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"i was in the middle of getting my life together, but decided to yelp instead"
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48 Useful, 25 Funny, and 40 Cool
San Diego, CA
Yelping SinceOctober 2008
Things I Love Find Me Inpajamas
My Hometowncerritos, ca
My Blog Or Website When I'm Not Yelping...I'm sippin' on mo(scato)
Why You Should Read My ReviewsI'm a cynic with a smile
The Last Great Book I ReadThe Alchemist
My First ConcertThe Warped Tour
My Favorite MovieVertigo
My Last Meal On Earthsome good down to earth Filipino food
Don't Tell Anyone Else But...my mom thinks i'm cool
Most Recent Discoverythe Mountain Man
Current Crushwouldn't you like to know
DateColorado Springs, CO 80903
(719) 635-2800
Phantom Canyon Brewing Company
Categories: American (New), Breweries
Papers, Yelp, and a lot of locals have raved about this place. I however, walked out with three questions resonating through my mind: What the F*ck is that smell? Why did I just put that in my mouth? and Seriously Springs?
I showed up without a reservation so the wait was nearly an hour. Forget annoying buzzers, this place breaks convention by giving guests outrageous stuffed animals as your place holder in line. Fortunately, there's a full service bar where the locals troll. I met a delightful couple who monopolized the bar stools as they did their crossword puzzles complete with a headlamp to allow for sufficient lighting at the BAR. The Winterfest, a local brew, helped ease the wait. Their Ventucci something or other had slight pumpkin flavors, but definitely not as delightful as the pie.
While waiting for a table and sipping my beer a strange odor caught my nose, maybe it was the waitress walking by, or the group of ladies enjoying their night out. Either way it was way stanky up in that bar. Luckily, a table opened up soon after.
I started with the calamari, which is usually one of my favorites, but was quickly disappointed. It was tough and overdone and the only flavors were lent from the sweet and sour sauce that bathed the calamari. The almond rosemary salmon wasn't that much better, so I left there wondering what all the hype was about.
I want to give the springs the benefit of the doubt and maybe I just haven't found that one restaurant that will blow me away. Maybe next time...
Chicago, IL 60654
(312) 447-3440
Hotel Felix
Category: Hotels & Travel
Neighborhoods: Near North Side, River North
And the room was by no means a let down. Our reservation was originally for a single queen after a little Travelocity snafu. (When booking through a third party you will sometimes be given the next available room if the one you want is unavailable. We booked a double but got stuck with a single.) Desperate and unwilling to share a bed with the two of them, I asked the man at the front desk if they had any other doubles available. Fortunately for me they had one available and he was nice enough to give it to us. It wasn't the biggest room, but the bathroom was decently sized and the beds were amazingly comfortable--so comfortable that the three of us slept through our alarms every morning. The bathroom was one of the best parts of the room, second only to the beds. It had one of those awesome shower heads that makes it feel like it's raining and there was never a towel shortage. And of course, it came fully stocked with bathroom essentials--soap, shampoo and conditioner that delightfully smelled like the lobby, and q-tips & cotton balls.
As if things couldn't get any better, the staff was amazing. Chuck the doorman was super friendly and knew everything there was to know about the city from which bars and restaurants to hit, to the most efficient route to get from one point to the next complete with directions so detailed that they included which set of stairs to take. Even the late night staff was so helpful as to help my friend carry me back to the room after having a little to much fun our last night in town.
San Diego, CA 92103
(619) 239-1377
Bertrand At Mister A's
Category: American (New)
Neighborhood: Banker's Hill
The view had to have been the best part of the evening, save for the good company. We requested a seat outside to take advantage of the awesome panoramic view of the port and downtown SD at twilight. It was a little chilly for mid-spring in SD and the staff was so accommodating as to pull a heater closer to our table to keep the three of us from freezing.
Not only were they helpful, but they really knew their shit, especially when it came to the vino. We asked for something that would go well with each of our dishes: Mediterranean style paella, black seabass, and pan roasted sole. We ended up going with the house wine, Mon Trois, a nice pinot noir --good call maitre' d. The wine was my favorite part of the meal with the mac and cheese coming in at a close second. If heaven came in a dish, it would be their mac & cheese--smooth, saucy, cheesy goodness ever so delightfully topped with a crispy crust.
I had the black sea bass, which as it turns out is critically endangered--my bad. Fortunately for my fish the chef did it justice cooking it to perfection. It was moist and juicy, done just right going great with the riesling cream. It also came with some choucroute, but i didn't care for it since it was too sour. One of the best parts of the dish was the deep fried flat leaf parsley. Who would have thought that something so small and seemingly insignificant would taste so great...not me.
Artesia, CA 90701
(562) 860-7089
Tea Station
Categories: Desserts, Taiwanese, Coffee & Tea, Tea Rooms
If you're a big fan of Tea Station they're having a gift card special, where you get a few extra tea bucks back if you purchase a card. Pretty good deal if you're someone who does through one frequent boba card at least once a week...you know who you are.
One of the best things about this place is not only is it open later than usual for an establishment in the Cerritos/Artesia area, but it's not as busy as Guppys down the street, so the chances of seeing your entire graduating class from high school are much smaller.
