JAYCE "I don't have a nickname" B.'s Profile
DateOakland, CA 94609
(510) 601-8226
La Calaca Loca
Category:
Mexican
Neighborhoods: Temescal, Rockridge, North Oakland
Listed in: girthy slabs o' burrito deep…
Burlingame, CA 94010
(650) 344-1310
The Crepevine
Categories:
Creperies,
Breakfast & Brunch,
American (New)
So like I said, vegan -- so crepes are OUT.
Problem solved!
Its all about the salads with the grilled tofu, no cheese and olive oil. Granted my choices are limited, it is better than nothing. Way better, but totally easy to get sick of. Added bonus... they accept plastic now. Good good.
1 Previous Review:
-
6/21/2006
I can't stand this place.
Overpriced. They don't take plastic. And even though I forget and get talked into going once a year, I have never gotten anything that I liked.
Bland. And God forbid you get a crepe with tomatoes or mushrooms in it... lest you like very very wet crepes.
The sweet crepes are ok. But thats easy.
Go anywhere but here... Unless you don't know what a real crepe should taste like.
San Francisco, CA 94103
(415) 541-9913
Out the Door
Category:
Vietnamese
Neighborhoods: Union Square, SOMA
Shoot, the reviewing side of my brain has gone to mush on this one.
Thing is, Out the Door was good... but not memorable. Unique... but not amazingly interesting. Portions are smaller... yet the depth of their flavors and textures aren't mind blowing.
I dunno. The waiter was nice and likable. The food wasijsdfosdfopisdfjksouign I dunno. I just can't give a glowing review, here. Looks good, tastes ok, but lacks... soul?
After seven years of no car I was getting real tired of relying on bumming rides and borrowing cars -- that and the time it takes to make public transportation work is tough as it is, if it does work out to get you where you want to go at all!
So I talked to Zipcar personally. They were courteous and prompt with my future-customer service questions and concerns, but all and all they really don't care. Fine. I mean there isn't much work when it comes to pulling customers on the fence in their direction.
Oh well. Whatever.
Oakland, CA 94612
(510) 834-9800
Whole Foods Market
Categories:
Grocery,
Health Markets,
Bakeries
It is the brick and mortar equivalent of that person you grew up with in high school that everyone liked and was most likely voted "Best Smile" or "Heart of Gold" or some nonesense like that.
Content-wise, yeah sure its like any other Whole Foods but something about the race track esq layout, now defunct smoothie bar, and ample rooftop parking as lodged this place deep in the cockles of my heart.
Cockles is a disgusting term, isn't it?
Although I must say... one time I went here and couldn't find a straw to save my life. Don't worry though, I found one eventually.
Listed in: vegan.
South San Francisco, CA 94080
Specialty's Cafe & Bakery
Categories:
Bakeries,
Sandwiches,
Coffee & Tea
Specialtys on the other hand seemed to say, "No way! Eff that, were gonna do this a little bit better."
Only people who work in a company that has an HR department really knows what Specialtys actually is. When you mention it to them they tend to gush over the cookies or the bread or something (...the bread IS really good.)
Everyone else just knows it as that weird place that closes early in the afternoon.
Best (and most surprising) part is that they offer intentionally vegan menu options! Dawn's Vegan Salad and the Bean Soup are pretty good, not great but they get an E for effort.
Keeping in line with that thinking could really nudge them in the direction of greatness. Perhaps vegan cookies? Or making more salads and sandwiches furtively vegan... maybe offering Vegenaise.
Could be a smart smart move!
Listed in: vegan.
San Francisco, CA 94123
(415) 771-6222
Greens
Category:
Vegetarian
Neighborhood: Marina/Cow Hollow
It would be nice to be supportive of Greens based on the sheer merit of being a prominent vegetarian restaurant. Many people love the place, swear by it, recommend it vehemently.
I say vegetarian. Much of their menu isn't vegan, but can be altered to become vegan. That in itself tends to distort whatever the chef's initial vision was, so I try to avoid that.
