Tiff L.'s Profile

This is a Super Sport club, so it is a lot bigger and more pricey than it's Sport counterparts. I'm not a member yet. Well, I have a membership for 24 hour sport clubs, but haven't taken the plunge to upgrade to super sport. ($13 extra a month). I have a friend that is a member here, and I took a Zumba class with her (got a free day pass, very nice of them to let me hang out for free.)

Pro: Everything's new!!!
Pro:  HUGE WATERSLIDE!
Pro: Personal TVs on gym machines
Pro: Great looking basketball court for the fellas and ladies that like to play. I would like to know if people meet up here to play basketball games, because that is what my boyfriend wants a gym for.

There are no cons. No cons at ALL... I'm sold. Just working on getting the boyfriend to go "just look at it" with me, so he will be sold too.

Update 5/30/2011: We have both joined! Oh.. the powers of "looking".

This place kicks ass! I guess it is a sexy-waitress restaurant, but I don't think it's really in the realm of bone daddys, hooters, etc. I see people walk around austin in tshirts and short cut off shorts all summer, so I don't see how this is a big deal. I also didn't see any real cleavage both the times I have been there.

The food I have tried so far is good. I ordered french onion soup, and the waitress warned me it was very salty (her previous customer sent it back that night) and if I liked salty I could try it, but I could get potato soup instead if I did not like it. Being one of my favorite dishes to order in a restaurant, I have never encountered a french onion I did not LOVE. I found it really good at first, but after a few bites I did not want more. My mouth really did notice the salt. I let my waitress know she was right, and I would try the potato soup. I think this was a good move on the waitresses part by warning me - I think it was just a bad batch and will order it again. Had she not said anything I would not have sent it back, and I would have thought it was not a good choice. The potato soup, by the way was awesome!! I plan to order the french onion again to give it another try in the future. they are brand new, after all, and even the cooks might be for all I know.

My boyfriend ordered the prime rib sandwich. He said it was only ok. It came out open face style, which he didn't not really expect. My theory is, if there is not a prime rib steak on the menu, where are they getting their prime rib from, you know what I mean? Well he would not order it again, but he enjoyed it enough to eat the whole thing.

The one thing we both agreed on was the soft pretzels appetizer was great! Holy S^%&! Half the time when I drive to the mall for something I need, it is because I want an excuse to eat a soft pretzel. I get a craving for them from time to time. Seeing this on the menu excited me, but I was skeptical it would not be right, like maybe those horrible frozen soft pretzels you get at the store would come out. I was wrong, these pretzels are awesome, and you get 4 big pretzel sticks with 3 dipping sauces, queso (AWESOME!) Honey Mustard (AWESOME!) and Mustard (..yay mustard!). What a great idea to go with beer.

As for the beer, there are many choices, but a lot of them are ones you have seen everywhere. It is a big beer menu, but nothing that really excited me, or made me want to try several different beers, which I had kind of hoped for. They have a cider on the menu also, which is nice.

All that being said, it sounds like I was underwhelmed but in fact, I am thrilled. We saw many menu items that we want to come back and taste in the future. We kept in mind the fact that it is brand new, and it will be busy and might be loud. It is nice to have something new in the Northwest area besides the typical chains (this place is a chain, but its the first one in austin). I like this place more than the other options in the same price range. Speaking of price range, this place is cheaper than we expected. Average price is $6.00 for an appetizer and 10-15 bucks for an entree. $3.00-$12.00 for a beer, however, I saw that there are special nights where they have lone star for $2.00. We got a lot of value for our money. Go check it out :)

I popped into Yummi Tacos while waiting for a nail appointment next door. I ordered 2 beef bulgogi tacos. They were absolutely awesome tasting!

The only korean tacos I have had were from Chi'lantro, and they were great. This place was very similar in my opinion. The tacos were $2 each and each came with 2 corn tortillas, filled with beef bulgogi and cilantro piled high, with a dash of chopped white onion and a smattering of crushed peanuts. I topped my tacos off with a squirt of Sriracha and these were a serious, serious taste explosion.

