Michelle "Cheapskate Mama" N.'s Profile

This is a great little gem of a place! My sister and I stopped in recently for a quick lunch. I had an awesome proscuitto pannini with a nice green salad. Both the sandwich and salad were dressed with a simple balsamic and olive oil dressing. It was delicious and a bargain for $6.95. My sister had a peach icetini which she liked. I also got a small chocolate gelato. The gelato doesn't have the smooth mouth feel that I'm used to -- it was actually quite icy. However, it was still dense and very flavorful.

The interior is great -- very modern and comfortable. There's a little kids corner with a busy box for the little ones which I really REALLY appreciated. I can see this as a great place to meet with friends for a quick pick me up or with clients for a change from coffee.

Love this place! I also love the fact that Wednesdays are their 99 cent days. Oooh, cheap! I can see myself as a weekly fixture there.

We happened to be in downtown Brentwood when we drove by the signage for Perfect Eyebrows. It just so happened that I had been whinging about how my eyebrows looked more like caterpillars than eyebrows so it was kind of like a sign from God that I should go get my eyebrows done! (Well, that was my excuse, anyway.)

We walked in and inquired. Sandy was on her way in and she agreed to take me! I found out later that she doesn't normally take walk ins but I was so very happy that she fit me in.

I've had my eyebrows threaded before so the process was familiar to me. I really prefer threading to waxing as the results are so much more precise. The pain is about the same though threading may be a little less so, depending how much hair growth you have.

As she worked, Sandy told me that her specialty is shaping eyebrows, hence her business is Perfect Eyebrows, though she does offer plenty of other services including hairstyling, facials, etc. She is a master eyebrow shaper. Sadly, my eyebrows have no natural arch and are quite shapeless but Sandy's touch helped shape my eyebrows to frame my face wonderfully. I am so happy with the results. She also threaded my upper lip and was as quick as could be.

All in all, great service at reasonable rates. I'll be very happy to go back to Sandy for more of my cosmetic and esthetic needs!

Dexter Dogs is the definition of mediocre! Sis and I went there today for lunch before shopping at Target. Honestly, I wish we had just held out for the the dogs at Target! Sis had a regular dog with mustard and ketchup, I had a polish with kraut (extra 30 cent charge) and spicy mustard.

Our dogs were completely unremarkable. Both dogs were steamed, served with a squishy, overly steamed bun. Toppings were generous but applied carelessly. I'm not expecting world class dogs here but if you're going to sell nothing but hot dogs, why not give them a bit more attention?

The menu was pretty short and uninspired. A couple of different types of dogs, a bunch of different toppings and that's it. No real interesting premade combos and nothing creative at all. B O R I N G. And the cheapest dog on the menu is $3.69? Pbbbt. Sorry -- I'll happily pay about $4 for a great dog but not the boring, uninspired stuff that Dexters sells.

My advice for folks with a hot dog craving in the area is to go to Target or 7-11. Seriously. Better dog and better quality there. So sad. So very, very sad.

My sister and I decided to hit up Lumpy's on a whim. The place was packed at Friday around 1:00PM! We took it as a good sign. We were seated in the last available table; the poor folks after us had to wait for a bit.

I want to preface this by saying that I really wanted to like this place. Really I did. ISo many people there on a Friday had to be a good sign, right? The wait staff seemed friendly but after being directed to a dirty table ("They'll clean it for you when you get there" which they did) I ended up getting my own high chair for my 1 year old. Hmm. Not a good sign.

There's quite a large breakfast selection which looked yummy but there was a big sign in front that said pancakes, waffles and the like were only served before noon. Pfft. Oh well.

I was a bit disappointed to discover that they didn't offer any hot food that I'm used to finding in diners like meatloaf or mac and cheese or anything like that. This place is a burger and sandwich place with no frills. I didn't see anything in particular that struck me as creative or that I couldn't get some place else.

On the other hand, the prices are pretty good -- very affordable and I like that the fries are a side rather than included. They do have a number of different fries to choose from include their version of the nummy fresh garlic fries that are so popular at ball parks today. (Hint: It's called ball park fries.)

My sister got a sandwich on Texas Toast while I got a club sandwich. We also split an order of ball park fries and got cherry coke. Mm, coke with a good spritz of cherry flavored syrup. Nums. Our food was solid -- edible but nothing very wow about it.

