BRUCE "smiley" S.'s Profile

My wife treated me to dinner here tonight. It was a first for both of us. The food was incredible. We started with the Burrata Ravioli which was fantastic! home made pasta and the Burrata was from a great Italian cheesemaker in LA. The chop slad "La Scala" was tasty and it was turn for owr main courses. She has the veal scallopine which was good (not special) and I had the Cornish Game hen which was fantastic and served flaming! It was like an Italian Coq Au Vin. We were recommended a great light red wine to compliment our meals and the dessert topped it off nicely when combined with the fanstastic Espresso Martini. It was like an iced espresso with boooze! Very refreshing.  If you are a tourist, I say to you "Screw any Italian restaurant on the strip and rush here!", if you are a local I say "Screw any Italian restaurant and rush here!"! :)
It is somewhat pricey-most items $22 to $32. With a couple appetizers , cocktails, moderately priced wine and share a dessert and you can easily get to $170 before tip. But for a splurge, or special occasion-it is well worth the money! Enjoy!

We went in 2008 and couldn't wait to come back again! We returned last weekend. This event is still great! They had a great beer and food selection. Lots of German choices (and American beer and food if you are BORING!).  Great bands. A good amount of guys in Lederhosen and tons of gals in Dirndl's--awesome!
Big bear is a great community to visit!  Like last year, the beer lines are LONG! Too lonG! This year we bought the 5 liter mini keg of Warsteiner (serves about 13 beers for the price of 8! ), so we only had to wait in the beer line ONCE! But, the keg will warm up (of course) after sitting on the table for a few hours. I need to make a cooling blanket for next year! We WILL be back!
One other mistake-we took the free O'Douls Shuttle bar to our Hotel (a good thing) BUT, since we waited until closing, the line took us 45 minutes.  
NOTE to first timers; All Food and drinks (beer, water, Jager, etc) require a food or drink coupon. You MUST purchase the coupons from the Coupon Line BEFORE wasting your time in the beer or food line. The beer and Food booths inside DO NOT TAKE MONEY!

One more weekend this year, and you have 11 months to start searching for a Dirndl (dress) or Lederhosen for you to wear next year!
Next year is their 40th Anniversary of Octoberfest. ZAZZ!

Just opened and supposedly the largest grocery store in the Las Vegas area, Glazier is pretty darn good!  The prices aren't bad and they usually have something for every budget. Cheap, moderate and Gourmet prices and items.  Has a good "food court" area with a player grand Piano.  The music was a little loud throughtout the store-turn the volume down a touch please! Far from our house-too bad.

This place is closed!!! There is a handwritten note on the door saying the Landlord had taken possession of the premises!  We had to go somewhere else.          :(

Basic menu-sandwiches, salads, ice cream.  Restored 1924 restaurant inside the Historic Kelso Train depot.  Usually a one man operation so be patient. It is the only restaurant in about 30 miles. We were glad we ate there!

The restored train depot at Kelso, California is a gem.  Three floors of exhibits including art.  It is worth a visit when in the Mojave Desert area.
NOTE-this is NOT in the city of Barstow!.It is near Baker and Cima California.

I don't know how to rate our experience. Everything was fine in the cat section until they brought the boxes out for the "euths". A few minutes before closing I would say about twelve boxes were set out for cats and even kittens(!) that were being taken out of the adoption center to meet their demise. My main complaint against that is Lied should do that afterhours! To see such the reality of pet overpoplulation was very shocking. My wife left in tears.
Enough about that, my main reason for writing is to say SPAY and NEUTER your animals, and if you have some extra room in your heart and life, please run (don't walk )and adopt an animal!

UPDATE: I went back the next day to adopt a cat we had seen. "Harpo" (now Fritz) was still there. I did notice how empty it looked now that the other felines were taken away. All the staff I interacted with were very nice and the place is very clean. Fritz was not yet fixed, so I had to come back on Sunday to pick him up.  Sunday we picked him up and brought him home. More friendly staff interaction. I ended up giving Lied 4 stars because of the many good aspects of the place. I did not give five stars because of the "euth" incident.  Go down today and adopt a lifetime friend!

My burger was fine-but cooked more than I asked for. The kaiser bun was really good. Inky's wheat bun was dry-seemed old. The draft beer wasn't available. I would have given it three stars, but I subtracted one because of THE REALLY LOUD music. I couldn't hear our server at times! You can actually hear the restaurant a few hundred feet away. Hey, management-it's a burger restaurant..NOT a nightclub!
Ps-I am really getting tired of TV's in restaurants. At least this isn't a fine restaurant and the sound was muted. Or maybe not-I couldn't hear much of anything over the music!

I wasn't impressed by my carne asada buritto-it was ok. I am VERY burrito picky! Some friends rave about this place-so I ordered what they get: the carnitas plate. I love it! It may break my burrito habit.
Now if I could only find the perfect burrito in vegas.

It is an icon-GO!

Ps-we sampled five donuts , the only one that wasn't my style was the folded crepe. The rest were incredible!