? Guess again! The check arrives, & everything is on the check. The wrong fish that we didn't eat 90% of that was over cooked, the hairy beet salad, the over cooked calamari, total bullshit. So now, I'm boiling.
At this point I told the server "take this off the bill I'm not paying for it", and I was told "sorry my manager was suppose to do that, I thought she did let me go find her". Waitress returns "Sorry about that". Well I apologize, I think both you & your manager are complete morons, I apologize for wasting my time & money with an incompetent restaurant & pride less staff.
I Left a $20 tip out of respect from being in the business years ago & because I can't blame the server for everything except the fish, but it wasn't deserved & most likely not even appreciated.
I won't ever go back to Frog Crap House. My lips to Gods ears, I'll never waste another penny there. Gibson's Restaurant Group will receive an email as well, that's how badly this place drops the ball. I want their ownership to know. Maybe they'll care. | 0negative
| 911 |
Like many of you, we eat out a lot, and we had experiences at the same restaurant go from great to awful and back again. So I always feel bad giving fewer that 3 stars to a place after just one visit. However, when I read some of the other comments on here I think I'm safe with this one.
I haven't a "real" boil since I went down to New Orleans to help rebulid after Katrina so I was excited to "suck some heads and pinch some tails"! (Full disclosure, I just pinch the tails. I can't bring myself to suck the head.) We just came from a wonderful performance of the Indianapolis Symphony, so that stage was set for a great dining experience.
When we walked down the full flight of stairs to the basement and up to the host stand we were asked if we had a reservation. We did. We made it through the Open Table app over an hour earlier. The host, for whom English wasn't apparently his first language, was looking on a hand written list and didn't find our name. So he said that we didn't have a reservation. My wife pulled out her phone and showed him our confirmation. With a visible sigh he grabbed two menus and took us a to a table. After being seating a waitress came up to take our drink order, but seeme very distracted or preoccupied. After several minutes another server brought out drinks and said that she would be taking over our service. We ordered some sushi as an appetizer and said we would wait to order dinner. After some time she back to say that our sushi would be right out and could take our dinner order. We ordered the combo that contained both shrimp and crawfish - 1 pound of each!
After some time she came back to the table (first time since taking our dinner order) with our entree in a large plastic bag - that's how it's served. We pointed out that we were still waiting for our sushi. She didn't seem to know how to respond. She tried to leave our entree on the table but we said that we wanted our appetizer first, then the entree. She went to get the manager. The manager seemed genuinely understanding of our issue and then said that she would be happy to get us any drink we wanted from the bar for free. We told her that we were only drinking iced tea and lemonade, but that wasn't the solution. We wanted our sushi, and then our entree. She replied that she would be happy to comp our sushi, but wanted to still leave the entree. I had to then clearly explain that we would not accept the entree now, and that I also didn't want it to be "kept warm" while we had our appetizer. I expected it to be remade fresh after our appetizer. She clearly didn't like this solution, but did agree. She never returned to our table the rest of the night to check on us.
As for the food itself, it was just ok. Our appetizer (which did eventually come out) was the "Indiana Roll" and it tasted good, but was rolled a little too big. The boil was good, but possibly a bit over cooked (we think it was our original order just kept hot). The shrimp were a very nice size. A few of the crawfish were too, but most were pretty small. But since they came by weight, there were plenty of them.
So from the reception with the host, to the disengaged server to the manager, we needed the food to really hit a homerun to save the experience and it just didn't.
The seating was nice, mostly booths or half booths. The atmosphere was contemporary but comfortable. There are two nice sinks in the dining room for cleaning up without the need to go the restroom. The lighting is pretty dim. I noticed that someone commented that they had "great music", I would have to disagree. It wasn't that the songs were bad themselves, but it urban pop that seemed more appropriate in a college bar and was too loud for the style of restaurant. Someone else commented, "they try to appear being upscale but didn't deliver", and that's a more accurate statement. It's a strange mix of southern or New England seafood boil with asian sushi in a dark-wood dimly lit room with loud urban music. Nothing seemed to work together - even the staff. | 0negative
| 764 |
After having tried to eat here on at least three separate occasions and always finding them closed, we finally got a chance to eat here. From what I can remember - they're closed on Sundays. Closed between the lunch and dinner hour (I think they reopen at 5pm?). And closed at night during parade season when the Metry parades are rolling (no surprise there, haha). So glad we finally made it, though... because wow, what a surprise!
I was immediately struck by how not-strip-mall-ish it looked when we walked in the door. Very small and cozy but you didn't feel like you were sitting on top of your table-neighbors either. Nice little vibe in there. I was definitely expecting more of the typical Mediterranean items on the menu, and the menu itself was pretty small, but there was there looked really amazing. The menu seemed to be a pretty fair mix of Greek and Italian. I ended up having the appetizer sampler that came with spinach and cheese pie, hummus, baba ghannoush, tzatziki (although it was called something else I think?), and pita bread. They had quite a few 4-course specials on the board that looked amazing, but I didn't want to eat that much food (and no, I have no willpower to just stop eating when it's ridiculously good, so let's just get that out of the way now). The veggie lasagna was almost more than I could pass up, though. The guy opted in, though, and got the pan-fried grouper with baked potato and veggies. It also came with choice of soup (artichoke or lentil), a small Caesar salad, and your choice of dessert (baklava or bread pudding). Not bad for $19 bucks! Kiddo had the gyro plate off the kids menu. I was a little disappointed to see only one "authentic" option on the kids menu, and then it was supposed to come with french fries (sacrilege!!) (but they let us sub a small salad for the fries, yay!)... but at least there was SOMEthing there. Don't even get me started on most kids menus, with their grilled cheese / burgers / hot dogs / JUNK JUNK JUNK. :( But I digress....
The food was delicious. Had a bite of kiddo's salad and it was YUM. A little more dressing than I would have liked, but it was really good stuff. Had a bite of the guy's soup (he got the lentil) which I've never had before but was good as well. Had a bite of his fish too, which was also yummy. My spinach and cheese pie was good, although the spinach had a slightly canned taste to it, or something odd in there that made my brain go there? The hummus was fair - a little thicker than I usually like, but no biggie. A little smoked paprika on top would have been the perfect touch, I think. The baba ghannoush was chock full of garlic, not as smooth as I'm used to, and slightly on the oily side. I'm not a huge garlic fan, so I didn't like it as much as some of the other ones I've had, but the guy (who loves garlic) said it was the best one he's tasted yet. So depending on how much you like garlic, your mileage will vary. The tzatziki was delicious and perfect in every way, and I could have eaten a vat of that alone. The pita triangles were warm and soft with that tiny little bit of crisp at the edges and oh so yummy. But the shining star of our table? Kiddo's gyro plate. Holy COW was that some good gyro. It was just fabulous - perfectly seasoned, moist but not dried out, and cooked evenly which I'm finding to be a rare thing. Lots of places seem to have a lot of variation in cooked-ness of the pieces on your plate, ranging from almost-burned to wish-this-had-that-yummy-edge-sadface... but not here (yay!)! The kids portion was a lot larger than I expected, and I honestly wished I would have ordered that instead. Just.... so so good.
