Jeff W.'s Profile

This is easily the worst hotel I've ever stayed in. It really seems like it should be illegal to charge how much they charge for a place in such a state of disrepair, and not even that conveniently located.  I don't think I'm particularly picky with hotels; I just want clean, safe, and quiet. But "Quality" suites seemed like more of a sketchy place you'd rent by the hour to conduct a drug deal or perform other illicit activity and then leave, not to actually sleep in.

The condition of the room was absolutely awful. It smelled horribly like rotting garbage, and despite emptying the majority of a bottle of Febreze it still smelled terrible. Nearly everything in the room looked like it had been brought in during the 70's, and then left for the next 40 years. Again, I was shocked that they could charge this much for how poorly maintained it was.

Upon check-in we were excited to discover the complimentary shuttle. I was thinking that this might be the saving grace of the hotel and justify both the cost and the stench. We booked 2 spots on the shuttle to take us to Heinz field the next morning and were told to go to a specified pickup place to get the shuttle back and that they would be running pickups every 30 minutes up to 3 hours after the game. If there was no shuttle, then we were told to just call and ask to be picked up. Ok, sounds great. We go to our game, walk around the city a bit, and then only 2 hours after the game went to the designated pickup spot. We waited for a few minutes and I decided to call, just to check on the status of the shuttle. We're told the driver was just leaving and that he would be there in 20 minutes. 45 minutes later, still no shuttle. I decided to call and check in again. I'm now told that the shuttle has a load of people to take to the Penguins game and that he can get me in an hour. Unacceptable. This could've been their saving grace, but ended up being just as bad.

I will never ever stay here again and highly recommend looking elsewhere for your lodging needs anywhere around Pittsburgh. There is not one redeeming quality about this scam of a place.

4.5 stars

I hate myself for taking so long to check out Pure Pasty but I finally put forth the effort to find it, and it was well worth it! It is located down an alley that goes between Church and Maple, though it's address is listed Church St. There is a sizable parking area by the alley so there's no need to fight for parking on Church.

Pure Pasty makes handmade meat pies, not unlike the empenadas at Julia's in DC, only substantially better, in my opinion. They appear to have a pretty consistent menu, with a seasonal special. I went twice this weekend and both times the special was a Guiness and Beef pot pie. The selections I've had are the Moroccan Lamb, Cornish Masala, Chicken Provencal, and the pumpkin pie pasty. All the meat pasties were sizable, though a little expensive at $6 each ($3 for dessert). I would need a little more food than that for a meal, and while they do offer a selection of soups and dessert pasties, I might be hesitant to come here for a full meal. There are a few tables and stools, but most of the space is taken up by the massive pasty assembly line they have. One of my visits featured 5 people handrolling all of the pies, which was great to see how fresh they are!

To me, the most notable aspect of the pasties are the dough. Buttery, flaky outside but chewy body, and so delicious. They are filled substantially with a fantastic combo of meats, fresh veggies, and spices, many of them having indian flavors. They are just all around delicious and fresh tasting. There are also a variety of British imports like sauces, candies, and snacks sold here.

I'll be coming to Pure Pasty a lot more, but mostly for snacks or as a unique place to take out of towners. The food is delicious but $6 can get a bit steep, especially if you add on a dessert and/or drink and still leave slightly hungry.

I've been to Medieval madness 5 times (3 sir!), sorry... 3 times, and the third time was just as good as the first over a year ago, if not better. Your level of enjoyment will likely depend on how seriously you take yourself, and what you expect. If you can act silly, get into character, have no qualms about shouting out at random times during the performance, or singing along with the wenches then you will likely enjoy yourself. The actors feed off the audience so if the audience is into it, they are into it even more and get more into the improv aspect of it. My last show was for the premier of their most recent script (the script changes every 6 months or so) and they specifically suggest that only guests who have been previously come, since it's essentially a dress rehearsal for them. Since we were a mostly veteran audience, everyone knew what to expect and was really involved. Overall, a great time.

