Nancy "mackma$ter" R.'s Profile

I really wanted to like this place, I really did, with it's retro charm and its cozy atmosphere, and its perfect spot right on the Central Plaza.  Sorry, Mary, two stars.

Well.  I loved the little trivia cards they had sitting on the table.  Approximately 20-30 questions on Mary, her cheese, her homemade dressings and grandchildren.  It was all very interesting and added to the charm of the place.  But then I realized that maybe these function as more of a distraction from the unreasonably slow service.  And it seemed to work ... half an hour to get an 11" pizza ... in exchange for knowing how many pounds of cheese they use a year (70,000).

And the pizza, for a place known for its pizza... sigh.  This was an 11 inch chicken garlic and I'm not lying here: there were 3 inches of crust along its perimeter.  It's like they tried to use the most minimal amount of ingredients possible in order to pass it off as a pizza.  It's like they took an ordinary personal pizza and stretched out the crust to make it fit into a bigger pan.  The chicken was dry and it was lacking sauce.

I probably won't return.  Sorry Mary :(

Ok let me start off with the good things.  1. open late, 2. we were able to hustle free chips & cheese from the guy behind the counter and 3. takes AMEX (in theory ... see below)

Bad things: 1. the Amex wasn't working (the girl told me flat out "sometimes it just doesn't work") 2. no limes (seriously, a Mexican restaurant with no limes?!) and most importanty, 3. the food was GROSS.  I mean, I was kind of drunk too and I couldn't finish my taco.  And if you know me that's pretty much unheard of.  

While we were eating, a group of pervert drunk dudes came in to harrass my friends and I.  They told us that we were eating pigeons and rats ... something tells me that wasn't too far from the truth.

The only thing this place has got going for it is its music (the music was pretty damn good when I went, I'll round up to 3 stars) and the stiff drinks.

It kind of felt like I was hanging out in a garage at a Daly City house party and unfortunately the crowd was very similar.  The place was crawling with creepy overconfident losers and shirtless guys getting hyphy.  Toto, we're not in Vegas anymore!!

The self serve aspect of this place is always convenient, especially if you want to control the calories and the cost.  Plus you can load on as many toppings as your heart desires.  The yogurt is creamy, and cheaper than Yumi and Nubi - $0.35 an ounce.  

The odd thing is that they tax you when you decide to eat in.  I say save a few cents, take it to go and eat on the corner!  These are tough times, my friends.  Speaking of, there's also a tip jar, which I completely do not understand ... didn't I just serve myself?  On top of that, they request that you tip in cash, they won't accept credit card tips.  Pshh.

The floor is always sticky - probably caused by 'tweens and the bratty unsupervised children that seem to dominate the place whenever I visit.  Yet another reason to take your FroYo to go!

So I finally decided to do away with the frizzy mophead dipped in acid look and boy, did Sophie hook me up!  I honestly didn't think anyone could save my hair.  You should have seen it before.  People called me cousin It.  But now, sleek and layered.  I asked around and around for the bestest of the bestest in hair salons.  Who knew that there was a place right up the street in my neighborhood mall and for a mere $40 too.  I didn't even have to wait (Mondays through Thursdays are usually pretty slow, weekends can get packed).  Sophie was so cute and friendly, and really took extra steps to make sure my hair looked right...  5 stars!

5 stars for having a mechanical bull!

-1 star for having to pay $3 to ride it, I feel drunkenly volunteering your dignity in the name of public humiliation is payment enough

+.5 stars for giving you a discounted ($1) drink in exchange for said dignity

-2 stars for slow bartenders

+1 star for the presence of cute guys

So, that's 3.5 stars - but I'll round up simply because they played Britney's 'Womanizer'!  Party on!

I had dinner here two nights ago and I am STILL daydreaming about it.  

Sangria = good, fresh
Rotisserie chicken = crispy and delicious, comes with two sides and under $10?  Good ass deal
Yucca fries = perfection (the 3 dipping sauces they served alongside the fries were off the heeeezy)
Lomo Saltado = absolute heaven on my tongue.

The only thing that disappointed me was how small the portion of lomo saltado was for its price- well, I guess that's why they call it small plate - but I wanted mooooore.  A quarter star off of that.  The atmosphere was modern, yet warm and comfortable and the wait staff was incredibly friendly and attentive.  Couldn't have asked for more (except for more lomo saltado).  

I will definitely be back!

"Are you here all by yourself?"

"Ma'am, I'm eight years old. You think I would be here *alone*? I don't think so."

Dude.  This is the HOME ALONE grocery store.  Of course I'm giving it 5 stars.  Friendly staff and nice inexpensive cake selection (Home Alone!)

I don't know what the heck I was thinking, waiting 45 minutes in line for a damn cupcake.  When I first saw the crowd of oh ... 40-50 people in line, (most of them parties of 2 to 4),  I thought to myself, they're only cupcakes, stick em in a bag, count the cash, how long can this take?  10-15 minutes?  Okay.  Let me play Jewel Quest on my phone while I wait.  I was curious.

After 20 minutes I was still not anywhere near the door.  I was ready to jump ship but I guess I wanted my 20 minutes to be worth it so I stuck it out.  Once I FINALLY got inside after 40 minutes, I noticed the staff moved exceptionally slow.  There were about 7-8 staff members - 8 staff members serving 40 people CUPCAKES in 45 minutes?  Doesn't add up - at least in my book.  Don't get me wrong, they were very very friendly and smiled a lot, but hello, inefficiency.  I've seen lines move faster at Target on Black Friday!  Did they really need 5 minutes to pack up 4 cupcakes that were premade and staring them in the face?

Now, the cupcakes.  I'll admit they were very very good, you could tell this was some quality stuff.  I tried the red velvet, black & white and vanilla - the red velvet was awesome, the black & white delicious.  Unfortunately the vanilla seemed like something I could get pre-packaged at Safeway.  The best was mos def the red velvet, however, it failed to make my eyes roll to the back of my head.  In all, I'd probably have these cupcakes again, but only if I had clear sight of the entrance.

Lesson learned: miniature cakes the that will eventually escape the intestines after 3 hours is most definitely NOT worth 45 minutes in line.  That amount of time is reserved for the Finding Nemo ride at Disneyland, or Britney Spears tickets.

This was on my 'bucket list' - actually anything that Snoop Dogg is a fan of is on my bucket list.  

I walked in and the place was pretty packed, staff was quick and friendly despite that though.  I wanted the classic chicken and waffle experience so I ordered the Country Boy meal - 3 chicken wings and a waffle.  The chicken wings were DELICIOUS.  The waffle was delicious.  Together, I'm not quite sure.  I attacked the wings first, and tried a sampling of the waffle, then went back to the wings, and maybe it was psycological, but the mixture of savory/sweet wasn't something I was too fond of.  So I finished my wings and had the waffle for "dessert" lol.  And yes, both were very good.  Separately.

I don't know, maybe there is a fine art to the consumption of chicken and waffles?  I guess it's an acquired skill.

I will come back and try other goodies though, reading the reviews below it seems I missed out.