Amanda "Howlingzoe" B.'s Profile

Zach Holt was the only contact I had with BBC, and was so unprofessional and such a douchebag we simply bought out their contract, after requesting the venue find a secondary beverage vendor. It was worth it to never deal with them. Their pricing was outrageous, and it appears Zach's attitude is well known throughout SF.

If you're roped into dealing with them due to venue exclusivity, I'd recommend the buyout- even with another vendor you'll still pay less altogether than using them for beverage service.

If you're not required to use them, i'd go with anyone else. And whatever you do, ask for someone else besides Zach.  How they keep him employed is beyond me.

Before booking a San Francisco event caterer, we looked at a number of options: Checkers, Fork & Spoon, Union Street.... I gave very specific creative parameters, and got back astronomical prices and disappointingly uninspired menu options. Except for Betty Zlatchin. To say they were patient is an understatement... but I could not be happier that we chose them for our event. Over two days, they produced breakfast, lunch and dinner and we received routine raves for all three.

But that's just half off it- you will never, ever work with nicer, more considerate and kind staff. They are accommodating, putting up with a million changes. They are extraordinarily creative, and when you work with them, you'll see all the key staff members at your event. Its not a sales rep who disappears.

I will not be using anyone except Betty Zhlatchin catering in San Francisco ever again.

If you're looking for balloons for your event in San Francisco, California, I can't recommend anyone higher than The Balloon Lady. I had a crazy idea for a balloon installation at a hard to work with venue, under hard to work with conditions. I sent her a sketch and her team came up with a great price, figured out how to install it, and showed up at the ridiculous hour of 11pm to install it overnight.

The balloons were a HUGE hit. Her 10 foot logo made of balloons in front of the venue was photographed and tweeted a zillion times. The installation inside commented on routinely, and the balloons stayed up throughout the 48 hours, no problem.

Her team was easy to work with, hardworking, and most importantly, they got the job done. I'll use them again in a second.

I'm a tough critic of a good pedicure. Mostly because I don't give a rats ass about polish so long as I'm not wearing it on my ankles, we're good. A good pedicure is about one of those massive massage chairs with a remote, a long massage, having someone scrub the crap out of your callouses, and basically just relaxing. All the things that expensive spas SHOULD do, but don't, so you walk out pissed you spent 100$. For a whopping $35, I got a "deluxe" pedicure here that knocked my socks off.

Apparently Portland demands each customer gets their own pedicure kit, which runs 3$ and I hope to heck I remember to bring back. The pedicure took an hour, which is awesome since polish takes 37 seconds. Everyone was nice, they take credit cards, the service was great. I'm absolutely going back.

With so many friends raving, we decided to spontaneously head over to CC on Sat night. Overall, I thought the food was great, the service was spotty and the atmosphere was probably lovelier inside than out, where we chose to sit.

Arriving at 8 on a Sat night, we were pleasantly surprised to only have a 20 min wait. There was seating at the bar, and the bartender was friendly and responsive. Drinks were fairly reasonable but the options were really wide.

We were offered a seat outside, which sounded great. A few downsides to the outside seating here, which normally I'd love. First, the chairs/tables are pretty rickety, which made it a bit uncomfortable since we were both perched a bit wondering if the chair was going to go:)  Any smokers that head outside to smoke result in all the smoke floating right over to you. Which is AWESOME when you're eating. Lastly, people leaving the restaurant tend to congregate right next to your table to talk. Loudly. Forever. .... and then there's the routine PDX begging that goes on by passerbys. So.... dine inside:)

That should not diminish the food, which was awesome, if not really rich. We split the lamb meatballs to start, which were a great deal for 5$ (3 balls).  In a fabulously simple and not overdone tomato sauce and basil preparation, they were a perfect start. We followed with a tagliatelle with crab and shrimp as well as pancetta wrapped trout.  The tagliatelle was yellow and awesome, without skimping on the seafood, or peppers. The sauce didn't overwhelm it.  The trout was an awesome dish, if not overwhelming. A whole trout, stuffed with greens, wrapped in prosciutto, and then in a mushroom cream sauce. It was delicious, don't get me wrong, but there was NO way anyone could finish it. We both took a lot home.

We skipped dessert, both stuffed. Overall, food rates high.