Our server was just a dear, and took great care of us. Prices were quite reasonable - granted, I only got an appetizer (although it WAS the big one!), but our bill came in just under $50 for the three of us, and the guy had that 4-course thing and two beers. My meal didn't count, but portions seemed large. The guy ended up with lots left over, kiddo couldn't finish his meal (which is a big deal), and I saw a slab of meat at another table that was just ridiculous. We were there at 730(ish?) on a Saturday night, and although they were busy and almost-full, we were able to be seated immediately, which was a far cry from the hour to hour and half wait at some of the other places we considered before remembering about this place. The parking lot is tiny, but I did see a sign that said there is more parking available in the back. High chairs, but no booster seats.
So although I didn't like the hummus and baba ghannoush as much as what I get at Babylon Café, the gyro was better and convenience alone bumps it up a notch. Getting from Luling to Metairie? Not a big deal, especially since we're already out there so much. This is the kind of place that we could easily just drop in after running errands all day, whereas NOLA is a bit more out of the way for us.
All in all? We'll definitely be back.
A lot. | 2positive
| 938 |
My brother had just been to China last September and for some time was raving about the authenticity of Tampa famous Yummy House's stir-fry, noodles and hotpots. I had also heard great things from many other reputable food lovers who dropped their jaws and judged me when I admitted I hadn't been there yet. It was finally time to see what this Yummy House place was all about.
Walking in with a cooler containing my favorite bottle of wine, I was already looking forward to the much talked about Yummy House experience. BYOB restaurants with no guidelines or restrictions are a rarity so they had already scored some serious cool points. When we walked up to a large table fit for 7, my brother's girlfriend, a returning patron, immediately waved over a server before sitting down. She looked at me and smiled, holding back laughter, knowing full well I would be displeased. She pointed to the smudgy floor and the man grabbed a napkin, bent over, and picked up a very large roach. Luckily the rest of our dinner party had not arrived so this "minor" gruesome detail would have to be our little secret. Trying desperately to forget about the bug, I gulped down a glass of Pinot Grigio in under a minute. Our friends soon arrived and were good sports about the stained plastic tablecloth, the smeared glass "Lazy Susan" and the blurry lip-stained wine glasses.
We began our Chinese feast with their famous Salt and pepper Calamari, Eggrolls and Potstickers. The calamari was indeed marvelous. Battered beautifully, fried to perfect crispiness and topped with cilantro, jalapeno, red pepper flake, garlic, sea salt and pepper, I was taken back by its pleasantly powerful punch. Salty and spicy played key roles in this texture and flavor dreamland. The eggrolls were generously stuffed and seasoned with various Chinese spices, giving each bite an enjoyable zing I've never experienced with eggrolls beforeThough not in true steamed potsticker form, these fried pockets were still easy to scarf down with their tasty meaty insides spewing from the crispy shell. All of our starters were demolished in no time and from the wonderful impression of these delicious eats, I was anxious to devour the main courses.
We all ordered different entrees with intent to share. Yummy House practically insists sharing takes place with the "Lazy Susans" found at every table. The first plate brought out was the Cashew Chicken. Chicken, zucchini and cashews galore lay heaping and covered in a caramel-colored glaze. The chicken was tender, the zucchini was crisp but the sauce was almost too tangy in taste and terribly thick in texture. This dish could've easily come from a white and red square-shaped container. Next please.
Three more stir-fry chicken dishes came out in seconds- two plates of Spicy Yummy Chicken and a Szechwan chicken were now presented before us, looking almost identical in color and with similar vegetables studded throughout. Again, the Szechwan chicken was nothing to write home about. The Spicy Yummy Chicken was slightly more impressive with its great resonance of a yummy kick and its perfectly cooked fresh mushrooms creating an awesome variance in texture to the overly sauced chicken. So far this was the Chinese champion but I was still underwhelmed.
The Spicy seafood clay pot was delivered next and the aroma alone convinced me I'd be disappointed no more. A deep brown broth with shrimp, scallops, white fish and tofu was steaming hot and begging for consumption. The depth of flavors in the broth and the fresh seafood were pleasing to my palate but the abundance of tofu was not. The last two dishes served were the Beef with XO sauce and the Singapore Noodles. The beef cut with a fork and came with crisp snow peas. The XO sauce was mild in sauce strength but still full of great flavor, making this beef stir-fry the runner up of the night. After reading an article in a local magazine where Yummy House's Singapore noodles were praised by a Tampa chef, I knew it was my duty to make sure we ordered them. I am also a noodle fanatic so I was most excited about my menu choice. The shrimp and pork strewn throughout the curry vermicelli noodles had my taste buds thrilled for the first bite. Tasty indeed but nothing more, my most valuable sense was let down by the lack of oomph it had been eagerly preparing for.
My hopes and dreams were somewhat destroyed. Yummy House did not overly excite and it certainly did not live up to all the hype. Mediocre service and drab ambiance were expected but I was only there for the fantastic fare. | 0negative
| 783 |
This was my second stop for the Farm to Fork restaurant week experience! Located in the small town of Haddon Township, I never thought that Station Avenue would hold such an authentic Italian gem.
The appearance of Anthony's has a really adorable style. It looks homey, from the way that the building is designed on the outside to fit in with the rest of the main street, but classy as well, due to the glass windows that allow pedestrians to look inside the sophisticated dining room. Even the entrance into the restaurant gave the place a very classic Italian feel. Upon walking in with my mother, the hostess was already busy with receiving calls for reservations being booked for next month! After being seated by very friendly and helpful waiters, we read over the 2-for-$10 lunch menu and found that it was actually very extensive. I decided to get the summer salad and Crab Tomasso, even though the main course is an additional $4... Still cheaper than its regular $27 price on a normal day anyway.
The complimentary starters itself impressed me. Not only was there warm, fluffy, and crispy bread that came straight out of a rustic oven, but a dish of cooked olives, artichokes, eggplants, and peppers was also served as well, and it was so refreshing that I could have eaten about 5 and been satisfied enough for lunch. Not too long afterwards, my summer salad was served. Personally, salads aren't usually too special, but this one really did cool down the hot summer air. Consisting of chopped peppers, asparagus, corn, and various greens, all tossed in a honey-like clear vinaigrette, this appetizer was very well-balanced and extremely refreshing to eat, especially after eating warm and crispy bread. My mother ordered the grilled marinated shrimp, and that was also very tasty with the spinach, mushrooms, garlic, and olive oil that were mixed in with it as well. Surprisingly, I preferred my salad over the shrimp.
The Crab Tomasso was wonderful. Homemade angel-hair pasta tossed in a basil-tomato-and-wine-based sauce, the whole dish looked pretty big and rich, as do most pasta dishes in Italian restaurants. Yet, I didn't feel heavy or exhausted with richness by the end of my fill. It was a very light and fresh-tasting pasta dish that maintained its large amounts of flavor from all of the elements in it, which did not overpower each other. The main ingredient of the dish, the crab, really executed its role in standing out. Not only was I given a very generous amount of this wonderful seafood, but I tasted it's unique and rich natural taste that popped out from the pasta. The Crab Tomasso is simple yet complicated, and it is overall easily one of the most well-balanced Italian pasta dishes that I ever had. I also tasted my mother's order of the Oven Roasted Tilapia, which was also very very well done. The surface of the fish had a nice golden-brown crust, and the filet itself was so soft that it fell apart at the touch. The fish's flavor really showed itself throughout the dish, and the olives, mushrooms, and lemony-butter glaze really enhanced and worked with the fish so well. That was also a very successful dish which didn't fail to impress as well.
