Elea C.'s Profile

Going to this place is kind of like dating a stereotypical model. Strike's very pretty, as far as the decor goes, but when you get down to it, it just doesn't have enough special presence to justify all the money you end up spending. Sure, there's some pool and games and yes, there's good food and drinks, but you have to keep parting with more and more money to be able to enjoy any of it. Basically, come to Strike if you care about "ambiance" and want to feel like you're a pimp-ass bowler. Otherwise, go elsewhere and have just as much fun bowling while not ending up broke when the night's over.

I've had Beard Papa's before and so was quite excited when I saw this one opening near campus. However, after ordering cream puffs and walking back to school, I felt the bag randomly split open -- diagonally from the middle, not even the bottom! Okay, how flimsy are the bags that they would break just like that (with only TWO light little creampuffs inside)?!  Luckily, I caught the cream puffs in time so they didn't tumble to the floor, but got sugar dusting all over my hands and had to simply eat them then and there, which was nearly impossible because as a previous reviewer mentioned, the filling spills out everywhere and the crust flakes apart upon one bite.

Not. Fun. I would be careful with those bags if I were you.

Semi-traumatizing experience aside, the cream puffs are decent, but the vanilla one was really almost too subtle for my liking -- if I'm getting a cream puff, I'd like to be able to taste just a bit of cream? I did enjoy the chocolate cream puff's filling, but as hinted at before, I really would like a stronger crust. I must've gone through five napkins at least afterwards...

If my friend hadn't told me Saturn Cafe was a vegetarian place, I would not have guessed, even after tasting my Californian Burger. If you have ever suffered through a crappy veggie burger, you'll appreciate how valuable that is -- to have perfected the art of making decent veggie food that even appeals to regular ol' omnivores. Because of that and its awesome sweet potato fries, I heart Saturn Cafe and will put up with the somewhat sloow service.

This place has ruined (read: spoiled) me for life when it comes to Thai food, thanks to a combination of fantastic entrees + cheap prices. I think the secret behind their food might lie partly in great seasoning. Somebody mentioned earlier that the portions here are small, but I have no idea what he was ordering, because ours were decent and I've got photos to prove it.

The only thing that keeps this place from getting a full five stars is the rather slow service. When we wanted dessert (fried bananas with ice-cream -- which, by the way, was ridiculously good), it took us quite a while before we could catch any server's eye and then ironically, it took even longer for us to get the check.

The frozen yogurt revolution was brought to my attention recently when my friend introduced me to Pinkberry while I was visiting SoCal. The thing about Fraiche Yogurt is that on its own, the yogurt tastes fresh and creamy. However, once you've had "the Pinkberry experience", every other yogurt place feels like a cheap imitation. I tasted a hint of Pinkberry-like tartness in the original yogurt, but it just left me wanting the real thing.

If I'm going to be paying approx $5 for a cup of yogurt, I think it should be filled with win rather than "hrm...not bad".

I am in the midst of switching neurologists. I was referred to him by an ER, and told that he's an amazing specialist, but he's treated me like a case rather than a human patient. He prescribed me an anti-depressant/anti-anxiety drug, but claimed it was merely a "muscle relaxant". I had a horrible reaction to Valium, was sent back to the ER for it, and because he felt we couldn't be sure, he had me take it again, only to have me stop breathing again. It was lucky that the additional drug prescribed after the ER visit managed to clear up my airways. When I went back to him again with my symptoms worsening, he immediately upped my current dosages even though the medications weren't doing anything for me. He has refused to listen to things I've had to say, and taken on a 'one approach works for all' perspective, it seems. I don't believe he has malicious intent, but he is not a good neurologist, and if I don't ever run into him again in this lifetime, all the better.

Huzzah for there being a decent karaoke place in San Jose! My first time here was during a friend's post-birthday dinner celebration, and good times were had.

The yay:
- You only pay $1 for each song.
- The bartenders here? Awesome.
- The crowd = generally enthusiastic and supportive.

The...ehhh...:
- The new karaoke queuing machine can be a little temperamental. You have to hold the ticket just right before it reads properly.
- You don't go in chronological order; first-time singers get priority over people who have already sang that night. This can be pretty confusing in terms of you trying to figure out when your song's actually going to come on.
- It can get very, very crowded.

Additional notes:
If you go onstage, you are streamed live over the Internet, and people's online comments show up in real time. It's a really neat form of interaction, although if you're the shy sort, it can also be rather humiliating. You are allowed to karaoke from offstage though, as the microphones are wireless and apparently have decent range.

As for song selection, it's decent, but definitely not extensive.

Having had to drive at least 20 minutes to find a decent coffee place in the past, I was extremely excited to see It's A Grind Coffee House opening near my residence. I finally had time to try it out today, and was pleasantly surprised with the results.

Not only is the coffee cheaper than at Peet's (across the street) and indie coffee places (despite those being my favorites) -- I paid $2.95 for a 12 oz. mocha -- but the quality matches that of the other cafes as well (or in Peet's case, surpasses it by far). There were more baristas than customers when I stopped by, so service was extremely speedy in addition to courteous and friendly.

Contrary to what an earlier review said, there *is* free wifi available at this location. There are a few chairs and tables for indoor seating (amazingly cushy chairs, I should add), though outdoor seating is also available.

Parking is not the greatest at It's a Grind Coffee House, as the nearest spaces are marked "20 minutes only" and there aren't that many slots overall in the square. This is not a big problem, however, as most people seem to be oblivious to the new square's existence at the moment anyway.

I can definitely see myself coming back and studying here in the future, or just hanging out.

[ADDENDUM]
Upon stopping by this place on a few more occasions, I have to say that my first try must have been a lucky fluke because the taste of the coffee on each visit since then has gone steadily downhill. I didn't know how oddly you could screw up mochas ("Is...that a hint of tea in my coffee??"). Or that if I randomly order a cold drink called the "Triple Chocolate", that I would end up with some raspberry in my drink. If I wanted raspberry with chocolate, I would've asked for it, dear baristas.

However, parking is no longer an issue; the square has since opened up with a lot more spaces. And there seems to be a lot more people who've discovered that this place exists, so at least they won't notice me avoiding this place at all costs from now on.

Somehow, I've driven past House of Bagels almost daily without ever actually noticing it 'til today. It's a small little place with outdoor seating (the inside only manages to house a couple of two-people-max tables, which become inaccessible when a line forms) and lovely aromas wafting through. I was impressed by how well the staff held their composure even when it started to get busy; there was one guy on the verge of causing a scene for seemingly no reason at all, but the girl calmly attended to him and apologized to the rest of us for delayed service. I have yet to try the bagels here, but the coffee is great, which is more than I can say for the Peet's in the SJSU Market Cafe... The prices are better too; you get higher quality for less here, so I do believe I'll be frequenting this place from now on.

This place was described to me as a "Mom and Pop's Denny's", so I  wasn't expecting much in terms of food quality when a group of us stopped by for lunch. If you manage to make it to Peanuts before 3pm, you can spend less than $5 on the specials and still get a large, filling meal. The good news is that you can still order off the regular breakfast menu any time and you're generally not going to be spending more than $10 for food and drink.

I would not recommend coming here with a party of more than four; Peanuts is rather small and cramped. Also, if you go while it's busy, you'd better have great hearing, because the microphone they use to call out your order number just makes it harder to tell what's being said, even if you're only sitting a table away.