I was so sad I had to rush my meal because I really wanted to savor how good they were. I saw that they serve breakfast tacos, since I live across Oak Knoll in the Riata apartments, it would be very easy to swing by to try those out.... so I plan to this week sometime.

Pros:
*Wide variety of lotions, cosmetics, medicinal supplements, vitamins and as-seen-on-tv items!
*Decent wine and beer selection
*Ice Cream and snacks galore
*Good quality nail polish in every shade imaginable, for only $1.50 a bottle.

Cons:
*Check out staff can be extremely slow, and the lines can be very long.
*Pharmacy wait times can be very long, and sick people sometimes cough on you there while they are waiting. :P

My boyfriend and I made a visit to Maggiano's for dinner tonight, and we are both more than impressed. At first we were going to go to the Olive Garden, which we both like for the salad and breadsticks more than for the entrees. We were thinking about Carrabba's also, then I remembered that I see this place all the time and would like to try it. Once I told my boyfriend about the take home portion of pasta that you get if you order a pasta dish, he was sold.

The entry and dining room have a feel of upscale dining, and I started to get nervous thinking maybe this was going to be a bit pricier than I had heard about. Luckily I was wrong. Everything on the menu looked like a decent price, and I think the classic pasta dishes (plus the take home idea) was such a great deal at $12.95. I assumed the hot portion that you get for dinner would not be very big, but it was HUGE. I had to take half of my dinner home along with the take home ravioli so I think that the price was awesome. I had the Cream tomato gnocchi, and I enjoyed every bite. My boyfriend got the spaghetti and meatballs, and I asked him if it was better than the spaghetti I make him. He quickly replied that it was (don't worry, I am known for being a pretty simple cook and I ask him these kind of questions everywhere we go. My biscuits and gravy can't be beat though! yay!) He said it was the best spaghetti he could remember having in Austin.

The crusty french bread that comes complimentary was very fresh and tasty, which was perfect for dipping in my creamy tomato gnocchi sauce.

The dessert, OMG, THE DESSERT. There is a dessert sampler on the menu for $9.95 and you get to sample 5 desserts: Creme Brulee, Chocolate Cake, New York Cheesecake, Tiramisu, Apple pie/crumble with vanilla ice cream. We felt that was a fair price for getting sample all that dessert, and we both discussed that we were expecting a bite each.

HOLY CRAP they brought like quarter portions of the desserts, possibly half portions. We were shocked at the value, and we loved every dessert. Creme Brulee was the best we have had in Austin, hands down. The chocolate cake looks overly-rich and it is not, which was a pleasant surprise. Cheesecake was very good, Tiramisu was heaven on a plate, and my bf loved the apple dessert-- apple pie isnt my favorite flavor so I just thought it tasted about how i would expect.

The amount of dessert we got for the price was unbelievable, and we might come back just for that sometime.

I would give this place 4.5 stars if it were an option on yelp. To say it has 5 stars means there are no flaws at all, and the wine prices knocked off only half a star. I had decided it was 4.5 stars before having that incredible dessert, so I think 5 stars is adequate.

The store employees, while I am sure acting upon their manager's suggestion, are way too pushy with the REI memberships. I stepped foot into an REI for the first time last week, to purchase an ipod armpband for jogging.

After circling for about 15 minutes trying to find someone on the floor to ask for help, a nice person helped me and showed me where the armbands were. She then proceeded to explain the REI membership program. I decided that since it was my first time in the store, the investment was not for me. I felt the speech was a little long and a little too much, but went to the register as I was in a hurry to get to the gym with my new armband. At the register I was asked for my REI membership information, I said I did not have it because I was not a member. I got the entire speech again! I explained why the membership was not for me at the moment, and he continued! It really turned me off of this store.

I understand they feel it is a great value, and if I shopped there more I may feel the same way. I don't think I will be shopping there again though, because my experience was very annoying.

