Lauren J.'s Profile

this is what happened:

me: I'm not sure what to get. A lot of it looks good
my friend stephen: the cheese ravioli melts in your mouth
me: that is impossible, right?
stephen: just try it

no lie. it is so incredibly delicious. i feel like i took 3 bites and the ravioli started disappearing. don't believe? i dare you to go try it.
their bruschetta app is amazing and we got a very good bottle of wine for $18.00. my ravioli was $11.95. Prices are comparable to Olive Garden, but the food is... worlds better.

Fabio is very helpful in recommending things. all in all this restaurant is fantastic.

This place is nowhere near where I live, which is sad. It is chill, clean, done well and the food looked delicious.
They have live music on Friday and Saturday nights and the blues band this past weekend was awesome.
There is a pool table and a lounge room to watch a TV away from the other big screens.
Check it out

yes please.
go eat here. for real.

reasons I love thee:
1. byob. $5 corkage fee
2. friendly staff and Juan the manager is fantastic
3. highly delicious dip and bread as apps
4. best margherita pizza ever
5. cheese ravioli is to-die-for
6. one time I couldn't decide what to get and our waiter had half portions of each put on my plate
7. byob

I do not typically eat out when at the lake because my grandmother is there, but she wasn't this time and we were lazy from an afternoon of wineries. We sat outside because the weather was terrible. Our waitress (sarah/lizzie) was fantastic. she recommended things and gave us her opinions. who doesn't love an opinionated and honest waitress?
I had a strawberry margarita (not that great, but not bad at all. i just have decently high rita standards). my entree was the tortilla chip encrusted tilapia with thai chile paste and mango salsa on top. man. it was seriously one of the best things I have ever eaten. I had it with a side of asparagus and cilantro pecan rice. those two sides on their own wouldn't be much to write home about, but they were ok. the others are my table order the mahi mahi, shiner bock braised short ribs over mushroom risotto and the chicken fried chicken. we all thought we won the best order of the night - and that is a good sign any day.
we then split a bread pudding. i am not a fan of bread pudding at all, but the other 3 were self-proclaimed bread pudding pros. this was voted top two anyone had ever had. it tasted a lot like a cinnamon roll, which i highly enjoyed.

long story not that short - we loved this place and will most definitely go back

I don't think I have ever given more than 1 star to a restaurant where bugs also were. but hey, it was not big deal at all.
we stopped here a few months ago for a late breakfast - their tacos are very good.
this past weekend we stopped for a late dinner on our way to the lake. I ordered the chicken fajitas. they were good. the pico de gallo was truly awesome. the four of us at the table are all super picky/critical eaters and we all left extremely happy. the snobbiest friend of all even said this would be his new stop on the way home from the lake. now THAT is a compliment.

I was surprised to see Fred's only has 3 stars. We came here on a recommendation from a supremely picky friend. he suggested the Baked Ziti and Chicken Parm. I am a lover of baked ziti so I was excited. Adam ordered the parm. I liked the baked ziti a lot, but compared to the chicken parm...... the chicken parm was truly one of the best meals I have ever stolen bites from. I will most definitely order this when we go back, no doubt. Our waiter was great - friendly, promt, etc. we were tempted to order dessert, but didn't have room.
I like the casual atmosphere. oh! and the bread was so good. and I forgot to mention how good their homemade salad dressing is. I think each entree comes with the salad and some bread. not too shabby if you ask me.

We bought a couples massage from Living Social. We did not have an experience like Christina J (thankfully), but it was not great. I had been looking forward to getting a massage for a few months. I had a lot riding on this massage, so that might have been why I was a bit disappointed.

The man at the front desk was friendly enough. He offered us tea, coffee, water. We also had to fill out a little sheet, but I am not even sure our masseuses saw our forms. I had a female masseuse and Adam had a male. My lady was probably at 30% of where I needed her. It just wasn't enough to really attack the knots and such. Adam on the other hand said he felt he got beat up. so maybe we should have switched.

long story short, I won't come back here unless it is free. I would just rather pay the same or even more and get a better massage.

the only time I have been here was for a wedding and it was truly great. seems like a great venue for a wedding.

their food was good, wine was awesome (although I am not sure if it was theirs, but I can only assume so..?). wedding coordinator was calm and collected. service was great, grounds are gorgeous.

when the girls were getting ready, a server brought us up some champagne and apps. they served a bruschetta thing with artichoke. hello! it was awesome.

the only thing that was a bit weird was the room the girls got ready in. (which obviously only applies to weddings, not just a night out). we were in a room where people would be eating later and the tables were already set. there were also windows where we could see down to the ceremony seating, but i think the bride still kept a low profile :)

all in all, great place. I would be very interested in eating here on a regular night.

attention: if you love croissants, go here and go here immediately.

they make the croissants there and they are soooo yummy. get this, they even make their french toast on croissants (why i have never thought to put these two favorites together?) it is genius.

Adam O and I split the french toast and huevos rancheros. I love their take on the huevos rancheros. it is served on crispy flat tortillas so they dont get soggy, black beans, picante, eggs, cheese, and probably some other delicious things. also, their potatoes are unique. our table spent a good 15 minutes trying to figure out the secret ingredient. our waiter told us and dared us to try it at home b/c no one gets it right. oh well, guess we will just have to go back.

I also love chocolate croissants so I asked if they served those. waiter's response: bring in whatever chocolate you want and I will make you. uhhhhh OK! so we will definitely be going back for that.

I am not a coffee drinker, but we heard their coffee is just ok, which is weird having a name like java java, but i dont care.

the owner also rotates local art, so that is neat.

make me bandwagon fan with review #182.

how has it taken me 27 years to eat here? I love it. I had the tostadas and fresh oj. sitting outside reminded us of a bfast place we love in San Fran, so that was nice. Our waiter was great. the food was so delicious and the atmosphere was chill. what is not to love?

I am excited to go back.