Jef "Sometimes I use profanity in my reviews." S.'s Profile

Knickknacks abound in this teensy but cool little shop. Abundant photos, cards, paper goods and glassware.  Good jewelry selection.  And everything is cheap! Woo! We enjoyed browsing in here. The woman was friendly- ish, but it would have been nice if she'd put down her personal phone call as she was ringing us up. But it's a trivial point. This is Poke Round Central, so come poke round!

This is my son's favorite ice cream stand in the world. As for me, I think it's just okay, but the Purple Cow does all of the standards well at fairly reasonable prices. Scoop size is generous and flavor selection is diverse. My main criticism is a lack of chunkage in flavors with nuts and chips and such. I tend to stick to milkshakes, which are always good (but more expensive). The ice cream is sweet and fresh, but it's nothing mind-blowing. Still, if you're in the area and have a craving, the PC is a nice stop. The seating and lines can get really crowded and the parking lot can be dicey. Also, no bathrooms and though counter staff is generally friendly, they sometimes roll their eyes if you ask for a cup of water. Teenagers, I tell ya. Them kids these days, they gots no RESPECT. As long as they keep making my milkshake well, I'll keep it to myself.

Same great everything, but don't order the toro, guys. It was tough and chewy. An expensive mistake, but at least now I know.

How can you go wrong with Ladurre macarons? I have never been here in person, but I have friends bring me an assortment of macarons every time someone travels to Paris. This is a quality, top of the line dessert experience! Clearly, the best is the salt carmel that toes the perfect line between sweet and savory,, but other flavors are delectable as well. In particular, pistachio is sweet and nutty. There's this crazy chocolate orange that rocks my world. And the raspberry? Simply amazing. They're all packaged beautifully to boot.

One day I will actually go to Ladurre in person to sample some more of those great desserts I've heard so much about!

Yes. LJ's. Finally.

No frills, no pretensions, just good food and friendly service. Our table of five meat-eating dudes bellied up to brunch this morning with much success. I got the LJ Benedict, a beautiful dish sent to us by the gods themselves consisting of poached eggs, pulled pork, chipotle hollandaise and grilled corn bread and home fries. This was a fabulous dish: ample, but not huge to the point of vomitous-ness. The portion control was perfect. The benny was the perfect blend of flavor and texture: silky egg yolk, sweet, salty, spicy....and the pork. Oh my.  We also got a Bucket O' Bones for the table. Fabulous ribs with meat perfectly cooked. The smoke! The texture (not too soft, not too solid). The taste....oh man.

Nice selection of craft beers ad really nice servers who were on the ball. The prices were steep in places (I balked a bit when I was choosing between the big bbq combo and the benny until I saw the $29 price tag on the combo. Too rich for this meat fan!) but very reasonable overall.

Not for the faint of heart nor those expecting haute cuisine. But lovers of the 'Cue can't go wrong.

Solidly decent. Cute. Good coffee. Tasty pastries. Teensy b
ooths like church confessional. Friendly counter help.  No frills.

Like I said, solidly decent...but somehow missing something.

Having shopped the old Wellesley WF, I can say that this new location is a welcome upgrade from the old shoebox of a store. Beautiful space, well-lit and displayed, gorgeous produce, a fromagerie like I've never seen at a WF, even a gelato bar.

I got a burrito from the taqueria and it wasn't bad at all...just not amazing (though I didn't expect it to be...c'mon, this is Whole Foods, not Casa Romero). We sat in the kids section for dinner and the young 'uns loved the play area.

Beyond the beauty and glamor, it's still Whole Foods. This means, as others have said, parking weirdness (though far better than the old store) and an almost shocking markup compared to our stores more to the south. I get that this is Wellesley, but holy smokes. Nice store, lot of flash, not much value. But, I mused as I nibbled my $7 burrito, who cares?

Behold the Fields of Elysium...where they serve amazing freakin' tacos.

I'll admit that when Ms. J. said that we HAD to eat here, I was feeling that jaded snark that every West Coast transplant feels about Mexican food east of the Rockies. I had no doubt that Lone Star would be GOOD; I just doubted that it would be GREAT.

Well, bust my buttons, it was better than great. Another taco cynic hereby converted.

Lone Star is a nice space off the Deep Ellum that doubtless gets slammed during peak times. 11AM on a Tuesday was a perfect time to go. The bartender (so sorry, but I forgot your name) did a great job, talked up all the right dishes and deservedly so. What's more, she shook up a hell of a margarita.

So I've been reading reviews and people complain about two things here: the size of the tacos and the prices. Here's my response to that: $4 per IS a bit pricey for a small taco, but it's three inches of heaven on a corn tortilla. I don't mind paying it. $10 a margarita? If it's as consistently fantastic as the one I had, bring me another round, please.

We loaded up on the apps: queso (yes!), chili con carne (yes!!!!!), then went with the tacos after. The Carnitas was quite possibly the best I've ever had in my life, and I've had good ones. It was perfectly cooked, crispy outside delicious soft inside. The rest were excellent, even the Chorizo, which I'm usually meh about: very subtle, flavorful, yum. Two apps and four tacos was perfect for two people...we were stuffed.

Just an observation: I don't know that I'd call these tacos necessarily AUTHENTIC. They're not Abuelita's tacos. They're not the tacos you get on the street in the Zocalo. But they are the perfect quasi-gourmet tacos. Hipster tacos, let's call them. However, there's some series tequila cred here. Great selection and very reasonable prices.

One more observation: the music is a bit on the loud side. A bit. Turn it down to 5 instead of 10, eh?

Mad good. Allston, Mass, the proper home of the perfect taco. Who woulda thought?

No need to go to Mandarin Taste anymore! I know the diehards will stick to Alice like glue, but while MT is standard, bland, and unremarkable, Sichuan Gourmet is a breath of (spicy) fresh air! I have to thank the earlier reviewers for their glowing reviews or else I never would have tried the place. We got the Green Bean Noodles with Cheng Du sauce (so spicy, vinegary good...24 hours later the feeling finally came back into my tongue), Steamed Bacon with Garlic Sauce (one of the best restaurant dishes I've ever had in my life...succulent pork belly, a bit dry on the edges, but oh so amazing taste, with garlic over the top that gave me breath that could strip bark from an elm tree...luckily they have mints at the register), steamed veggie dumplings (very good), hot and sour soup (good) and veggie spring rolls (standard, but well presented, and piping hot). The menu is expansive and has all the "normal" Chinese food you'd want if you're not into the whole spicy Sichuan thing.

The price was right under $25 for lunch with tons of leftovers. Service was ok; she was the only one on and was clearly busy, but the manager(owner?) was helping her out. Water glasses stayed unfilled for a while. Overall though, I was incredibly pleased here and was raving about it (especially the Steamed Bacon) all afternoon to my in-town colleagues who'd never been there. So good! Go now!

Amazing, incredible, superlative dinner on Saturday night.  Six course tasting menu....holy crap! Fantastic service! I have too much to gush about. Go! enjoy! Love it!