Andrew "Letting the days go by" K.'s Profile

Tiny inside, with about a medium-sized bar, a few lounge chairs, one pool table, and a wall lined with booths around the pool table.  The decor is hipster heaven - i mean, wood paneling??  late 70s tiled bathroom???  physical-menu jukebox (well, CDs, i mean this is 2009 for crying out loud, but still you don't see just a ton of those), and two tiny tvs????  i don't like hipsters very much, but i need me some wood paneling in my house.  and i loved the bathroom, i'm just gonna say.  it was clean!!! total win.
anyway, the crowd was totally hipster-rriffic-esque, meaning it was people like me who identify w/ the hipster ethos but don't go all the way.  pretty normal-looking, in other words, chill.  re-reading those sentences, even i don't know what i mean. so i'll move on. it wasn't too packed on a thursday night, we got some songs played on the jukebox  but there was no silence, and people were shooting pool the whole time.  Actually on two separate breaks there were balls and change flying at our table, and a couple other occasions we had to make a little extra space for the players to shoot.  It's a really intimate space, unfortunately for me my female companions enjoyed the invasion more than i did.  i could have sworn that stupid cowboy was speaking w/ an aussie accent. so freaking cliche.  why don't more cute women play pool???
moving on. the bartender, while totally cute, ignored me for at least 5 minutes while chatting with a patron about her hair.  i'm like, hello... i want to give you money....!  it wasn't too too bad though.  they tap Newcastle, Bud Light, and Stella Artois, and one pint of each cost me $11.50. i'm not totally sure how that breaks down but whatever, it wasn't bad.  parking: apparently they just put up no parking signs on the street adjacent to the bar, so you get to park in the neighborhood behind the place.  great.  we didn't have to walk too far tho, so it's tolerable.  
all told i had a great time at shady's and it seemed like a pretty cool place, i wouldn't hesitate to go back as long as it's not too packed.  there's not really anywhere to stand up even, so any more crowded than it was on thursday and it wouldn't have been fun.

upon getting stood up for a recent dinner date (don't waste your tears for me and my love life, i've already forgiven the lady in question and well, let's just say she's making it up to me) i decided to visit Revo Burrito for a quick bite before heading out to meet a couple friends at Shady's (review forthcoming).  Being more or less in the area, i thought of the still fairly new Revo Burrito, remembering that it had recently been given 4 of 5 stars in the Republic's Casual Dining section and that a good friend of mine (yelper Chad S) had raved about it.  I decided Revo was the place to go.  I knew almost exactly were it was, having visited both sister restaurants (Delux and Zen32) many times.  It has a neat ambiance, though i would have loved some less annoying "thematic" music and maybe a television.  Sometimes it is possible to take a restaurant theme a bit too far, and in this case i think they're trying to encourage people to get their food to go or eat outside.  Which is a pity because the interior of the place is really quite nice.  Anyway, i'm not sure why I ordered the tacos rather than one of the burritos from which give the place its name, but i'd recommend you don't take that route, or at least that you choose soft tacos instead.  The hard tacos are a little too crispy which make them a bit tricky to eat without making a mess.  The filling (i chose the carne asada) was good though, and the presentation was satisfactory.  Good cheese and lettuce on top, with a dab of pico de gallo.  I ordered the combo, which included a fairly healthy heap of black beans and another good-sized scoop of rice, which was covered with a creamy sauce.  A little sweet while i prefer my rice more savory, but it was good.  In addition, it came with a pinch of chips and a little cup of salsa.  I was completely satisfied by the time i was finished with everything, but I do wish they had given me a few more chips, given their small size and awkward shape.  they were nearly perfect, obviously fresh and would have been great for scooping up a little rice and beans had they been larger and flatter.  i ordered the "medium" salsa which is apparently code for pico de gallo, which i don't really enjoy.  i'd love to sample other salsas, the pico was fresh and good in its own right.  despite the chilly night air, i also ordered the lemonade, and was very impressed with that.  I love fresh-squeezed lemonade, and this was very flavorful without being either too sweet or too tart.  all in all, i enjoyed my meal and look forward to returning to try the rest of the menu.

I've been to this location a number of times, but I have to admit that this last visit was the best.  I was immediately greeted and brought to the appropriate section, where a friendly blue-shirted employee helped me figure out whether the "one-size-fits-all" laptop power adaptor would work for my netbook.  We sadly determined it wouldn't work, and I walked towards the exit, only to be met by the same greeter.  She helpfully told me about Best Buy's parts program, expressing regret that the all-in-one solution wasn't going to work for me.  

Whatever they've done here, color me impressed.  Figure out how to hang on to the management staff at this location, Best Buy!

Way overpriced for the food they have to offer.  Another fairly interesting location brought down by an over-priced, under-whelming menu.  Disappointing.

The food was pretty disappointing for the price, and the drinks menu left much to be desired.  The music was ok, and the service was very close to on-point for the size of the party.  The space is tremendous; as many have said, it's one of the very few places like it in Phoenix with real history.  I just wish they would bring the kitchen and bar up to the same level as the location.

Typical Target - good selection and prices, pretty clean, friendly people working there.  I saw a security guard helping a lady with her cart, and for some reason it reaffirmed my faith in humanity.  I wish the parking lot were swept a little more often, and I wish this location had a grocery section, but otherwise it's a great place to get stuff you need.  

And as an added bonus: the people who shop here will never end up on http://peopleofwalmart....  Enough said.

There are certain grocery stores in the Phoenix area that have a certain reputation.  "All the ASU babes" shop at one Safeway on Scottsdale, or something like that, and the good-looking Arcadia folks can be found at - ah forget it, it's not germane.  
The point is, this particular Fry's has and deserves no such reputation.  This is where everyone from the Square does their grocery shopping.  The closer you can go to closing time (11 PM!) the better off you'll be.  Three stars for price and decent selection, but would it kill ya to sweep the parking lot a little more frequently?

If you ever do something incredibly bone-headed and need to get in your car in the middle of PV mall's parking garage, Charles is the guy to call.  $45 in cash and it'll take less than half an hour.  He arrived within 15 minutes of my call.  I was happy with the service, although I wish he could have been more specific with advice about getting a replacement key made.  That was before I realized that my key had been in my bag the entire time.  Like I said, boneheaded...

Returned for a recent breakfast, and can't stop thinking about how much I enjoyed it.  I did an omelet, which was great, but I LOVED their coffee.  What a nice morning.

Now that they're doing happy hour, i need to get back here in the evening, especially now that it's nice enough to really enjoy the patio.

Great, intimate space.  I think i at least said hi to several dozen yelpers, which is the whole reason i go to these.

The food, though, would also be a major attraction.  I've never been to Switch before so I had no idea what to expect, and I was very impressed.  I did love the theme, loved seeing Gabi and the gang, and overall had a great time.  

Thanks again Gabi!!