Richard "the most identifiable person on the internet" P.'s Profile

Once again, the otherside fails to disappoint.
speedy, devoted service personnel, spectacular beer selection, and downtoearth atmosphere make this a spectacular stop in the pub crawl.

Love this place.   Keep it up, guys!

Well... I didn't plan on eating here tonight.  I am a mug club member at this place, and I initially stopped in for a beer on this drizzly Saturday afternoon.

I ended up ordering the classic fish and chips since it was only $10 on their daily specials menu.

I got my order and the food itself was enough to inspire me to write this review.

First of all, the fish consisted of a half dozen nuggets of beer battered Mahi.  They were tender and succulent.  The breading was crispy, but not crisped. The chips were spiced French fries.  Lightly browned outside, hot tender inside. Not greasy at all.
The coleslaw was a coursely chopped blend that gave the entire plate added texture and color.

The dish was well plated and gorgeously balanced.

I've dined here countless times and their food rarely disappoints. I received mine this evening, and the normal run-of-the-mill fishnchips turned out to be a delicacy.  

Two mugs ( a weinstephaner and a southern tier hop sun) plus an amazing dinner for $23.  A good deal to me.

I had mixed experiences.
I brought my dog to VCA during the late summer because he had an ear infection and was distressed by it.  When I went there, the staff was friendly, but seemed to be uneasy with handling my dog.  He's a small guy, but they were not very gentle with him.  They plucked his ears and applied a small amount of antibiotic.  They then gave me a prescription.  My initial visit with them, plus medicine was around $100, which wasn't bad at all.  I do have a complaint about the type of medicine they prescribed.  They gave him an oral pain killer that made my dog completely lethargic.  When we got home, my dog looked like he was drunk.  
Eventually, my dog recovered fully (without the pain killer).  And for the next couple of months, we lived-out our happy lives.

I took my dog back to VCA in September for his annual physical and vaccinations.  They gave him the full battery of shots, but didn't really examine him at all.  The doctor examined his eyes and mouth, but did not look in his ears (after a prior visits conditions, you'd think they'd follow-up).  They weighed him, and that was about it.  Altogether, my 2nd visit came out to $300.
It was nuts.

Anyway.
It's not mid november, and my dog's ear infection is back.  I felt like it could have been prevented had the Dr. actually looked at his ears last time we were at a vet.  I am taking my dog to MSPCA-Angell.... we had great results there last time, and way cheaper.

I like this place.
I've been a regular here for the past 6 months or so... *I work downstairs.

The staff is friendly and attentive, and the food is spectacular.
I'm a big fan of the Tuesday 1/2 price burger special.

The burgers are sizeable and always cooked to order.  Fries/tots/rings are always hot and crispy.  The portions are definitely worth the value.  I enjoy the beer selection.  They have a good blend of the mid-premium domestics and foreigns on tap, and their "larger" sized 22oz beer & pitchers are reasonably priced.

Very cool.

Following-up.

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Looking back at my previous review, I still can't say that I am entirely satisfied with the matchmaking process, but I do feel like the match counselors (Ann and Patricia) are very charismatic and compassionate individuals.  They are insightful and humorous, and I do feel like they have given a hearty effort to accommodate my eccentricities. --- (They get 5 stars, easy).

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I've been here before, but tonight, I ordered one beer for myself and they cut me off.  The manager, Tim, said I was too drunk and he ordered the wait staff to stop serving me. I have been watching my party (who are celebrating a birthday, a party of +15) as they drink merrily and I have been sitting by idly and observing as other patrons are getting completely messed up.  

And i mean there were sloppy-drunk local dudes who were stumbling and falling over themselves... you know the ones i'm talking about.  Some post-frat-boy sports fans, loud, sweaty, and drunk ... red-faced drunk... and i'm standing there, dressed nicely, with a glass of water...

I tried drinking a bud light, but the manager came out and stripped the beer from my hands. I have little patience for this. I am a paying patron and I'm trying to have a good time, but have been hassled for no reason. This place is bunk and I strongly encourage people who are considering this venue to go somewhere else unless you like to be discriminated against.

*We also had an international patron with us... since his ID card was not a passport, he was allowed to come-in only if he sat in the dining section.  The only seat they had was in the back corner, and he sat there alone.... this is crazy!

It'd be different if I was anything else than normal and having a good time.  If you are interested in having a fun time, go somewhere else.