Service was iffy. Bartender was awesome, host was great, but our server seemed really put off or annoyed by us? We asked for suggestions and he seemed annoyed to have to come up with any.  Which may explain why he was so absent. The bill we received needed some simple corrections, too. Odd because at the end of the meal, we had a completely different server who was just lovely and pleasant and corrected the bill without a word and with a smile.

So... i'd be back, but inside, underorder, and get the right server:)

Best moving experience I've ever had.... hands down.

Hiring a mover in PDX was confusing and aggravating. I checked all the craigslist ads and called around, and no one could just give me a quote for a simple moving job from a storage space to my home a few miles away. There were all these extras for trucks, and mileage, etc. The reason i hired 503 was pretty simple: they ALWAYS answered the phone. Always. Nicole was easy to talk to, scheduled me for the day I wanted, and kept in touch. But here was the shocker- the movers showed up EARLY. When does that ever happen?  Wasn't the best shock of the day.

When you hire hourly movers, you're generally paying them to scratch their butt and smoke in between leisurely transporting a load of your stuff from truck to house. This is the opposite for Moving 503. Their movers RAN.... I'm not exaggerating... RAN between the truck and my house. I was awed. So much so, I snapped a video of it, dumbstruck.

Everything was moved in in about half the time I expected. When i tipped them out heftily, they were so honest they even came up to me to be sure I hadn't made a mistake, but I just explained that it was STILL less than what I'd expected to pay.

It in't even an "if". When I next move... they're my first call. I've already recommended them to two friends.

J'adore.

Spur of the moment friend recommendation on a night I had to escape the four walls of my house- could not have been more delighted with the result.

S&B is on a quiet corner annd the space has been really well designed. I love this kind of joint: open kitchen, not too many seats, and really attentive and openly happy staff.

The menu is prepared daily, and is split into veggies, small plates and entrees. We decided to skip across the menu, choosing two small plates: paprika roasted potatoes with duck ham and egg, and separately, pork belly with cornbread and preserved lemon confit. Both were around $15.

With the help of our overly lovely waiter, we chose drinks (a chilled red pinot was a suggestion, chilled red wine creeps me out, but my companion tried it and liked it) while I did a sparkling white. Both were around 8-9$, pretty reasonable.

The bread before our meal was delicious, two hearty homemade loaves with great sweet crusts on them, served with honey butter and salted butter.

The potato, ham and egg was awesome. http://yfrog.com/hs919... The egg was perfectly cooked to a soft yellow, and the crispiness of the potatoes, coupled with the saltiness of the duck ham was all just lovely.

The pork belly was a surprise- http://yfrog.com/kkmdeupj . The pork belly was cooked perfectly, and the cornbread highlighted what is clearly a skill of the house: breads. The preserved lemon was presented as a salsa or slaw, and was surprising once tasted. It wasn't bad, it wasn't good, it was just very different... as if they hadn't been preserved long enough.

Post our starters, we went with the egg pasta with sage and yes... more egg. I'm a big fan of pasta and sage, a pretty basic but classically italian preparation. http://yfrog.com/gzrd5qbj  It didn't disappoint. They'd made a great choice on the shape of the pasta, as the kinkiness of the pasta held onto the herbs, egg, butter and sage perfectly. The pasta was $18, most entrees hovered around $20.

About this time, it was just us, the kitchen and another guest. Community tables lend themselves to conversation amongst the guests, but at this point, the lights came down, the music went up and the staff started dancing about, which was relaxing and awesome. We couldn't leave without a dessert, and amongst the options, we went with a cherry galette which didn't disappoint. The crust was dense but flaky, and the cherries were sweet and tart, all topped with in house whipped cream that had a softness to it.

I have no complaints - the staff, the locale, the food, the atmosphere, and even the price were all awesome.

I'm always happy to pay for a great meal, definitely for sushi. So I specifically asked for a recommendation for a traditional sushi joint with great fish.

To be fair, it was Monday, so Akiko being open was a bad sign. But the menu was great, with a lot of interesting white fish from summer snapper to amber jack.  

The biggest problem is probably the service. The service staff seemed... angry? I was alone, and asked to sit at the sushi bar. Once sat (15 min, even though there were two empty seats and infact, they sat me in one of them eventually), I had to wait 10 minutes and ask for a menu. Then, ask for the specials menu and drink menus, and when I only got one, I had to ask for the drink menu a third time. Nonetheless, the sushi chef, though busy, seemed to be skillful and friendly, and the menu was impressive.