Problem is... and it is a stupid one. I did not have cash, only credit. Being before my class and wanting to get something to go, I found my choices were limited to coffee and a vegan cookie. Greens refused to serve me unless I purchased at least $10 worth of food. I do not see it reasonable to buy $10 worth of coffee and cookies if I don't want it.
I asked the girl to make the exception, she said no which is fair... she was only doing her job. Fine. I asked her to tell her manager that I'd be reporting this as a merchant violation to Visa and Mastercard.
She said she didn't think it was illegal...
She's right, it isn't. What it is is unfair. It is coercion... and really a silly thing to lose a customer over.
Listed in: vegan., Credit Card Minimums?!
Not only are their veggie burritos phenomenal, but their value of the customer is exceptional.
During my recent visit, I stopped to appreciate how wonderful it is that not only do they not require a minimum purchase on credit cards... but they ACCEPT AMEX!
Do you realize how rare that is?
Very.
And the woman there is so incredibly sweet, show knows what I like and this last time as I was leaving she grabbed my cup and asked if I wanted more water.
I said, "Oh no no, it's horchata."
She said, "OK!"
and proceeded to top off my horchata!
I love her.
Listed in: girthy slabs o' burrito deep…
1 Previous Review:
-
4/11/2008
My Yelp page is slowly evolving into a chronicle of the great taquerias of our time... seriously, it is getting to be obscene. Hey, does it piss anyone else off that Firefox's spell-check doesn't recognize the word "taqueria?"
That bugs the heck out of me.
My best friend suggested we go to Taqueria San Bruno insisting that I have gone before. I stand by the position that I had never been here before yesterday. I brought this to his attention and he didn't really care.
But you know that something is good when you finish eating and grab a card or menu saying to yourself "I gotta Yelp this place..." and then you actually do in a timely manner!
This was the case here.
SUPER tast-icle, girthy, cheap and good.
My knee-jerk reaction was to go for the glory huck and give them five stars outright.
But I really try to be very methodical and deliberate in my rating system... don't get me wrong, this is a five star taqueria.
Their burritos stand out in a class of their own. Unique, yet deeply satisfying. Even their chips are the hard thick kind... and you know me! I like em hard and thick! wait... no that came out all wrong.
All and all a major plus is that they take plastic while a minus is that they don't have black beans.
Oh... and their salsa is super good.
This is hands down the best taqueria in the SSF/San Bruno Area.
Here I am, thinking I have a decent, nearby burrito venue and then today happens.
Allow me to set the scene:
Me. Late lunch... say mid-afternoon.
Melissa's Taqueria. Completely empty.
I arrive. Quite happy and excited to order my customary burrito.
Go to pay the man at the counter.
"Ten dollar minimum," says he.
"Gimme a small horchata," I respond.
"Still not enough."
I am becoming indolent, "Do you want my business or don't you?"
"Of course, I can add a dollar to it."
I would be causing a scene if I wasn't the only person there, "Or you can make an exception!"
"No, I can't."
I press further, "Do you want my business or don't you?"
"I'll just add..."
"I'm leaving," and then I was gone. Little did they know they'd never see me again.
At first I wondered if my repulsion was extreme. And perhaps I don't understand the psychology behind credit card minimums. So I asked my Jesus-phone... what I learned was phenomenal.
Apparently, Visa and Mastercard's service contracts stipulate that a vendor can NOT require a minimum purchase.
Also, their fees are typically minimal and only increase when volume of sales does so as well. You are encouraged to report companies that require minimums, some may have qualms about hurting independent restaurants, but the heart of the issue remains that they are unfairly coercing us into paying more.
My source is cited below.
http://www.bankrate.co...
I instead went to my favorite taqueria... Taqueria San Bruno, where I had the best experience ever.
No credit card minimums, they accept AMEX and the lady was nice enough to refill my horchata without me asking!
I am severely disappointed with Melissa's Taqueria and will not return.
