Curt G.'s Profile

My wife and I visited Tune-Up Cafe during a weekend getaway to Santa Fe last month. We ate here the night we arrived, after a long drive from Phoenix. The meal ended up being one of the highlights of our trip. Getting a table at 7 on a Friday evening required some patience, but the place was considerably quieter by the time we left, around 9 or so. The atmosphere was cozy, the wait staff were friendly and attentive, and the food was delicious. I had the Mole Colorado Enchiladas; my wife had the Chile Relleno. We were both impressed.

Tune-Up Cafe is an excellent overall value, but I would disagree with reviewers who put this restaurant in the cheap category. You'd be hard pressed to get out with a dinner entree and beverage for under $10 per person, especially with tax and tip, but $15 is possible, putting it in the moderate category.

Back Road Pizza was a real disappointment. My wife and I tried this place during a weekend getaway last month. This restaurant convinced me Santa Fe has no health department. As if the bathroom wasn't disgusting enough to shut the place down, our stomachs turned as we watched the girl preparing our food eat her own dinner, right over the food she was making. Unfortunately we were able to see all this from the one table in the dining room that had actually been bussed, which we had to wipe down with napkins.

Regrettably, the food didn't make up for the lack of sanitation. A chef friend once told me that if you ever find pizza with corn meal on it, you've been ripped off. Well, the pizza we got was absolutely swimming in corn meal, so much so that it was almost the only discernible taste. I've never seen so much corn meal on pizza since my high school cafeteria twenty years ago. They could have dusted three more pizzas with the pile left on our tray.

I do agree with one statement made by an earlier reviewer who awarded four more stars than I did: The beer was good.

My wife and I had a late breakfast at Scramble earlier this morning. We live nearby and passed by it countless times, but this was our first time stopping in. The first surprise was the restaurant does not offer traditional waiter service. You order and pay when you arrive, and the food is brought to your table when it's ready. Technically speaking, it's fast food. Our food arrived promptly, and my wife's initial reaction was her omelet was the best she ever had. The potatoes that came with my biscuits and sausage gravy were delightful. However, the biscuits themselves were just okay, and the sausage gravy was merely so-so. The contemporary atmosphere was mostly pleasant, although the numerous televisions were a distraction. The place is definitely not cheap. With one breakfast entree and one beverage each, we paid about $22 for the two of us. It might be good for an occasional splurge with out-of-town guests, but it certainly won't become a regular breakfast joint.

I just ate here last night. The wings were good, but at most other places there are twelve wings in a dozen, occasionally fourteen or more. On our visit to Long Wong's, we received ten. My wife brought the shortage to the attention of the server, who did bring us out two more wings after we'd finished everything else we ordered. The pizza was nothing I'd want to ever eat again. The sports bar ambiance was convivial, but I probably won't be back.

My wife and I were visiting from Phoenix last weekend and we found this place on Yelp. We split a No. 19 and a large order of fries. The sandwich was absolutely delightful and was big enough for two average adults to share, no problem. My wife loves rye bread, and although I'm not a big fan, the bread here won me over. The meat was wonderful, and there was just the right amount of cheese, cole slaw, and dressing. Service was good and cheerful, and we had a booth overlooking lovely MacArthur Park! The neighborhood isn't pleasant, but it is lively during the day, so we didn't feel particularly unsafe. We walked there from our nearby hotel, so we can't speak for the parking situation. I marked this as moderate for price, but if you split a sandwich and a small order of fries, two folks could easily get out of there for under $20, putting it in the cheap category.