James "jimmylin" L.'s Profile

Note:
The following review was written two years ago. Why did I wait so long to post it? Considering the negative experience I had with Prodigy, I wanted some time to pass so that I could make sure my review was an accurate portrayal of my experience instead of some knee-jerk reaction. But two years later, the words below still stand true.

I recently used Prodigy to help me with a move from San Francisco to Los Angeles. I looked at many different companies and frankly none seemed to stand above the rest. So I ended up going with Prodigy because they were able to do the move in the time frame that best fit my schedule.

Now because the move was from San Francisco to Los Angeles (and not a local move), Prodigy's service (like many others) worked like this: they pick up your stuff, they store it locally in SF, they transport it to LA, they store it locally in LA, they deliver your stuff. The whole process takes about a week, and that's pretty typical. So no big deal there.

But what's the number one most important priority a moving company should have?

They should move all your belongings safely and not break anything. I mean, that's the whole point of hiring a company as opposed to doing it yourself, right?

Unfortunately, Prodigy didn't do a very good job of keeping up that priority. Imagine my surprise when they delivered my 50'' Panasonic plasma television and the entire screen was shattered from the bottom left corner to the top right corner! We're not talking a minor scratch or a minor crack, either. It was seriously damaged. I conferred with two repairmen, and they both said the tv was unfixable.

I mean, I understand accidents do happen, but come on. Major damage like that is highly suggestive of improper handling.  So great, $2400 right there down the drain. Thanks Prodigy, at least you didn't screw anything else up.

Oh wait, you did. On top of the broken tv, here is what else went wrong:
- They lost some screws for one of my table lamps. So I wasn't able to properly screw the shade back on to my lamp.
- They lost some screws for my office desk, so they weren't able to fully assemble that back together. I ended up going to Home Depot myself to get the missing parts and fix my desk.
- They gave me a painting that didn't even belong to me! Makes me wonder if any of my boxes got mis-delivered to another recipient.

These may all sound like minor annoyances (especially compared to the tv situation), but moving is supposed to be a smooth and annoyance-free process. And especially with all the competition out there, I'm sure there are companies out there who will not screw up basic stuff like this.

On the positive side, the price was pretty reasonable, the movers showed up on time, and everyone worked diligently. And the sales rep did a good job of explaining beforehand what I was paying for and what additional costs might be added (such as paying for additional packing supplies), so there were no surprises in that regards. But all that is pretty much moot if the moving process itself is not smooth.

Bottom line, I'm sure their service is probably adequate most of the times with others, but in my situation, Prodigy did a horrible job and I would have been better off using a different company.

I do not recommend using Prodigy. Show owner comment »

Savery/Debbie here! If you are looking for great omakase ("trust me") sushi ---- come to Sushi Kiyono on Beverly Dr in Beverly Hills.  The BEST sushi anywhere!!!  Tell Kawasaki San that you are Savery San's and Debbi San's  friend. :)  No need to order here... Kawasaki San and staff will take great care of you.  I eat here 2-5 times a week. Oh wallet!! All worth it. This is sake speaking.  Some of the dishes I love are: shishito peppers, and specials, specials, SPECIALS!!!  Oh how I LOVE the Sayori and susuki, and salmon, and scallops, and yellowtail, smoke salmon lemon with philli cream cheese.

Jimmy-James' turn! 8 bottles of sake (Kikusui, of course) and you. are. in. heaven. Oh, and sprinkle some Saporro in between those shots as well. But back to the food. I have yet to have a dish that I haven't enjoyed. Even the Uni (which I usually despise) is great! Ohhh, and it's served fresh from the shell (unlike some other places i know.....ahem, you know who you are). I go to this place like 2-5 times a week, and the staff is always delightful, the ambiance inviting, and the food taaaaaaaasty. And afterwards, you can head over to Urth for a Spanish latte to end the evening with (and talk to Edgar, he'll hook you up with some pumpkin pie).

Kampai!!! :)  Big Cheese! Salud! Sua s'dei! Cham reap sua. Etedakemas!

It is a little known fact that I am addicted to this place. Obviously, the main attraction here are the fried chicken wings/sticks, which you can get in either the garlic-soy flavor or spicy flavor. You can mix & match too (I'd suggest 70/30 since eating too many of the spicy ones will kill your taste buds). Yes, it's a little bit overpriced and service can sometimes be slow (thankfully, they have a free soft-serve machine that can keep you company). Bonus points for being located across the street from The Orchid, so you can belt out your fave karaoke tunes after stuffing your stomach with fried goodness.

I'm so glad I don't live near this place; otherwise I'd be going there every single night. Fresh, tasty cookies for 35 cents each? You can't get much better than that.