San Diego, CA 92109
(858) 272-4745
Pacific Beach Bar & Grill
Categories: Restaurants, Bars, Dance Clubs
Neighborhood: Pacific Beach
Case in point: my friends and i were standing at the bar trying to figure out what drinks to get. One of them turned to the old bar tender with the glasses and asked him what beer he recommended. Unlike the younger barkeeps, he was super rude brushing him off and told him to "just pick something". rude much?
And just this past thursday my friends and i went a little earlier than usual to get a bite to eat. There were no open tables, so we stood around lurking, waiting for the perfect moment to snipe a tables once a group left. Once we finally got one, we asked a waitress who had walked in our direction for some menus and she just brushed us off saying that she wasn't our waitress.
i've come to the conclusion that the service staff at PB Bar & Grill are pretty much useless and if you want a drink head for the younger barkeeps. But i do prefer their drinks to that of Tavern's
Vista, CA 92084
(760) 945-9261
Mariscos Las Palmas
Category: Mexican
Neighborhood: Vista
Offices in the Vista area should institute Taco Tuesday taking advantage of this bomb-ass restaurant..
San Diego, CA 92103
(619) 295-9269
Gelato Vero Caffe
Categories: Coffee & Tea, Ice Cream & Frozen Yogurt
Neighborhood: Mission Hills
The lady that helped my roomie and me was super helpful sharing all her favorite flavors and giving us generously scooped sample spoons. I went with the spumoni which was just as good as that one gelato joint in little italy and the prices were pretty decent.
After a 2 week hiatus traveling through the Philippines, one of my first real meals i had when i got back was at Andiamo's...worth it! Our waitress suggested the creamy tomato soup to start because it was her favorite and it's now my favorite too. It was a little more tart than i'm used to, but it tasted better with bread dipped in it. My friends and I played round robin taking a bite from each others plates since we all got different dishes. I got the ravioli-like special--not one of my favorites to be perfectly honest. It was really cheesy so i couldn't taste the crab filling. Other than that it was okay and it's a good choice if you want something on the smaller side. The lobster fetuccini was just as good as it was last time and my favorite dish of the night was the veal scallopini.
As for the service, our waitress was super bubbly and so much more helpful this time around.
1 Previous Review: Hide »
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3/14/2009
I'll be frank--2 stars is being generous for the prices, portions, and quality of service i experienced at Andiamo.
My friends and i had reservations for a later than usual dinner a few nights ago. We walked in and i immediately noticed the bar with nice flatscreen TVs and conveniently placed windows to allow for maximum viewing no matter where you were seated in the restaurant. And across the way there was a tented patio with a sweet fountain reminiscent of those scattered throughout Italy. My expectations were already high after reading previous Yelp reviews of this restaurant and were further bolstered by the lovely atmosphere and cozy ambiance offered as my friends and I walked in; which is why I'm tremendously sad to say that i was disappointed.
First of all, call it mood lighting, chalk it up to cutbacks and the bad economy, whatever, but this restaurant could use more lighting! This was by far the darkest restaurant i have ever been to. Our table was illuminated only by the florescent lights coming in from the exterior of the building and even that was not enough for me to read my menu. In addition to barely being able to read my menu du to the dimly lit interior, i nearly had to squint to see my friends sitting across from me.
Enough about the lighting (or lack there of) and on to the food. I decided to play things safe that evening and go with the pizza--a dish difficult to mess up, but nearly impossible to perfect unless you're in Italy. Unfortunately, the Carciofi pizza that i had was disastrous. It was a basic cheese pizza with artichokes. The cheese was salty to say the least and the texture can only be compared to rubber, excessively chewy and lacking in flavor. The crust was tough as well, and i only got to the second slice before i tired of chewing.
Their service was another let down taking far too long to take our orders and bring the food to the table, especially since the restaurant was relatively quiet. Don't get me wrong, our server was very polite, but she took far to long too get anything done.
However, not all was terrible at Andiamo's. Their restroom was clean and well lit and may have been Andiamo's only saving grace. Perhaps my experience was an isolated one seeing as how so many others highly recommend this restaurant.
Vista, CA 92083
(760) 726-5100
Panera Bread
Category: Bakeries
Neighborhood: Vista
I just shelled out about twice as much as i would have had i gone across the parking lot to Subway, but it was well worth it. There are no mass produced, microwave heated sandwiches here, no sir! Everything is fresh, and yes that includes their bread which is baked daily. I even decided to splurge and get a mango smoothie (its been a long week, and it's only tuesday). Let's be honest, their drinks are not their forte and the mango smoothie was basically a giant sugar shot: pureed mango, strawberry syrup, and whip cream on top..wow.
overall, I still prefer coming to Panera over Chipotle, Panda, or Arby's. They have free internet
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My brother and I hit this place our first night in town. Little did I know that the altitude messes with your tolerance and i hit the ground hard after just a few drinks. Now I'm an even cheaper drunk at this altitude.
We started with the beer sampler and came to the consensus that the Railyard ale was the best of the seven. The BBQ shrimp was literally swimming in barbeque sauce, so if your down for that sort of thing it's great, but it left me craving a thick rack of ribs--maybe that's part of their scheme to get you to order more. The broface and I also shared a side of their crabcakes, because you don't need much else when you've got a pint and good company.