Russell W.'s Profile

There is no separate entry for the Santa Fe Steakhouse co-located on the premises, so I'm writing my review here, although I've not stayed at this hotel.

We were immediately seated, without reservations, last Sunday night in a warm, comfy booth with pillows brought to us on request (I'd seen them elsewhere in the restaurant) and friendly service. Several reasonably priced draft beers available. Nice looking place inside, warm Southwestern feel, and even a group of lighted Cocopelli sculptures outside... in the snow! I couldn't resist the groan-inducing observation that they should be called... Snowcopellis!

I apologize for that.

Anyway....

Good cheap beer, decent martini, but disappointingly lackluster prime rib, soggy on the edges when it should have been crusty. Decent salad bar and a selection of Bailey's-variant chocolate cups for desert rescue this hotel restaurant from 2-star damnation.

The fact this place is right next to Snowshed means I might consider giving it my business next time, but I'll need to order something Vermonters make well... which I'm now given to understand means "not steak."

The only considerations which keep me from giving this place a single star are the moderately priced tap beer and the decent clam chowder. Otherwise, we had a very sad seafood pasta and an unmemorable rack of pork ribs, dry with a sticky, over-sweet barbeque sauce.

Like most of the other restaurants on the road leading to the slopes, the major appeal of this joint is... refuge from the cold. We were alerted to the cozy, elevated "caboose" seating on our departure - the place is built up around a railroad car, hence the name - but that novelty wouldn't be enough to bring us back.

This place is a pleasant little surprise which I stumbled into after an exhausting day of bargain shopping at nearby Paragon Sports. I had a fantastic lamb dog and a couple of yerba mate drinks. The butcher block table with slide-out seats in the center of the shop is an awesome piece of furniture engineering, and I expect to see it imitated elsewhere.

I used to be a somewhat-regular at Abbey.  I'd do the occasional dinner-for-two-with-drinks, especially during this previous summer.  No longer.  Last night, I visited with a number of friends, and my lady friend and I - who'd arrived early to secure a table for our group - ordered meals with drinks and specifically requested that we be on a separate check.  Our waitress made an unnecessarily big deal of the issue, but finally caved in.  We'd pointed out that there would be a number of different people coming and going, some ordering drinks and dinner with others only ordering drinks, and some even wandering to other tables; we did *not* want to have to tie our finances to the behaviors of those people.  We were trying to avoid the "Who ordered the Lobster Thermador?" problem that bedevils large groups.

We ordered our food and drink, and paid up as our friends were arriving.  From that point forward, the waitress refused to consider even the question of separate checks.  My lady friend and I still wanted to drink, but we didn't want to deal with the check splitting thing again, so I bellied up to the bar to order a couple of draughts.  The bartender acted as if he'd caught me doing something I was trying to hide, and insisting that I order my drinks through our obstructive, bovine waitress.  I protested, and told him that in no other bar & grill in the neighborhood would I, a regular, have been treated that way.  He retorted lamely that it was the owner's policy, not his: like a Good German, he was only doing his job and he "couldn't help it."

I replied that he'd not only lost out on the additional half dozen or so drinks that my lady friend and I - who'd regularly ordered some drinks in past sessions - were ready to order, but that we were finished with the place, and that we'd let all our friends know.  This review is the beginning of a personal boycott.

I should add also that their hamburger is sub-par at best.  I'm sure they use Wonder Bread for their buns, when a kaiser roll would have been more appropriate.  If you're looking for an excellent hamburger in the area, go to the Heights at lunchtime, or Le Monde anytime, where they separately melt their cheese toppings in gratinee fashion.

Abbey Pub has no special charm, no grand selection of food or ales to make up for bad service.  I give this place 2 stars rather than 1 star simply out of respect for my memory of better, long-gone times.  Avoid it.

I patronize Pinnacle because it's summer, I have classes a few footfalls away, and even the noxious venues on campus are not open when I need them.  I can't even give this place kudos for its long opening hours, since they close early in the summer, right after most evening classes let out.  I only pick up the occasional slice and coffee there.  Garlic knots are more like conjoined Southern biscuits slathered with garlic butter, without any of the requisite Southern charm.

A friend and I attended the 8 Nov 2007 "Evening with the Writers and Friends of 'Late Night with Conan O'Brien'," on a couple of discount tickets.  We were seated in what I consider to be the best seats in the house, up front and just off center of the stage mic.  I was immediately impressed by the facilities, which I was told by our waiter double as rental business conference facilities during the normal business day.

The food and booze were pricy but acceptable.  I never pay much attention to 2-drink minimum rules... I mean, who *doesn't* have a couple of drinks at a comedy show?  I was a bit put off, though, by finding out that there's a basement satellite comedy room with lower prices on the same menu items, and no cover charge.

Speaking of cover charges for entrance, this place has a guy who checks to see that your waiter has done his job by placing the onus on the customer to prove he's paid up before being allowed to exit!  This bit of insulting annoyance knocks a star off my rating, in combination with the other major annoyance: the restrooms are staffed by attendants.  I hate bathroom attendants.  I feel no need to have my handwash soap pumped for me, or my hand-drying towel handed me, any more than I need someone to hold my penis for me when I'm doing my business.  It feels like extortion, and has no place in a middle class comedy club.

Still, I'd be happy to attend again, given another discount ticket scenario with a good headliner.

Decently priced Japanese street vendor ("yatai") style okonomiyaki, open late, with a large bench out front if you feel like eating "on premises" (as small as those are).  I wanted to like this place, I really did - yatai is rare outside Japan - but I was handed a half dozen balls of what turned out to be uncooked seafood batter. Yuck!  I've had lots of takoyaki in Japan, and I know what's cooked and what's uncooked, and I was given the latter.  

Also, unlike a real yatai stand, this place has no beer or sake.  It's dry.  Not likely their fault, but a cold beer would have made me a bit more forgiving of the crap I was served.

I would have given this place a lower rating, but the staff were friendly and helpful, more so than many of the types of unsocialized loser one often finds working in these places.  That's about all it has going for it though: the place is *dirty*, and much of their inventory is stacked, dusty, dirty, and unloved.  What gives?  Don't these people love comics?  Disgraceful.

Interesting in a vague sort of way, but a bit overpriced, at least in respect of those items whose prices I know intimately.  Staff seemed eager to make sure everyone was out before their closing time of 9pm.  Large stock, quite a few kaijyu (gojira & pals) around, not my taste but certainly noteworthy.

I was invited by a couple of Chinese friends to eat here tonight.  I found it fairly unremarkable, from the #64 calimari, disappointingly not as spicy as I'd been led to believe, to the chicken dish of similar temper.  On the up side, the service is prompt and conscientious, and I wouldn't be against going there again, if only due to the convenience.  Prices were reasonable, about $43 between three people eating 4 large dishes.