rebecca f.'s Profile

two words: Heather Rae

Heather Rae has cut my hair twice, and both times i had an amazing experience.  she's super sweet and funky, and very in-tune to being sure she understands her clients needs.  she asked me several questions about my routine, what i'm looking for, what i'm willing to put up with etc. and after my cut, i was amazed!  previously i'd been going to the same stylist for 10 years and thought she was great - but Heather Rae beat her hands down. i would recommend Heather Rae to anyone!

the scene: sunday around 1:30PM.  sat upstairs (immediately) with 4 other tables.  approx 1/3 tables full.  translation: not busy!

we quickly informed our server that we were on a mission to conquer some hangovers, and were starving.  we ordered drinks (juice and iced tea) and waited for her to come back for orders.  and waited.  she finally returned 20m later and took our orders - 2 huevos rancheros, one omelet, and a flight of pancakes to share at the table.  and we waited some more.  the food took 45 minutes to arrive, with several excuses, "the kitchen is screwed up.  i'm sorry," and, "yeah i dont know what's going on.  i'm sure it will be soon.  and, i'm sorry, there are no refills on tea - would you like to buy another one?"  in the meantime, all other tables had gotten their orders, and several had already left.  when the food finally arrived - we marveled at the simplicity of it and couldn't understand what took so long!  our pancakes still hadn't arrived after we were 1/2 done with brunch, so we flagged down our server to cancel them. "oh, you dont want them?  i'm sure they'll be right out."  shocker, no we dont want them.  she brought them anyway and said we did not have to pay for them, and instead we boxed them up for our friend to take home.  

overall it was a pretty frustrating brunch experience.  the food was average, but i would say the service is def better at the other Orange locations. definitely not worth the wait.

fantastic place!  an awesomely friendly woman helped us pick out wines from their extensive list, while the unpretentious atmosphere warmed us up.  enjoy!

the wine list was excellent ... the atmosphere - modern and sophisticated ... the sommelier - totally arrogant.  my friend and i stopped in late on a friday for a glass of wine to top off the evening.  after ignoring us for 10 mins, the well dressed man behind the bar proceeded to serve up a flippant response to my friend's wine question without a hint of respect.  thank you for not even bothering to care about educating your patrons.  hopefully he was just having a bad night, but i wont be back to find out!

a group of four of us checked out Aria for restaurant week, and were underwhelmed.  the bar was bustling and full, but the restaurant was virtually deserted (we were one of 2 tables during our seating) and we were sat directly next to the door and hostess stand.  it felt VERY odd.  in the end i was wondering if they sat us there to make the restaurant look more full those those walking up?  

our server, who's name escapes me, was really nice and excellent at answering our few questions.  

i had the mushroom soup (good, but a little salty) chicken and shrimp pad thai (average) and sorbet (fine).  overall, everything was okay but not _wow_.  i'm hoping this  was b/c of restaurant week, and perhaps on a usual night things would be more lively.

if i could give this place a 2.5, i would!  

hostess and pre-dinner cocktails in the bar downstairs - ***** (5 stars)
the lounge was comfortable and the cocktails very nice. our hostess and cocktail waitress were excellent and very accommodating.

dinner and dinner staff - ** stars
we had the hamachi guac and sushi rolls to start - decent sushi and the hamachi was excellent.  the server was patient with us as we paced ourselves and took some time to decide on our entrees.  turns out, no sea-bass available, so we ended up getting 4 orders of black cod, roast chicken, and 2 filets.  the chicken and cod were decent, although slightly over seasoned.  

the steaks were a comedy of errors.  one filet showed up, and then a porterhouse ... which was not ordered ... was placed in front of the most petite woman at the table.  when we sent it back, and our waiter came back and tried to convince us to keep it saying it would take 13-15 minutes to cook another filet, and really the porterhouse was a better steak (which of course, is relative). we caved b/c we didn't want to wait for the second filet, but, the porterhouse was so massive, more fatty than we preferred, and cooked rare (we were looking for med rare) that it was hardly touched.  to be honest it was almost offensive to look at.  

to make up for the mistake, our waiter brought us two of the same dessert instead of just the one we ordered.  ok, if we wanted two, for seven people, we would have just ordered a second one.  seemed sort of wasteful to most of us at the table.  the both deserts were less than 1/4 consumed.

when the bill came, we were surprised to see that we were charged for both the steaks (market price of course) and the dessert.  i'm not sure what i expected, but perhaps more of a peace offering considering we just dropped $700 would have been nice.  

i'm not sure that i would recommend this place for dinner, but i would maybe just recommend the cocktails and lounge downstairs.  or, perhaps give it more time to work out the service ...

i went to rebar after work yesterday (a monday) and the experience was terrible.  we waited 15 minutes for service at a table, after i even asked if we should order at the bar.  we finally got cocktail menus and waited another 15 minutes for someone to take our order.  when the drinks didn't arrive  20 minutes later, i had to ask for them.  2 of the drinks were sent back b/c they were made incorrectly, and the replacements never showed after 20 minutes.  we left paltry cash on the table and left.  

i hope this pathetic experience was only b/c they're new, and not b/c they dont care.

i wont be back.  if this is what it's like on a monday at 6PM, what happens on saturday nights?!

had a nice birthday dinner upstairs at this hidden gem last night.  12 good friends enjoying a nice meal, family style.  food was excellent, and robert, our server accommodated our needs fairly well.   enjoy!

delcious ... without a doubt.  our waiter, Nathan, was tremendous with his recommendations as well as welcoming banter.  we had some delicious grilled vegetables to start, and this amazing pasta - homemade ravioli-type stuffed with fragrant lobster and finished with a tomato cream sauce with fresh peas.  god ... i literally almost licked the bowl.  a refreshing change from the other scenester places in the hood ...

i've been going to dr. caldwell's office for a few years now, and i've always found her treatment, approach, and "chairside manner" to be professional, comforting, and on par with my expectations.  i've never been disappointed with any of my treatments, or the amount i had to pay!