In the end, the two sandwiches, drinks and a split order of fries came out to $19.99. Affordable.

As another reviewer said, I try to support small businesses rather than corporate giants. But there was something anemic about the food at Lumpy's. It just wasn't good. It wasn't BAD and I've certainly had worse but when the menu at Denny's and IHOP is more creative, you've gotta wonder. And there does seem to be some favoritism with the wait staff. If they know you, I think you're gold but otherwise... eh. I don't think I'll be back.

We stopped by Gerry's Grill for lunch on a Monday since we were in the area. My sister had been to Gerry's Grill previously with my parents and said that it was pretty good. Since I don't exactly get great Filipino food on a regular basis anymore, I decided to take a chance.

Now, I gotta preface this by saying that the idea of sit down Filipino food is relatively new to me. When I was growing up, the best place to have Filipino food was at home or a relative's house. Outside of the home, Filipino food was to be found at your local pick-and-point steam table place which you either ate on a greasy, rickety table or you took home to eat. Sit down Filipino food just wasn't a big thing until recently.

Gerry's Grill is located in the Union Landing area in one of the newer additions to the strip mall. You totally wouldn't expect the decor inside which is pretty nice for a strip mall. At first glance, I would NOT guess this place served Filipino food. There is lots of dark wood with a really masculine feel throughout. I'm guessing it is trying to echo an American gentleman's club in the Philippines feel -- you know, where the American officers would hang out while stationed there?

While not packed, the place was a lot busier than I would have expected for a weekday lunchtime without any big businesses nearby. From the looks and sounds of it, most of the customers were either Filipino or Filipino-American like my sister and I.

Overall the service was... eh. We got our menus but not the lunch special menus, which we had to ask for. It took them awhile to get our order and then, bizarrely, they left our menus with us. Eh? We looked around it and it seemed like they didn't pick up ANYONE'S menu. Huh??? My one year old spent much of the visit trying to gnaw on the menus that were still at our table. Gross.

Since it was just my sister and I, we decided to order off of the lunch menu. The lunch specials are quite expensive -- $12.99 each!!!! Holy cow, why so bloody expensive?? Each lunch special came with either soup or salad. When I inquired about the soup, the server said it was the "soup of the day" but couldn't give me a description of it other than, "Um, seafood something?" Nice. Real nice. I decided to go with the salad because I'd ordered two types of meat with my lunch special and needed the veggies. When he asked what type of dressing, I said Italian. "Ranch?" he repeated. I'm not sure how you get "ranch" from "italian"; I guess the servers don't know how to listen?

Our meals came out in pretty good time. I ordered the pork liempo and lechon kawali. That's grilled pork belly and deep fried fatty pork. Oooooh. So fatty and rich. It came with a dish of vinegar as well as some sour-sweet atchara. OH. SO. GOOD. My sister had the chicken and pork skewers which were equally yummy. Her side soup -- you know, the one the waiter couldn't describe? -- was delicious. We couldn't get enough of it. It was such a beautiful medley of flavors, like a wonderful shrimpy, coconut bisque. SO GOOD. Too bad the waiter couldn't do it justice; I would have ordered a whole gallon.

The side salad was a different story. My side salad came out first and honestly looked like someone reached into a package of green salad and dumped it onto the plate. It came with a plastic container of salad dressing. Um, hello? I'm eating in. Why did my dressing come like that? Would it have killed Gerry's to give me a simple ramekin of dressing? It seems a small thing but it is that lack of attention to detail that irks me the most.

Overall, I was pretty underwhelmed with Gerry's Grill and the more I think about it, the more annoyed I get. I found the atmosphere to be, I dunno, too over the top for what it was. It's like they were trying to hard to make it fancy. I'm sure it goes over well with a lot of the patrons but it just didn't do it for me.

The food itself is pretty good. Dare I say it -- delicious. Heavy but that's what I get for ordering so much pork. Sue me, I love pork. But it would be nice to have more vegetables available on the menu. I don't like pakbet and that was the only decent veggie offering. It seems that veggies in general are this place's weakness. The lunchtime salad was inexcusable. I know that salads aren't big in Filipino cuisine but for god's sakes, if you're going to put it on your menu, do SOMETHING with it. Nothing screamed "CHEAP" more than the little plastic container of ranch dressing. And when the lunch special that it came with cost $12.99, I better not see anything that screams CHEAP. The atchara, while delicious, was pretty damned sloppy looking. Decent plating could have fixed it easily.

