Recent Reviews

92 Reviews

Filter by: Location   Category
158 W 23rd St
New York, NY 10011
(212) 620-9131

Monster Sushi  

Categories: Sushi Bars, Japanese, Korean
Neighborhood: Chelsea

5.0 star rating
Update - 5/9/2012
For some reason, when I first looked up sushi places that deliver by our hotel (Wyndham Chelsea) it only showed 4 places. The concierge told us about Monster and thank heavens. They were open, they deliver! We ordered a ton of sashimi and the salmon was like BUTTAH. I ordered the white tuna-- that was not WHITE by any means but it was still good. Miso soup- HUGE portion, seaweed salad as well. I did the Monster roll and one other one -- only thing I didn't like is that they use the fake crab. To me, that's a #FAIL. But other than that-- fast delivery, great food, nice presentation. Total score.

Was this review …?

1 Previous Review: Hide »

  • 4.0 star rating
    4/5/2011

    What a nice discovery. I arrived in NYC and was a wee bit disappointed to see that my hotel (which I LOVE) didn't have room service available until dinner. I hadn't eaten since 5am and was really hungry upon checking in around 2pm, so I came here to Yelp to find a sushi delivery place that was rated well. Monster looked good and I placed my order. They delivered to my hotel in about 20 minutes, so very prompt delivery. I ordered: Lobster Roll, Godzilla Roll and Unbelievable Roll at the suggestion of the woman on the phone. I will say this- their portions are huge!!! (not complaining, but I certainly had way too much for me, and I love sushi!) The Lobster Roll is real lobster and is very tasty- a bit too mayo-saucy for my tastes, but then again, I'm learning when I get sushi now to make sure I order one roll with a sauce, and ideally the rest with just the fish- otherwise you can't distinguish the tastes outside of the sauces. Just my personal preference now. The Unbelievable roll is VERY GOOD- eel and avocado inside with spicy tuna on top. Again- a VERY BIG ROLL with like 8 pieces. The Godzilla Roll I think was my favorite, perhaps because of the simplicity. (This is not to say the other rolls were bad tasting in ANY WAY....I guess I'm sharing from experience to not order more than one roll with a lot of  sauces or you can feel like you are trying 3 kinds of tuna salad, do you know what I mean?) It is a roll with avocado on the top and spicy tuna inside- but mind you, this is NOT the chopped up spicy tuna you might be used to with a lot of sauce-- it reminded me of this one sushi place in Chicago that does a special spicy tuna and what you mostly taste is the tuna, with that hint of spicy-ness that comes from whatever, but not from a huge dose of mayo.
    I also ordered some hot green tea- excellent. Overall- I'll definitely order from here again and yet, order a lot less each time. Great value and good quality!

    Was this review …?

37 West 24th Street
New York City, NY 10010
(212) 243-0800

Wyndham Garden Manhattan Chelsea  

Category: Hotels
Neighborhood: Flatiron

2.0 star rating
5/9/2012
This has been a really odd experience at this hotel. We are staying here for an event and this was the host hotel. When I looked it up online, the pictures had me thinking it would be a really NICE hotel. I'd say upon arrival it impressed more as an average hotel. VERY VERY small check-in/lobby area with one big table and a snack bar with like waters, KIND bars and such.. The staff is indeed very friendly and professional. Check-in was fine-- got to the room and -- typical for NYC rooms, it's not roomy. ;-) The bed is amazing and soo comfortable. The bathrooms have only a shower which is my first strike against the property. I hate taking showers and prefer baths. Secondly, the towels are those cheap rough towels that you get at a gym-- in stark contrast to the fluffy heavenly bed. Very disappointing. No bottle of water for the guest in the room or mini-bar. Not a deal breaker, but a simple bottle of water, especially when the hotel has such bad smelling/tasting running water, it would be nice. Tried to order room service for breakfast this morning-- the phone rang about 50 times and when they picked up they said, "can you call back in 10 minutes, the cook didn't show up yet", so I call again and they said that same thing! Ended up having to order from a delivery place (Teri's NYC which is awesome) for breakfast. The staff is great-- they come to your room to check that all is ok. Also the hotel gym is horrible. HORRIBLE. Major bummer- bring your resistance bands for the room! ;-) Lastly they provide free Wi-Fi. Problem- it is slower than dial-up. I'd rather have a hotel only offer paid internet and HAVE IT WORK. I had to keep disconnecting, then using my Verizon 4G to watch videos. I called the toll free service number and each time they'd say "um well, it looks like a lot of people are using the wi-fi there" DUH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Was this review …?

