Ms. D.'s Profile

Delicious cookies delivered WARM!  Order online and sign up for their newsletters so you get coupons and a "heads up" on specials.

Tiff's Treats also does special occasion packages for birthdays, holidays and the like.  If you want a side of delicious Blue Bell Ice Cream or a bottle of Starbuck's Frappucino (or if you are, perhaps, a purist who needs milk with cookies) they can hook you up!

My order (hoping to boost office morale) arrived within the timeframe promised. The cookies were warm and soft and a big hit with my officemates.  

It's roughly a dollar per cookie but when you factor in that they are delivered AND still warm (and very soft, tasty cookies) that justifies the splurge.  

Tiff's Treats also has an opportunity to win 10 dozen cookies, so while you're tat the website, put your name in the drawing.

Thanks, Tiff's Treats for making Tuesday Terrific!

I have to be honest and tell you that I just about dropped dead when I received the invite to this.  This was, for me, the equivalent of being invite to Prom by the star football player in High School (which I can assure you, I know NOTHING about, I couldn't get a date with ANY guy in my high school, let alone a popular one)  so I was really, really excited for this party!

I did feel like I was a good decade older than 99% of the other attendees but one of the first things I did was let the FABULOUS Live Hair Group stylist give me bangs.  I haven't really changed my hairstyle in YEARS and he did an AMAZING job.  The girl before me getting her bangs done was really nervous but she looked absolutely STUNNING when she was done (she was gorgeous to begin with, but he did an absolutely stellar job with her bangs!)

The DJ spinning the 90's tunes was excellent. It was so much fun to spend a night listening to music that I knew all the words to (refer back to my comment about being OLD).  People danced and Dallas PowerHouse had dancers there, as well and they were all very talented.  The furniture from CORT was very stylish, functional and comfortable.

And the food.  Oh my WORD, the food!  And the DRINKS!  If I hadn't had to drive home, I probably would have sampled more of the drinks but there was Sweet Tea Vodka, just plain vodka, Rum, and several hard ciders.  And they were mixing the Sweet Tea Vodka with Lemonade, which was divine.  There were Bahn Mi sandwich slices from Pho is for Lovers, which I will be tracking down in the VERY near future as I was impressed with their Bahn Mi and am always on the hunt for tasty Vietnamese eggrolls.  Velvet Taco had an amazing pulled pork taco with a pineapple habenero salsa that was spicy but not over the top and the flavors really work well together.   So, I'll be tracking down Velvet Taco soon, as well. Top all that deliciousness off with a taste of Whiskey Cake... had I known how delicious the Whiskey Cake is when my office-mates and I had gone there for lunch a few weeks ago, I would have skipped ordering food and just had cake!

There were a couple of things I just didn't get to... there was some bubble tea that I meant to try but there was always a long line at that table.  I watched a little bit of the Wii play that was going on and it looked like people were really having fun with the photographers (seriously, when you have men fighting over the feather boas, you can be sure hijinks are ensuing!  Facebook pictures that may be regretted coming soon! *grin)

Lastly, I need to talk about the venue - Life in Deep Ellum. It was a good size for this event, parking was a little dicey but I found a spot pretty easily (though not in their lot, but to be fair, I don't think they have big things like this going on every week), it was very straightforward and no-nonsense and I am hoping to go back there for a less crowded event at some point.  

There was some awesome SWAG (can you say YELP shot glass? Oh yeah!) and I added to my reusable tote bag collection (I love reusable tote bags!)

To sum it up, if YELP Elite parties are anything like this, I will be doing everything short of selling my soul to become Elite.   The event was fun, the music was awesome, the food fabulous and the drinks were outstanding.  Very happy that I was given the opportunity to attend!

After reading the reviews, I honestly wasn't sure what to expect at Wine Therapist.  I went last night (11/8/11) to meet up with some other writers as this had been cited as a fun place to meet and write.  There was  mention of free pizza on Tuesdays, as well.  