The lack of professionalism by the staff and servers annoys me. Maybe it was because it was a weekday lunch but slow and inattentive service is NEVER excusable in my book. My advice to Gerry's -- shape up or ship out. It could be great... but it isn't.

Rickshaw has been around since I was a little girl growing up in Hercules. Maybe my fond memories cloud my judgment but I love the food here. I mean, it's not the best authentic Chinese food in the Bay Area to be sure but when it comes to greasy, steam table Chinese American food, Pinole's Rickshaw can't be beat. This is the standard by which all other junky Chinese food should be measured, kinda like how all fast food hamburgers should be judged by In-n-Out.

My favorites are the fried rice, sweet and sour pork, broccoli beef and the barbeque pork. The BBQ pork especially is something magical. Beautiful, flavorful bits of pork, bright red with a wonderful char, not swimming in fat or broth like I've seen in other junky Chinese joints. Their wonton soup is also pretty good -- nice flavorful, fat wontons floating in the broth. I remember this soup because my parents always bought it for me when I was sick.

I've moved away from the area but still have fond memories of the greasy, junky food. I've had my share of Chinese junk food and it just isn't the same anywhere else. Screw Mr. Chau's or Panda Express -- gimme Rickshaw any day!

I have to admit, when we passed by Uphoria while it was under construction, I looked at the sign and went, "What, couldn't they afford the E?" Sorry but one of my pet peeves are businesses with misspelled names without an obvious marketing gimmick.

But hey, I'm desperate for some good frozen yogurt so I figured I'd set aside my prejudices.

First, a little bit about the space itself. Normally I don't care for much for the interior of places but Uphoria's interior is of note because it is much more in line with what I'd expect to see in Walnut Creek or even Cupertino or San Mateo rather than Lone Tree in Antioch. The interior is bright and sleek with lots of seating as well as a lounge area with a television and a fireplace.

With a name like Uphoria, I expected it to ride the current Korean style, tart "fro-yo" trend. Turns out that I may be half right. It seems like Uphoria is trying to strike a balance between the trendy tart yogurts as well as the more readily accepted (in this area anyway) soft ice cream style frozen yogurts.

On our visit tonight, Uphoria offered two "tart" yogurts, original and kiwi. But there was also a selection of more conventional flavors, like vanilla and chocolate. Toppings include fresh fruit and mochi as well as things like chocolate cookies, nuts, sprinkles etc.

I got the kiwi tart with mochi and mango while my sister sampled the original tart with strawberries and mochi. My previous experience with this type of "fro-yo" is Red Mango. Uphoria's fro-yo is a bit icier than Red Mango's but is delicious and refreshing without being cloyingly sweet. I don't see the iciness of the fro-yo as a bad thing, though. Somehow, it seems like it would be ultra refreshing during Antioch's hellish summers.

The mochi was wonderfully chewy and was a great way to add sweetness to the tart yogurt. My sister and I both agreed that the mochi made fro-yo. The downside is that the mango wasn't in season so it wasn't sweet. Not Uphoria's fault, of course and it was nice to see that it was at least offered.

All in all, great offering! It may not be the same as other fro-yo places you may find in the Bay Area but I think that this is just what the area needs. Get me some wireless internet access here and I think I know where I'll be parking my butt this summer.

Yet another update -- HELLO! They now carry Vietnamese sweet cakes (banh) which makes my husband and I very happy. Now we can introduce our daughter to yummy Viet sweet treats without trekking all the way to San Jose. Thank you!

This is a GREAT playspace for the kidlets! The cafe portion is great but the play area is marvelous. My little one had a blast of a time crawling around. She's only 10 months old and just barely standing but she loved frolicking about. Great cafe food for caregivers too.

I decided to check out Kids n Cribs since I am currently in the market for a new diaper bag and wanted to support a local business. The store is nice and welcoming and filled to the brim with lots of boutique quality baby items. Unfortunately, I found most everything to be out of my price range. Definitely some place to check out if you have a baby on the way and are into boutique lines, though.