Amy "NetDiva" A.'s Profile

Me: Hi, I'd like the paneer tikka masala burrito, spicy please.
Food Truck Dude: It comes with a kick. You sure you want it spicier?
Me: Yes, please, extra-spicy.
FTD: So how spicy do you want it? You want it really spicy?
Me: Yes. Extra spicy.
FTD: OK, cuz it's gonna be really spicy.
Me: (getting annoyed). Yep. That's what I want.
... 10 minutes later, handing me the burrito....
FTD: OK, this is REALLY spicy. You sure?
Me: I know I'm a white girl, but yes.

Seriously, dude?

I'm half way through the thing and my nose isn't even running. Also, it's not really that great.  :/

We came here for the wine-makers' dinner on Monday evening with friends.  Sadly, the event was very disorganized and the food was just OK.

To begin with, the hostess had our reservation wrong.  I'd made a reservation for four, weeks in advance and she had us down for two.  There seemed to be quite a lot of drama about whether they could accomodate us.  Later when dinner was served, there were at least half-a-dozen empty seats, so I'm not sure what the problem was.

The first course was served about a forty-five minutes late; and we sipped our wine very slowly, hoping to still have some when the food it was paired with finally arrived.  Throughout the evening, the wine and food pairing never came out together.  Additionally, The restaurant was freezing.   The main course was way too salty, and I usually like things saltier than most!

The ladies' room was a disaster with water everywhere.  It looked like a toilet had overflowed and not been mopped.  There was water dripping off the sink and into a waste basket which seemed to be intentionally put there.  There was even a waitress in there who seemed to be primping and ignoring the mess.  I've seen better gas stations.

The one thing they did right was continue to pour wine generously through all of the disorganization.  While the open kitchen seemed like utter chaos, they kept the booze flowing which went a long way to smooth things out.  The staff also seemed generally very attentive, even if they were clearly in the weeds.

This was their first wine makers' dinner and I hope that they do a little better job with the next one.

As much as I love the food at Darwin, I've almost totally stopped going there.  It takes 30-40 minutes to get your salad or sandwich.  That's simply too long for a place that's essentially take out.  I wish they would find a way to speed it up.

Ti Couz!  WHAT HAPPENED?  Your bloody maries were possibly the best in the City and one of the main reasons I go there.  How could you have downgraded your liquor license to only beer and wine.  I don't understand how a busy, well established place makes a decision like that.  

If anyone has the back story, I'd love to know.

Oh My. What a delight! The House indeed lives up to all the wonderful things I've heard.

We visited last night for my husband's birthday.  Tip: Show up early and there's no wait.

We started with a delightful hamachi sashimi dish and chilled marinated asparagus.  Both were fabulous.  I ordered the sea bass that came with a soy ginger glaze, soba noodles and snap peas.  It was lovely.  My husband had the kobe steak with mash potatoes and wild mushrooms.  That was unbelievable!  I was impressed with the massive cut of meat.  In fact, all portions were sizable.

The service was excellent.  

Dinner for two, including two appetizers, two entrees and four cocktails came to $132.  I thought it was very reasonable.

I can't wait to come back!

I want to really give credit to Goat Hill Pizza.  We had reservations for 20 people on Saturday afternoon.  Two days before that, I called and increased our reservation to 25.  That was no problem.  Because our activity before pizza ran long, the entire party showed up an hour late.  Also, no problem!

Service was GREAT! The food was GREAT!  The location was GREAT!  Pizza, salads, appetizers, beer and wine for 25 people came to $495 with tip.  That's $19.76 a person.  UNBELIEVABLE!  They even made extra space for all the toddlers in high chairs that have suddenly wedged their way into my social circle, lately.

I could not be happier with how my husband's birthday dinner went.  Everyone laughed, ate, drank and enjoyed each other.  Goat Hill was a great, laid back choice for a party of this size.

I've been curious about Evergreen Garden for years and for whatever reason, I've never gone in.  Today, we were looking for lunch on a patio without a wait and landed here.

What a delight!  The patio was lovely and the service was good, but it was really the food that stole the show.

