Linda Y.'s Profile

I hear a lot of good reviews of this place.. and it is all right. The wait staff is helpful.. but for chipped cups.. it all felt like you paid for the atmosphere.. and even then, after staring at the bill for three people, it stung. Everything felt overpriced, and the only thing I can say was good was the tea I had was a Summer Peach. My friend had a Alice Tea which was quite nice. So I came here for a one time experience. and that's that.

Scones in my opinion are pretty heavy.. so let's say that even if lots of people liked it.. it is not for everyone.

This is the closest Starbucks to me, so if I in a need of Coffee fix then logically I should be coming to this location. Experiences have proven that I should just grit my teeth, and hoof it to the city instead.

Some memorable experiences that I have experienced in this Starbucks..

--- When Starbucks was initially celebrating their 40th Birthday. This place was decorated the best in terms of other Starbucks I went to in that weekend. I actually threw money down in purchasing two limited edition items from the Tribute line... but  Boo to the fact that I couldn't take any pictures except for the lolly.. So if there was a party, and no one was allowed to take pictures, is there logic in that? Not like I am going to do anything bad with the pictures. Sheesh!  

--- This place is fine for bringing your book to read at. No problems as I did spend an afternoon jut catching up with my reading, but if you have an electronic gadget. Unless you come at an early morning time. The all the plugs would and will be taken.

-- As a gadget user, one of the most important thing is to have a continual energy source. Well one time I was here, and looking for an outlet, the table that conveniently had a wall plug was unfortunately occupied by two woman that wants to sit there and soak up the sun's uv rays. What's the deal with that. I ended up giving up, and heading over to Bay Ridge library where I actually found a comfortable spot to write on my charging gadget.

Bah.. so technically this place is great for plain reading, or just going to pick up coffee, but for people who work or study, this is a place where the wall sockets is snatched up quickly! Hence I have my preferences in heading over to Soho's Starbucks.

Yay... I am quite grateful for friends bringing me here today. It was a really long day of just foodie stops here and there. So this was my third time eating dumplings today. I give this place pretty much a thumbs up.

The price is decent for the dumplings they serve. Definitely try the Chives and  pork dumplings. They're really good for about 8 pieces at 3 bucks or so. My friend said that the pancakes were at 75 cents a slice, so that's good CHEAP eats!

Noodle with vegetable was a bit bland.

Iced Lemon tea I had was a great refreshing drink.

Okay some other tips...

Make sure you have luck to not be caught in the wave. This place for some reason or another felt a bit to me like a cafeteria. If you're starving, and waiting for your order to be filled. Make sure you're not in the back of the line.  

Upon getting into the restaurant... make sure one extra friend is there to grab one of the restaurant's limited seating. Granted this location is not as tiny as other hole in the wall dumplings spots, but still....  

Know that the bathroom is opened by a key that is located near the door, otherwise you'll be waiting there wondering if something was wrong with the door. (It is also typical gross Chinatown toilet.. so take your poison)

This place is a good cheap eat spot, that attracts not just the Chines, but also non-Asian foodies, and tourists as well!

Hmm...for any book lovers,  this place is a must visit at least once or so. Then if you like this store, then you can visit at your own decision.

Goods about this place:
--Staff is pretty helpful.
--You can sell almost anything here for a reasonable price, provided that the book is in Strand's system as a sell-able product. It is quite quick and automated.
--If you don't have a specific pick in mind, this is a physical location to browse through trucks and trucks of book.

Bads about this place
--If you have a specific title. Good luck trying to find anything in this store. Books are organized loosely byt subject for serious subjects, but for the craft books or the manga, forget about it! (Last time I was trying to find a book, and the computer/information said that there were copies, but even with staff assistant. I was empty handed by the time I left the store.)  
--You can get eyestrain from just trying to stare at the titles and titles.
--Branding of Strand's name is a bit too much. So take this store as not the end all and be all.

There are other bookstores around the city, like BookOff. Since Strand has that reputation of being the Used books, you can check this out or head over to the nearby Barns&Noble as well.

