G B.'s Profile

Emily made me a believer.  Thanks Emily,  I'll be back.

HEY, 1849! EAT A HUGE BAG OF DICKS!

THIS PLACE IS NON-STOP HARRASSMENT.  BEWARE.

I let it slide that the self-important bouncer TOUCHED MY ASS when trying to move me to get off his precious long rug with a clear shot to the bar.  He was REALLY, REALLY SELF-IMPORTANT.

But, when that same dumbass bouncer ASSAULTED and tossed out a exec who was drinking on MY personal tab and he wasn't doing ANYTHING but drinking beer, that is ridiculously UNCALLED FOR.  Granted, I'm in my mid-30's, and that exec was mid-40's, and we all were with our younger colleagues... PICKING UP THE TAB.

So why did our most senior-level colleague get kicked out of this bar?  I know, 30+ -- we're not exactly in the target market for this bar, but really?  It's not like we all walked in and had douchey suits on.  We were all pretty cool.  No one was misbehaving.

Why did this embarrassing situation happen?  Well, it seems that the waitresses don't know how to deal with awkward situations/conflict and just asked the bouncer to toss him out. Before I knew what was happening, our colleague was outside on the curb in the cold, and I asked the bouncer what happened, pretty calmly. He threw the waitresses under the bus and didn't explain anything to me, and so, I then approached these girls who could BARELY manage to get out a coherent and logical reply to my question. Dumb broads.  

It boils down to this: The waitresses are obsessed with getting tips.  I've been reading the other reviews here (and a lot of them are similar to my experience, in fact) to piece together how and why this incident happened, because I find it embarrassing, demeaning, and appalling.  I was totally shocked.   It didn't make sense to me then, and now it does:

ALL TABLE SERVICE IS AN AUTOMATIC 20% GRATUITY.

ADDITIONALLY, THEY FAIL TO NOTIFY ANY CUSTOMER OF THAT, UPFRONT.

So, SCREW THAT THEN, why should you guys get ANYTHING AT ALL, especially when your bouncer with obviously mismanaged rage issues roughed up someone in our group for no reason?  Waitresses: are you really that powerless that you couldn't talk to me?  You really had to have some meathead to PHYSICALLY ASSAULT him when he wasn't resisting, and you tossed out our most senior colleague into the street like some drunk, fratty bro from NYU or a Southern lynch mob?  That is seriously DEMEANING and DISRESPECTFUL!  Why didn't you girls choose to toss ME out, since I was actually the one that put my card down at the bar?  Is it because I'm a girl, and your bouncer needed to toss out the male that I was having a conversation with so that we'd both leave?

Look, just so that you, the reader of the review know, I'm normally pretty level-headed when it comes to situations like this.  But I have never, ever, ever had an experience at a restaurant that has made me feel like there's an ACTUAL INJUSTICE here, somewhere.  I say this because I NEVER write reviews, almost never have a reason to comment on anything or care about reviewing establishments, and I felt compelled in this case to warn everyone.  Days later, I am still angry that a guest in my group had to go through that demeaning and offensive experience and I didn't exactly understand what the logical steps were that lead to that experience.  There is no logic behind it -- these people are simply Nazis, or possibly the KKK. Now I know.

Fucking fascists.

When I put my card down at the goddamned bar, first of all, I didn't know that the waitstaff gets 20% upfront, but in retrospect, it's actually great that EVEN AFTER ALL OF THIS POOR TREATMENT I paid the bill AND I tipped the bartender (Solomon, according to my receipt, who was pretty cool) -- when you had someone in our group tossed out for NOTHING!  

So, in summary:

-- Fuck 1849's stupid, chunky, no neck dumbfuck of bouncer right in the fucking ass with a splintery fucking 2x4.

-- Fuck the fucking 20% gratuity that 1849 fails to inform you of, upfront.

-- Fuck their fucking $25 card minimum.

-- Fuck those fucking waitresses at 1849 and the fucking 20% gratuity they don't even deserve -- you girls are obviously working for a very, very controlling shadow government of a man that you're scared to stand up to.  There are other places to work that don't use vague power and control games among their employees, unllike hos and pimps, so you work for this Machiavellian sociopath and are scared of confronting him because you need to keep your shitty job.