I came into this store with the ambition of switching carriers and buying the Evo, a massive win for any retailer. After visiting this location, I decided against it.
The store was a mess. It was dirty and their product displays were unkept and disorganized. The guys running the store were not very presentable, they were eating while helping me, and they treated me as if I ruined their afternoon.  In fact, they looked and acted like thugged out gangsters. They could not answer a lot of my questions (which were NOT technical in nature) and when I asked something they did know the answer to, they spoke down to me like, "duh."

This store needs to shape up.

I am impressed by this retailer's customer loyalty.
I have gone in a few times to check my account status, upgrade options, and to purchase accessories, but I have not signed contracts with their associates.

My experience was decent, but now there's an AT&T store in the shopping center across rt 9, I don't think I will frequent this store for my mobile solutions.

A little background--
One of my best buddies from Chicago and his wife are in the area on a business trip.  They work as managers at a major communications corporation and are staying in the Norwood area for the week.
Because they are both very avid sports enthusiasts, they were looking for an all-american style bar & grill to watch the All-Star game.

Jake N Joes was a natural choice because of its proximity to their hotel and its accessibility from Rt.1.

okay..
so first of all, this place looks amazing on the inside.
It's one of the most modern equipped sports bars I have been to in ages.  Pretty much every direction you look, there is a large display screen and their game coverage is spectacular.  No matter where you sit/stand, you are front-and-center of high-definition action.  It is also a pretty classy sports bar as it wasn't completely over-run with the die-hard fans, and you had a good mix of sharply dressed 20-somethings, a couple dinner parties, and your tables of business-looking folks enjoying drinks.  So in terms of their set-up.... high-ceilings, wood-grain, attractive people, big screens, and their jersey clad hostesses made it a pretty awesome venue.

My complaint is with the service.
When we got there, we gave the hostess the signal that we wanted a table for 3... they said a 15 minute wait, so we meandered our way to the bar for a beer.
I ordered our drinks and they asked to see an I.D.
I gave the girl my Massachusetts Driver's License, and she immediately called her supervisor.  He looked at it and asked me for a 2nd form of ID... which I was a little shocked.  I mean, I'm a MA resident and I live 10 minutes away.... i had a student ID, which was a good enough backup.  So they poured my Sam Adams.

My buddy was not so lucky.  He gave them his Illinois driver's license and the supervisor took it and went somewhere (we assume was to check the driver's license's authenticity with a database or something)...  he was gone for about 10 minutes.  *imagine me sitting there with an ice-cold, untouched beer and my buddy and his wife standing there waiting for this guy to come back with his driver's license.
The guy came back and asked for a 2nd form of ID....  luckily, my friend had an Illinois State ID card (*which is different from a DL).  The supervisor took both of his forms of ID and left.
We waited for another 15 minutes.... during which time, our "table ready" beacon started beeping....  Finally, the guy came back and said,  "we don't take Illinois licenses"... half jokingly, then told the waitress to serve them.
The supervisor never carded my friend's wife... god knows how long that would have taken.
--- 1x Sam Adams, and 2x Bud Lights was $15

-- At some point, I wanted to be like, "look at that girl at the bar... she looks like she's 16 and she's drinking a margarita that's bigger than she is"....    Or be like.... "are you even old enough to SERVE liquor?"  *considering the wait staff looked like they were just out of high-school... I seriously considered leaving and being like... "I guess my cash isn't good enough here."

We were led to our table, and had a couple of beers while we decided what to eat.  We ordered the Spinach+Artichoke dip, which was great.  The waiter was a little slow getting us beers, and I figured out that you had to order your next round halfway through your current.  My friend and I both ordered the fish & chips and his wife ordered the buffalo wings.  About 1.5 rounds of drinks later, our food comes....

and mine was cold. :\
nothing like limp french-fries.

Our tab for 3 rounds of drinks, 2-fish n' chips dinners, and an order of wings came-out to about $70.

So I was greatly disappointed with the service, and I understand if you were completely swamped... *e.g. during a Patriots or Red Sox game day.... or if the place was just over-run with sports fans.  They were busy, but not THAT busy.  *enough wait staff were standing about and there were SOME empty tables.  And I mean... it was the All-Star game.  It wasn't like it was the Playoff's or a Championship series or anything... just a normal Tuesday night out on the town.

The dog and I drove out to Wollaston Beach today for a swim and a romp-around.  The water was surprisingly clean for being a low-ish tide.  
Since we stayed off of the public beach, I didn't mind having my doggie run around off-leash.  For being so close to the city, this is actually a pretty decent spot to swim/sun-bathe.  
There is ample parking along the swimming-beaches, and along the parks, there are larger lots which seemed pretty vacant for being a scorching hot holiday weekend.