Nancy R.'s Profile

Cleo's features 3 things that are prominent in my mind:

1) Tacky decor
2) "Snowballs" - take a white russian and blend it up with ice - AMAZING!  Cheap too, I think I got 3 rounds for 3 people for $46.  Hey I'm from California, that's cheap.
3) Cougars galore!

I like this place and wish there was one in San Francisco.  Friendly crowd.  Party atmosphere.  I like how this town has nothing else to do but party and drink.

Let me preface this review by saying I'm a little tipsy.  A few beers over at Jim's Place (an upcoming Yelp).  But I was compelled to remove my laptop from it's TSA-approved carrying case to connect to the Hotel wifi to Yelp about Topper's pizza as soon as I coudl.

It's that good.  

Food is a must after a few beers and this place was open until 3AM so PERFECT.  We ordered a 16" (medium) pizza and they let you order half-n-half's.  We got a half-Taco and half-buffalo pizza (thanks to the dude behind the counter for the buffalo pizza suggestion).  AND DUDE, IT'S AMAZING!  The taco pizza half was loaded with seasoned ground beef, tcheddar cheese, lettuce, tortilla strips, tomatoes, and olives.  Picked out the olives, gross.  The buffalo half featured with perfectly sized chicken bits and smothered in a delicious buffalo sauce.  And it was so good.  Despit the olives.  And without even asking, they included ranch. bleu cheese, salsa AND sour cream with the ordre without having to request it.  Friendly staff who asked if we needed plates, and all of the other accoutrements that I cannot remember.

The facility was clean & inviting too.

I was only planning on eating one slice but I've had 4, one of which I'm enjoying as I type.  I'll have to clean the cheese and salsa from my laptop keyboard tomorrow morning!

Charge up your portable DVD player or bring your Kindle.  This place has LONG lines.  For a reason!  I believe I've once waited about 45 minutes for a a 2-scooper of roasted banana and toasted coconut ice cream.  Insane?  Probably about as insane as the amazing creaminess and flavor that will hit your tongue after the wait.  Afterwards, take your ice cream up the street to Dolores Park (if it'll last that long), and enjoy an amazing view of the city.

It's worth it if you're in the mood.  And personally, I'm always in the mood.  The best ice cream in SF I've had so far.

Whoa, where did this place come from?  50 Mason Social House is one of those places you won't notice unless you're looking ... most likely becuase you're bustling to get the hell out of the Ten...  at least I am.  But hey, step into this place if you see it, it's pretty cool.

Aesthetically, it kind of reminded me of an upscale Vegas lounge.  But unlike Vegas, it's laid back and completely unpretentious.  I'd describe the crowd as Mission-esque, at least on the night I went.  It's an awesome venue for bands & apparently there's an open mic/amateur comedy night on certain days.  There are very comfortable chairs and chaise lounges, with a small fireplace!  The bathrooms, I'm pleased to report, are clean.  

Great beer selection (mostly domestics) for $5.  Their happy hour is between 12AM-2AM -  $2 beer and $4 wines!  They also serve snack food which I wasn't able to sample.  And how's this for awesome:  their menus come with a little flashlight.  First time I've seen that and I was very impressed.

CASH ONLY, but there's an ATM inside.

My favorite part was how open & airy it all was.  Nice big windows make for good people (crackhead) watching.  It's nice to be able to enjoy a beer and observe the craziness of the Tenderloin from behind a pane of glass.  The spit won't hit you from there...

Delirium is alright.  The people are strange and the place is kind of dingy and gross, specifically the women's bathroom.  The women's bathroom makes me want to bathe head to toe in Purell.  Cheap beer, but if that mean's I'll need to pee in that filthy bathroom every 5 minutes, I'm good.

I'll most likely come here only if I'm already drunk, and have pre-urinated somewhere else.

It kind of pains me to rate a Vegas club 2 stars and I'm being a little generous here.  I did not have a good time at all.  Not because of the crowd, not because of the music or the ambiance or the price of the drinks.  All of that is negligible with enough pre-game liquor.  But no, to me, this place sucked all because of the STAIRS.

Yes, the STAIRS.

First of all, to even get to the club, you have to go up maybe 4 flights of escalators to make it to the club entrance.  Alright, no big deal.

Then, you'll have to wait in line.  If you're on the ladies' guestlist, it's maybe a 10-15 minute wait.  No problem.  

Finally get your ID checked and your wrist stamped, and then you're led into this stark white corridor featuring what looks like a torturous flight to heaven.  Yes, stairs, stairs, and stairs.  And more stairs.  These are fire escape stairs too, so imagine the clack, clack, clack.  After the 4th flight, I started to get a little belligerent in my 5" heels.  But we finally got there.

First floor.  Hip hop.  Douchey, sweaty people.

