David S.'s Profile

I had a hankering for Springhill today, so my boss and I headed over the the Airport Boulevard location. I eat pretty frequently at Catfish Parlour because it is closer to the office than Springhill, but every once in a while I want to have some Springhill catfish instead.

The buffet at Springhill isn't cheap: $9.98 + tax includes all you can eat and a drink.

The catfish is always excellent. The breading is the just-right crispiness without a hint of oil. It's like they magically made fried catfish without deep frying!

I love that they have broccoli, friend okra, and mashed potatoes on the buffet whenever I am there. I only wish that the mashed potatoes were fresh with the skins like they make them at the Pflugerville location.

I have very hard-to-fit feet: Size 15-A with high arches. Most shoes for long feet are way too wide for me and they have no arch support. I've been wearing mostly Birkenstock sandals for 20 years and my feet have really grown to love the freedom and the big arch support, and my knees never hurt when I wear Birks.

I needed to get a new pair of sneakers. I wear them to the office sometimes, so I wanted something that looks nice and fits well. Karavel is in my neighborhood, but our family usually buys shoes at Academy to save money. I decided to stop by Karavel to see if they could find a shoe that fits me just right.

My wife, son, and I went to Karavel at 5PM on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving... one hour before closing time. Being that it was right before the holiday, and that it was so close to closing time, they could have given us a cold shoulder but they definitely didn't.

I talked to Greg and he brought out a stack of shoe boxes to try. He put shoes on my foot and was often completely unsatisfied with the fit before I ever said a word or stood up to take a few steps. He tried pair after pair, added inserts to many of the shoes we tried, and enlisted the help of one of his associates to find something that fit just right. They tried some creative shoe lacing techniques that I'd never seen before that changed the way the shoes fit. They tried other inserts again. They worked with me for a solid hour before I found a pair of shoes that fit well, and were helpful and friendly all the while.

I left Karavel 10 minutes after closing time with a pair of New Balance 993's under my arm after over an hour of great customer service. The team at Karavel certainly earned my respect and future business.

We've been eating at Veggie Heaven for probably a dozen years now. I love the Protein 2000 like everyone else, but I also like a few other dishes like Cathay Fajitas, Thunder Tofu, Lucky 7, Eggplant Garden, and Spicy Yam.

The Cathay fajitas are especially tasty and huge. They come with 4 wrappers, hoisin, and a heap of veggies and tofu in a very light brothy sauce.

My son orders a Tofu Bowl without sauce. For under $5, he gets an extremely healthy big bowl of rice with fresh steamed tofu, broccoli, carrots, cauliflower, and bok choy. He loves it, and I think most parents would love to see their kids eating something so healthy when they eat out.

The food is always consistent and there's always a lot of it. If you have leftovers, you can just ask for an extra scoop of rice to take home and they'll give it to you. Very nice touch.

One of my colleagues at work lives near Bamboo Asian Grille and has always spoken highly of it. He and his wife supper there regularly and they really like it.

While our son was away on a school trip, my wife and I went to Bamboo for an early evening supper date. We had an mobile coupon from http://ClickitEclip.com for 15% off the total bill.

We're both pescetarian which limits our choices at some Chinese restaurants that are beef/chicken/pork focused, but Bamboo had plenty of vegetarian and seafood choices plus Vietnamese choices that we'll have to check out on a return visit. The Chinese food part of the menu is conveniently divided into sections so we can go straight to the "Seafood" or "Vegetarian Plates" to see our choices.

We chose Salt & Pepper Calamari for an appetizer, and Stir Fried Eggplant and Lemongrass Tofu for our entrees to share. The battered and fried Salt & Pepper Calamari came heaped on a bed of field green in a vinaigrette with fresh jalapeño peppers and green onions. Everything about the appetizer was really good. My wife really liked the bed of field greens at the bottom in addition to the calamari and I loved having some fresh jalapeño with each bite of calamari.

Our entrees were served as soon as we finished the appetizer. The waiter brought an extra plate for each of us so that we could share the entrees. Both portions were extra large, so we knew we'd have leftovers for lunch the next day. The eggplant was in a brown sauce, a little spicy, and had a really nice flavor. We'll order it again on a future visit for sure. We weren't as enamored with the Lemongrass Tofu. We should have noticed that the menu said that the tofu on the dish is soft tofu because neither of us like soft tofu; we prefer firm tofu. The dish was also saltier than we prefer.

When we were finished, our waiter asked if we'd like to-go boxes and we said yes. He asked if we'd like some extra rice in the to-go boxes since we'd eaten all of the rice. That was a really nice touch! We'd already eaten all of the rice in our portions but he offered extra rice since we were taking the leftovers home with us. We told him that he didn't need to box up the Lemongrass Tofu. He asked if we hadn't liked it and we said that it was just too salty for our taste. He apologized and finished boxing the eggplant leftovers.

When the waiter brought the bill, he explained that he'd given us that 15% off for the http://ClickitEclip.com coupon and had not charged us for the Lemongrass Tofu. We both insisted that we wanted to pay for it, but he wouldn't be convinced. He really knew how to turn us into repeat customers. We thanked him, paid, and headed on our way.

I ate the leftover eggplant for lunch today. It was still tasty and plenty for a full lunch for me.

My wife and I had been to Uchi once before, about 2 years ago. We thought the place was fantastic. The service was some of the best I've ever experienced. Each item was served serially with almost no down-time between courses, and each item was really terrific.

For dinner  last night, I made the reservation about 2 weeks in advance. It's the kind of place that we save for a date night or special occasion since the price is well above what we regularly pay for a meal.

This time around, the service wasn't as perfect as last time, but the food was still really amazing. Some standout items from our visit were the maguro sashimi and goat cheese (the goat cheese really makes this one sing), Mustang roll (fresh water eel, yellowtail, avocado, and golden flying fish roe), and unagi sushi (fresh water eel). Nearly every item was creative and exciting, often asking us to taste and savor much longer than we usually do.

I've been in love with Tamale House #3 for 18 years!

In the early '90s, my daily lunch was two rice and potato tacos ($1.41 with sales tax) and a soda from the corner store.

In the past 18 years, I probably haven't gone more than 2 weeks without eating Tamale House food. To me, it's comfort food. When I feel blue, I want Tamale House. When the weather is gorgeous, I want to eat at Tamale House to enjoy the humble outdoor seating and see the eclectic mix of people who eat there. Tamale House is quite simply... essential.

Over the past couple years I've graduated to migas. I get migas without cheese and a can of soda for $5.13 with sales tax. Since I have a big appetite, I can eat a full order of migas in one sitting, but most of my lunchmates usually take 1/2 of the order home for supper as well. The migas are great and they're a great buy.