Kathleen "Yelp Empress" M.'s Profile

I have been to SweetWater on a couple of occasions for different events, and I have never been let down. The beer is always flowing generously and they've got their I's dotted and T's crossed. As an event planner, I really appreciate this.

In addition to their regular selections like 420 and Blue, they've got some rotating seasonals and specials that work their way through the taps. You're not going to find a bad beer among the bunch and they've got a decently wide variety to please many palates. You really can't go wrong.

The space itself is gorgeous, with wide open windows and a decently sized patio where well-behaved pups can play. If you're planning an event or just looking for a spot to pound down a few freshly made brews, SweetWater's your spot.

One of the foods I miss most here in Atlanta is a good empanada. They're so yumtastic, and versatile, too! Sweet or savory, greasy drunk food or a solid lunch... all can be filled by empanadas. I was thrilled to see we'd be ordering lunch in from Go-Go, and I was not disappointed.

Two empanadas came my way, one steaky and one tomato/mozzarella-y. Yes, an Italian take on an empanada, and it was delicious. But then again, when is bread, cheese, and tomato not delicious? NEVER. That is the only appropriate answer. The steaky version was equally delicious with tender flavorful meat and a flaky pastry. Not as big of an empanada as I'm used to, but the perfect little snack size, or a good way to try out a few flavors. I also got an avocado mini salad which was the perfect accompaniment: fresh produce and light dressing, quite lovely!

The strawberry lemonade was deserving of a paragraph of its own. Incredibly awesome, both sweet and tart (perfection!), complete with a couple of strawberry seeds floating around to prove its freshness. The internets need to come up with the drinking version of "nom nom nom."

Ergh, I hate to be the first less-than-4 review of this spot, but I just can't give them 4. To me, a 4 star review is a really solid spot, one that I definitely foresee returning to and telling my friends about. And La Lupe just isn't that spot. Mind you, it certainly wasn't bad, but I'm not raving.

It was quite crowded on this Thursday night and we randomly ended up running in to a bunch of folks so melted in to their large group, seated at the communal table close to the bar. I was hoping they'd be able to whip up my favorite cocktail from the former Cuerno, but no dice. Instead, I got a Pacifico, which despite asking for a glass, came solo in the bottle, no lime, and kinda lukewarm. I know it's just beer, but I'd expect more from a nice restaurant like this. Plus, drinks took for.ev.er to arrive. Blargh.

We ordered up the specially-priced meal for 2, which comes with queso, two taco platters, and a tamarind float for the dessert. The queso was wholly disappointing: everyone at the table best described the watery concoction as a cheesy soup. No spice or kick and not nearly as hearty as any queso I've ever had. The freebie salsa, however, was quite delicious and very flavorful.

My tacos were alright-- I ordered the mixto (ribeye), camaron (shrimp), and barbacoa de chivo (goat) tacos. The mixto was the best of the three, as the meat had a ton of flavor. The shrimp was next up, with delicious caramelized onions. The goat was my least favorite, but maybe that was because I just don't like goat. I had never tried it before, took a risk, and wasn't exactly pleased, but that's my own fault. Sadly the rest of the food just didn't make up for it: the tortillas were only fair, with the corn version being way too thin and unable to hold the filling. Rice was average and the frijoles charros were solid, but again, nothing awe-inspiring.

Service throughout the night was sporadic, with water glasses remaining unfilled and not a lot of check-in on the server's part. We were a big party and it was a busy night, but I really shouldn't have to flag the waitress down to get a refill.

So all in all, a solid experience but not one I'll be shouting from the rooftops. Always happy to have a new spot in the neighborhood, though, and I hope it does well!

Buck 15 made me, among other things, thankful for good cab drivers. Ours was able to point out the grafittied entrance to Buck 15, despite zero signage and no lighting outside. So yes, be prepared to scour the street for this upstairs-only spot.

As stated by my colleagues, we were the only people there for at least an hour. Luckily we roll deep so what would typically be a pretty awkward situation for 3 or 4 became our own little private party. Shots were passed around, dances were danced, antics were made, and suddenly we found ourselves in the middle of one crazy gay manfest. And it was gorgeous.