MORE STAIRS

Second floor.  House music. The elevators were blocked off by a burly man who wouldn't let anyone use it.  I'm surprised I didn't kick him in the nuts.  Oh yeah.  It's probably because my feet were aching from the treacherous hike in 5" heels.  Outdoor pool area was pretty cool.  Okay, it was pretty breathtaking.  But, still:

MORE STAIRS

Third floor.  Harry Potter-type library setting where the cocktail waitresses dressed like slutty library nerds.  It was quite awesome if you ask me.  This was worth upping this review by 1 star.

Time to exit the club.  Guess what?  

MORE STAIRS (?!)

We had to climb UP more stairs only to go DOWN the stairs to the exit.  Was I being punked here?

I realize that maybe the stair scenario isn't the case every night.  But as a lady who's used to being treated like royalty in this city - never again (okay, unless we can actually use the elevators). I did not go to Vegas to ride a Stairmaster...

Look up "one stop shop" and you'll find the Little Store!  Its namesake is quite the paradox as you can literally find everything you'll need here.  In a single shopping trip you can leave with a movie rental, a fishing license, bullets for a .22, a mountain dew, ice cream, picture frames, lottery tickets, freshly baked pizza, a 6-pack of Busch, a quart of oil, and those cool rubber band bracelets shaped like animals.

The staff is wonderful and friendly.  Little Store, big heart!

I really only want to talk about one thing:  dirty silverware.  Sorry but that's a dealbreaker.  Minus 2 stars.  A restaurant can have the most amazing food (this one didn't by the way, average) but once you spot grease and dried food remnants on the utensils you'll be placing in your mouth, your imagination sorta runs wild and all of a sudden you're ingesting loogies and homeless dander.  Okay, maybe it's just me.

Other things to note:  airy open space, with a patio and a magazine rack.  Seems to attract hipsters and studious college kids on the weekend.

Vegas seems to set the standard when it comes to lounges and this spot is no exception.  It's roomy enough to house a good time, yet small enough that you won't lose your friends.  The decor is totally posh and they have a small outdoor patio.  Well it's not a patio so much as an opening in the ceiling at one end of the club.

Champagne open bar for ladies!!!  On certain nights and for a few hours or so, but yes, getting totally buttcrack wasted for cheap (gotta tip the bartenders!) is certainly possible here.

Music is great - Hip Hop & Top 40.  HOWEVER, the DJ (at the time) did not take requests.  Hello, who could say no to a) this face and b) Britney Spears?????!!!!!

And just a little note for all the freaks out there - they won't allow you to give lap dances!  Like, the bouncer will literally pull you off of the lucky lapdance recipient and give you a look that'll make you feel like you got caught watching porn for the first time.  FOR REAL NOW?  I told one of the club promoters I'd give a 2-star Yelp for that, but in reality, I like this place and will probably return.

A hip, comfortable place to watch sports.  All within a Holiday Inn!  My coworkers & I decided to check this place out after a long hectic work day.  I wasn't expecting much, but was suprised at how posh it was.  Modern dark wood and cozy booths.  It boasted a pretty good crowd for a weeknight (the NBA finals were on).  

THE DRINKS
Thursdays here are known as "Thirsty Thursdays" and $5 will get you either a Margarita, a Mojito, or a Martini.  Totally worth it because the drinks are super stiff.  My friend ordered a martini and I could actually SMELL the liquor from across the table.  You can also order a PITCHER of Long Island Ice Tea.  I think it's only $2-4 more than a glass... which means trouble for some of us.

THE FOOD
Good-sized portions.  We sampled the:  Spinach dip (eh), fried mushrooms (really good but don't eat them too soon after arriving or they'll burn your tongue), Thai chicken wings (delicious), potato skins (average) and ...  the CHICKEN CHIPOTLE NACHOS.

Let me tell you.  Like one reviewer below, these nachos were off the hook DELICIOUS.  Crispy chips loaded with melted cheese, and all the toppings, ohhh ... my mouth is watering as I type.  I wasn't even hungry to begin with but was able to scarf down more than my fair share.  Sorry coworkers.

THE SERVICE
We were a group of 6 girls, half baseball/half basketball fans and the servers were AMAZING and accommodated all of our finicky requests such as:
- For some reason ALL of the 7-8 TVs were playing the NBA finals so the bartender flipped some to the Giants game at our request, (and at the displeasure of one very rude Heat fan.  Seriously you idiot, not even ONE TV?)
- They moved all us to a booth closer to the TV and made sure that we had views of both games.  They even provided more chairs as more coworkers decided to join us
-  They gave us good sized samples of the chicken tortilla soup (delicious!)
- Manager kept checking on us to see if we were okay :)

All in all a GREAT time!  Highly recommended.