The final course, which we decided to pay extra for, is the dessert. After being given three choices, my mother and I decided to split the Sfogliatelle over the Tiramisu or the Cannoli, having never tried this Italian classic before. The crispy multi-layered pastry has a marscapone cheese filling with a thin paste of pressed dried fruit at the base. While the taste of the whole dessert had the right level of richness and crisp texture from the marscapone and the crust, the dried fruit didn't work too well for me. It was a great concept because the taste itself worked extremely well with the cheese and pastry shell, but the texture of the dried fruit paste, was super hard, and difficult to chew, cut, or break apart in order to enjoy the whole pastry. If that part of the Sfogliatelle were softer, then the dessert would have been flawless. It was still a great ending to a wonderful dining experience.
I am very happy that Anthony's put much effort in giving diners the high-class experience that they would normally have if they were to come and have the real menu. It's tempting to give the diners less of what is supposed to be offered at such a sophisticated restaurant, and I am grateful that this place really gave average citizens this opportunity to receive the same kind of experience as any other. I definitely made the right choice in stopping by at this restaurant for my second Farm to Fork restaurant experience, and hopefully the next place will be able to meet the standards. | 2positive
| 814 |
Introduction:
I was in Wilmington & Philly for part of my Memorial Day weekend and now writing 3 reviews of places we went. On Friday night, my two friends (one that I drove up with from the DC area & the other who lives in Newark, DE) were pretty insistent on going to the Blue Rocks game 7:05 PM start time. We arrived in the area around 6:40. Dropped the stuff off at the house and left right away from the game.
I would've rather looked around Wilmington more and eat dinner ideally by 8 PM; since we were just planning on seeing Wilmington on Friday night. I told them that I wasn't enthusiastic about eating dinner at the baseball stadium but was hungry. We discussed it, my friend suggested eating a snack there, and then, eat dinner after the game. I had considered the option of looking at Wilmington on my own, but I decided to be a team player especially since my Delaware friend was gracious enough to buy our tickets; so I couldn't refuse. We split fries at the game. The game dragged on past 10 PM, and there happened to be fireworks too, which was cool, but I was hungry again.
After considering options, it made sense to go with something walking distance from the stadium instead of fighting traffic to look for a potentially better restaurant further delaying dinner. There were about 3 options within a short walk. One of the places closed at 10 PM. Joe's Crab Shack, which is ok, but I wanted to go to a local place. The Yelp reviews were more on the positive side. Looking at the menu online and pictures on Yelp, I decided that I wanted the bacon burger. The pictures & overwhelming good reviews on it made it seem like a solid choice.
Restaurant Experience:
We walked in about 10:45 PM, and there was a sign directing us to the bar area. It seemed strange, but maybe the regular dining room was closed. The server was nice. She told us these are the 'Late Night Menus'. Guess what? No burger. So, I had to rethink my strategy. It was more of the unhealthy appetizer foods. I had considered wings, but they only had a fiery sauce & Buffalo, neither of which I'm enthusiastic about since I'm not big on spicy foods.
Pizza seemed like a good option at this point. Ideally, if I'm getting a pizza, I like to get a large to split with people as that is more cost-effective. However, they only had individual sizes although a pretty good size, but not quite enough to split in two.
The cheese pizza was $12.50. I really wanted just one topping, sausage. Each meat topping was $2 more, which brought the total to $14.50. Upon further exploration, I discovered that the Spicy Hawaiian Pig, was only $0.50 more for sausage & lots of toppings, a much better value. I was about to delete a couple of the spicy items I didn't want. But the fact is that I really just wanted the one topping, but I couldn't justify getting just one topping when many toppings were only $0.50 more.
It took a bit longer than I would've liked, and I was irritable 'hangry'. But my pizza arrived at about 11:15 PM. I scarfed it down. The pizza was relatively good, but nothing to write home about either. There was an ample amount of cheese and toppings were plentiful. My issue with the pizza was that it was too salty; so I didn't enjoy it as much. I think it was more the toppings of sausage, pepperoni, & bacon. Additionally, the pineapple were just a few of these sorry-looking little cubes. That was a disappointment to me too. I actually think I would've enjoyed the plain cheese more, which is what my Delaware friend got. My Maryland friend got the wings. He let me try one, and to me, it was less than mediocre. Chicken was kind of dry to me. I let him have a slice of pizza.
When my bill came to my surprise, the total was $15! In MD, VA, & DC, we have a little thing called sales tax, and it can add up. My Delaware friend is lucky to live in a state that has no sales tax, but Maryland has a lot of good qualities too. It did make calculating the tip easier. 20% of $15 is $3. The server was nice & decently efficient although she could've been faster on refilling water.
My friends had gotten a beer, but I was thinking about all the calories of the pizza late at night and decided to just go with water. I'm not a big drinker anyway, but the two friends said that the beer was more of the selling point for them on the place. If I had to do it over, I would've done what my Delaware friend did was just get the cheese pizza & a beer.
Overall, nice server. Could've been a bit faster. Pizza was relatively average; salty ingredients brought the pizza quality down for me. Additionally, I don't like when places do 'Late Night Menu' because it limits the options, and usually it's less desirable &/or less healthy options. But the fact is that because my friends were insistent on going to the game, we were limited on our options at 11 o'clock at night. | 1neutral
| 909 |
This space used to be It Boutique and More. I think their walls were painted blue as well though I recall it being more robin's egg blue than turquoise...was debating if it was left over from them or if they repainted? I am not sure if blue is really the best color or not for them, but I also rarely know anything about interior decorating so I am probably the last person to ask! ;P The Boutique was a women's clothing shop and also sold some children's clothing and other misc gifts. I actually really liked shopping there and I am sad they had to move (her husband got a job in FL, so they moved.)
(That bit was mostly for people who were wondering what happened to It Boutique...!)
BUT that aside, when I saw this place had opened up in their old spot, I decided it would be worth it to take a look. I love ice cream, soda, candy, and SOMETIMES even gooey butter cakes despite their insane sweetness...the flavored ones are generally more tolerable than just plain.
They installed a soda/icecream /bar thing, where customers can sit and enjoy their desserts. The layout seems strange but probably only because I was so used to coming in here and seeing other things previously. I probably just need to get adjusted to it, although it SEEMS like they could rearrange things to make better use of the space. I think they need more tables and less nic-nacs but that's just me.
I looked over their menu and decided I wanted to get a white choco raspberry soda thingy with ice cream. (Ice Cream Soda I think it's called.) But I noticed they only came in 20 oz sizes. Thankfully the woman behind the counter (the owner maybe??) was verrry kind and allowed me to get half the size for half the price. Awesome! Not many people do that. I think they should make "kiddie" sizes of their normal stuff too, so that way health-conscious 'grown-ups' can still come here and enjoy something without paying $6 or $7 for a drink they'e going to drink less than half of and then throw away. :(
When I tried it, it had a good flavor but let's just say it was a non-homogeneous mixture and I found that the ice cream was stuck to the bottom of the cup in a big clump and the fizzy syrup part was kind of more towards the top. I don't understand why they didn't use a blender but maybe I just don't get what an "ice cream soda" is supposed to be. Maybe they served it correctly. It just tasted weird to me because I would get only sips of fizzy sugary syrup and then occasional icecream, so I had to grab the spoon she gave me and physically mix the concoction myself to get it to be even throughout. Maybe it was my fault for asking for a smaller size. I don't know.