As it turned out, no free pizza. And...no hard cider (which would have been my first choice of beverage, primarily based on price) but the woman who took our order said they'd had a big party over the weekend and were out of most things beer and beer related.  No problem, I had a  lovely glass of sparkling wine, the other person who showed up  had a Malbec that she said was good and we split a salami plate and an Irish cheddar cheese plate (and there was cheese left over, we got a BIG piece).

There were not many people there,but I wasn't expecting it to be crowded on a Tuesday evening , which was one of the reasons we chose the venue in the first place,  the seating is well spaced, it was a little dark but that's to be expected in a wine bar and it's pretty nice that they will allow you to order food from outside places to be delivered (someone not in our party ordered Thai that was delivered)

I generally don't drink at all if I know I will be driving so I only had the one glass of wine.  I think that if I were going to be getting a ride home, I would opt to just purchase a full bottle rather than get 2 glasses because it seemed it would be more cost efficient.  Still, there are plenty of nice selections for $8-$9 per glass which is not outrageous pricing.

The door said they were open until 11 but we we gently nudged to leave around 10:30, which was fine because that was actually an hour and a half later than I'd planned on staying.  Which says alot for how comfortable it was to sit chatting.  Service was attentive but not pushy.

I am going to recommend to the group that we hold more write-ins at Wine Therapist.

I really wanted to like Channai Cafe, it's close to work and is always busy at lunch time.  Also, it seems to be frequented by people who are either from India or that region of the world, which is usually a really good sign.

I had taken a look a the menu online and saw that the Monday Special is Spicy Crab Masala.  Due to a change in staff meeting times at work, I hadn't been able to get there on a Monday and the Spicy Crab Masala was my reason for giving the place a try.

I finally got there today (a Monday!) at lunch time (12:30ish). The place was moderately busy.  I told the order taker that I wanted the Spicy Crab Masala special and she told me it takes 30-40 minutes because it is a "special order".  That confused me a bit because it's supposed to be the Monday special, I would think that it would be prepared so people could order it.  I don't know many people who can wait 40 minutes for lunch since most people have an hour lunch period and have to drive there and back to the office.  

I didn't really want to go somewhere else for lunch so I switched my order to Chicken Tikka Masala (which I was told was a 20 minute wait) and a Mango Lassi.  Then I sat and waited. (I got my order "to-go").  I opted for rice instead of naan but honestly, for nearly $13 total, I think maybe rice and a piece of naan would have been more worth it.

The mango lassi was tasty but the cup was only about 3/4 filled.  The chicken tikka masala had less than a dozen chicken chunks. There was a LOT of sauce.  The spice to the dish was good. The rice was unremarkable.

I really wanted to like Channai Cafe, but have to be honest and say I likely won't go back.  It's expensive for what you get and the wait makes it an unattractive lunch option.  However, if  I was rating on the taste alone, I'd give it 3.5 stars.  It was good but I've had better without having to wait a half hour for it.  And the fact that the SPECIAL was a 30+ minute wait pushed it out of my lunch options category.

This was the first time we'd been able to even get into the parking lot here since it opened and even at 3:30 on a Saturday it was pretty full.  However, we were seated right away and the waitress came right over and took our drink order.

There is a bucket of peanuts on the table and an empty bucket for the shells. The peanuts are good but I'm a little squicked by the fact that there were other hands in that bucket. I know that they're in shells and it really isn't an issue but you'd think that in a town where so many people come for medical issues that maybe there would be a better way to handle it.

I got the Southwest Tootsy Rolls for an appetizer.  These are shrimp, cream cheese and chives wrapped in an eggroll wrapper and fried. They're served with a chipoltle lime bbq sauce.  I have to say that they are excellent and the chipotle lime sauce really "made" the dish.

They bring warm bread to the table. It's nice but a little strange as it was a  mixed loaf of honey wheat and pumpernickle.  Very nice but really nothing too special.

