Mike L.'s Profile

I'm perhaps an odd breed; I enjoy haggling with salespeople. Perhaps it's because I own my own business and have been in their shoes before. Or perhaps it's because I do a TON of research before buying a car, including going to 10+ dealerships if I must.

For dealerships, the specific salesperson you deal with will have a significant impact on your experience there. Every dealership has its share of a-holes and rock stars. I was lucky and worked with one of the latter, a sales manager named Dave Peterson.

We came in after seeing a specific CPO vehicle listed on their website. Other dealerships tried a bait-and-switch on me, telling me they had the car, then trying to sell me another car when I arrived to find out that their Internet listings are outdated.

With Dave, there was minimal haggling and minimal hassle. I would like to brag and say it's because I know how to deal with salespeople, but I think it was really just Dave's demeanor and attitude.

We got the car at the KBB price, which we felt was fair. After we purchased the car, Dave spent nearly half an hour sitting in the car with us, explaining all of its features & functionality. We could have easily done that ourselves, but we found his quick tutorial really helpful.

Notably, Dave is also fairly web-savvy. He followed up with an email, suggesting I write this review. (I see a few others on Yelp that have had him too ;-) Because my experience with him was positive, I'm gladly spending my time writing this. We had a good experience with Dave Peterson and would recommend him to friends.

This was all our fault.

We really, really wanted to like this place. It's a cozy hole-in-the-wall with Beatles & Hendrix memorabilia adorning the walls. Just a handful of tables, a fair number of regulars (judging by the other Yelp reviews & labeled saki bottles), and a high rating on Yelp. Must be good, right?

That's what we expected when we walked in. I should add that we were starving for ramen also. I did a search on the Yelp iPhone app and this was the second search result. We glanced at the high-level reviews and decided to go for it.

Our experience:

+ Got there at 9:00pm on a Friday night. The place was packed. That's a good sign.

+ Got a seat right away. Score!

+ 30min wait before being able to order. That's okay, it's fairly crowded. There's only one waitress on staff, so she's probably swamped.

+ 15min wait for edamame. Cool enough. The crowds are disappearing now and there are a few empty tables. Hopefully since the rush is subsiding, we'll get our food soon.

+ 45min wait for the rest of our food. Okay, not cool. It's 10:30pm now and we're starving. So much for getting our food soon.

+ 10min to scarf down our food because we were so hungry. I burned my tongue slurping down the scalding ramen. :-P

+ 20min wait to get the check. It's 11:00pm now. Fan-f'ing-tastic.

While we were waiting for the food, we looked back at the Yelp reviews. That's when we began to see all the 1-2 star ratings. They mostly complained about a long wait and poor ramen. Uh oh. That's what we came here for: ramen. We also came here starving and expecting to get the food in a reasonable amount of time.

The 4-5 star ratings raved about their yakitori and fried dishes. Damn. One reviewer wrote that the waitress told him, "We're not a ramen shop," as an explanation for why the ramen was taking so long. Double damn.

And the ramen itself? Average. It wasn't bad, to be honest. A little salty for my taste, but not stellar. I've had better ramen. I'm a bit of a ramen snob too, so I may have unrealistic expectations for a place that's not a ramen shop. :-P

Also, after we finished the ramen, the surface of the broth congealed, showing how much fat was in it. That's not too unusual, but well-made ramen doesn't congeal like that. You see drops of fat on the surface instead.

What really killed Halu for us was the wait. It took us an hour and a half to get our main meals. Thank goodness we ordered edamame, otherwise we would have just gotten up and left. (We were seriously debating that too.)

But really, this was all our fault.

Why? We should have read the Yelp reviews more closely. Just because Halu was the second search result for "ramen in san francisco" doesn't mean it's the second-based place for ramen in San Francisco. (So maybe it's Yelp's fault? ;-)

If we had read through some of the negative reviews, perhaps we would have adjusted our expectations accordingly. Or gone somewhere else.

My recommendations:

+ Come here when you're not starving.

+ Come here for some drinks & snacks.

+ Order the fried foods. Stay away from the ramen.

+ Be prepared for a long wait.

With those expectations, I'm sure you'll have a better experience than we did.

I'm watching one of the owners help a nice lady of certain age with counting out all of the change she's poured onto the counter. He's patiently extracting the exact amount for her order. Now he's helping her to a seat.

There's a couple in the corner with their textbooks out. A lady is in front of me, sitting her coffee and leafing through a newspaper. Another young guy is typing feverishly on his laptop, just like I am. Some soft classical music is playing in the speakers.

Both owners (Art & John, I assume, from reading the other reviews here) are now greeting a regular who's walking in through the door. It's a warm welcome. One of the owners says, "Your usual?" The regular nods.

Although I've only been here a few times so far (not enough to be considered a regular yet), this is a common scene at Nani's Coffee. The owners are gracious to all of their patrons. The space is great for working or reading. The free wifi and various power outlets help too.

What an awesome place. I can't wait to become a regular here too.