I think I would like to go back here and try their other things like gooey butter cake. I am also curious as to where they get their ice cream from. It was pretty good. I wonder if it's local? Their gooey butter cakes are baked in house. They also have candy for sale. It's a cute endeavor and I would like to see them succeed but I think they need to tweak things a bit and maybe get a more extensive menu. Nothing about my trip made me "crave" more from them, but in fairness it was only my first trip!! Service was overall friendly and I am glad to see their family all working together like that.
This review is stuck between 3 and 4 stars I wish I could give 3 and a half, but Yelp doesn't do that yet. I suspect my next trip will solidify whether it's 3 or 4 and repeat trips will help me determine if it's a 5.
PS: I see that there are 11 filtered reviews.... just as a suggestion to the owners of this place, it's not a good a idea to write yourself a bunch of 4 and 5 star reviews on Yelp. And I'm not trying to say they did....but it just looks kind of suspicious because they all cropped up right around the same time. If your business is good, you won't need to write stuff yourself, your business's awesomeness will naturally shine when other Yelpers go visit it and see for themselves that it is good. ;) | 1neutral
| 761 |
Food is good, prices keep rising, if you call in an order you want to get on your 15 min break even 30 ahead and say something, here's how the owner responds:
Nikki Buus Antone: Heres how you can support this veteran owned local business; walk your happy ass up to corporate Mc Starbucks if you've only got 15 minutes. Unfortunately, the dude with a face piercing won't be able to microwave you a frozen GMO chemical sandwich as fast as our homemade healthy food that costs the same. As for prices, Our grand opening was last week and we had to experiment with pricing to feed you at the absolute lowest price that still lets us keep our doors open and feed our 5 kids. We did not build this place to get rich, if we did, our prices would be the same as everyone else downtown. (Double ours) We wanted to offer the people in the courthouse something healthy and affordable, unlike every other option downtown. In retrospect, that was a mistake because most people do not appreciate what they have and just want to complain. Not to our face even, but anonymously on a website. Tell me where you can get anything around here in less than 15 minutes and I will take your complaint seriously. Obviously, this place is brand new, so for you to expect something freshly made in less than 15 minutes from a brand new place is absolutely insaine. Especially since there is no 15 minute guarantee on anything written or verbal. You just assumed that it should be less than 15 minutes. I would bring something from home before I went out expecting a miracle in 15 minutes. We've taken care to explain this to people that lacked the situational awareness to understand what 2 people here are trying to do. We've tried to explain the self serve and self pay salad bar we are building and explained to everyone to call in their order ahead of time for pick up if they are in a hurry. I hope this entire shitty society goes down in flames like Rome just so people like you can see what real struggle is. Go get shot at everyday with no 15 minute breaks then come home to sink every cent you have into a 12 hour a day job, still with no 15 minute breaks and work for free to do something good for people downtown and a bitchy complaint like this will drive you crazy too. It will make you want to give up and go settle for a tax payer funded desk job like yours with a guranteed paycheck, no risk, and with enough 15 minute breaks to complain about people that are busting their ass to provide jobs, pay taxes and the cheapest, best healthy food not only downtown but in this entire city. I guess to understand our struggle, you would have to leave the comfort of your cubicle and take a risk. We've lost more $ in the last 4 months trying to open this place than you make all year. I know because your salary is public information. I looked it up. It's been a long difficult road to get where we are. Heads barely above water. 5 children depending on us. Doing this at my expense (not profitable yet) and with a spinal cord injury compliments of Afghanistan. Not trying to get rich off you, just trying to do something good. Your complaint (our first) took more of my motivation and creativity away than anything has yet to this date. I'm sure you are so plagued by your bad review that you can barely sleep tonite. Take your next 15 minute break at Campo, Silver Peak, SoDo, Granite Street or even Starbucks and tell me how that works out for you. Tell me how their prices are. Then go fuck yourself. The customer isn't always right. Sometimes the customer is a complaining little spoiled bitch with too many 15 minute breaks and no ability to feed themselves without shitting all over good people that are trying to do something good at their own expense. Good job, you made me hate society in one single complaint. I'd rather be back fighting the Taliban than trying to feed unappreciative overfed people in less than 15 minutes that want to lecture us on getting our act together. How are your life dreams working out for you? Your act is together right? Following your dreams? Living to your fullest potential? Or just living one 15 minute break to the next looking for something to complain about that 90% of the rest of the world doesn't even get to have. Now, go shuffle papers around your desk until the next 15 minute break and go ruin someone else's day. Your complaint is exactly why we are failing as a country right now. I wish I could give your complaint a serious consideration and a free drink but we do things differently here. Free drinks are for winners not whiners. We are Battleborn. That's not just a state motto, it is who we are inside. We are not the sheep and we are not the wolves. We are bad ass. | 0negative
| 876 |
Smee's Alaskan Fish Bar and Marketplace has room for so much potential. They probably have one of the best spots, location wise, along the Truckee River and their food is pretty delicious. So why only three stars? I'll do my best to explain.
5.4.19 First off, my room mate and I were walking along the river one sunny afternoon and noticed that Smee's was actually opened. We both were pretty excited and decided to eat here for lunch. The weather was gorgeous and we asked to sit on the patio.
Our server had a positive attitude and a great sense of humor. After browsing through their lunch menu, he was ready to take our orders. He was also quick to mention that their Fish n Chips were very delicious and so was everything else. But he reemphasized that the Fish n Chips were just that good. Of course, I decided on their 3 piece Fish n Chips. My room mate ordered their "Ahi 6oz Sesame Seared Rare, served over chopped romaine asian style salad". Shortly after taking our order, we saw our friend and her mom walking by and they decided to join us for lunch! Of course this sudden added party of 2 caught our server by surprise, but nonetheless he took their drink orders and gave them menus. Our friend's mom also ordered the Seared Ahi Salad and our friend ordered the Fish Tacos.
Our server apologized if we were waiting long for our food saying that this was actually their third day being opened. The wait wasn't long and when all of our food arrived to the table, we happily ate away. Just as our server mentioned, their Fish n Chips were pretty damn good. Honestly, it was probably one of my favorites in Reno. The batter was very light and flaky, and the fish was tender and juicy. The fish tacos were refreshing, but it was a little dry with all that tortilla. Each taco had two layers of tortilla, which made for a sturdier taco, but in the end made a dryer bite. Their Seared Ahi Salad was also tasty and quite filling.
With this only being their third day opened, I thought to myself that Smee's is doing very well this early. It was a near perfect lunch service with a great view of the Eddy and Truckee River.
5.14.19 About two weeks later, my room mate, my friend, his fiancé and I decided to come here for dinner. We noticed that the dinner service seemed a bit more formal than their lunch service. After being seated, we browsed through their dinner menu and were saddened when we didn't see any Fish n Chips listed on there.
