Peter "Delicioustarian" G.'s Profile

Employee "Jeanpaul" charged me for $100 for $43.66 worth of petrol on 11/13/11.

He was very smooth at the time and had me completely. I let him trick me into leaving without crediting me back immediately after I noticed his over-charging and now suddenly I'm left with a bill.

I spoke to a very pleasant Esso employee and they assured me they would not dispute such an obvious "mistaken" charge. Now, that employee never existed and they are disputing the charge back aggressively.

There is no possible way $100 of gas would fit into my car. You would do best to avoid this place and its slippery thieving employees.

You know you've become an old person when you start to think about insurance. Well, there is no better place to cross the threshold of adulthood then with the fine folks at Crowley Insurance.

I've purchased both vehicle and renter's insurance from these folks and both experiences were very positive and dare I say even a little bit fun? I had more fun buying insurance than I did when I got my first car!

They explain things fully and assist you with weighing the many options for coverage (and simply explaining the Lawyerese) with a surprising amount of gusto and not an ounce of pushiness.

Ask for Sandra T. She rocks.

This is the most expensive laundromat I have ever seen. To give you some context, I just moved up here from downtown Boston where nothing comes cheap.

The washers are a ludicrous $2.50 for a washer so tiny it would make Japanese engineers blush. The drum will not fit a week's worth of clothes - but you'll try. A 'three load' washer sets you back $3.50 (for a third more space than the standard washers). Wow, a bargain. All the washers are at least high efficiency so you'll save a bit on detergent at least.

If you're lucky one of the unpleasant attendants will be there to hover uncomfortably close while you finagle your laundry into the petite washer. She'll yell if she thinks you're overfilling one of the petite washers. If you ask for change she'll sigh like Atlas at your unreasonable request and rudely send you across the street to Radio Deli. The kind people there, though with a bit of resignation, will give you change.

The dryers are actually normal-sized and while pricey are not offensively expensive at $0.25 for 7 minutes. They are not the best dryers (a week of clothes takes about  $2 to dry) - but are considerably more in line with what you would expect from a laundromat.

I am left to wish the Wash Spot was closer to downtown Burlington and marvel at what happens when a market lacks competition.

Wow, what a shithole. Now, I'm not known for a sailor's mouth but this place made all my worst experiences with hospitality seem less bad. And it's expensive too!

Sure, there were no crack pipes in the sheets, my room didn't smell like piss, have a punched out TV, or even have it's own most-likely-dead guy who smells like he shat himself in the elevator. Somehow the Clarion beat all of my previous horror experiences with awful hotels with aplomb.

The staff were fortunately very friendly but entirely unhelpful if you have any problems. The rooms themselves are clean if not horrifically dated with ugly decor. You will find the expression 'Beauty is only a light switch away' has all new meaning.

Doesn't sound so bad, huh? Well, try sleeping. The building is so poorly constructed you can hear everything. Everything. And people come to hotels, especially crappy ones, to do weird shit. All of which you will be entirely privy to.

The whole floor of my room, and by extension my bed vibrated and hummed all night from some kind of machine under the floor. This machine, according to the overnight manager could not be turned off. Loud teenage neighbors ran amok intermittently all night while the kindly overnight keeper and security guard could never quite shut them up. I felt like Daredevil - seeing and feeling everything everywhere all at once. By the end of the night I could see through time.

Now, I grew up in the city, and lived in it most of my life. It's not like I am unused to a lot of noise at night. People yelling, cars screeching and honking, and even gunshots. All that I can sleep through. The Clarion hotel in Northampton - not a damned wink.

They even made us book two nights, which I am quite sure is illegal. It was so bad we just drove home the next day after the wedding and the reception in the evening. $400 poorer, but we actually slept that night at home amongst the clamor of the city.

I feel like these guys are a bit of a secret. If you want your guitar repaired by the best, you have to know where to find the best. In my book, Mouradian is the best guitar repair in Boston.

