Chris N.'s Profile

Although we didn't get off on the right foot when I first came in (they made me wait an hour before my appointment) I will say that from that point on, everything has been amazing.  I'd gone to another dermatologist in Culver City for eczema; he made me wait for 45 mins while he was on the phone with the contractor doing his home repair.  I know this because I could hear him through the paper thin walls, but I digress.  So after he had only made my skin worse, I felt it was hopeless to go to any doctor until I met Lisa at Ava.  She was way more personal with my visit and offered me more than just prescriptions to heal the problem, she gave me an entire regimen of things to consider and work on; after only a week my hands were back to normal and they continue to stay that way.

These guys are always incredible with their service.  It's so hard to trust a mechanic these days, but trust me, these guys won't lie or try to sell you something they don't think you need.  My girlfriend and I have gone in on separate occasions and both times they have talked us out of purchasing things others have suggested.  Just yesterday my girlfriend went into to have what the toy truck repairman suggested (2 tires and alignment).  Haro (I think) suggested we only needed to get 1 tire fixed and he would look at the alignment.  After talking to him for a minute, he said that we would need to get the alignment eventually, but could survive without for a while.  We ended up getting the 2 tires and alignment.  Thanks guys.

Amazing and tasty little burger.  Went here on a Sunday after walking around the farmers market just outside.  Although the food was a bit expensive ($10 for a burger) it was well worth it just to have the outdoor atmosphere of cheesy Euro-pop bands playing with a good burger, salty fries and a ice cold beer.  As far as the quality of the burger, I only tried their traditional burger that comes with 6 ingredients.  I'm not much of a gourmet burger fan (see my review on Father's Office), but this was just delicious.  Made medium rare with juicy tomatoes, portobello mushrooms, Parmesan crusted cheese slice, secret sauce and some others to ignite the taste buds.  The fries were a bit too salty for my taste but came with a tangy hot mayonnaise-based sauce to dip in which added an extra kick of flavor to my pallet.  The beer that came with the meal was a Jasmine rise based Thailand beer that was all together flavorful.  Would totally go back.  Service could improve, but I wasn't even focused on that as the food took my mind away from all of that.

Love this location.  They are always fast with my order and since I work around the corner, they've come to know me and my order which makes the place that much more pleasant.  They are one of the reasons I actually look for a Starbucks when I'm thirsting for coffee.

Absolutely terrible.  Never going here again.  I've never been a fan of cooking my own meal at a restaurant.  I mean whats the point of going out and cooking for yourself.  But seeing as how this was fondue, I couldn't resist.  We went to help celebrate a friends birthday and each couple ordered separate dishes.  Granted one meal serves 2 people so be careful when you order because you could find yourself with lots of leftovers.  I will admit that, while its certainly an interesting idea, the execution was poor at this location.  The cheese is just outright bad.  No other way to put it.  My girlfriend got sick because someone else didn't cook their meat long enough in the fondue, which supports my theory as to why you don't go to restaurants to cook your own food.  I love cheese, but this almost made me not like it.

Incredible home cooking.  There are so many things I could say about this place.  Food is just delicious, made with care from start to finish.  They have the best salads and sandwiches I've ever eaten.  Food is always fresh, on time, and certainly worth the price.  They add in so many yummy extras to most of your meals, its like mom was cooking for you every time.  Without a doubt, would recommend this place to any and everyone.

I was very angry when I wrote the first review as it was Christmas Eve and I was sitting outside my apartment cold with no way to get in.  So my update comes after having moved out and the experiences that cultivated  

I would like to clear up one thing on the original review...the management I was referring to was the on-site managers (we've had 3 in less than a year).  I've actually never really dealt with the actual managers until I decided to move out.  I'm still not happy with the place, but as far as this review goes, it's an update worth noting.  The first manager kept the management company such a secret from us that we didn't even believed one existed.  The second one was so scatter-brained that we weren't sure she was even really the on-site manager, but again, she kept the management secret from us.  The third one has actually been really nice and part of us is really sad to leave because this guy seems to have his shit together and would actually respond to us when we contacted.  I bring these 3 up because they made it seem like when we had a problem there was nothing else we could about it; they were the end-all, be-all.  So it was super frustrating when we had our food sprayed and we couldn't contact anyone to complain, or the fact that we've told all 3 managers our stove doesn't work properly and they never had anyone fix it, so we can't call anyone to force the issue.  Maybe this is standard practice, but if the management company doesn't want to be transparent, then they should give their on-site people the ability to make decisions.  Not make it seem like the on-site manager knows of the issue, and maybe they've contacted someone about it, but we'll never know.

Having contacted the management to inform them I was moving out, I spoke with a very nice women who was very informative.  She explained everything I need to know regarding the move, security deposit, final walk-through, etc.  I was contacting them on the 7th of January to put in my 30-day notice hoping to be moved out by the 1st.  My hope was that given it was less than 30 days, they would let us out without having to pay any part of the next months rent.  It was a long shot and I understand why it didn't work.  Not mad.

As the time neared for us to move into our new place, we got together our first months rent for the new place and set off to venture in the world of moving.  We haven't moved into our new place yet, but already they're shaping up to be incredible.  With only a security deposit, the management has been holding the place we picked since the day we put in our 30 day notice with the old place.  They've sprayed for pests and given us a free parking spot so both my girl and I can park underneath.  I contacted Carseka Management to ensure that we were on pace to move out by the 6th.  The manager there, informed me that we were and asked if I was the one who wrote the original review on Yelp.  I gladly said "yes" and she replied "interesting" and hung up.

Since that call, the management has shaped up to be much better.  They contacted me, in fact to let me know that someone was interesting in moving in by the 1st and that if we could move out before then we would receive our entire deposit back.  We were able to move out and received all of our deposit back (minus the typical paint and cleaning fees).  I still wouldn't recommend to anyone moving into Carseka, but at least they didn't try to screw me over in the end.

Dave T. rocks.  I've shopped at many of the locations around southern California and even though this is not my local shop, I still continue to drive the far distance for their great service.

I used to work for Guitar Center, and so I know how hard it can be to shop for professional music equipment both for the consumers and the employees.  I went in to sell some gear back as I didn't have the need nor the space to house it all.  I found Dave T. with another happy customer walking out as I approached; I told him I was looking to sell some gear.  He appraised my gear thoroughly, in fact more thorough then I ever remember Guitar Center doing when I worked there.  He looked up eBay, Craigslist and all the various markets to seek the going rate for my gear.  I was offered a fair price for the gear and the process was quick and painless.  I truly feel like I was treated as the only customer in the building and for that I'm truly grateful.

If you're ever in the Covina area or just want good honest service for music equipment, seek Dave T. and his crew.  He always recommends the right employee to assist you and knows how to treat customers.

It's a nice quaint little place.  The location is right off the street and very easy to miss when you're driving around Berkeley.  Very old style lodging with options for private or publicly shared bathroom.  I thought the place was okay and comparably cheaper than most of the places in the surrounding area and since it was just a place to sleep for the night it was more than sufficient.

Very similar to Chipotle; assembly line style.  I feel like this place is what would happen if a hole-in-the-wall Mexican joint merged with Chipotle.  You'd get an expensive meal that you watched someone put together to your specifications but it would taste better.  Great tasting food, but a bit overpriced.