-- And you, the person who's reading this right now:  Don't patronize this place.  Refuse to go.  Just because it's cheap and you like wings and beer and they can nickel and dime you while you permit this bad behavior to keep them in business is just ridiculous. It's obvious the management of this place respects no one -- not their employees, and certainly not even their customers.

1849: You people are violent, abusive, and miserable. Shame on you. I hope you get the pants sued off your asses and shutter the doors to your shitty establishment ASAP.

I moved back to NYC from being in California for the last couple of years and knew I would have trouble finding decent Mexican food again.

Unfortunately for me, that one place is in Coney Island... the absolute, absolute opposite side of the city from the northernmost part of the Bronx.

They are, in fact, worth a 2 hour subway ride.  And that 2 hours... is only ONE WAY.  

I've done the 4-hour trip.  Believe it.  They are the real deal.

I could take one star off because sometimes, the wait is effing long, there's no place to sit, the pork is a bit too salty, and people that go there are mad ghetto.  But if you're patient, the price is right and the product is tasty as helllllllll.

Selah is the undisputed queen of Westchester salons.  Really.  I was skeptical about the excellent ratings, but they're not just hype.  Let's get something straight here.  I often do not feel compelled to write reviews about businesses -- EVER.  In fact, I haven't written a Yelp review in 3 years and I'm probably not going to write another Yelp review for another 3 years.  But my first experience at Selah was truly outstanding.

The bottom line: I get my haircut every 2 years.  I have really long (down to the waist), healthy, fine, pin-straight, Asian hair in a very solid black, and have grown out the damage I've done over a couple of years already.  It took me a LONG time to grow.  You can imagine why I don't want anyone touching my hair -- I really just don't want anyone to mess it up.  

So, to be perfectly clear, I'm a real bitch about it, and that is specifically why I don't get my hair cut often. I don't trust easy. The Kiss of Death from me is to get out of the chair as a stylist is explaining their grand vision for my hair, because they drool all over my blank canvas of a head. Buh-bye!!! I can tell that they are going to take the liberty to do some wild interpretation of what they see in their head, and that they've never done it before on a real, live client.  (If this is the first time I'm seeing you, I don't trust you yet! Why do stylists NOT understand this?) I don't want you "working your magic" on my hair when we first meet -- I want what I want.  If I say "keep the length" it means, actually, "Keep the length and do not cut past 2 inches to get rid of the split-ends or I'm never coming here again."

I have been to some of the finest salons every 2 years because I am THAT squeamish.  My last couple of haircuts were WELL over $85.  Crazy, right?  I pay a lot for the security of knowing that I'm going to walk out satisfied, and have gone to Bumble & Aveda salons, only to say, "Meh. That was aiiight." Regardless of what I pay and the training that stylists have, haircuts generally leave me in tears.  I don't know if it's because I have post-partem after I see my hair drop to the floor, or if I'm scared I'll get a very dated and/or too trendy cut, or that I'm not assertive enough about the style or cut I want, but I am NEVER, EVER HAPPY -- I have not been happy with a haircut in 10 years.  (In that particular circumstance, I mistakenly went to a super high-end salon in Manhattan *cough* Jean-Claude Biguine *cough* that upsold me on services until I paid over $200 -- assholes.)  At best since then, I've walked out of a Yelp 4-star Bumble & Bumble salon in San Francisco like, "Meh, that was OK."

I called Selah an hour before my appointment after doing massive reading of reviews here on Yelp, Citysearch, and Google Local.  I was really, really skeptical of the good ratings.  When I called, I didn't have anyone in mind, and after a short wait, I was seated in Marija's (Maria) chair.  Sure, I was a little anxious.

I explained to Marija how I do my hair normally and showed her some pictures off an email on my phone that I had sent to myself.  I ended up getting a dry cut -- no shampooing or anything, and within minutes she had it translated into something that wasn't the dull, straight, long, boring, weighted, lifeless mess that it was when I walked in.  AND when I said, "Keep the length," she didn't take off more than 2 inches of hair -- she actually kept the length!