The DJ was definitely the kind that some may turn their nose up toward, yet I loved. Yes, s/he played the Macarena and the Electric Slide, and yes s/he was a drag queen. And I loved every minute of it.

While I loved pretty much everything about this spot, I was seriously peeved when I ordered a glass of water and got one of those tiny airplane cups 1/4 full, no ice. Listen, bartender, I am drunk and sweaty, and if I'm drunk/responsible enough to be asking for water you best give me some. And if you only give me two sips you better believe I'll be bugging you soon for more. So yeah, don't be stingy... I gots to get back out on that dance floor.

While I understand that some of the creature comforts have been stripped out of this place for the sake of a low price and the proximity to the beach, I just can't help but miss them. You know, creature comforts like flooring, conditioner, and box springs.

The stoic and insane asylum-like white walls just didn't do it for me, especially when I found myself back in my room after a long day and in need of getting some work done. It was near impossible to focus, especially due to the lack of a desk in the room. There was an odd round table, but no chairs. And the outlets were hidden behind the bed-- one of my biggest pet peeves in hotel rooms.

The bathroom was teeny tiny and the awkwardness of the shower led to a lot of water on the floor. The reek of smoke hit my nose every time I opened the door to my room, and while that smell (along with the ashtray and book of matches sitting on the nightstand) would lead you to believe this was a smoking room, I was informed by the front desk it was not. Hrm.

The room was luckily quite clean... hard not to be when everything is so shockingly white. However, I was a bit perplexed by the housekeeping. Despite hanging my towels on the hooks as advised when you don't need them changed, I got a new set of towels every single day of my stay. Except they took away my washcloth. Boo.

If I were looking for a place to stay in SoBe, Townhouse wouldn't be it. Unless they switched out the sewing kit for some conditioner, made the entire place non-smoking, and threw a bit of color on the walls. Oh, and maybe put something other than paint on their concrete floors.

Plus one big star for the absolutely gorgeous rooftop and penthouse suite. We used it as our office for the week and it was indeed the perfect spot for us to work during the day, with the truly awesome king-sized waterbeds beckoning us from the sunshine.

Going to the bank is, more often than not, a pretty painful chore. Long lines, disinterested staff, and stupidly confusing rules and policies. Not a fun trip. Luckily, this new Bank of America is quite lovely.

I've had to actually go in to the building twice now, and both times have been shockingly pleasurable experiences. Friendly greetings from every staff member and quick and easy transactions, no matter how complicated they may be. You won't get out of here without a few "good afternoons" and "how are you todays" and it's all quite refreshing. Also, this is likely me being biased, but I love that everyone who works there is young and hip: just makes the whole vibe more fun when I can compliment my teller's shoes while she's printing out paperwork for me.

While I am certainly not a fan of Bank of America as a company due to their ridiculous fees, I have to say that this branch makes me happy that I've got them as my bank.

I was immensely concerned when our party of 14 arrived at Barbu to find a couple of tiny tables crammed together along the banquet. There was no way we'd all be able to sit, much less be able to move our arms to eat. At first, the waiter refused to add another table to our group, claiming that everything else was reserved. After a few minutes of fenagling, it became obvious that we were dealing with a square peg/round hole situation, and he let us add in a table, allowing us a teensy bit of breathing room.

So yes, Barbu is small. I don't think I've seen much this teeny outside of Manhattan, but we were able to make it work, leading to one of the most fun dinners of my life. They have a prix fixe menu (appetizer and entree for $20) during limited times and the value continues with the BYOB and $5 corkage fee. Yes, you can get quite rowdy here without a major price tag-- hooray!

I selected a shrimp appetizer with lamb sausages as my entree, and I was pleased with both. I did prefer the creaminess of the pheasant appetizer that I sampled to the spicy kick of my shrimp, but still was very happy with my meal. For dessert I sampled an apple tart and a sinfully rich chocolate cake: both tasty but not necessarily awe-inspiring.

It may have been my companions, but this was the most fun I've had at a restaurant in a very long time. Every song that came over the speakers was one that begged to be sung-along to, and sing we did! The waiter even got in on a bit of our karaoke fun, and not once did he chide us for our very robust (and very VERY loud) antics. In fact, I'm pretty sure they liked us. Well, I hope they did.

