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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.

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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.

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2321 W Algonquin Rd
Algonquin, IL 60102
(847) 854-5500

Fradillio's Hot Dogs  

Category: Hot Dogs

4.0 star rating
10/20/2011
I'm really surprised at the bad reviews for Fradillio's...not that I want to argue with anyone's opinion by any means. Personally, I have never had a bad experience here. (And as much as I love Portillo's, I did get food poisoning there a few months ago EWW!) Anyway, the reason why you will wait long here for your food is because they literally make your order right at that moment. so yes, I've always waited in the drive through for my order. I usually get a cheeseburger or the Chicken Gyro which is HUGE and yummy. I love the fries and my burger has always been awesome. I haven't tried much else but honestly, for what I've ordered, it's always been good. Try the Chicken Gyro. It's enough for two meals! Really!

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1406 W Grand Ave
Chicago, IL 60642
(312) 733-9083

Kai Sushi  

Categories: Sushi Bars, Japanese
Neighborhoods: West Loop, Noble Square

5.0 star rating
8/20/2011
Thanks again to Yelpers for telling the truth about this little gem. Even though I live in "Chicago" (and I put in quotes because really I'm in the burbs of Chicago not city proper) and thought I was familiar with most of the areas/neighborhoods around the city, this West Loop area is new to me. Go figure. Anyway, we chose Kai because it was a Saturday night, I had some friends in from out of town and to be honest, I didn't want us to get stuck waiting. Reading the reviews here made us interested and the place did NOT disappoint. The interior is nice, for some reason one reviewer said the ambiance was not great, and although it's not Elle Decor, it's "nice". It's plain -- maybe more like Ikea Design, simple but clean and nice. The sushi was EXCELLENT.....5 of us had plenty to eat (sorry I didn't take photos) but you can tell the fish is FRESH and everyone raved about their food. I've never gone to a BYOB place before- we brought 2 bottles of wine and they open it for you and serve in the nice Riedel glasses--nice. All in all, I would totally go back and highly recommend it. ;-)

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1800 SW 1st Ave
Miami, FL 33129
(786) 567-8124

Skanda Yoga Studio  

Category: Yoga

5.0 star rating
7/28/2011
Excellent....!!!! You must attend a class here. Ken and Lina are incredibly devoted and talented instructors that clearly are very passionate about their practice and about helping others. This is NOT a huge studio, so show up early to get your space in-- I was visiting a friend in Miami and she told me about Skanda Yoga and Ken/Lina-- I was not disappointed. Can't wait to go back and learn more from them!!

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7600 SW 57th Ave
South Miami, FL 33143
(786) 488-8739

Firefly Hot Yoga  

Category: Yoga

5.0 star rating
7/21/2011
I'm in Miami staying at my friend's house on vacation, and I wanted to look up a close-by Hot Yoga Studio. SCORE! Bertha's studio is right around the corner and what a wonderful session!! I will be going back several times while I'm in town. It's a smaller room, I'd say you could get a class in there, max of like 10-15, but she is definitely a HANDS ON instructor- she helped me with SOOOO many postures and wow what a difference. This is not Bikram Yoga but hot yoga and I LOVE LOVE LOVE IT!! You must go!

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1158 S Roselle Rd
Schaumburg, IL 60193
(847) 301-7305

Tri Balance Yoga  

Category: Yoga

5.0 star rating
7/3/2011
I am SO psyched that I came to Yelp and looked up hot yoga near MY house. I'd been to hot yoga down near Naperville but heck, that's like almost an hour drive for me so clearly I wasn't attending classes a lot. Score to find this AND to see that it is full of 4-5 star reviews. I went to my first class today and LOVED it. Like the other reviews here, I agree, I like the dark room- I did NOT like in the Naperville class how the bright lights are on.....for me that just encourages you to compare yourself with others which is NOT good in yoga. I also enjoyed the music. The instructor walked around the class the whole time, so I could tell she was watching me to make sure I and others were ok or maybe in need of assistance with poses. This is NOT Bikram yoga - the strict set of poses and frankly I did like it- I loved the flow and what they chose and wow was it challenging. It's also a huge plus to be next door/in the same building as massage, chiropractic, an MMA studio- plus a lobby with COLD water, coconut water and other drinks for purchase after the classes. Nice big changing rooms and they also sell some nice yoga clothing out front. They were kind enough to lend me a lock for the locker as well as the yoga mat and towel. I can't wait to go back. Total Score.

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212 E 42nd Street
New York, NY 10017
(212) 490-8900

The New York Helmsley Hotel  

Category: Hotels
Neighborhoods: Midtown East, Murray Hill

2.0 star rating
6/20/2011
Ok, I have only been at this hotel a few hours but had to start my review. This place needs serious help. The photos on the website promote a hotel that is totally up to date and luxurious. NOT the case. I will say this, the hallway and lobby are very clean and well decorated. My room has stains all over the carpet and tons of crumbs from like nuts or something under the armoir- bear in mind, as others have written, the armoirs used to have old-school TVs in them, which have been replaced with flat screen TVs. But they've put the flat screen TVs on the DESK and left the armoirs just open with nothing in them. Very bizarre. My armoir looks like someone kicked the crap out of it, all beat up and chipped. Additionally, my room had no room service menu so I had to call for one to be brought up. The desk -- because it has a huge flat screen TV on it, has barely enough room for a laptop. AND there are no electrical outlets near the desk!! So I have my laptop plugged in way to the left of the desk and my iPod and such plugged in across the room. #FAIL The room is very spacious and the bed thus far looks comfortable. However, for a business traveler or anyone remotely tech-savvy, this is not your place. Will update more later.

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202 S Cook St
Barrington, IL 60010
(847) 304-5112

Massage Movement  

Category: Massage

5.0 star rating
5/22/2011 1 Check-in Here First to Review
I've been seeing Therese for massage for years, and thank heavens someone told me about her. She is truly a muscle magician!! (that's my made up phrase of course, Therese goes by "bodyworker" which is also quite accurate). Therese is an independent massage therapist and is simply excellent. She truly provides a therapeutic and relaxing session, but also can 'read' your body to see where you need work. I feel that I am so much more than relaxed when I leave.....my muscles have been 'restored' -- If I could go here daily I would. She is that good. If you live anywhere in the area, schedule an hour massage with Therese- I promise you won't regret it!

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30 S Michigan Ave
Chicago, IL 60603
(312) 345-1234

Hot Woks Cool Sushi  

Categories: Sushi Bars, Thai, Chinese
Neighborhood: The Loop

4.0 star rating
5/15/2011
Thank you again Yelp for helping me find a good sushi delivery place when I'm in need. I checked into my hotel (The Silversmith Hotel) and their room service is closed on Sunday night (not sure how I feel about that, but I digress) so I checked the reviews here and ordered online. I got my order delivered in 30 minutes- packed very well- including hot tea and soups! The spicy tuna roll- as others reviewed here, is good and SPICIER than most! LOVED! miso soup is a big serving (to-go) and the green tea is good. I got the dragon roll too- good, not spectacular but good. Overall, I'd say this is a GOOD sushi place. Not dreamy but heck, it delivers and it's quality. I'd use them again for sure.

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"In search of the next best Foodgasm."

Review votes:
114 Useful, 40 Funny, and 49 Cool

Location

Carpentersville, IL

Yelping Since

August 2009

Things I Love

Sushi, Steak, Starbucks, 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.

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

My Last Meal On Earth

Sushi

Don't Tell Anyone Else But...

My favorite movie growing up was Xanadu.

Most Recent Discovery

Thai Food and P90X.

Current Crush

Jason Statham.