Dana "Sunshine" C.'s Profile

I've gone here for lunch and dinner quite a few times.  I keep meaning to try their $1 mimosas for brunch but I can never seem to make it down there for brunch hours.  

I love their pasta, and for the price it's even better.  I usually get the pesto, creamy primavera or the funghi sauce atop tortellini, fettuccine or penne.  Their baked ziti also kicks butt.  I am a sucker for cream sauces and the ones at Penne Pomodoro are all freshly made for your dish.  That pretty much goes for everything here; freshly made for you.  

The wine list is pretty good considering this place is tiny.  Almost all the wait staff are up on their wine knowledge, too.  I really like that everyone knew the wines and could recommend and compare them.

As far as bars go, this place is pretty good.  The service is attentive, the selections of fare and spirits are plentiful, the entertainment is nice and the jukebox is filled with great tunes.  

One HUGE problem with this place: indoor smoking.  I'm all for allowing the general public the right to smoke where they would like, but this bar is not properly ventilated so the smoke just lingers.  After a couple hours inside my eyes started burning.  The next morning when I woke up my eyes still stung.  I know Addison hasn't adopted the smoking ban, but I really wish they would.  The Londoner has a great patio and I think they would do really well with the ban.

This is truly a great place; a gem in the Dallas Theatre System.  It's literally under Main Street in Deep Ellum.  

The theatre director came out before the play, shifted some seats around so everyone was sure to have a great view, and then she told about the background of the production and introduced the play.  

I saw Port Twilight here.  I would recommend this play to anyone.  I would suggest sitting in the middle around row two or three to get the best view.  I wish the chairs were a little more comfortable, but that's the only down side.

The first time I had sushi was at Sushi Sam and I will remember it vividly.  It was an experience for me, and since it was such a good experience I have ventured out to find more sushi restaurants.  

When I worked in Grapevine I would drive to Sushi Sam for lunch.  This quickly became a biweekly tradition.  The atmosphere was so inviting and the people were so friendly.  

I would usually get the bento box for lunch.  It was easy and I would always ask what that day's special was.  A few times I tried the tempura and chicken teriyaki.  They also have a really good Udon.  The seafood hot pot was a little scary for me at first, but I conquered that fear :)

For dinner, I would recommend one of the sushi combinations.  The presentation alone is worth it.

This place cracks me up in a great way!  I love the signs "Idiot Free Zone" and "No Whining" that are posted.  Plus, you have to walk through a giant skull mouth to enter the restaurant.  Love it!

I also love this lace because I went there when I was a vegetarian.  I didn't think I would be able to find anything to eat other than french fries, but Atlanta is surprisingly more forward thinking and far superior than Dallas to accommodate vegetarians so well.  This place did not disappoint.

I had the Chili Cheeseburger with a veggie patty and veggie chili.  TO DIE FOR!  The chili was spicy and the cheese was gooey, and it was vegetarian!!!  I asked for jalapenos, which made the burger perfect.

Along with my burger I chose onion rings.  I know everyone raves about their sweet potato fries but I'm not hugely a fan of sweet potatoes.  I've also had their tots and they're pretty good, too.  

I balked at one of my friends commenting on how they wanted to make a meal out of the nachos... yeah, when the nachos got to our table I could see why my friend made that comment.  They were enormous.  I gladly helped finish them off.

And did I mention Vortex has an awesome beer selection?  They do.  I don't remember how many they had but I was impressed.  Plus, they serve breakfast all day long.  Who wouldn't love this place?

I loved Fujiyama when it first opened, but now I think I've changed my mind.  I will say, though, I certainly left stuffed.

The jalapeno roll, eel and shrimp were the first to come out.  I should have paid better attention to the roll description because the jalapeno roll was completely deep fried and it had cream cheese inside.  It was so heavy I couldn't finish it.  The eel was okay and the shrimp was good.

Another roll I had I can't remember the name of but it had salmon and roe out, tuna in with crab and special sauce in.  The roll was HUGE!  It was far better than my jalapeno roll.

The butterfly kisses was probably the favorite of the table with crab meat and tuna wrapped in salmon and sprinkled with special sauce and lemon.  It was delicious.

One of my friends had the rainbow roll and the spider roll, which she said both were good but not great.  

The fire roll - commonly known as the wasabi roll other places - lit me on fire, and I like spicy foods!  I paid for that one later :(

The spicy salmon roll was just that and smaller than we imagined, thankfully.  We might not have been able to finish it if it had been bigger.  