Since things have changed a bit since my first visit back in September of 2010, here are some details of my most recent experience. The "endless ale" is no longer an option. They give you three gold coins to trade in for a refilled mug of ale. You get one initial mug with dinner which costs you no coins. So overall, you could have as much as 4 mugs of ale, which really is a lot, especially if you partake in supplementary beverages like mead, blueberry beer, or the special warm spiced wine we had for the holidays. Plus, if you're like our group, not everyone is a drinker, or can drink 4 mugs of ale, so just split up the coins amidst your group. The amount of drink you get is not an issue at all.

For food, you start with nuts, berries, and bread on the table. There are also bowls of butter, pear sauce, jam, and mustard for you to use freely. The menu changes slightly from show to show but this past time we had cheese or spinach ravioli, which honestly mostly exist to act as a starchy filler, or food for anyone that doesn't want meat. Next came the leg of beast, which has previously been a big slab of roast beef that you carve up yourself and distribute to everyone, but this time was a type of steak. It's tenderness/doneness will vary from table to table but whatever; if it's dry just slap some mustard or pear sauce on it. The mustard sauce is crazily addictive by the way. In addition to the leg come sausages which for whatever reason are crazily addictive as well. Dip them in mustard and groan with delight as you plow through them. After that came rosemary chicken, which is great if you drizzle on some pear sauce. Then came the cinnamon carrots and finally some crumb cake. I've had different desserts each time, so that will likely vary. While the beef quality has varied, I've always loved the carrots, sausage, and chicken so as long as they have those items and plenty of mustard sauce, I'm more than pleased with the food.

The base ticket price of $59 is a bit high, but it's easy to find a deal somewhere, be it Groupon, LivingSocial, or ScoutMob. I've used all three during my 5 (3 sir!...sorry, 3 visits to Medieval Madness so I have consistently gone for around $30. For that price, 4 or more beers, a multi-course feast, and a fun show is a great value and I will happily return, even if some elements are recycled and reused for all the shows. Highly recommend to go with a decent sized group!

The first and only time I've ever thrown away frozen dairy. The yogurt here is SO sweet and ridiculously...fluffy. There is so much air in the yogurt it just tasted and felt disgusting. I actually exclaimed when I tried the first spoonful. My girlfriend thought I was overreacting and gave it a try too. She exclaimed in disgust as well.

For anyone interested, this is not the tart froyo variety; it's more like TCBY. But after my first taste of it I have no desire to ever return.

I've had two extraordinarily poor experiences here so I feel just in giving Mango Mike's 1 star. The first time, we saw our waiter exactly one time: to take our order. Someone else brought our food and then that was it. No one ever came to check on us, or refill drinks, or give us our check. We waited for at least 30 minutes after eating and then finally just plopped some money down and left. That is the first and only time I've ever had to do that.

The second time I ordered a drink which their menu stated was $6.95. Once we got our bill my drink was listed as $11. I brought it to our waiters' attention and he very politely said he would check on it. He came back and said that his manager wouldn't change the price because the drink is $11. I laughed, showed him the menu and said "well your menu seems to feel it's $6.95". After some back and forth he asked me if I wanted to speak with a manager and I said yes. Finally the manager comes out, very angrily presents me with an updated receipt and says "We'll make the change this one time but don't come back expecting us to do it again! This is an $11 drink; always has been."

I wasn't trying to pull a fast one, but I was treated as if I was manipulating the system, like someone who shows up to happy hour for some free food but doesn't drink anything but water. I'm in Bethany every year and I will never ever come back here, even if the view is good.

I had high hopes when walking into Cafe Rio. There was a long line, tortillas were being made by hand, and I saw fresh ingredients being prepared. As I waited in that long line though, I realized the the length was due to the exceptionally slow food prep, not because people were lining up early to get their fix of amazing food. And once I got my food, it most definitely was not amazing, but just average.