The service continued to be horrible. This was consistent with those around me. My neighbors soy sauce was empty, and I reached to offer them mine only to realize it too, was empty. I had to flag down my waiter to order a drink. He was just rude... I had wanted to ask the sushi chef what fish he recommended, and he insisted, "I take all the orders". No prob, dude, but I'd still like to ask a question.

The sushi chef was incredibly nice and asked what I wanted, and as usual, I asked for omakase (whatever you suggest). He asked what I liked and didn't, I told him whatever he wanted and then I waited another 45 minutes. Everyone around me was served items, and I just waited. He routinely asked me what I liked, and I'd expect something to come, and nada. Then, suddenly, a plate full of fish arrived, about 12 pieces of fish, a relatively good assortment, including uni. But the presentation was really meh... I'm not expecting a lot, but a little garnish would be nice.  But that seems nitpicking because...

the fish itself wasn't good. The uni was actually gooey, meaning it was no longer good. It was melting on the plate. I didn't eat it. The salmon was good, but not cut right. He hadn't even cut the slices all the way through. Doing so with chopsticks is tough even for me. The yellowtail was good, but that was it. Everything else tasted tough, and a little off. It was like it was all frozen. The slices were entirely too thick, Sashimi should melt in your mouth. This was chewy.

The kitchen was cranking out typical sushi rolls and people seemed happy with them, so perhaps I was just asking too much. But, these things happen and the sushi chef was friendliy enough. then the bill arrived.

For one small plate of sashimi and a $15 sake, the bill was 68$. I'm thrilled to pay that much and more for a good meal, but this was not one of them. That number is obscene for 12 slices of fish.

I paid, I smiled. I left.

The restaurant has no email address to contact them at. I'll call tomorrow to complain.

Hands down, the best pedicure I've had in like 15 years. Your choices are between the $25 standard pedicure and the $30 spa pedicure. We did the spa and the pedicure lasted almost an hour or so, with sugar scrub, parrafin wax, hot stone massage, leg thumping (that's the best I can use here) and just a really great pedicure from two lovely, lovely women who at no point whatsoever seemed put off or standoffish at all. infact, they were lovely and made the experience so much better.

For an afternoon spa date with a friend, this was absolutely perfect and we now plan to go back once a month.

Spent the afternoon sampling pretty much everything that Earl's has to offer... the thing about BBQ is that when its good, its just awesome, but its so prone to #fail and bad BBQ is inedible. I'm pleased to say there was nothing inedible on Earl's menu and some items were pleasant standout surprises.
- above all, the ribs were just as perfect as ribs can be. Did the half and half, and the beef ribs had a perfect rub finish to them, weren't overdone but had that carmelized crispiness that is just awesome. The pork ribs didn't suffer from overcooking, which I find so often. They had a meltiness to them from preserving some of the fat that was delicious.
Collard greens are just tough, but these were delicious. Not overcooked, still had a bit of bite, and weren't masked in pork products. bright green and fresh.. I loved them.
I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed the tasty bits... the pig tails were absolutely delicious. I'd compare them to roasted turkey necks. I question if they need to be fried.
The fried pickles and okra were exactly what you want from them: a bit of crunchy, a bit of salty, a bit of sweet and a lot of dressing.
I tried a few other items including bone marrow, which I enjoyed mostly for its smart addition of okra though I wish it was a bit less cooked, and pork belly, which lets face it, can never be bad. This version, with onion rings and some other accoutrements didn't disappoint.
Though nothing fell flat, I felt some items didn't stand up to the truly great menu pieces: macaroni and cheese came in two forms: in a crock and as a deep fried ball. Oddly, the ball had more texture and was thus more interesting, but neither were spectacular next to the ribs.
Worth noting as well were the cocktails. inventive, fresh, and served in mason jars, they were the perfect accompaniment. The barkeep came out to make a suggestion to match my mood and followed up to find out if I liked it.
Overall, the vibe of the place and the food lends itself to a perfect dinner out with the family, or pre club activity. Plenty of food to share at a table, and the drinks to match. This might be the perfect Southern antidote to Arizona summers.