Huge down side = $6.95 Kirin Light!  If you have a couple of those it could really drive up your bill in hurry, and sushi is expensive enough as it is.

I had dinner here with one of my sushi-loving buddies this past week and I will rave about this place to everyone!!!  Here goes:

They have awesome drink specials:
$1 small hot sake
$2 large hot sake
$2 small flavor sake
$4 large flavor sake
$2 domestic beers (bud, bud light, coors, miller light)
$3.50 import beers
$2 house wines

They have a nice menu with very nice specialty rolls.  Try the spring roll; it's assorted greens with cucumber, avocado and sprouts.  The miso soup is very tasty.  

I had the O-Yama roll and the spicy crunch roll, thinking I would have room for the chile Thai roll... The O-Yama roll has pickled jalapenos which weren't to my liking but the roll was still really good.  It also had sriracha and wasabi sauce on the side for dipping.  

The spicy crunch roll was perfectly spicy with fried shrimp, cucumber and avocado inside and spicy tuna with salmon roe out, topped with ponzu sauce, spicy mayo and sriracha sauce.  I was in heaven and this is by far my favorite roll so far.  

The chile Thai roll sounded great - white tuna, cucumber, avocado and crab meat inside and shrimp out topped with a spicy Thai chile sauce.  Man, I wish I had room for that!  

The eel nigiri sushi is great and was hot and tender.

Loving eel, my buddy had the dragon roll.  It was SO good!!!  It was sweet and had the perfect amount of sauce.  

The Alaska roll was also wonderful.  The salmon was so fresh and tasted so good.

Their ginger isn't the regular pickled ginger that every place serves.  I think they pickle it themselves and it had the consistency of freshly shaved ginger root.  I was impressed.

The pictures on the menu are not misleading as I was thinking they were; the rolls are 10 to 12 pieces instead of the typical 5 to 6 pieces.  Needless to say, 4 rolls, plus miso soup, plus eel, plus beers = take home box for some sushi.  

I scoped out the rest of their menu while I was waiting on my buddy to show up.  They have a sashimi special that is 20 pieces of fish cuts for $26.95!!!  They have a variety of appetizers starting from $3.95 and going up to $12.95.  The beef tataki looked amazing from the menu and I can only imagine I would be more than satisfied if I ordered it.  They have sashimi "heaven" cuts.  Snapper, yellowtail, white tuna, tuna, salmon, and either mackerel or halibut topped with ponzu, jalapeno and sriracha.  I was really tempted to order the salmon heaven.  

I would definitely go with a group because then you could order more and get a taste of everything.  The place is pretty small but they are willing to move around their 9 tables to accommodate anyone.

This Qwik Wash is really convenient and close to my house.  My Jeep needed an oil change so I decided to try this place.  They have a $29.99 lube and wash.

I pulled right into the bay and the servie guy took my information immediately.  He said it would take about 45 minutes which is pretty standard for an oil change (from my experience).  

Their waiting room was nice and clean, though it kind of smelled like gasoline.  Go figure, right?  They had a very nice, large television with cable to keep me entertained while I was waiting.  

Right around the 40 minute mark, the service tech summoned me into the service bay to go over a few things with me.  My oil change was complete, but they perform some extra scans to make sure your vehicle is running in tip top shape.  They took a reading of my battery and pulled my transmission and power steering fluids.  I call that service!

The car wash was just the average drive through with a hand towel drying at the end, but I've noticed my tires have never been so shiny for so long since the wash!

ONE STAR, and you know why?  They're no longer open.

There was a sign on the front door that said, "Landlord reserves the statutory right to change the locks."  Pissed me off!

I really liked this place and I am SO SAD that it's no longer... but I guess with the economy this type of thing happens.

I visited Josephine's at its first location in the Starwood Shopping Center at Lebanon and Dallas Parkway and fell in love with the place.  Chris Gangi, the owner, has a darling story about the concept of his restaurant/wine bar and is happy to interact with his patrons.  From what I can tell, they've been doing great at the location in Frisco Square.

Just about everything that I've had at Josephine's has been great.  All the food is rich and flavorful.  Almost every single one of their appetizers will WOW you  Try the Penne with vodka sauce!!!  I haven't had their pizza yet, but it's on the list of things to try... along with their balsamic pork chops!

For being a small wine bistro, Josephine's has a great selection... I think something like 100 wines to choose from.  Don't quote me on that, though.  The offer wine by the glass and bottle.  They also have a full bar, and they offer great happy hour specials.