Unreal!

I think that Marija has very good intuition, that must translate into knowing a client's personal style.  I say this because, after a couple of minutes, she knew how my hair naturally fell and also translated my personality into the cut.

"It's a little rock n' roll, huh?" I said.  
"I picked up on that," she said knowingly.

Helpful to note, I was not dressed particularly rockin', and didn't show her pics of particularly rockin' haircuts, or rockin' people, or people rocking rockin' haircuts.

I looked at myself and I clearly did not need to have my hair shampooed or blown dry, and I didn't get a nasty upsell.  I got the options and associated prices with a straight answer.  NICE.

The cut blew my freaking socks off!

My being 110% happy only cost me $50. WOW.  I didn't even get drinks or anything!  (They're a bar at night, which is an interesting concept -- it's a gorgeous, huge open space that the stylists work in.)  To be honest, I could go to any place in Manhattan to get my hair cut.  But after Selah, I'm not going to.  I feel like I need to come up with another reason to give them money and I'm a STUDENT, so I don't really have expendable income.  But here?  They are truly worth it for the fine job they do.

I trust Selah, I trust in Marija, and I wasn't expecting to see them for another 2 years.  But you know, after my first stellar experience, I'm definitely going to find a reason to come back... even if it isn't for a haircut. I'm a now a huge fan. I've never felt so pretty or happy!

*weeping*

This restaurant totally comes out of left field and is not typical of the normal place to have dinner in The Richmond. It's a bit fancier, but MAN! This place is full of little details.

They give you hot apple cider when you sit down and are waiting for your food, have three different kinds of butter for your bread, and the chef (John) is as modest and as kind as can be. You'll catch him serving you sometimes and even waiting on you. Nice guy.

Their scallop and whiskey-braised oxtail starter was great. I had the manicotti for dinner, and it was excellent, but I wanted to eat 10 plates of their foie gras for dinner. Yes, TEN PLATES of it. No lie.

The best little Filipino dive bar ever comes complete with karaoke jams. After a couple of songs, you'll swear you're in Cheers.

There's a great hospitality to the people that run this joint, and it's because of this the patrons keep coming back, so it'd be a real shame if this place fell to the gentification of the rest of the block it's on (as it is, indeed, the only thing on this block that isn't).

They're open late (until 2 most nights), and they will FEED YOU. Try their lumpia (eggrolls) on for size, which is especially good. You can blow through plates and plates of them in one sitting; I swear by this.

Of note: BRING CASH!!! They do not take credit cards.  Hike yourself up the block towards Harrison to the gas station if you need the cash and forgot.

I'm not sure what everyone's talking about, but I had a really fucking awesome time.  One of the few jukes in the city that has both Notorious B.I.G. and Faith No More in it at the same time? Befriend a mild-mannered pitbull as you're knockin' 'em back?

One thing I really DID notice... the neighborhood locals and bar patrons take good care of this place and those in it if you respect it and them. Example: If someone leaves their cellphone in the bathroom, turn it in to the bartender. The patron who lost it will insist on buying you a drink for finding it, which you will refuse profusely.

I totally swear that happened the FIRST TIME I was there.  So I have NO idea what the hell all of you are talking about.

It's a good place to watch a game on weeknights and grab a pint.

I don't normally like Shepherd's Pie at all, but the first time I had St. Stephen's Green's Shepherd's Pie, I thought it was absolutely outstanding. Really, it was beyond belief. I offered a bite of it of my friends at the table and I rarely even got to eat it all because they took whole chunks of it; it was that good.

All in all, this is definitely a place that you should make a stop in, should you find yourself on Castro Street.  In Mountain View, that is...

Jesus Christmas.  This place is three-levels and "classy" as it were... has great space and great places to lounge, but never have I seen a bunch of douchebags-to-be at once.  

I wasn't scared by it, just pissed that I was there for so long.

That's right.  Use the $10 your parents gave you to get in, kiddies.