Our server had an upbeat attitude and took down our drink orders. My friends asked her what wine they had and she didn't seem to know off the top of her head. She tried to describe the wine saying that it was a white wine and that it went well with fish. She then tried to pronounce the name of the wine to which we knew she was trying to pronounce "Sauvignon Blanc". Now in her defense, I don't blame her at all. Working at a couple of different restaurants myself, I don't expect servers to be sommeliers by any means. I think it's up to the restaurant managers to hold meetings with the restaurant staff to make sure they're informed on certain dinner specials (if there is any) as well as drink specials or drinks on hand. For us, seeing that dinner entrees were $30 plus there is a whole new set of expectations a restaurant should meet. Again, we didn't blame our server one bit, in fact, we loved her. She had a cheery attitude and was very pleasant throughout our dinner service.
When it came time to order, my friend and I ordered the Pacific Prawns, our other friend ordered their Roasted Alaskan Halibut, and my room mate ordered the Seared Scallops. We also ordered their 6 piece Pacific Coast Oysters.
The oysters may have been small, but they were clean and very refreshing. I was a little disappointed at my Pacific Prawns unfortunately. They weren't bad by any means, but they weren't great. The batter was a bit doughy and there wasn't much flavor throughout the plate. The wild mushroom rice seemed a bit bland. Again, I don't mean to sound so nit picky, but like I said before, if you're going to charge $30 plus for an entree, there are new expectations that should be met. However, the Seared Scallops and the Roasted Alaskan Halibut were both very tasty.
Something to note: Throughout our dinner service, only after we ordered and got our food, we noticed that other parties arriving after us ordered Fish n Chips. We were all pretty shocked and didn't know we could order that during dinner. There was no sign or separate menu. Of course, we were pretty disappointed.
All in all, Smee's has a lot of great things going for it. With prime location and flavorful foods, all they really need to work on are some minor kinks. With keeping their restaurant staff well informed and being more prepared with separate menus, (if you're serving items other than the ones on the dinner menu) that's really all there is to it. Other than that, I am looking forward to our next future visit. | 1neutral
| 906 |
First let me say that I grade on a curve. If you are a McDonalds I expect that my food will be hot, all ingredients on the bun and not spread all over the box, service that isn't overtly rude, and a cleanish bathroom. So clearly a McDonalds has a very high bar to hurdle. ;) But when you are a highly regarded, trend setting, gastropub featured on TV... you better deliver.
Datz does just that... mostly.
I was here a year ago for a Yelp event which was wonderful and had wanted to come back. It was a Tuesday morning and I needed a pick me up after a rough meeting. I had my heart set on some chicken and waffles for breakfast which I heard were awesome. I am a freak for chicken and waffles. In fact my first children may be named chicken and waffles. If the celebs can pick intelligent names for their kids like Kyd, South West, Tu Morrow, and Diva Thin Muffin, then I can and will name my kids Chiken and Wafflez. Take that Kardashians!
BUT.. They don't do C&W for breakfast except on weekends. Cue some Aerosmith... "I was cryin when I met you, now I'm tryin to forget you, Love is sweet waffles smothered in Spicy Buffalo Trace bourbon maple syrup with a side of rosemary fried chicken..." Er well ok maybe not but it is at least lust. Or Gluttony. Or both.
So alright that is fine. It seems that they don't have the fryers running at 10 AM. Oh well.
So I ended up having to look at the menu. Boo hoo right? And it is a great menu before you even leave the drink menu. The menu mixes some interesting and unusual combinations of ingredients and elevates versions of more common dishes. The menu is large so you are guaranteed to find something that you like unless you want breakfast for lunch or lunch for breakfast et cetera. (Yes I am still Cryin)
I ordered a bootlegger. The bootlegger is a breakfast sandwich with a fried egg on thick sliced ham smothered in a Cigar City Jai Alai beer cheese all on a pretzel bun. I also got a side of bacon roasted potatoes.
First the bootlegger is $10, which is on the high side for breakfast, but Datz is a little expensive for everything ($18 for C&W and $10 for drinks). You are trading your low cost for high quality, a fun atmosphere, and creativity. As far as the three preceding qualities go, Datz delivered in spades. But there were some problems. First the potatoes were good: correctly cooked, flavorful but not over spiced, and plentiful. I would like a bit more bacon flavor but now I am just nit picking.
But the bootlegger could use some adjustment. If IHOP gave me this it would be 5 stars but this is Datz so here is how it could be better. First, cook the egg in a template to limit the size because I couldn't find the bottom bun without digging through the eggs. I mean the fried eggs were twice the size of the bun. And then they were smothered with runny beer cheese. Now I love beer cheese but because of the runniness of the beer cheese I got really messy, like up to my wrists messy, before giving up and eating my sandwich with a fork. And the flavors: The egg... Salty and Savory. The beer cheese... salty and savory. The ham... Salty and Savory. So the whole dish is salty and savory but it was really too salty. And I like a good dose of salt and savor but this was too much. It really needs something to cut it and create balance. And as I said, I grade on a curve and Datz is way ahead of the curve.
The service was great once I got seated. They have a host stand but it was abandoned so the person behind the candy counter (they have a candy counter that sells William Dean chocolates and baked good) just told me to sit anywhere. Once I was seated my server was nice and attentive and friendly.
The space is like no other space I have been to. Is it a high-end food store? Is it a bar? Is it a restaurant? The answer is YES! And while I have castigated other restaurants for not having an identity that makes sense (see my Bokampers review) somehow it works here. It just feels right. This undoubtedly due to either great luck or careful planning.
The only other issue is parking. Datz is popular and so finding parking is a challenge. Datz has an overflow lot around the corner but it isn't nearly enough.
Bottom line: I grade on a curve and here they are way ahead of that curve. This is a must try restaurant that has been and will continue to be a model for other establishments around the bay. Expect high quality with prices to match. And while some things don't measure up to my curve that is what happens with creativity. These sorts of risks are the only way to achieve greatness. Datz is nearly there. I will revisit after I finally get my waffly goodness and that may be enough to push them to a full 5 stars. But for now sweet, sticky greatness hasn't quite stuck yet. | 2positive
| 905 |
This was my second time at NOLA, and both have been fantastic. I went about 6 years ago on a trade show trip, and went again a few nights ago when in town for the same trade show. When I heard the show was back in New Orleans, I knew I'd be coming to NOLA again for dinner.
The space is very busy and bustling, and this time our party was sat in the upstairs room, which was crowded and lively. The waitstaff was superb. They do wait "teams" here instead of just one waiter, so you're always being checked on and taken care of.
They have vodka steeping in all sorts of pickled veggies: green beans, sundried tomatoes, garlic, olives, etc. They have it listed on the menu for the Cajun Bloody Mary, but excuse me if it isn't just PERFECT for a Cajun dirty Martini! The spicy pickled vodka was perfect for a pre-dinner drink while we tried to decide on what to get.