But the real attraction is the $1.50 ice cream sandwich that you can custom make. Choose two cookies and an ice cream flavor (I believe they serve Dreyer's...can't go wrong with that), and you're good to go! One of the combinations I usually go with is: white chocolate macadamia nut on the bottom, cookies & cream in the middle, and double chocolate with nuts on the top. Yummmmmmy.

The only drawback is the wait (the line can get quite long at times). But Westwood is a lively area any time of the day, so I'm sure while you're waiting you can people-watch and find something to keep you occupied.

It pains me to think that people actually view Benihana as a great place to have teppanyaki, because Akira's just does it so much better (for the uninformed, teppanyaki style eating involves a chef cooking your meal on a steel grill right in front of you and a group of people). I always order the chicken and shrimp combo, and it never disappoints. And on top of the great food, their sauces (which at most other teppanyaki places seem to be an afterthought) are excellent as well. I love their ginger and spicy mustard sauces, and I'm always asking for refills to make sure I have plenty to last me throughout my entire meal. I'll even sometimes just eat the spicy mustard by itself. Yummmmmy.

The full meal (at least for dinner) also includes salad, miso soup, fried rice (which is standard with your meal and doesn't cost extra like at Benihana), bean sprouts, and some veggie medley (zucchini, mushrooms, and onions). I think for lunch they just remove the bean sprouts. But either way, you get a lot of food for the price, and it's all delicious.

I really only come to this place for one item: the fusilli con salsiccia, which is a corkscrew pasta with italian sausage in a spicy tomato sauce. It's the one gem in a menu full of bland, basic pastas. No wonder the name of the place is actually "Pasta?" (yes, with a question mark), because everytime I walk by and see how packed the place is, I myself also say, "Pasta?? Really?!?"

And oh yeah, who could forget the time the manager (at least I think he was a manager) was chatting away with a patron and accidentally knocked my glass of water on to my lap. Without diverting his attention away from the lady, he just casually grabbed some napkins from another table, dropped them on my table, and continued on with his flirting. Yay? They need to change the name to Pasta!$#%(@*!

"NOW WE'VE COOOOME.....TO THE EEEEENNND OOOOOFFF THE ROOOAAAD"

Private karaoke joints (especially the ones in Koreatown) are a little hard to review because the majority of them all have the same massive song selection and beyond that, there's not that much that differentiates one from the other. Yes, some serve food/drinks and some serve alcohol (which many consider a prerequisite for any karaoke experience), but when it all comes down to it, it's all about the music.

Orchid covers it all. Their song library is pretty extensive (and is updated quite frequently with recent hits), and for those who passed on dinner and skipped directly to karaoke (who wouldn't?), they do serve food and drinks (apparently the chicken wings are pretty tasty). The rooms are pretty spacious, so when you and your buddies are re-enacting Bye Bye Bye, they'll be plenty of room for your hand quacks.

Bonus points for being located a block from Kyochon Chicken.

For a restaurant that won "Best South-of-the-Border Restaurant" in San Francisco Magazine's 2008 Readers' Poll, this place sure disappoints. The food's good, not great, and I often find myself having trouble picking something to order because there isn't really a signature item that screams "this is what makes the restaurant worth coming to."

Having said that, the atmosphere here is great (especially on game days). It's located right by AT&T Park, and as such is a fun place to hang out and grab a drink before a Giants game (everyone comes here to have their margaritas).

And oh yeah, they must really love their guacamole, because every time I eat there, I am constantly pestered by the waiters to try it. Newsflash Tres Agaves: it ain't sliced bread, and I'd rather enjoy my chips with your free salsa. Oh, and did I mention they charge $8. 50 for the guac?! That's more than the cost of a carnitas tacos lunch plate!

Been here a few times for lunch. While the food is pretty tasty (I tend to prefer their hot dishes rather than the cold ones) and has this "home-cooked-meal" vibe to it, the place is just a tad too pricey for the portions you get. And since the portions are small, you tend to just keep ordering more items ("Ooh, look how cute that tuna tartar is...I'll take two!"). What that means is that you could easily spend $15 for lunch without realizing it (it's happened to me a bunch). But still, there's a lot of variety, and out of all the items I've tried there so far, I have yet to be disappointed by anything.

Some items I've checked out so far and enjoyed: roasted cauliflower, butternut squash quinoa, poached ahi tuna, citrus poached salmon, short rib pot roast. And apparently (from what I've heard) the mac 'n' cheese is pretty good too!

And yes, the lemonade is pretty delectable, although I'm no lemonade connoisseur (I find the lemonade at Hot Dot On A Stick to be quite delicious). Do yourself a favor though and get one of the fruit blended flavors (such as raspberry mint) instead of just the regular. It'll have you screaming, "Lemon-yay-d!" (sorry, had to do it)