Brian R.'s Profile

When I heard there was a place that serves fresh crawfish by the bucket I immediately told my Texas raised girlfriend and a date was made. Our little drive from Burbank ended with the sight of a mob of people outside of the restaurant. Trying to find a parking spot was a pain, and when we finally did we were told the wait time was 2 1/2 hours. UGH. Actually the wait time was longer then the restaurant would be open.

So we walked back to the car, heads down, disappointed.

The following morning we had the idea to wake up early, drive back to Alhambra for an early lunch.. there couldn't be a wait, we will beat everyone!

WRONG. Even worse, a mob of people were there before they were even open. We got there 10 mins after the doors opened, 3 HOUR WAIT.

We decided to wait, we got in our car tried to find a store to kill some time in (which proved difficult).  Several hours later we returned and got our table.

Believe it or not, all this trouble for some crayfish was worth it.

King Crab Legs ($17 pound) - Garlic Shrimp ($9 pound) - CrawFish ($8 pound) all thrown on to your table in huge bags filled with butter and seasoning.. DROOL.

This was the best shellfish I have ever had. This was some the cheapest and freshest shellfish I ever had. This was perfect.

I recommend the Shrimp, I thought the crawfish (first time having it) was too much work/not enough meat, and the King Crab legs were HUGE and amazing. I was told during the afternoons on weekdays is the time to come for no wait.

Come here, dont wear anything nice or bring a first date this place is messy. You will leave this place needing a shower.

I felt like Britney Spears jogging shorts leaving this place.
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CONS:

- 1 star because with wait times over 1 hour, you as an establishment should do something.. reservations, or move your location ASAP. The no parking is also a huge problem.

PROS

Fresh, Cheap, Unique and some of the best shellfish I have ever had.

For some reason Red Lobster is hard to come by in Los Angeles. We decided to take the drive (17 miles), wait 30 mins for a table, and chow down on some delicious food.

Well the was the game plan.

I was starving, I need to eat quick. When we sat down out waiter told us it was his second day (doh!) but he seemed nice.

We order a Bowl of soup and a appetizer of shrimp scampi. The waiter takes off and doesn't return for 15 mins. We were kinda annoyed since we wanted to put our dinner order in so we didnt have to wait long to eat.

My soup was room temperature. I didnt care much, I just needed food. 30 mins go by, my girl didn't get her small salad yet so we had to flag our waiter down. He brought her salad, with no cheese, and the salad overall just did not look right, as if it was old.  The biscuits were old and hard and not the buttery goodness that I remembered from the past.

Finally after about 45 mins we get our food. My girlfriends food was fine. Mine on the other hand.. was disturbing.

I ordered the "Ultimate Feast" but my plate was missing 1/2 the food. I had one friend shrimp instead of several, no butter, my cold & rubbery crab legs were all separated as if they had already been pulled apart, and scattered all over the plate and my scampi looked like it was 1/2 gone.

I have worked in many restaurants and I can tell you what this was.

It was either a plate that someone else returned and they put it in the kitchen and was accidentally sent back out OR it had been sitting in the window too long and the other servers thought it was "dead" so they all started nibbling on it .

The whole plate was a mess, and it was like the soup, cold. I immediately felt my appetite fly out the window. I flagged the waiter down, and showed him, and he took it away and returned 10 mins later with "all new food".

Well that was a lie.

These were the same old snow crab legs, same scampi with a few more shrimp and a pile of new hot butter on it. A few more fried shrimps and the lobster tail was nuked in the microwave and was now like a pile of rubber.

I felt sick to my stomach. I asked for a manager she was nice and offered anything I wanted, took care of the check, offered dessert, but the only thing I wanted was to get out of there.

I never got to eat, I felt nauseous and I wasted about 2 hours of my time.  I left his location thinking this place has alot of problems. The management and staff did seem nice, but just observing the place while I was there I found so many problems. Waiters leaving old trays of food everywhere, the carpet was a mess, and I just felt like this was some dirty version of Red Lobster.

ugh.

So I've become a little bit addicted to this place. It reminds me of a midwest bar, like a BW3's with more beer and more food. They have an insane amount of beer here on draft, and in bottle. The prices (especially during happy hour) are very un-los angeles (cheap). They have a menu with pretty much anything you can imagine, and its not that bad.

I have had the wings (spicy and good) the "Empire" a club sandwich with roast beef (HUGE!) and a chicken salad melt (meh). The food for the most part, especially considering the selection is above average. This is more of a place to drink and watch the games on one of the million tv's.

I have been here during happy hour, dinner, and late night. Its packed all the time, so service is spotty. I have had a black and tan with too much tan, and a beer that was warm as if it was sitting out from a previous mistake, so im guessing the bartenders are also slammed as quantity seems to beat out quality. This place isnt hurting for business so it would be nice if they hired some more waiters or food/drink runners to help out with the Burbank Mob.

Even with its flaws, mostly due from being too popular, I like this place. Tangerine Wheat beer, sitting on the patio, and some 1/2 priced wings during happy hour. Ahhh..