My dining companion got the French Onion Soup which he said was very good. The "crouton" in the soup is a slice of the above mentioned bread.

Since I wanted to really get a feel for what they have to offer,  I ordered the  3 way BBQ platter. It has Overnight Beef Brisket, Chopped Pork  and St. Louis Style Ribs.  I got the Fire Grilled Veggies and Mashed Potatoes as my sides.  I knew in advance I was going to end up getting a box to take some home.  It also comes with a massive slice (what actually looked like a small loaf) of cornbread.  There are 4 sauces served with the BBQ (in bottles on the side).  The Legend (standard "house" BBQ sauce), a mustard sauce, chipotle lime sauce and "The WidowMaker" which doesn't grab you right off but has a burn to it about 10 seconds after your first taste.

The Overnight Brisket was, frankly, dry.  I wasn't all that impressed with it. The St. Louis Style ribs were very smoky but good and the chopped pork was very nice and moist.  The mashed potatoes had a white gravy and were pretty bland.  The grilled veggies were about 1/4 inch too thick and not quite cooked in the middle (at least the squash pieces).

My companion got the Peppercorn Steak which was cooked as ordered (medium rare) with the sauce on the side. The sauce was very peppery but otherwise not anything more than a standard stock reduction thickened with corn starch.  He got the cole slaw and baked potato on the side.  The slaw was VERY soupy and didn't have anything but cabbage in it (nary a carrot to be seen) and the potatoe was fine.

I asked for my box and got it.  However, I find it odd that we were not even asked if we wanted dessert.  We ordered soft drinks and the waitress didn't even try to sell us on anything else.  That's really odd for a restaurant that has a full bar.

Our servers switched mid-meal and I didn't really feel that the second server really felt invested in being helpful. She even said that all of HER tables were in another section of the restaurant so she brought the bill quite early on and didn't really check back after that.

I can't say that I was really impressed but I can't say I was really disappointed, either.  I think $2.50 is a little excessive for a Coke.   The wait staff seem very unenthusiastic and while I never like to have a server push an upsell, there wasn't even as SUGGESTION of dessert. (Just because someone gets a box doesn't necessarily mean they won't order dessert - maybe they're boxing because they were saving room for dessert).

I can think of several other restaurants I would choose first that would be much less expensive.  I'd go back for the Southwest Tootsy Rolls, though.

This is the restaurant that occupies the space formerly inhabited by El Gallo Taqueria.  I believe some of the same people are involved but it is now a "full service" restaurant.

I had always liked El Gallo Taqueria so was interested to see what the new restaurant would be like.  I liked having food that wasn't the same old amerericanized Tex-Mex fare.  Sadly, the super tasty authentic Mexican food is gone now.

I had the taco salad. It was pretty much what you'd expect for a taco salad but there was really no spice to it at all. I ended up shaking quite a bit of hot sauce on it.

The chips and salsa that come before the meal... The chips are still the very tasty chips.  The salsa? No spice.

My dining companion had the Carnitas dinner.  It was a nice large plate of carnitas (pork), rice and beans.  Pork was very tender, not spiced at all or very slightly, though.   There was a side plate of guac, sour cream, lettuce, a little pico de gallo and some cilantro.

I'll have to say I am disappointed that the owners felt that they had to americanize.  While we were there a man came in, looked over the menu, asked if they still made the mexican style tacos (they don't) and he left without ordering anything.

My suggestion would be to bring back at least a couple of the authentic mexican dishes so they don't lose the customers who went to El Gallo searching for "the real thing".  And maybe offer a couple of different salsa choices (they used to have a salsa bar that was out of this world).

I'll go back again because I like to support non-chain restaurants but have to admit to being somewhat disappointed.

I was a little disappointed by how SMALL the new LUSH is, but then I saw that they still have a location within Macy's so I understand a little better now.

