John "Around Dublin" Z.'s Profile
DateSan Francisco, CA 94131
(415) 282-4328
Toast Eatery
Categories:
Diners,
Breakfast & Brunch
Neighborhood: Noe Valley
San Francisco, CA 94110
(415) 647-6448
Moonlight Cafe
Category:
Coffee & Tea
Neighborhood: Bernal Heights
Prices are reasonable at Moonlight and food quality good. Service is good enough and location is great. You won't be disappointed at Moonlight.
Lunchtime is also a treat at JJ Bakery as they offer more hearty fare to give you the sustenance to make it through the afternoon.
The prices, location, selection, and quality of ingredients make JJ Bakery a 4 star delight.
The oolong tea at Chang's is pretty darn good and they have a banquet room for parties.
I was also impressed that Chang's had pretty good wine - Gnarly Head. This is usually a $10 bottle of wine in the stores and they have a nice Chard although most folks prefer their Zin.
Seating is plentiful at Chang's and they have a nice mix of 2, 4, and 8 seat tables to choose from. Go for the booths to get the pleasant window views.
Parking at the plaza is sort of tough so go early if possible.
1 Previous Review:
-
5/11/2011
It is such a relief to finally have an upscale dining option in east Dublin with Cellar 9 at Grafton Station. Folks that frequent Coco Cabana for happy hour, will love to visit Cellar 9 for a special afternoon or evening out. Walking in through Cellar 9's entrance, I was impressed with Cellar 9's elegant, stately, and warm decor. The main dining room area reminded me of the fireside/lounge area at the Ruby Hill Golf Club in Pleasanton/Livermore .
The food at Cellar 9 is distinctive, delicious, and comfortably familiar at a very reasonable price point of about $30/person (without beverages). Cellar 9 starts things off right with warm fresh-out-of-the-ove n french bread and butter. I would have preferred to have the butter slightly warmer, but it warmed quickly enough while resting on the slices of bread. Our Margherita flatbread was excellent and our waiter thoughtfully split the dish into two separately served plates without even having to be asked.
The baby back ribs were very meaty and prepared with a savory rub. These aren't the standard issue baby backs that you can find at Costco or Armadillo Willy's. Cellar 9's chef offers a unique orange sauce that is served in a minimalistic saucer to accompany the ribs. I wasn't thrilled by the orange sauce but was pleased to hear from Cellar 9's owner that they would be offering a BBQ sauce in the near future. The baby back ribs are paired up with deliciously savory sweet potato fries.
In addition to the glorious decor and memorable food, Cellar 9 treats their mostly well-dressed guests with fantastically attentive service. The choice of music is very appropriate - a mix of contemporary and chill artists such as Jason Mraz, Jack Johnson, and John Mayer.
Fans of Cellar 9 will be thrilled to know that owners Doug and Rose plan to open their outdoor patio seating by the Grafton Station water feature in July 2011.
Sunnyvale, CA 94087
(877) 534-1133
Toyota Sunnyvale
Categories:
Auto Repair,
Car Dealers
The wait times are ridiculous. I make an appointment for a basic 5,000 mile service and it takes them over two hours? I priced services around with other dealers and now Sunnyvale is just as egregious as all of the others in the Bay Area.
I could live with all of those issues if I could trust Sunnyvale Toyota's service department. However, a recent issue has me questioning all the services that they've offered over the years. After bringing my car in for a basic service and waiting for about an hour and a half before they even started working on the service, the Sunnyvale Toyota service associate calls me on my cell and tells me that my brake pads are worn down with only 2 mm of pad left. That seemed odd to me since I don't have a lot of mileage on my car, but I at first put my doubt aside and trusted them.
After about twenty minutes of thinking on it and considering the $350 or so that they quoted me to complete the brake pad replacement job, I tracked down the service associate to see if I could take a look at the pads before they were replaced. So she brings me to the technician and he goes through a big song and dance about how he can't really show them to me but that he's quite certain that there is only 2 mm left on the pads and that I need to have them replaced immediately. Okay I said...I'll trust them. Big mistake. After getting my car back and my pads, I take them over to my brother to have a look see...Turns out that they had at least another 15,000 miles on them with at least 10 times as much pad left as Sunnyvale Toyota had led me to believe.
I understand that business is probably tough these days and folks are delaying service in the tough economy. But Sunnyvale Toyota can't expect to keep customers coming back if they are going to gouge them just like other crooked dealership service departments.
Another concern for Sunnyvale Toyota is that their employees seem overworked with low morale. Something tells me that management has changed or the owners are looking to milk as much as they can out of their employees - thus leading to low morale, poor service, unethical behaviors, and tarnished branding. Show owner comment »
1 Previous Review:
-
6/6/2009
I can't believe that Toyota Sunnyvale only has a 3-star average. This is by far the best Toyota dealership in the South and East Bay in terms of service, price, customer experience, and trust. I bought my Corolla at Toyota Sunnyvale and they were able to beat the price for the same car by at least $2K in comparison to other dealerships - that's about a 12% discount. Not only did I save $2K, I was also able to get a 1.9% APR for 3 years.