60 W 23rd St
New York, NY 10010
(212) 647-8810

Terri  

Categories: Sandwiches, Vegetarian, Juice Bars & Smoothies
Neighborhood: Flatiron

5.0 star rating
5/7/2012
Yummy! I got into NYC a bit later than I like, and am soooo sick of room service, so I tend to Yelp it up and find a good delivery spot when I don't want to go out. Discovered this gem and -- wow. Nice selection and you can order online. I ordered the grilled veggie sandwich-- on gluten free bread (there are all kinds of add on and adjustments you can make to each item-- brilliant) with hummus. Divine. Had to stop myself from finishing it! And then I got a power veggie protein shake-- you can add flax, soy protein, rice protein, hemp protein, glutamine-- I love this place. The order arrived in 15 minutes even though the email confirmation from my online order said 45. BRILLIANT. LOVE IT. RECOMMEND IT. And all my NYC Twitter girlfriends swear by this place.

Was this review …?

2352 Westwood Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90064
(310) 475-4551

Sky Hotel LA  

Category: Hotels
Neighborhood: West Los Angeles

3.0 star rating
5/4/2012
Hmmm. I'm so confused by this place. I chose this hotel based on the distance to my appointments. I mentally was thinking it was another hotel as the hotel website makes it look a lot more modern/glitzy than it really is. That annoys me. Now, when I first arrived, they didn't have my reservation. I look at my printed out reservation and it was for next year. I KNOW I didn't make the reservation and change the year to 2013. I KNOW that. So pretty sure their website has issues. That said, they did fix it and then, my room was not ready. Sigh. I had to go find lunch and then come back. I think this place maybe used to be apartments- it reminds me of the show Melrose Place with an internal courtyard. Now I agree with the reviews that say the UPPER floors must be great-- the lower floors HOLY HELL you hear every single noise above you. This is a nightmare when you have a ridiculously loud couple that walks like Bigfoot above you. It's sad because the beds are wonderful and the room is nice and dark but -- no sleeping in to be had here because you hear all the people in the courtyard in the morning. VERY LOUD. Also they say complimentary breakfast in the morning. It's yogurt. Just yogurt. No muffins or fruit or anything. Yogurt. Yea. I went out for breakfast every damn day. There is a Coffee Bean and a Starbucks a few blocks down. I found the bathroom great- HUGE, and it did have a bathtub. My carpet seemed clean but the wall has clearly been patched up by someone using different paint- you can see the spots all over the wall. It's really bad. The free wi-fi is great. And it works. ;-) There is NO room service and my room had no fridge either. Seems like this is the http://Inconsistent.com hotel. Very odd. Would I stay here again-- probably not. I like room service and noise control. I'm also worried now about odd charges on my credit card after reading all these reviews. Let's hope not.

Was this review …?

2379 Westwood Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90064
(310) 475-5771

Junior's Restaurant / Deli  

Categories: Delis, Bakeries, Caterers
Neighborhood: West Los Angeles

4.0 star rating
5/3/2012 1 Check-in Here
I'm a fan. This place was right across from the cute hotel where I am staying (LA Sky Boutique Hotel) and after going for a run, I wanted to get something fast for lunch. I read the reviews here and saw some great, some good and some bad. I figured, let's wing it. I do love Jewish delis so I go for good food not glitz or outrageous service. The service was a little slow, no doubt. But the food was very good. Now, granted, I was a bit disappointed with the size of the order. I ordered Albacore Tuna Salad sandwich, and they describe it on the menu as a "generous portion" of tuna salad. Um, it was truly about 1/2 cup at best. That's not my idea of a generous portion of anything. And for $12 I think the price is a bit outrageous. Still, it was good. I stopped by the bakery area on the way out and ordered a Gluten-Free, Dairy Free brownie which made me want to weep it was so good. I also picked up a bran muffin for tomorrow morning, which I can imagine will require a 2 hour run to justify but it's worth it. I would go back for sure. ;-)

Was this review …?

10915 Pico Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90064
(310) 481-6800

The Backhouse  

Categories: Sushi Bars, Japanese
Neighborhood: West Los Angeles

5.0 star rating
5/2/2012 1 Check-in Here
Just arrived in LA on an early flight and was sooo hungry. I was a bit disturbed by how many restaurants in this area didn't open until noon! What's up with that? This distresses me greatly and I almost ALMOST went to the mall for mall food. But no- on my way to possibly peer in the window at a sushi restaurant across the street, I saw The Backhouse was open and I rushed over. The place is very small and the decor is minimalistic but it works. Let me tell you. The salmon sashimi to die for and the white tuna sashimi with fresh jalapeno-- OH MY. Foodgasm. I'm not joking. I also ordered a special spicy tuna and it was like art on a plate. It is as if each plate and each piece of fish is carved with love. It's seriously amazing. I have no doubt I'll be back there several times while I'm here. NOM NOM.

Was this review …?

301 E 5th St
Austin, TX 78701
(512) 472-1860

Eddie V's Prime Seafood  

Categories: Seafood, Steakhouses
Neighborhood: Downtown

5.0 star rating
3/12/2012
OMG. Seriously this is a wonderful dining experience from start to finish. Meaning- you pull up your car for valet service and the men working the front door are polite and efficient. One step inside and the decor is gorgeous and the staff is attentive, professional, incredibly knowledgeable and dedicated to service. The wine list is one of the most extensive I've ever seen and the food was stellar. Our server remembered each of the dietary restrictions of the members of our party and was able to spell out which items would work for them and which items had ingredients that would NOT work. Honestly there was not one negative I can think of here. Everything was fabulous. Service was spectacular-- highly recommend this place to anyone.