Listed in: girthy slabs o' burrito deep…, Credit Card Minimums?!
1 Previous Review:
-
1/16/2009
What to rate... what to rate?
Well, it came down to a slightly apathetic three stars or very unenthusiastic four.
I'm going for three to balance out the immense reverence of others and seemingly two fake reviews. But I'm telling you, its that borderline. Could easily tip to either outcome.
I'm living in this perpetual taqueria groundhog day.
Melissa's Taqueria offers a clean, decent burrito. Not awful and not exceptional.
Nice staff, yes. But so much of the same and completely void of that certain something that keeps you coming back.
Like a super good burrito that you have to risk getting shot at to buy! Now that is a dining experience.
The plus side? This is the only non-taco truck burrito that you can get without needing to get on the freeway.
And Brisbane is depressing. It has that certain old-guy-who-works-at -a-hardware-store-no t-because-he-has-to- but-wants-to-delay-t he-onset-of-Alzheime r's quality about it. But that is just me.
So hopefully you read this far, I don't intend to discourage you from eating here. There is a certain breed of burrito aficionado that will find my review resonates with exactly what they've been going through as well.
San Francisco, CA 94133
(415) 772-0937
Cafe Capriccio
Categories:
Coffee & Tea,
Cafes
Neighborhood: North Beach/Telegraph Hill
Nowadays, any jerk on the street can open a coffee house. Usually, they:
-look awful and make lousy coffee.
or...
-look great and make shitty coffee.
So going into Capriccio, my expectations were in check. At a glance the place looked great so I'm thinkin' "heeeerrreeee we go."
To my surprise, my unassuming paper cup was exceedingly decent. Huh.
So I learned my lesson.
This could be a good place to sit and uh drink coffee. You know, there are coffee places that you can't wait to ditch, this is not one of one. In fact if I wasn't on my way out, I would have enjoyed sticking around.
It was busy enough to suggest the coffee is a decent staple of the neighborhood, but not so busy that you have to do the whole circling buzzard routine like at Ritual.
So that's that. Not bad at all. One time that expecting less really did yield a positive return. Huh, who knew?
Listed in: coffee.
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"cafe con muerte."
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Review votes:
438 Useful, 460 Funny, and 388 Cool
Burlingame, CA
Yelping SinceJune 2006
Things I Lovedead people, vegan food, coconut milk ice cream, veganism, soul music, cemeteries, vegetarian food
Find Me In-satiable.
My HometownRochester, NY
My Blog Or Website When I'm Not Yelping...I'm all piss and vinegar.
Why You Should Read My Reviews...you probably shouldn't.
My Second Favorite Website The Last Great Book I ReadAnimal Liberation
My First ConcertTeenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - LIVE in 1988
My Favorite MovieMany many.
My Last Meal On EarthVegan.
Current CrushStencils.
This place had so much potential. I mean I had just finished lunch and was driving home when I thought to myself, "Sure... there is always room for another burrito!"
So parking was interesting.
Too many cars. Too few spots. Narrow lot. Lots of confusion. Get it? LOTS?
Ha!
So I go in and get into the whole skeleton theme. I'm thinkin', "Alright, cool off to a good start."
But even though we were off to a good start, the execution was a little shaky. Get it? Skeleton? Execution? Meh, I don't like that one.
So I ask for a veggie burrito, no cheese.
It comes to me... rather girthy. A pretty good size and low and behold it is full of cheese. I look at the receipt that says "NO CABBAGE."
I don't know... I think I'm usually pretty good with enunciation but I don't care how badly someone mumbles -- cheese will never sound like cabbage, not even remotely. Seriously, try for yourself, I'll wait.
And another thing. I've made this mistake before and am surprised a taqueria would too... No rice?? Sometimes I think to myself, "I'll ditch the rice... I LOVE black beans!"
No way dude. You get yourself a sloppy, soggy mess.
La Calaca Loca -- You kinda suck.