For starters, we shared the Duck Confit and Fried Egg Pizza with Parmesan Cheese, Truffle Oil and Baby Arugula ($9). It was done in the wood-fired oven and the hostess told us it was her favorite dish while she took us to our table. She was right...it was good. My only slight complaint is that there was very little duck confit. I think there should've been a tad more. We also shared the Emeril's Barbecued Gulf Shrimp with Rosemary Biscuit ($10), which is one of his signature dishes. None of us were that impressed with this. It was okay, but we were expecting great, especially since the waiter told us it was one of his best dishes. We also shared the Maine Lobster and Celery Root tossed in a Green Onion-Buttermilk Dressing with Roasted Beets, Spiced Walnuts and Arugula ($14). This was great! The lobster was sweet and delectable and the shaved, crisp celery root played really well off the succulent lobster. Plus, add beets to anything, and it's 40x's better.
For mains, I got the Garlic Crusted Drum Cooked in the Wood Burning Oven with Brabant Potatoes, Crimini Mushrooms, Bacon and Sauce Beurre Rouge ($30). Of the three entrees, this was the least favorite of the table. It was another one recommended by the hostess. It just seemed to fall a little short to me. Nothing on the plate stood out to me as great, so while it was good indeed, it just didn't wow me. Friend 1 got the Rib Eye, but done with the Filet Mignon menu sides on the waiter's recommendation: with Thyme Roasted Red Bliss Potatoes, House Cured Bacon, Maytag Blue Cheese, Toasted Walnuts, Port Wine-Veal Glacé and Shallot Crisps ($38). This was ridiculously decadent and delicious! The rib eye was boneless, but had so much flavor and just the right amount of fat. The blue cheese and port wine just made it that much richer and scrumptious! Friend 2 got the Buttermilk Fried Breast of Chicken with Bourbon Mashed Sweet Potatoes, Country
Ham Cream Gravy and Sautéed Sugar Snap Peas ($27). This was some seriously good fried chicken. It was really crusted with the breading, and fried perfectly, and so moist inside! The sweet potatoes and snap peas were perfect sides to this down-home comfort food dish.
For dessert, we shared a Kings Cake something or other. I don't remember exactly what it was, but it was damn good. Came with cheesecake ice cream that was one of the yummiest things I've ever had! We also got a scoop of the Rosemary Grapefruit sorbet. This wasn't as successful. They used too much rosemary and it was overpowering, and the grapefruit was so tart I didn't feel they were a good combination. It sure was interesting though.
A small complaint is that I wish the portions were smaller, because none of us finished our meals. Not that you have to finish them, but my mindset is charge slightly less and make the portions reasonable instead of charging more and making them gigantic. They were literally gigantic. And then it is a bummer to see all that wasted food. I think Friend 1 and 2 only ate about half of their meals, since they were so big and heavy. My fish wasn't as large of a portion, but it was still much bigger than it needed to be. They must waste so much food every night, so I wish they'd do smaller plates.
I do recommend this place highly. It's definitely expensive, but when the company's paying, that's fine! It's perfect for a special occasion or a foodie in town on vacation. The wait staff was great, the vibe was lively, and the food was delicious. | 2positive
| 786 |
I am not one to leave reviews unless it's exceptionally good or exceptionally bad. I woke up this morning still shocked how bad it was. I was so excited for our reservations here that I'm surprised how bad service and food were and not sure I'd go back. The hostess was great but it was all downhill from there. We were a family of 5 with a very patient, potty trained 1.5yr old toddler (just kidding, that's not real) in the group as well. So, I wanted to order 2 sides for said toddler as soon as we were sat but our waitress took 10min just to greet us and get our drink order (water), on a not very busy night (Monday). I ordered mashed potatoes and fruit, simple, easy and quick items. It took another 20min for those to arrive...just kidding, they didn't have fruit (or vegetables or soup) but I wasn't told until the potatoes arrived. So 20 min for mashed potatoes that def weren't homemade so no reason for them to be so long. We ordered our food as quickly as we could which was also fun, since most items like vegetables and soup were not avail. We did get salads (so those had veggies but they could not make cooked veggies). One of our side salads arrived and had a French fry in it. Odd I thought.
Then, we had to go to the bathroom for a diaper change...a pretty common thing for most families when out with a diapered child which lasts until they are 2-3yrs old. Sooo again, something you'd think they'd have is a changing table or other flat surface for said changing. Nope. Thankfully, the toddler has a sweet big sis who held her head as it would've dangled off the sink counter so I could change her diaper on the sink counter. They had a designated bathroom cleaner girl in there that was embarrassed and didn't know what to do... every other mom that entered was more pissed off than I was when they saw there wasn't a changing area and how we struggled to get the job done. It's 2018 guys, changing tables should be in both bathrooms by now.
So now it's been over 1.5hrs since we were seated and I was sure our food would be at the table since we took a while in the bathroom...NOPE. Oh, and I forgot to tell you about our "super apologetic, pleasant waitress", just kidding, she didn't exist. Ours would come by every 15-20min, never apologize and repeat, it's only a soft opening with an attitude each time, like "lower your standards people"...even though people seated after us had their food
I asked for the food to go at that point because I knew we couldn't eat there with it getting so late if the food ever came. I could no longer keep the toddler contained since it was getting late and I'm not one to let a kid be wild in public if I can hide her. Also, big sis and myself were hungry, so we left the husband there to deal with it and went home. As we are leaving, the waitress says "they are plating your food" after I had told her we need it TO GO I have no chill left anymore, so we keep walking because I have to raise tiny humans and be a good example...Husband gets the food to go and for free at this point because finally the manager (not waitress) tells him "we lost your ticket and found it on the floor finally and that's why your food came so late". The waitress never once said our ticket was lost, only that it's the "soft opening" and we should just ignore all major issues. These issues are ones that cause restaurants to fail. These are people problems! Top down changes needed ASAP. Don't open until you have basic items like fruit and veggies stocked and skilled workers to actually cook and prepare them!
THE FOOD was also the least impressive part of the night. Items were microwaved: corn on the cob was so bad it was chewy like gummies and would stick to my teeth, bourbon butter cauliflower and corn also clearly microwaved and nothing good, waffles in the chicken and waffles entree also horribly floppy/soft clearly right out of the microwave, like wtf?!? Other items were frozen and pre-packaged, nothing tasted or looked freshly made. Meatloaf had this off flavor and did not taste like anything my mother or even myself, with my subpar cooking skills, would ever make and they forgot the mashed potatoes for it. Get it together please! We had reservations, but their Facebook page had said they were taking walk ins and they were serving the full menu. No excuses for so many issues with such poor service. I'd go for drinks on the rooftop only but the Fenway is gonna have better views.
By the way, we were all very sweet to them and never once lost our cool. We were forgiving every step of the way but got zero apology or excuse other than it's our "soft opening" from the waitress. | 0negative
| 867 |
I am a teacher and my fiancé and I brought 3 of my former students here for the Christmas hayride which none of us had ever been to prior. We came on a Friday night around 6:15. If you want the short and sweet version I would say it was nice but extremely expensive and not really worth the cost.
On to the details...
First of all, we came on a rainy Friday night with no crowd. I asked if they do teacher discounts and I told them that I brought 3 of my former students. The lady at the register looked at the other lady and asked and she basically laughed at me as she said no. That pissed me off if I'm being honest. They know they're overcharging and it's crappy weather and I'm bringing students on my own, you would think they would have some Christmas spirit. They didn't and the laugh is what really got me. We paid $60 for the two of us and my three students. The rich get richer. Anyway...