I really don't believe I will come here again. Getting to this location, from the consistently in construction Ground Zero location is pretty much  a call for getting lost. So if you're coming from White Hall South Ferry or Bowling Green, then that's a shorter walk.

Also a bit of a warning, there is two different locations for 28, and a 30 in the middle of the street. So Inatteso has two store fronts, a bakery, and the pizza bar. So both is on the ends of the streets, and it is confusing if you are not familiar with this location, and is pretty much starving.

Getting onto the food, the best thing I thought about this meal was the bread. Now the bread was freshly baked, and very soft. There was also a nice dip with it.

Now getting onto the entrees, the pizza we ordered was charred.. honest to god charred and burnt on bottom. My friends and I also ordered lasagna, and seriously that was rich for me. My sister liked it, but I was so so about it. I really doubt I will be coming back to this location.

Delicious! I had a late lunch here, and I have to say, that I would like to come here again! It was good cheap eats for a party of 4, for less than $30, the bill was around $22. Service was good. The sitting was very roomy at the table we were sitting at.

We had an starter of the fried calamari, and garlic fries that came along side the delicious Grandma's Square shaped pizza. My friend said to get mozzarella with your pizza. The pizza was great, freshly done, and definitely not burnt.

They have a television, muted with the sports playing around the bar area.

Although one thing, getting here proved to be a trial. Side street warning. My friends were lost trying to find this location. They walked in circles, while I walked a bit in a square for a bit.

So initially my friends and I found this location one night, after walking around the area. I had a previous so-so experience with the Naruto Ramen in the city, but my friends and I were starving, so ramen it is.

Ramen here is what I expect, although the appetizers are a bit on the salty side. I just usually order my noddle cooked "Katame" or firmer cooked noodles as I always do when I go to a Ramen Shop.

I ordered a Miso Ramen...

Outside is quite convenient, the B63 stops here, heading to Bay Ridge.

I came here as a taste with my friends as part of restaurant week in the summer time, and my experience here is much like a majority of the writers on Yelp wrote about this restaurant.

I definitely enjoyed what I ate, and service was great.. We were late, but the restaurant was still great to take us. By the end of the meal, I felt satisfied.. and that was it. We were at the second floor of this location.

The dishes I had here were quite refreshing, I was pretty stuffed. I tried the Steak Tartar for Appetizer, with the toasted bread it was a nice texture.

For the entree I had the Grilled Lamb Skewers & Couscous, of course I enjoyed every bite I had of it. I love couscouse, so definitely when I get the chance to eat it.. ^_^

Desert, I had the Crostini, which I liked the berries on top. I wasn't as happy with the crust on bottom, but I had the berries with the vegetation, so that was a contrasting taste. Sweet, refreshing.

I wouldn't mind coming here again.

No complaints from me.. my friend took me out here for lunch as a way to cheer me up. We came here after a snow storm. Service was quick...and I heard my friend tell me some stories about the architecture of the restaurant with an open kitchen.

While I am not a regular drinker of ginger ale, tried their "natural" ginger ale and it was quite refreshing.

Many of their dishes are what my friend calls a vegan junk food day. I ordered their quesadilla, and it was okay. Ended the meal with a dessert that was creamy texture, crepe with fruit filling and cream of course.

This is the Thursday hangout spot for an Origami meet up, and it is quite spacious.. This Cosi is overly like all the other Cosi with their food servings, but I enjoy the atmoshpere that this Cosi has.

The soft drinks are all that you can drink. I liked their salad offering, and I definitely fell in love with their Spinach Artichoke Florentine soup. They also do serve bread pudding on their limited menu , but it tastes more like bread than pudding... so I am not inclined to order it again. Their pizza option is okay.. the sandwich and bread are really not what I order.

So if you ordered something simple then you can be sitting here, and quietly folding origami. You go up to the cash register, and they give you a card, so that when they're done prepping it, the come to your table to deliver it. Also there is a rewards point program that frequent customers can utilize, so after 10 times of ordering either food or drink, then you can get a free drink or entree..

This Cosi location also seems to have a resident artist, so if you look over the way, there's an artist setup there. Since the Cosi closes late I have never seen the artist, but if you notice the art in Cosi, then it may have come from this artist's easel.