Was this review …?

1205 N Lamar Blvd
Austin, TX 78703
(512) 472-1813

ALC Steaks  

Category: Steakhouses
Neighborhood: Downtown

4.0 star rating
3/10/2012
We just had dinner here unplanned during SXSW 2012. The only reason I won't give it 5 stars was the service- it was a tad slow. Just a tad, nothing crazy but we were seated for at least 5 minutes before the server took our drink order. The food was delicious, I ordered filet-- not the best most perfect filet I've ever had but good. I'd rate this place as GOOD not fabulous, not great, but GOOD. We had the brownie dessert pie with ice cream for dessert- delicious, as was the Creme Brulee my colleague had. Would I go back? Yes. Would it be my top top top #1 choice for steak- no, but again, I'd say it is very good. ;-)

Was this review …?

301 E North Water St
Chicago, IL 60610
(312) 670-0788

Shula's Steak House  

Category: Steakhouses
Neighborhood: Near North Side

4.0 star rating
1/24/2012
Tonight was my firs time dining here, although I've met clients at the bar in the past and had a good experience. The atmosphere is as many have described- very typical of a steakhouse type restaurant. It is surprisingly roomy with a great view of the city outside. Our food was excellent but I'm only giving it 4 stars because I felt that the service left much to be desired. When I'm paying $200 for dinner for 2 people, I'd expect my service to be top notch. Instead the hostess was robotic at best.....then the greeter/server/busser combination of men stopping by our table was confusing. It was hard to understand many of them and they were trying to joke and be funny and they often ending up just interrupting my client and I. Furthermore, small things like this- my client stopped one of the hostesses walking by and asked for a cup of coffee. She looked very inconvenienced and said, "I'll find your server so he can get that for you" -- that's NOT the right reply (and if you've read my reviews you know I've worked in the restaurant biz for 10 years or so during high school and college, I KNOW what good service is and it's not that difficult to do)- she should have simply said, "No problem sir, right away." instead of scoffing at us and letting us know it wasn't really "her job". The busser/server guy kept trying to clear our plates before we were finished and we were interrupted constantly with "is everything ok"-- it was just too much. Too many cooks in the kitchen. So food, wine, great, service MEH. Left me with a bit of a bummed out feeling.

Was this review …?

811 Wilshire Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90017
(213) 236-9600

Takami Sushi & Robata Restaurant  

Categories: Sushi Bars, Japanese
Neighborhood: Downtown

4.0 star rating
11/19/2011
We snuck away to this place for sushi in the midst of a conference and weren't disappointed. We arrived around 4:45pm and they open at 5pm, and told us we had to sit around until 5pm to be seated. I found this very bizarre, as I've worked in restaurants for years during high school and college and 10-15 minutes before opening, the place should be ready to go. That said we were seated and the sushi was excellent. It's clear that locals consider this a lounge/happy hour hangout place as many a poser was to be found scoping out the others near the bar and lounge area. Perhaps this just means I'm over-the-hill and boring but it made me laugh. It's a sushi restaurant not a nightclub. Anyway, the server was great (of course he was an actor!) and the sushi was incredible. I will definitely go back.

Was this review …?


More »

475 Friends

 
  • 9 friends
  • 230 reviews
 
 
 
  • 1230 friends
  • 292 reviews
More »

36 Compliments

  • Thank You

    Thanks for the kind words, and yes, those burritos are the bomb!

  • Write More

    I'm voting for more reviews in 2012! ;)

  • Good Writer

    I just wanted to congratulate you on your taste buds.  Samurai Blue in… More »

More »

No Lists

Kelly hasn't made any lists yet.

"Where is the nearest Starbucks?"

Review votes:
120 Useful, 41 Funny, and 52 Cool

Location

Carpentersville, IL

Yelping Since

August 2009

Things I Love

Sushi, Steak, Starbucks, Hot Yoga, The Spice Girls, Cheeseburgers, Pizza, P90x & Insanity, Wine, CSI, Food Network, My Blackberry, Twitter, Nickelback, Italian anything.

Find Me In

Chicago. Wearing heels.

My Hometown

Chicago, IL

My Blog Or Website

http://www.KellyOlexa.com

When I'm Not Yelping...

I Tweet. I Blog. I Talk. I run http://FitFluential.com.

Why You Should Read My Reviews

Because....I'm kind of a big deal.

My Second Favorite Website

http://www.fitfluentia...

My First Concert

Oh Dear. Olivia Newton John. No Joke. OUCH.

My Favorite Movie

Knocked Up or Anchorman or Stepbrothers

My Last Meal On Earth

Sushi

Don't Tell Anyone Else But...

My favorite movie growing up was Xanadu.

Most Recent Discovery

Hot Yoga and Fringe.

Current Crush

Huge Jackman.