I love food that is made and sold by people that have dirty feet and like Phish. BUT, as my experience with most Trader Joes, this location is too crowded, and too small. EVERYTIME I come here I get frustrated by the amount of people that you have to juggle around just to get some Organic Pesto Soap or Chocolate Covered Arabian Hacky Sacks. Even the parking lot is a annoying. There has been a few occasions of purchases that had been expired. Im sure I could have easily returned the items but having to deal with "the experience" just to get a few bucks back never has been worth it.

Most of the food is delicious, the staff has always had the best weed, and $2 bottles of wine make great gifts for blind friends.

If I was to do mushrooms with the owner of Trader Joes I would tell him to make their locations bigger and that his face was melting.

So I never really got my car washed in the past. I always had cars that a gas station car wash was fine by me. I have been here twice, with two different cars.
Both times they did just an OK job. They were sloppy inside, as you could see where they wiped and didnt wipe. Even left some lint from their rags BOTH time on my dash. Outside of the car was fine, and both times they did a better then average job.

While I think there is defiantly better, for $10 -$15/week I think its safe to go here. If they dont hit every spot this week, next week they will hit it.  It has taken me an average of 15-20 mins to wait, both times in the afternoon on a weekday.

Their weakness seem to be interior. So if you are trying to clean up a murder/suicide I would look elsewhere.

SO I have been to almost every major dealer in Socal in the last year looking at cars for me and jk. The one thing I have noticed about car dealers here compared to ones in Ohio is attitude. Car salesmen out here all pretty much act like jerks, and deals are hard to come by. You would think with the economy that dealers would want to sell cars with huge deals. But that doesnt seem like the case. Actually it seems that salesmen are not selling enough cars so the ones they do sell they want to make the most money from. So dealers are not getting shipments of cars in, and salesmen are trying to sell what few cars they have at prices that suck.

Thats what I have found from shopping the last few months.

In Ohio, or maybe it was just the old economy you always paid WAY below the msrp, and dealers invoice. You were treated with respect and everyone was nice. The deals made you buy, and you always left the dealer thinking you had won.

Well every "deal" I got out here seemed more like a slow screw.

So I narrowed down the car I wanted to a Ford Edge. Rusnak had a used one with only 7k miles on it they acquired during a trade in.  So a high end car dealer with a Ford on their lot.  A 2008 model, fully loaded. The price of the car was about $10K less then what it should have been. I actually had been approved at a different dealer for a NEW 2008 Ford Edge, NOT fully loaded, and not AWD for about $12K more.

My salesman was very nice. The loan officer seemed like a scam artist that switched numbers around and blew up on me with some attitude. He seemed like a prick, and I almost left the car dealer because I felt like he was trying to screw me. I swear he changed the % rate that I was approved at, and he talked down to me like I was a child when I questioned it. (- 1 star)

The GM Haitham Fakhoury sat me aside and assured me I was getting a good deal (which I knew) and fixed the mess the loan officer had made.

In the end I got an AMAZING deal, and only got a few bruises. While I cant review the purchase of a new car here, I would defiantly check out their used cars. Also keep an eye open at what you're signing, and the loan officers tricks. Including an extended warranty that covers everything but you have to pay the first $100 every time.

Gave this place another chance, it was a Friday night and it was again packed. I always felt like I was in the way of people walking, until I stole a chair from a small woman that went to the restroom. Then this bar magically turned into a great place to people watch and the drinks went down fast.

I might have been too harsh before, while it was packed to the rim again this time, I actually had fun, and I did manage to grab a table. The bartenders were quick to serve me this time around also. I think the front bar is the way to go.

I will keep this bar on the menu.

Strong Margaretta, but typical Los Angeles Mexican food, and an eviroment that's as stale as the decor. Nothing great going on here.. the chips were still sizzling with oil, and the plates look like a blob of cheese and beans all mixed together.

Overall just mediocre with strong Margaretta's, maybe come here on a Monday for their specials.

Why cant Mexican food be different then all the others?

Oh Pei Wei.. why couldn't you be closer to me. At least in the same state! Every time I visit home, this is one place that I grab lunch at. It pretty much is a fast food version of P.F. Changs (owned by the same company). Their food is fast, delicious, and well priced. I love the crab wonton's. They have a pretty decent menu, with good light options, and the lights are set to dim. Why dont more places have dim lighting.. usually the faster the food the brighter the lights. But not Pei Wei, you will want to cuddle up and take a nap after eating here.

Anyways, if you like P.F. Changs,  you'll love this place. Great for takeout also.

Do you enjoy walls made out of brown wood from the 70's? Do you like bars stocked to the gills with Sutter Home Wine? If you answered yes to those two questions then im sure you also like 27" TV's, Ms Pac Man, and some of the best pizza in Los Angeles.

I love this place. While the atmosphere is depressing, and the parking is down right silly.. the food is worth it. Get a pizza, ask for thick crust, and prepare yourself for a treat. I love their garlic, mushroom, peperoni combo with a pitcher of Beer.

Their parking lot is a deathtrap, while I have always found a spot, be careful pulling out. They are open crazy late, so come here after some drinks and you'll be addicted.

Tell the waitress 1972 sent you... she wont have any idea what your talking about, but the decor will.