Jason R.'s Profile

I just realized that my review was not five stars.  Obviously my earlier review was, well, earlier.  Far earlier.

I'm still iffy on the food side, but 1) I rarely sample it, and 2) the people more than make up for any worries.  This is your neighborhood watering hole.  Many folks know each other yet still are welcoming to anyone new.  I was one of the new back then...  And the events certainly bring everyone together.  Beer Geek Tuesday is an important educational event.  Seriously.

And the staff handle the most bizarre of occasions with aplomb.  They're amazing.

The food's ok.  If you're willing to wait.  And wait.  And wait.  And wait.

I should set out noting that they "lost" our reservation.  Some frat-ish group half-filled the table large enough for our faculty-ish group.  Um.  Given a week's notice, you assume they could have worked out some arrangement.

And then.  And then.  And then.  There were many "then"s before we could taste anything.  Many people swear by their burgers.  I'll let that sit there while we wait for them to slaughter and not age the meat.

And then...  I could see what they *wanted* to accomplish with their crab cakes.  They wanted that crisp exterior with the just-gooey-enough interior to make you forget that it's spelled with a k.  What they served was a flash-browned exterior that fell apart as the utterly uninterested server plopped the plate before me to reveal mushy krab goo with its mystery veggie component.

And it's odd how the middle of winter didn't seem to impact their grown ingredients. hm.

I am so glad I didn't have to pay for this.  Catering to many diets is a good thing.  Catering to customers perhaps is better?  But I've never run a restaurant, and this place is successful, so clearly I'm not with it.  Take my review with the appropriate boulder of salt, so long as that fits your paleo-crumbled-veggie-diet.

I was here.  I saw this.  I didn't quite realize that it was a permanent thing.  Blame the Warhol statue being dragged around Manhattan, but I didn't even think to snap a photo.  Hendrix was more about sound (in my crazy-ass imagination), so perhaps that both doesn't matter and is the point.  And I hadn't realized Hendrix was from Seattle.  I had assumed he just existed everywhere all at once.  Funny how things work.

I have a back-log of *good* reviews, so why bother here? To give others a heads-up: I never before have had bland "Szechuan"-style food, at least in my memory.  Perhaps I have growing up in suburbia Florida, but I've flushed that in more ways than one.

Delivery to my BWI-ish hotel was prompt, copious, and not too expensive.  Upon delivery, my nose warned.  Or rather didn't.  I bit my tongue, in a way.  The delivery guy was earnest.  But he must have known how the food he had carried didn't smell quite right.

As with all food I've experienced in this area, there was little to no flavor.  Szechuan-style beef, egg rolls, fried rice...  I swear people must have their taste buds excised at an early age up here.  This area's not too far from flavor, but it's far enough not to deliver.  I could find little difference between this "Szechuan"-style beef, "Maryland crab cakes," and cardboard.

Yes.  I was at a hotel.  And I'm obviously not only white but downright pasty.  And desperate for some Asian.  Perhaps another agen.. err... restaurant could have delivered the desired spice.  Given my experience, not so much.  So overall Ocean seems ok if you need grub after a flight and don't want to experience the gastrointestinal delight that is an uninterested Chili's or Bob Evan's.  If you want Chinese food?  Not so much. "Fajitas" are about the same.

But they did deliver on-time and within the quoted price, and I must recognize that.

Pretty cool, but I'm left wondering why *this* pig has a review, but the poor, lonely pig at the bottom of the stairs doesn't...  But any object that makes women (and men) squeal while riding it has to be pretty cool.

Um. EEEEEEEEEWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!!!!!

I didn't touch it. NEVER. Definitely not.  Would never, ever touch that.  Nope, not me.  The hand sanitizer I brought for the conference floor stayed in my pocket.  Odd how sanitizer isn't related to sanity.

And people say folks in Seattle are cold and uninterested.  They cared enough about this wall to shelter it from the sound's cold wind.

Seriously, how else should you rate a place that satisfies your basest needs while also offering to do up your do?

We were driving back from the in-laws' and realized we had run out of chicken feed. Hence we had run out of **OUR** feed, as we mostly eat what "we" (aka my wife) raise. We pull off just after Johnson City (no, really, that's the city's name) and pull into a boot store's parking lot. We become worried. Wiseman's Boots' sign is rather overpowering compared to the salon and feed store adjacent. But we spotted the latter... And our chickens are glad.

What rates five stars for a feed store (and feed-us-by-feeding-our-meat store)? The staff. She appeared out of the hair salon fully willing to discuss feed physically.  I'm not kidding.  Nor am I speaking down about anyone.  We walk an odd line between feed & seed & fashion.  We can see the best and worst of each, and this place reflects the best.  Our chickens agree with gusto. She even helped us knowing that we were traveling through and may not be back, knowing that the feed of interest also is of interest to less scrupulous sorts but sensing that we're the sane ones.

Wiseman's is a good place.  We may well be ordering through them and picking up en route between a bit further and Atlanta.

A breath of sanity within reach of the convention center...  The coffee's good, and the people are even better.  I remember only unforced smiles, ready laughs, and appreciated promptness during my *cough* escapes over here.  And the interior is a bit funky in a good way.  This location makes for a great contrast to the convention center and its, um, internal strip mall.

Good espresso from quality machines pulled by good people.  There certainly are comfy chairs here, too.  The shop has a bit of an unfinished feel, but perhaps it's always changing.  I'm sure I'll be back to re-visit thanks to CakeArt down the street.  I look forward to trying more.  Paramount's quality was a nice surprise.

The heavy Christian aspect is a bit off-putting for me, but at least it isn't hard-core proselytizing.

Small one- to two-biters.  Glazed, cinnamon, chocolate, and powdered.  Freshly warm but not overly oily.  Wasted on students who didn't appreciate that someone brought them good doughnuts.  sigh.  Inexpensive enough that the waste wasn't financial as well.  Great little sugar and dough pills.