Nicolle J.'s Profile

I'm a Dallas girl, but occasionally I moonlight as a personal assistant for a bachelor who lives in Chicago.  Finding a maid for him has been a complete and total fiasco, from fly-by-night individuals who posted housekeeping ads on Craigslist but never showed up and stopped answering their phones, to an established cleaning company that locked my client's cats (plural) in the closet for 12 hours WITH the dirty laundry, resulting in angry cats and a pile of clothes that had to be thrown away.

Daisy Clean has been a welcome relief from all that nonsense.  They are professional, courteous, thorough, and easy to deal with.  They are also willing to clean out litter boxes, which is spectacular, and have never refused a special request.  I have always been able to get an appointment within 24 hours, even the first time, and I'm able to do business with them via email instead of over the phone.  This is purely a matter of personal preference, and they've been great over the phone when I've needed to call as well.

The only potential drawbacks I've noticed are:

1.  First-time customers are required to pay cash.
2. They don't accept credit cards, so subsequent payments need to be in the form of cash or check.  

Price-wise, they seem to be on par with other local cleaning companies.  Their website does list prices, which is a welcome relief from the really big-name companies who make you call them to get an estimate (and the estimate, in my experience, is usually really high despite the fact that their employees make very little money).  They are certainly more expensive than the lady who used to clean my house for $10 an hour, but my attempts to find a cheap, reliable, trustworthy individual sight-unseen in Chicago didn't exactly work out.

I have been dragged into SouperSalad a number of times, and though I enjoy salad a great deal, I've always found SouperSalad lacking.  I don't like their dressings, the cheese is reminiscent of "government cheese," the soups have that special MSG tang, and the atmosphere leaves something to be desired.

Everything that SouperSalad does wrong, Sweet Tomatoes does right.  Their salad bar is terrific.  I love the asian-style prepared salad.  They have every salad topping I could ever want with one exception - sliced hot peppers of some sort.  Jalapenos, banana peppers, pepperoncini... I don't care what kind, but SOME type of spice would be nice.  That is the only thing that keeps Sweet Tomatoes from being the be-all and end-all of salad bars, and it's not enough reason for me to deduct a star.

I love their variety of fresh, home-made soups.  The soup is NOT from a can or a dehydrated packet of gunk.  The chicken noodle soup has chunks of white meat floating in it that are easily half a chicken breast at times.  The noodles are thick and delicious, and remind me more of dumplings than noodles.  Their mushroom soup is phenomenal and the chili is really good as well.

I haven't tried the baked potatoes or pastas, but I have tried (and LOVED) the foccacia bread that is basically a cheese pizza cut into strips.  They also had a potato and leek foccacia for a while, but it seems like maybe that was a temporary thing.  In fact, all of the breads are delicious.

There is something really special about the ice cream.  I can't even put my finger on it.  But I've eaten a lot of buffet ice cream in my time and very few places even come close.  The strawberry lemonade, which has REAL strawberry and lemon juice, is also a treat in and of itself that most restaurants would sell by the glass (for about $3) instead of allowing free refills.

The greatest thing about Sweet Tomatoes, in my estimation, is not the quality food -- it's the "buy one, get one free" coupons that allow you to eat high quality, healthy food for LESS MONEY than crap food.  If you sign up for their email club (via the website), they'll send coupons once every week or two.  I would absolutely eat at Sweet Tomatoes without the coupon, but using it makes the meal cheaper than even SouperSalad, which is kind of the bargain-basement of salad places.

I happened into this shop with a friend, having driven by it at least a hundred times on my way to and from Arlington.  We were faintly curious about pricing for a birthday cake for her young daughter, though we figured it was a bit out of our price range.  We were correct -- Creme de la Creme has a price structure that is pretty standard for bakeries catering to special events but which is a bit pricey for celebrating a third birthday.

Even so, we were impressed by the photo samples provided by the owner, Jamie, and the life-size cake replicas.  They were beautiful!  The interior of the shop was quite pleasant and perfect for what I presume to be the usual customers of the shop: brides who are shopping for cakes.  The colors are pink and white, and there are several dainty table & chair sets arranged in the middle of the main room.

Early into our visit, we had spied the cupcakes stored behind glass near the cash register.  They were lovely and piled high with icing, but my friend and I were a little strapped for cash and knew we shouldn't spend the money.  It was another customer who convinced us to splurge.  She said they were the best cupcakes she had ever eaten.

She was right.  The cupcakes were absolutely incredible!  My friend and I both got chocolate cupcakes, which sell individually for $2 each.  The frosting was dark and delicious, but almost of a whipped consistency, which was quite different from a standard bakery's heavy chocolate buttercream.  The cake itself was dense, moist, and perfect in every way.  

I am a chocolate fiend, and until that day, I had never eaten a cupcake without craving a second (or third...).  My multiple-cupcake-eating days have ended, because one chocolate cupcake from Creme de la Creme can totally and completely satisfy my chocolate cravings.  

We have been back for cupcakes a couple of times since that first visit, but have been unable to bring ourselves to try the vanilla cupcake.  I am probably going to do that in the near future just for the sake of science, though it pains me a little to think about going there without getting a chocolate one.

Everything about this business speaks of top-notch baked goods and a true dedication to quality service, and if I were the marrying type, I know exactly where my cake would come from.  Jamie hosts monthly tasting sessions for those who are seriously cake-shopping, as well.