We get on a tractor and are told to wait. Another group of three joined us. Other than that, there was no one as far as the eye could see. As I said, it was raining and the rain was expected to get heavier so I was ready for them to get the show on the road but we had to wait. And wait. And wait. Even though the website says they leave every five minutes. What was the difference anyway?!?! There were a million tractors lined up and a bunch of employees waiting. Just go!
The lights themselves were good. There were some cool parts. A lot of animatronics. I think they could do wayyyyyy more. Especially considering the space they have...and the space that is untouched as you're riding around.
One of the girls was disappointed that there wasn't any hay. She said, isn't this supposed to be a hay ride?!?! Where's the hay?!
The gentlemen working the tractor were nice. We had to jump off for the bathroom, which turned out to only be port a potties which the girls weren't thrilled about. One of the guys even let one of the girls use his flashlight since it was dark. He told her not to drop it in. Lol. That was brave of him! For as long as people spend here and as much money as they make and as much space as they have, there should definitely be some regular bathrooms.
There are live animals in a nativity scene as you enter after parking. They have a few other things that you can walk around and take pictures with like a giant yeti or whatever he was supposed to be, a carriage that reminded me of Cinderella, etc.
The girls heard them advertise for the giant gingerbread house during the hayride so they kept asking to go there but it turns out it was just a brown snack bar designed to look (kind of) like a gingerbread house.
You are able to cut your trees down here or buy some that are already cut down. They have a fire pit which was cool to stand around and take pictures near for a few minutes.
There is plenty of parking available and there isn't even close to the mayhem for Christmas as there is for the Halloween attraction.
We didn't see the live reindeer that other reviewers keep mentioning. Maybe the real reindeer are gone now?
There was a hit with merchandise but no people in it? The girls mentioned it being a store. I told them to get out of it because I thought it was for employees only and I didn't want them to get in trouble. As I got closer I realized there were prices listed on shelves. So I'm still unclear as to whether they were trying to sell the stuff or not. If they were I don't know how you're supposed to buy it because the people in the hit next door made no moves when they saw us there.
Last year we took these girls to Philly for all of the Christmas shows...the Macy's light show, the Comcast show, the dickens village and the city hall show. Their light shows are a million times better and $60 cheaper since everything is free. They even let you take pictures with Santa as opposed to here where there are signs plastered everywhere that you can't take your own pictures and people staring at you like hawks to enforce that rule. We actually saw Santa outside walking around and one of the girls asked him to take a picture and he told her she had to come inside. Again, where's the Christmas spirit?!?! You're Santa. Just take a quick picture with an excited little girl instead of trying to make money off of her and her teacher that is taking her out for a fun night.
I wanted to do the philly shows again but we couldn't fit that trip into the busy time of year this holiday season. I would definitely return to philly over returning here. It absolutely wasn't impressive enough to spend $60 on it. It's nice to do once but I wouldn't return unless it was free.
The ground was SUPER muddy and it DESTROYED our car...especially where the girls were playing and moving around. Make sure you wear rain boots or duck boots and not any nice shoes. You definitely won't want to wear your nice Uggs! | 1neutral
| 925 |
Well, I should have known better than to enter a restaurant a few weeks old.
This is a new cocktail club in the suburbs, They boast of booking talent who sing from The Great American songbook. They want to remind you of the 40's in what they do.
The food is very traditional and nothing overly creative. It is simple stuff like steak and shrimp cocktails.
You should know most of the offerings are seafood and steak. Not much choice for other tastes.
So, the experience we arrived and the main dining room was full already so we sat outside. We started up as the only table outside, so I figured we would get awesome attention. And within 10-15 minutes all the tables outside were full as well as every table inside. There was one waiter assigned to multiple tables outside. It appears there was one other person assisting him.
We ordered our drinks, a small sized beer offering and I like beer. It did not appear any beer offerings were on tap, bottles only. I could be wrong. It came out quickly and was served.
We then ordered appetizers and main course.The waiter answered some simple questions about things my wife wanted. She ended up having Sea Scallops with creamed corn. However, she asked if she could have it without creamed corn or something else. He said no, the Chef is from New York and does not like to do that. So she said ok. She also ordered Steamed clams.
I ordered Roasted Beef Bone Marrow and a New York Strip.
At that point, we were no longer a concern of the waiter. He was off to other tables, not a good sign.
The bone marrow was good and the caper/shallot spread was good.
Although, the pressed oil was hiding and I did not see it until most of the marrow was gone. It was needed to balance the bitterness of the spread. As it had a nice sweetness in it.
My wife had a good time eating her clams.
Then it happened, a long wait for the main course. Water not being filled back up. The waiter looked a bit overwhelmed with all the tables he had to cover. No one else came out to help him or adjust to make things a little smoother.
So, the meal finally comes out. My wife likes her Scallops and said the creamed corn fit the dish well.
I cut into my NY Strip, and it was cooked too much for my liking. I like Medium-Rare, and this had very little pink left in it. I wondered if it was the table next to me, I heard him asked for medium well done.
I sat and kind of waited for the waiter to come by. Staff buzzed by a few times. My wife ate her meal. Staff buzzed by and I didn't eat the steak. It was pricey and needed to be done right. The waiter finally noticed and I informed him it was over cooked. He got a staff to come take it, who asked what was wrong or was I done. He had to say it was over cooked, and then said inform management immediately.
So I waited thinking management would probably come apologize.We sat and waited not knowing what was going on. The manager came out to the table, I thought ok he will let us know what is happening. He simply said having a good evening and asked my wife if she was done. Yes, she was done and I had no food. It is probably the single most awkward moment I've had in a restaurant. We waited a little more. And I decided to go inside and ask.
I explained the problem, the manager knew about it. He said the steak is being cooked and is being rushed. I explained there was no communication or apology and it was starting to get ridiculous. So why not say something when you visited the table? Or an apology?
The new Steak came out as we were speaking. I sat down, the manager indicated he was sorry. Ok, he even admitted it is uncomfortable eating next to someone who was not and asked if my wife wanted something. Then left. So I cut into the Steak, and I was concerned. I took a bite and it was cold in the middle, so now it was under cooked.
I saw a staff and asked for the manager. And indicated that it is under cooked and raw. He admitted it was a little rare.
He took the plate and apologized. He said they would cook it more and I declined at that point.
At that point, he apologized profusely for ruining the evening and that they want to get the first time right. He essentially said there was a show next door and were slammed. And they have to get it right as they have 200 shows a year at the Keswick Theater.
He indicated they are new and still working out the issues. And this is why the official opening is in the fall.
My suggestion, wait until the fall to let them work out the kinks or check the theater schedule prior to going there. They were understaffed. I noticed it and could see things slipping in service, like long waits for food. Forgetting water refills and checking on the guests status.
I hope they get it right. It would be a good addition to the area. It is different from the standard bars around.
I will wait to revisit this place later. A little pricey for the area, needs more attention to detail. | 0negative
| 945 |
My family and I were visiting family in St. Louis and we had heard a lot about Pappy's. My sister who lives here had never had pappy's because she said they always had a long line and neither of us are BBQ fans. Our dad was with us and he loves BBQ, so after a day of telling us how much he wanted to go, we headed over there. We went at around 1:30 and the line was out the door. The parking lot in the back was almost full and we figured it was all for Pappy's as it looked like the other shops on the strip looked closed.