The drag show that we saw wasn't much of a show: more like one queen prancing around a bit to one song, then taking an hour long break. It worked perfectly for us for the evening mainly 'cause we were creating our own party, so just don't expect the show to bring the fun. Like the alcohol at Barbu, be sure to BYO party and you'll be guaranteed a good time.

We were hungry, it was humid, and after walking far too many blocks in the wrong direction we came across Maya. And I'm pretty sure that's exactly how they get all of their business.

It may have been our famished bias, but things seemed to take for.ev.er to arrive, and no one was exactly apologetic about it. Yes, my avocado salad was quite delicious and exactly what I was looking for: fresh, light, yet filling. Still, it was just sliced up avocado in a bowl with some tomatoes and onion. Delightfully simple, yet as long as you've got good produce difficult to screw up. My "chorizo," however, was another story. This is the first time I've ever seen chorizo that so closely resembled a hot dog. In fact, I'm pretty convinced that this was Oscar Meyer's version of chorizo, and I wasn't happy about it. I took one bite and ignored the rest.

The outdoor seating allows for some stellar people watching and all of the produce seemed to be fresh, but this wouldn't be a spot I'd recommend in Miami, especially for out of towners. Yet this is the kind of place that folks end up regardless, due to the exact reasons we found our way there. And nothing, not even a 2 star Yelp review, can keep famished and exhausted CMs away from salvation in the form of caloric goodness.

Oh, hello heaven!

At first I was impressed by the "Belgian Box," a whole section devoted to all sorts of delicious Belgians: whites, tripels, trappist ales, they had it all. But then I looked closer, and made my way toward the other aisles. Custom mixed 6 packs? Limited edition seasonals?  A variety of typically rare (and oh so delicious) black beers? 10 KINDS OF HITACHINO?! I don't even know how to choose!

The employees are always oh-so thorough and helpful which means during busy times I may not be able to find someone to help me, but no matter. I could spend hours gazing at the labels upon their shelves: screw the Louvre, THIS is art, people!

If they sell gift certificates, y'all know what to get me for Christmas.

I had been conducting a half-assed search for a personal trainer for a few months when I came across the coupon on Yelp for $100 your first FitWit camp. I was a little wary of the whole boot camp concept: I don't react well to people yelling at me, or early mornings. Plus, I had this whole notion that the people would all be super in shape and lap me on the track. I decided to try to get in shape on my own before embarrassing myself in front of a group of strangers.

You can all guess how well that went.

A week later and still no motivation from my end. I read and re-read the reviews of FitWit on Yelp as well as the testimonials on their site. Wallace S personally recommended it, and I figured I really had nothing to lose. Plus, they had a 9:30 am class and I figured it'd all be new moms so maybe they wouldn't kick my ass.

I signed up two days prior to the camp starting (hellloooo procrastination) and was terrified when I showed up on the first day. It was like the first day at a new school where you think everyone's going to be prettier and smarter than you. Luckily, I was met by a small group of folks who were honestly at a VERY vast range of fitness levels. Trevor, Mario, and Lindsay (the three trainers I worked with--Josh, the founder, doesn't work with the 9:30 classes, but I hear he's amazing) were all, of course, insanely fit and served as great motivation, both physically and mentally. As they told us over and over, they do the same workouts we do, and they're sore the next day, too.

The first week was, in a word, painful. Ice baths, heating pads, and a whole bottle of Advil... but I survived it. Barely. Luckily, it got better from there. While the pain in my hamstrings never really subsided over the 6 week course due to all of the squats and lunges, most of it was "hurts so good" kind of hurt. And yes, those of you who follow me on Twitter or know me personally heard me complain nearly every single day about showing up, but I have to admit I loved it. Yes, I missed more classes than I should have and yes, some days I didn't push myself as hard as I could, but all in all it was a wonderful experience that I look forward to repeating as soon as I can.

They provide deep, deep discounts for returning campers and also organize lots of social events throughout the camps so that you can get to know one another when you're wearing real clothes and makeup and your hair isn't drenched with sweat. The trainers do an incredible job of motivating and keeping a fun, positive aspect. Mario will sing and crack jokes, Trevor will dance, Lindsay will make you smile with her bubbly personality. And then you'll realize how crazy it is that you're actually smiling while on your 217th squat for the day and it's pouring rain.