Now, there's a few things to note. First of all, the guy who does the repairs is a bit rough around the edges, but what he lacks in marketing he more than makes up for with a master craftsman-like affinity for the instruments he's spent his life working on.

Secondly, turn around can take a little longer than you may be used to. But this isn't some Guitar Center where they are going to take it into a back room and patch up your guitar with some glue. Mouradian will repair AND refurbish your instrument. Chances are you'll get a lot more than you paid for or expected.

I came in with a thirty year old Espana with a warped neck.  Not only did he straighten it (when others said it was impossible), he put on new strings, reglued parts (he later told me it was beginning to crack along the body), touched up the paint, conditioned the wood, and made it all shiny and pretty. All this he did extra after quoting me the price for just straightening out the neck.

You'd search far and wide to find service like this. Or a man more passionate about preserving your guitar.

The half-panini (4.50) is plenty big enough for me. People complaining of this place being over-priced should do a double-take on portion size.

Great selection of interesting-sounding sandwiches-any one of them can be turned into panini. I'd rather have no potato chips than Lays. C'mon City Girl find a classier alternative because cruddy chips cheapen the experience.

Service was fast, and while I waited I peeked around the small beer selection that includes some local craft brew favorites like Whale Tale.

Great decor with a spirited mix of turn of the century antiquity and late 20th Century vibe. The Walter (Margaret) Keane paintings are a great kitschy touch. The interior is a bit small but has a pleasantly funky off-beat vibe. My big complaint is that the music here is just a touch loud for casual conversation.

Literally steps from the Sullivan Square T Stop is a world where Boston prices never existed.

Yet this place has all the fix-ins of an expensive gastropub: craft and local beers and an ever-changing menu of inspired pub grub.

Service can be a tad slow, as the bartender single-handedly serves the bar, front room, and back room. But even seated at a table, he doesn't bat an eyelash if you get up to order at the bar or to ask for the check.

If your sick of Boston prices, but are looking for a solid gastropub experience, The Tavern At the End of the World is your place.

I went here yesterday with my friend for Restaurant Week as the menu had vegetarian options for the first two courses. Service was snappy, but the food much less so.

The salad was boring and was something you could easily make better at home. The pasta was squishy and overcooked (think SpaggettiO's al dente), and flavors bland and salty. It tasted utterly unremarkable and almost bad. The kitchen doesn't just lack ambition they lack basic skills. This is one restaurant that must survive by preying on tourists who don't know any better.

The interior was wicked tacky with walls lined with orangey-brown leather and microfiber cushions and mixed with some truly tragic use of faux marble. I don't often care for interiors, but this place is so awful it warrants mention.

Do yourself a favor and skip this place. There are plenty of good restaurants in the North End that make the same food, at the same price...only better.

I've had the unfortunate experience of suffering this Dunkin Donuts, in search of strawberry frosted donuts for a picky ex (this is one of the few places that consistently had them). You may think all Dunkin Donuts are relatively similar, but this one is uniquely awful.

It's not the rude employees who clearly hate their jobs and hate you even more for bothering them. Or the fact this place is filthy and to your dismay you realize the amount of preservatives in the food is not enough to protect you from the conspicuous lack of hand washing from the employees. Or the fact that the coffee is spectacularly awful - even for a DD.

It's not even the often colorful cast of characters who crazily and sometimes pants-around-their-ankles drunk wander in, fall asleep, and get kicked out with the same terse rudeness you got for ordering. This place is a painful reminder of the wretchedness of humanity.

But what made me finally write this review was seeing an employee dumping garbage out onto the sidewalk infront of me as I passed. No bag. Just flying napkins, crushed cups, and refuse.

Disgusting.

The food here isn't great, but when it's 7am on a weekend (including Sunday), your choices are limited. Really limited. Like it's either here or the packed insanity of Mike's City Diner.

Appleton has a much more relaxed environment, plenty of natural light, and above all else is very convenient.

I really do feel sorry for their workers. Getting up for a 7am opening on Sunday must suuuuuck. Despite this, the people behind the counter are peppy and friendly.