The line was full and they told us it was a 45min wait from where we were standing. My parents were excited so we stayed. The families in front of us and behind us were all from out of town, as well and had never tried Pappy's. The line moved quickly and they have someone sitting at the entrance passing out menus so you can decide what you want as you wait in line. We waited and it was pretty much 45 minutes. You can call in a order but if you do you have to pick up and can not dine in. Were surprised that with all the people that after we got our food we wouldn't find a seat. There are lots of signs as you go forward in line that say don't hold tables until after you eat. As we got closer to the cashier there was someone their assisting in seating. They find you a seat so that after you place your order you know where to go. You place your order and sit, then they'll call your name and deliver you food to the table. The whole system was smooth running and it may the line keep moving.
The food is cooker earlier so after you order the food is ready after a minute.
They have fountain drinks and a some bottled pop from frits or something like that. The fountain drinks and the bottled pop are the same price. I got the cream soda, root beer, and strawberry since I couldn't decide which one. My dad got the black cherry. So far I have only consumed the cream soda and it was sooo good. We had asked what the best sides were-- they said sweet potato fries, fried corn on cob, and baked beans. My mom got the potato salad and fried corn on cob, I got the baked beans and green beans. My little sis ordered a double order of sweet potato fries and my dad got the baked potato that counts as two sides. The fries were great and I don't even like sweet potato fries. My baked beans and green beans were really good it was cooked just right. My mom wasn't impressed with the fried corn on the cob, but was surprised to like the potato salad since Pappy's doesn't make it. Baked potato was good too.
MEATS-- Sorry I don't remember the whole menu. Our order comprised pulled chicken, pulled pork and ribs. My mom loved her ribs says they were totally tender and falling of the bone. I ordered the large pulled chicken platter, since that was the most amount of meat. I also order a soft bun on the side. My pulled chicken was great and I would say it was the best BBQ pulled chicken I've ever had. It was tender and juicy. Even without any sauce it was good. I made a pulled chicken sandwich with my side order bun, and still had a good amount of chicken left to take home with me. My sister said the pulled pork was very dry, but thought the ribs were good. My dad loved the chicken and ribs he got but was disappointed in the Pappy BBQ sauces. They have three sauces on the table, one is sweet, one is hot, and then was a more traditional BBQ. We both liked the sweet baby Janes and I liked the hot one and sweet mixed. We were not disappointed in our food with Pappy's.
My mom felt they cleared away and got people seated quickly. They had so many employees going around and they were all working quickly to do their part of the system. We had people come check on how were doing and we felt very happy with our Pappy experience.
Since I'm not a BBQ person I couldn't rate this five stars, but if you like BBQ it would probably be a five star for you. The food was really good and I would go to Pappy's again, just a different time with a smaller line. | 2positive
| 791 |
Marrakesh is a total package dining experience. Not only do you get to eat authentic Moroccan cuisine, you get to enjoy a cultural experience as well.
You may have walked past Marrakesh or the surrounding streets many times without even realizing it was there, like I had prior to this visit. It's nestled on Leithgow Street just a notch off of South Street. Forget South Street or even the rest of Philadelphia for that matter. You are about to step into a different world. To enter you must ring the doorbell on the side door.
I felt more like I was going to a house, than a restaurant; especially with the shower located in the restroom on the second floor. During my entire visit, I never felt like I was at a restaurant. I felt comfortable and relaxed. Maybe eating with your hands with a towel on your lap has that effect.
I found my group of fellow Yelpers in a cozy private room. The room had four tables with booth seating along the outskirts of the room. Ottoman like chairs took up the rest of the space for the rest of us. With such a large group in not the largest of spaces, it got loud.
Our meal started with customary hand-washing and we were even entertained twice with a belly dancer. After placing our order, the food kept flowing. The service was probably the most unobtrusive service I've ever had. As one dish was placed in front of us, another was seamlessly removed. I felt like royalty or at least someone enjoying a nice meal at someone's dinner party. The regular dining formalities I'm used to were thrown out the window, and it was fantastic!
As I'm sure you're aware, this $25 prix fixe menu has seven courses and you are welcome to BYOB. While it was a ton of food, I walked in the door absolutely starving and walked out not overly stuffed. I believe most people left absolutely full, so maybe the tip is to come in extremely hungry. Here's a little rundown of dining experience:
Course 1: Three-Salad Platter- The eggplant is phenomenal (and messy). Luckily you have some assistance from the pita to eat it. The cucumbers and bell peppers and carrots and cucumber were good, but the eggplant stole the show.
Course 2: The B'stella- As someone who doesn't normally love sweets but loves cinnamon, carbs and meat, this dish was a winner. This dish was dough filled with chicken, nuts, almonds, egg, peppers and onions. It was really hot at first, but once you cracked open the shell and let it cool down, it was easier to eat. I had some pita saved from the first course, so I found it easy to break off a piece and rest it on the pita while it cooled down. Truly a sweet-savory delight.
Course 3: Chicken- So here's where the choices began. You can either get chicken with lemon or spicy chicken. My group opted to get the spicy chicken with the cumin sauce on the side. The chicken was melt in your hands and then melt in your mouth good. The spicy sauce had a nice kick without being overly spicy to me. I still had some pita leftover so I did a little dipping with the sauce.
Course 4: Beef or Lamb- My table got a little creative here and asked for half portions of both the beef and lamb. The beef was served shish kebab style, and to be honest, not my favorite. It was a little well done, and I struggled a little to get it off the stick resulting in a pepper flying into my husband's wine glass. Sauvignon blanc tastes best with a little pepper anyways, right? The lamb was perfect. Even the non-lamb eaters thought it was delicious. It was tender and took on the flavor of the chick peas and onions without having an overwhelming lamb flavor.
Course 5: Couscous with veggies, chick peas and raisins- This was probably my least favorite dish from the main meal. It was a little blander than other couscous dishes I've tried in the past. I would have been disappointed if this was the only thing I ordered, but everything was a hit thus far in the evening. They did give us spoons at this point, so don't worry about eating the little grains with your hands.
Courses 6 & 7: Dessert- I'm assuming the tea, fruit and pastries count as the sixth and seventh courses. At this point in the evening, my bottle of wine had been consumed and I wasn't counting the dishes, and am making this assumption while referencing the menu. I'm not a tea fan so I passed. The pastries were little crisp triangles that reminded me of baklava. The fruit came out frozen was a little hard to eat. I nibbled on a strawberry and took a banana for the road since the majority of the group passed on the fruit. Perhaps the fruit was customary, but I thought a little unnecessary. If it's part of the traditional meal then no harm, no foul.
To sum it up, I had delicious food and hours of fun. It's an experience not to be missed in Philadelphia, especially if you go with an adventurous group of friends. While I couldn't imagine going to Marrakesh every Friday night, I can definitely pick a handful of occasions that would be a perfect fit. | 2positive
| 914 |
End of preview. Expand
in Data Studio
This dataset is a filtered version of https://huggingface.co./datasets/vincha77/filtered_yelp_restaurant_reviews
- Downloads last month
- 143