kim "Pickle-In-A-Pouch" n.'s Profile

Never got to try Elko though I passed it tons of times on the way to the FedEx Station down the way. Looks like Bella Deli has just recently cropped up and is the local place for all the workers in the area. Repainted walls, some flat screen tv's, bar area, etc. They serve your normal American deli sandwiches and burgers but also have some Mediterranean items like hummus, falafels, gyros, tabouli, baba ganoush, etc. The staff are really friendly and the prices are fair. Had a decent gyro sandwich with a good lentil soup. Co worker seemed to enjoy his club so if you're on the run or just dropping by the FedEx station, this makes for a quick, affordable lunch. 3.5 stars

In the old Xanh space, Thaiphoon in Palo Alto has expanded into Mountain View. Add one more choice in what I call the "Thai Mafia" block of Castro Street. They've kept the former spaces elegant, dark, modern touches and have added some Thai art to complete the feel. Definitely an attractive space.

Service is really friendly, with multiple servers checking on me throughout my meal. Good duck  red curry with eggplany, pineapple, bell peppers and a solid roti appetizer. Maybe a tad expensive for the portion you get but I was comfortably full when I left. There's probably some subsidizing for the very nice ambiance. Looking forward to coming back with the co workers to get a large family style meal in.

Came here a while back and we tried the cupcakes and black currant floar. Weird thing, you can get Vietnamese sandwiches and coffee! Cool space, nice workers, but only ok products. Looks like word on the street is the owner is changing the concept to a higher end place that will have most of Chill's items then some..guess Ill have to return to check the reborn identity:

http://urbanpicnicsf.com/

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!

what the hell happened? It's closed! Now I would never normally give a Quiznos 5 stars but if you knew the owner Mike Malik you'd understand. Maybe one of the coolest people ever and proud owner of his small business. This for a long time was a weekday dinner pre Sharks game ritual. Mr Malik always recognized me and always greeted us with a friendly smile. He also implemented the "Sharks Special" which was  basically a good luck shot of tequila for a Sharks home game win.

You will always be able to recognize the integrity and professionalism of a person on how they run their business and how they treat their customers. You will be sorely missed, especially amongst the hockey fan community.

Wow what's going on with this neighborhood? I generally don't see it in the summer as I'm only around during hockey season but a ton of places have changed! 7 Restaurant is now Bluefin Japanese? Had stopped in here before heading over to the game and got a handful of sashimi items and some nigori. 7's old space hasn't changed much so it's got a pretty modern/sleek design for a Japanese restaurant. Solid saba, kanpachi and maguro. We knew that we wouldn't be able to finish the bottle of nigori before the game and also knew that they wouldn't let us bring it in. So I asked our waitress if we could keep it behind the bar and come back for it. Sure enough, she labeled it and we retrieved it after. She and the bartender both remembered us as we returned. That's completely awesome if you ask me. I'll have to return for a full dinner service that is not so rushed the next time I'm in the area.

Never tried it pre re-model so I dont know how it compared to the post Burrito Real era. After the re-model I can't say that it's too exciting. Had the tripas, asada, pescado and lengua tacos and can say it was all uniformly under seasoned. Co worker also had some flan with his burrito but said it was "chunky" which generally means the egg is curdled. So I offered up a new name for the dessert as "Nalf" instead. "Hey Nalf is supposed to be chunky right?"

Nice big space with ample outside area for when it's sunny. Very low volume and maybe the least busy Starbuck's I've ever been to. Unfortunately they're pretty slow and it took them a good ten minutes to make the co-workers and me a beverage even though there was no one in front of us. 3.5 stars.

Another sighting of Big Blue and Big Red soft drinks out of Waco Texas. The Branch Davidians weren't crazy for nothing. Otherwise, your standard strip mall liquor store.

Since Gator Thompson emerged down the way at Dollie Marie's, the old Neo Soul shell has been empty. Dali Tapas has taken over the original (not including the expansion space) room and have re-painted with art from Salvador Dali the Catalonian surrealist. They have a decently large set os tapas items and then a good menu of entrees to boot. It could be two restaurants based on the menu alone. Food had:

-Empanadilla de Carne - Spanish turnover with beef, green onions, olives, hardboiled eggs, and herbs

-Callos a la Madrilena - Madrid style tripe stew

-Tortilla de Patatas - Potato and caramelized onion omelet

-Crudo de Lomo - Sherry wine marinated filet mignon thinly sliced

- Atun en Escabeche - Tuna in escabeche sauce

-Trio de Carne Asada - beef, pork, lamb grilled with a Chimichurri sauce

-Arroz con leche - Rice/milk pudding

-Spanish Flan

Everything had good flavor but the general feeling was it was under salted. The tripe strew turned out to be the winner, with the empandillo, and Lomo being second standing, though the lomo was missing the Manchego cheese that was on the menu (not sure why I remember that now instead of while I was eating).

The service was a bit uneven. Our main server was very friendly though he never refilled our drinks. When asked for water, a guy came out with a pitcher but no glasses. He grumbled them came back and put down the glasses and looked at me as if it were my fault for not having glasses! One of the other runners was pretty good though. The female floor manager came to us twice, once asking "what are you waiting for?" . We're like "uh all of our food?"., Then she came a second time and asked if I could move to the side because they wanted to seat two more people in the very corner. But then I'd be sitting into the hall where the restroom is. We thought, maybe we should just turn the whole table sideways so that it's against the wall instead of floating in the middle with one person sitting perpendicular to the other. as we looked around there was actually no one to be seated and said manager just ran off. Peculiar. My advice, try not to get seated in the back of the restaurant because its cramped and oddly setup.

I definitely want to try many other things on the menu but Im a bit sour on the first experience. For a place that has just opened I think the customer service level really needs to be above and beyond, and after establishing yourself, it should be solid across the board. I don't need to be pampered like the French Laundry, just treated like a human being.  It just felt lacking but that was just some of the staff. Maybe Ill give it a couple of months to see if they've streamlined a bit and give it another whirl. Till then, Ill let them iron out the kinks.

Yes this place definitely has some history to it. Anything that's older than my parents has longevity for a reason. Be it nostalgia, the steadfastness of not changing, or the suitability of its clientele. I dig the fact that something mostly untouched by time exists. However the food isn't as much of a draw as I'd hope. Perhaps a vibrant nighttime bar scene? Maybe, but I'm looking at this from a lunch point of view.

The place was mostly empty and our waitress was pretty good. I unfortunately did not score the meatloaf and had to settle with the lasagna  with a cup of split pea soup and an old fashioned dinner roll. Felt like something you'd get at a friends house (maybe that's the point). I can't say Im compelled to return, unless I find out that meatloaf is heavenly but I do understand the the nature of why this would be a draw to some. 3.5 stars.