My husband had Pho and I had a vermicelli bowl with BBQ pork.  Everything came heaping with piles of fresh, raw vegetables.  My meal had julienned carrots, cucumbers and shredded cabbage, along with basil chiffonade and sprouts. The quality of the produce was outstanding.  The pork was mouth watering.  Steve's Pho was so tasty, also piled with great veggies and plenty of chicken.  Neither dish was greasy in the slightest.

As the waitress kept bringing dishes to other tables, I must have asked her three times what various items were.  Everything looked so good!  I was so impressed with the flavor and quality.

Lunch for two came to $18.  Evergreen Garden will definitely be in our rotation from now on.

YUM!

Frankly, I did not want to like Gracias Madre. I've read reports of the owners strong arming their employees at their other restaurants into attending Landmark sessions (http://bit.ly/hu7cnv), so I was a little turned off.

Alas, I have vegan friends, and I do recognize that their choices are somewhat limited so we came here for dinner not too long ago.  I have to say that the food was damned good.  Everything was outstanding.  I especially loved the "nacho cheese".  I mean wow.  I didn't just like it, I LOVED IT!

Despite the crowd, the service was fast and attentive.  We had a table of nine and they acomodated two extras joining mid-meal without a problem.  The interior is beautiful  And nobody made me order with goofy phrases like "I am grateful" or "I'm a hippy" like they do at Cafe Gratitude.

What a present surprise.  I'll most certainly be back.

My experience has been quite the opposite of the other reviews.  The first time this guy came by, he couldn't find the problem.  He said if we continued having problems, he'd come back and waive the $70 service fee.

We almost immediately had problems again.  We had a helluva time rescheduling him.  It took over a week to get an appointment.  

After almost two weeks without a washer, he was supposed to be here today at 1:30.  At 2pm when he still wasn't here, I called him.  He sounded confused and said he had no way to know the time, and asked what time it was, and then said he could be there by 3pm.  WTF?

When he finally arrived, he spent a minute or two looking at the machine and claimed it was the belt and pulley.  Then he said he couldn't return with the parts until the following Tue.  What? Argh!

Next I asked about the price.  He said it would be $25 for the belt, $7 for the pulley and $70 for the service fee.  I asked why he was charging the service fee.  Holda said that what was wrong wasn't what he thought was wrong last time, therefore we owed the service fee.  Huh?

That made no sense to me.

I thanked him and said I'd find someone else.  At that point, he stood next to my wash machine and proceeded to yell at me for the next several minutes about why his convoluted logic was fair.  I did not engage in the argument, thanked him again and waited for him to leave.

I have been without a washer for weeks, am out $70 and basically I'm at square one.  My dad used to repair washers and dryers.  I cannot imagine him behaving this way.  My experience has been that this guy is hard to schedule, expensive, unprofessional, late, and he goes back on his word.

I feel like Bourbon Steak knocked it out of the park with the service and basically hit a few singles with the food.  To be fair, we did come on New Years Eve, which probably wasn't a typical evening, but the prix fixe dinner with wine was about $300/person.  If I'm going to spend that much, I expect to leave impressed.

There are restaurants in this City that are cost that much and always amaze me -- Aquerello comes to mind.  Bourbon Steak was nothing special.

I know it was a tasting menu but I didn't feel like there were really enough tastes.  When we finally got to the steak (their supposed specialty), it was tiny and dry.  I LOVE steak and I didn't find their's memorable.

On the other hand, the desert plates, basically fancy Moon Pies, were so big, they seemed weird.  My friend is deathly allergic to cow's milk and we called ahead to let them know about her allergy.  For dessert, all she got was a plate of chopped fruit.  Needless to say, she was pretty bummed.

Now let's talk ambience.  Our table for seven was right in the bar, foot traffic central.  To be honest, it's all the same room and there isn't a distinction anyway.  This was New Year Eve at the St. Francis, and the flyers said there would be live Jazz in the restaurant.  Imagine our surprise when we got a BAD 80's cover band that was too loud to talk over.  I felt like I was at someone's cheap Bar Mitzvah.

I have no problem with very expensive restaurants when I feel that the establishment does a beautiful job making a beautiful evening.  I feel like Bourbon Steak is a chain restaurant that is all about Michael Mina's name, and nothing about an outstanding dining experience.  It's too bad.