As others have stated, it's not unlike Chipotle where you order a meat (I got pulled chicken) and a format (burrito, taco, salad, etc). You have your choice of beans (black, pinto) and salsa (hot, medium, mild). You can also request to have it made "Rio style", which I think just means the burrito is covered in salsa and cheese, and then run through a conveyor belt oven. Having a heated up and smothered burrito is a nice change from the typical burritos at Chipotle/Qdoba/et al. It's sort of like Chipotle meats Quiznos. The first impression though after taking my first bite was how crazy sweet it was. My GF even noted the same thing of her barbacoa. I'm not sure if it was the meat or the salsa, but it just tasted in-your-face sweet, and not spicy or seasoned at all.

Cafe Rio offers enough of a change of pace from the usual burrito places that I would not resist coming back to try something else, but my first impression was entirely average. I do like the variety of drinks they offer like various limeades and iced teas, and I especially love the ice pellets!

I've been twice and both times were vastly different experiences. My first time was great. I immediately fell in love with the green salsa, my taco trio was full of juicy and delicious meats (lengua, al pastor, carne asada, and the service was quick an efficient. My second time, the tacos were exceptionally dry, tasted unfresh, and it took forever for a waitress to come out and take our order. If I'm in the area, I will happily stop by for a snack, but it's inconsistencies make me doubt if it's really worth going too far out of your way. I've had both a 4.5 star experience and a 2 star experience here, so I'll average that out to be an overall 3.

I really am not the target demographic for Pink and Brown as I do not have a child and do not care if something is organic, but this store helped me give two gifts that were much adored by the receivers, so that is worth 5 stars to me!

I went in looking for a baptism gift for my goddaughter and a birthday gift for my 3 year old niece. As soon as I entered I was visibly lost and perplexed as I have no idea what kids like; I guess metal Tonka Trucks are not organic enough for today's youth. The friendly saleswoman asked me what I was looking for and I just told her about the two gifts I needed and she immediately steered me towards the area of stuffed toys. They all had this beautiful handmade look and I knew they would loved by my niece. She also helped me find a great keepsake gift for the baptism.

The items were a touch expensive, but judging by the reactions I got from my niece and my sister-in-law, on behalf of my infantile goddaughter, it was well worth it. I think Pink and Brown will be my goto boutique for all my non-tetanus inducing gifts!

While good, I was really disappointed in Sarabeth's. After reading the universally glowing reviews I was expecting to be blown away, and by the setting I was, but by the food I was not.

Sarabeth's has a fantastic feel to it, set in a beautiful typical Key West house with huge porches. We sat outside on one of the porches and coupled with a beautiful day it was the perfect setting for brunch. The menu has some mostly standard fare on it so I was expecting perfect execution. I ordered one of the omlettes, my mom got french toast, and I forget what my stepdad got. Everything came out perfectly fine, but that was it. It was generally underwhelming and tasted like anything I could get at any other breakfast place.

I wouldn't take my word as gospel, as surely something here must keep everyone from coming back. Perhaps I ordered wrong or caught the staff in a moment of weakness. I would likely return just because it's such a nice place, but next time I'll lower my expectations.

Colombian Grace was perhaps my favorite restaurant that I visited while in Key West. I was really excited to find a Colombian restaurant, especially one tucked away off the beaten path. There was hardly anyone here when we arrived for brunch so it was nice to escape the masses for a little while.

Though it is casual, Colombian Grace aims to be slightly finer dining so the prices can be a touch high. But I happily paid those prices after getting such good food and friendly service. My mom got a mango juice which was absolutely delicious. We had to get two after we all took turns sipping from it. This is not just mango juice from a store poured in a glass, they actually prepare it from scratch and it is amazing. They have a whole juice menu with similarly prepared drinks.

For food, I ordered the Calentado which was a delicious mix of rice and beans with fried eggs, potatoes, and plantains along with shredded beef. Absolutely delicious. My mom ordered the Grace which is their take on a common Colombian breakfast dish called Perrico con Huevoes, which my mom has always been a fan of.

It's too expensive to be a regular destination, but if in Key West I highly recommend coming here if you want some unique flavors in a cozy environment. The juice menu alone is almost worth the trip.