Heather is a great stylist and she took time to make sure my hair looked great. She is not stuck up or snobby like some stylists in Austin. She seemed excited that I was open to something dramatic which signals to me that she is really comfortable with color and trendy looks. The salon is also a barber shop and it was really comfortable, not sterile like some salons are. I usually dread sitting all day at the salon but I was given 2 glasses of wine that sure made it easy to hang out and be comfortable. They are currently in the process of building a bar in there which I think is going to be pretty neat when it is done! I will be going back and I recommend you check it out, girls and guys alike.

I have been seeing Dr Steven Sheppard since I moved to Austin two and a half years ago. I absolutely love him, he makes me feel comfortable. He is also quick - but not in a rushed way - he just does his job and does it well. The only complaint I have is his office charges 25 dollars for a "contact fitting" which I do not feel is very fair because usually it consists of him handing me a new pair of contacts and leaving the office. I am sure he could answer questions if I had any, but I do feel disappointed  paying $25 a year for that. Even with that, I won't knock off a star. I love this place and if he ever goes out of business I will freak out because it is difficult for me to find a doctor i like and trust this much.

Never. Again.

I paid 45 (then a tip on top of that)  dollars for a full set of pink and whites on the 30th (exactly 9 days ago).

On the 6th day, one of my nails had already broken! I was upset because they looked absolutely fabulous. I was even thinking to myself that even though I feel I overpay, they always come out great so I will keep going back. That opinion has absolutely changed.

I didn't have time to go get them fixed until the 8th day, and I wanted to go back to the same place so they would look even. First of all they used darker pink powder than they used the first time, so it was obvious it was a new nail. I told her that, but she didn't seem to understand english enough and I decided I would have to go with it because I was not going to pay for a full set somewhere else just so they were even. I know it will annoy me but whatever.

The part that pisses me off is when she tells me it is $4 to fix the nail. I was hoping they would let me have the nail free, since I had told them i came in just a few days before and the nail should not have broken, especially that soon. I accepted the $4 as being reasonable and gave her my credit card. She said that they can only accept cash. Mind you I have used CC there several times. I said that, and she replied, you fray with cash (yes she said fray).I told her I didnt bring any, and she said she has to charge me ten dollars for the nail necause thats the minimum. I had a look on my face that was rather horrified and she said its our manager.... and then another lady came over that reiterated it was cash only.

I was pretty pissed at this point, and gave them an attitude, I will admit it. I was like you do realize I was just in here, isn't there anything you can do? They smile and said ok... ten dolla? I crossed my arms and basically said it looks like i don't have a choice, whatever. i felt rather immature when i was out of there, but i was kinda enraged inside, and wasn't sure how to handle it at the time without going crazy-lady style.

This means that in the past 9 days i spent over $60 on a full set and right now it doesn't look like i want it to.

Then she said "ok ten dolla" and swiped the card, handed it back to me and walked away to help another customer. If I could do it all over again, I would have told them i needed to go get cash from an ATM then got in my car and sped off. I will never step foot in this place again. I dont think they mean to be rude, but their lack of english is very frustrating to deal with (and i dont expect much in that regard, it has never, ever bothered me at other places, this one for some reason is just significantly more difficult)  so I  have had it with them. Too bad because I was apparently one of their only yelp supporters.

I ordered a slice of plain ol' cheese pizza while at the bar next door. The guy behind the counter showed me a seating chart of the bar and asked me to point out what table i was at, so they could walk over and deliver my hot from the oven slice in 10 minutes. I was really impressed. When I got the pizza it was sooo GINORMOUS, delicious and gooey, melty and hot (very very hot)

My friend got the pepperoni with green olives, and said it was an 8 or 9 out of ten on her personal pizza scale. My boyfriend got a pepperoni slice and devoured it, also said it was great. I am adding this review, because I am sad to hear the other people had disappointing experiences. I hope they give this place another shot.

I think I might order from this place for dinner now!