I really love LUSH products. I love that so many of them are environmentally friendly and work very well.  I love the scents of so many of their products!

As noted by other reviewers, the products are pricey.  However, I have started experimenting with making my own bath products and will say I really don't think that the prices are too far out of line given the quality of the ingredients used.  For example, just 5ml of rose absolute (pure rose scent) sells for nearly $50.  And almost all of their products have several scents blended so just the cost of the SCENT is pretty high and then there are all of the other ingredients that go into each product.  

My other disappointment is that they didn't have any of the face products I love in their fridge.  However, they did have products displayed that they were demo-ing and that sold me on 2 things I haven't tried before.

I'm willing to pay a little more for products that are mostly if not completely natural and have an appreciation for how much time and effort goes into making the products. I may make my own... but I'll always treat myself to LUSH.

As another reviewer pointed out, it is difficult to get great seafood in a landlocked location.  Bubba Gump has a good theme and being seated on the "patio" so you can watch the mall folks was, in my opinion, a plus.

We had the Net Catch appetizer (garlic) which was tasty but not garlicky enough for my taste.  Having to peel shrimp in a butter sauce didn't help me feel any more love for the dish, but there were 4 of us and I think we all got a good taste of the dish.

My companions all had the fish n' chips and all said it was tasty. The fish was done nicely, the chips had a good flavor, there was malt vinegar at the table which got the "thumbs up" from my companions and they all enjoyed the cole slaw saying it is rare to find restaurant cole slaw that is not overly mayo'd or way too sweet.  

I had the dynamite shrimp which is listed as an appetizer but was fine for an entree if you are someone with a smaller appetite.  The shrimp were spicy in a very pleasant way and I enjoyed it.

We all had strawberry lemonade and it was very good... a very nice balance of tart and sweet.

I had the key lime pie for dessert.  I was disappointed.  It did not have a LIME taste to it at all and tasted more like a very dull custard pie on a graham cracker crust.  My dining companions had bread pudding (which was very nice with a delicious sauce), Alabama Mudpie (which was HUGE... seriously, this is a 2-4 person dessert) and ice cream with strawberries (which was a "special order" as it is not something on the menu).  In spite of the fact that they were busy, they weren't at all pushy when we sat and talked after the meal.

Overall a good experience and I'd go back. Points off for not peeling the appetizer shrimp and the complete lack of LIME in the key lime pie.

While I always laugh at the fact that Zorba's was voted "best Greek food" in Rochester (because I have not yet run into another place in Roch that SERVES Greek food), I do really like the food at Zorba's and go there fairly regularly.

I usually get the Gyros dinner with the Avgolomene soup and spinach rice.  The tzatsiki (think I am spelling it wrong) is delicious and everything always tastes very fresh.

My dining companion usually gets the suvlaki, which also looks and smells delicious and he usually gets the greek salad, which, if I liked green peppers, I might get, as well.  It's not a lettuce salad, it has peppers, cucumbers, onions, olives and feta cheese and it does look tasty.

The desserts are very fresh and tasty. The nut basket, almond roll and baklava are all very good and my companion tells me the very creamy rice pudding is tasty, too.

The only thing that keeps it from being 5 stars is that there isn't a great ambiance about the place. It's small and can get loud. But it is worth the trip and I'll go back!

For "fast food" this is a wonderful change of pace.  

Always fresh-tasting, nicely spicy and some of the friendliest staff around, Chipotle is one of my favorites.

I generally get the crispy tacos with barbacoa and fresh salsa.  The burritos are wonderful but they are HUGE.  They've got rice, beans and meat along with salsa and cheese and could  easily be two meals for most people.

The chips and guacamole are wonderful. The chips are lightly salted, the guacamole very fresh.

Service is quick and it's never a very long wait, even when the line is fairly long, making it a good choice for lunch when you need something quick but can't face another burger.

It's also well kept up and clean and the staff are very friendly and helpful.