One of the best aspects of the purchase process was that they used the soft sell for the car purchase and then all the options. They never used the usual car dealer "let me talk to my manager and then come back to you in an hour while I drink coffee" tactics. They were confident enough in their prices and product that they didn't feel the need to push for sales.
The post-purchase process has been exemplary, as well. Even though I live a good 45 minutes or so away from Toyota Sunnyvale, it's worth visiting to have my car serviced (or the oil changed) every 5,000 miles. Their services prices are about 33%-50% less than other dealerships in the Bay Area and I trust that they are actually doing the work that they say that they do. In one instance, there was an unusually long wait to get my car checked in for a service. The service manager could see that I was frustrated and offered to give me a $30 discount on my service fee. Just like that.
I wish that I could support the Toyota dealership near my home, but they just can't compete with Toyota Sunnyvale.
Berkeley, CA 94704
(510) 486-0449
Razan's
Categories:
Sandwiches,
Middle Eastern,
Vegetarian
Neighborhoods: UC Campus Area, Downtown Berkeley
Here are the constructive parts. The chicken burrito is flavorless. The salsa almost imperceptible in the burritos. Either the cook and the order taker don't know what they are doing or they just don't care. We asked to have no sour cream on my chicken burrito and sure enough I had sour cream. My partner asked to have no cheese on his wrap and guess what? He had cheese on his wrap. He had to disembowel the burrito to remove the cheese just so he could finish eating it.
Most folks probably wouldn't care about that sort of thing, so I can see what Razan would have a pretty high rating. However, I don't know if I'll be back.
I loved the decor and warm feeling inside the restaurant. Perfect for a chilly late fall day in Fairfax.
The only downsides to Barefoot are that the service is average at best, prices a tad high, and it can get a little bit crowded in the small space. We ordered our meals at the tail end of breakfast thinking that we'd be able to get service since everybody was wrapping up their meals. Not so. The chef must have decided to take a break and not have anybody cover for him because it took half an hour to get our food. The most frustrating part was the the folks sitting next to us arrived about twenty minutes after us and they received their food immediately after we did. Huh?
That was bad enough...but then the server didn't even acknowledge or apologize for the delay. C'mon, a simple apology would have made me feel a whole lot better after receiving that type of service from the chef.
While the food was good - I'll give them their props for that - I won't be back after this experience. Shouldn't the customer be treated with respect?
We had the deep dish pizza for our visit. The crust was pretty good, it reminded me of the crust at Pizza Hut. The toppings a little bit scant for the price. The cheese was decent quality and the sauce was too light. We also asked for the whole wheat crust and received the regular...not cool.
The iced tea was just so so. I really couldn't taste it...no tannins at all to give it the punch I was hoping for. BJ's could learn something from Chipotle in how to make iced tea.
While the minestrone was just okay, BJ's gets points for effort by offering to put it in the sourdough bread bowl and by making the top of the bowl garlic bread.
Much like the Americana interpretation for all of their dishes, BJ's interior decor has a very Americana sensibility. The artwork and somewhat rustic design elements make me think of America's heartland. Maybe it has something to do with the farm murals on the outside and inside of the building.
The Brentwood BJ's, which is an example of their latest model. is split into three areas - the bar, traditional booths, and the more open social area for larger groups. Each section has three completely ceiling designs - the bar has a modern mesh look, the booths a basket weave, and the more open area's ceiling is a Nordic looking upside down boat look like something from Denmark. The ceilings are framed in high quality cherrywood crown molding.
The music and overall ambiance inside the BJ's at Brentwood is very upbeat, friendly, and somewhat eclectic - again, something for nearly everybody. The restaurant is very clean and well taken care of...which it should be after being open less than two months.
If I go back to the Brentwood BJ's and order something else, I might be able to give it a 4 star rating...but at this point, with an average pizza and so-so iced tea, I can only give it a solid 3 star rating.
The Breakfast Pizzas at Vito's are made with no sauce and an egg base to add a high protein creaminess to the experience. The veggies are fresh and flavorful and cheese seemed to be a really high quality.
The service at Vito's is very friendly and attentive. I loved the distinctive decor and eye-catching Vespas. I didn't have a chance to try out the bar experience tonight, but possibly another evening.
The prices at Vito's are very reasonable considering the East Dublin location and quality of ingredients in the pizza.
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Dublin, CA
Yelping SinceJanuary 2008
Things I Love Find Me InDublin's Blush Froyo Shop or Peet's Coffee
My HometownDublin, CA
My Blog Or Website When I'm Not Yelping...I'm working or blogging on Around Dublin
Why You Should Read My ReviewsI keep it real
My Second Favorite Website The Last Great Book I ReadThe Fountainhead
My First ConcertLynyrd Skynyrd and Tesla
My Favorite MovieRocky
My Last Meal On EarthLanna Thai Livermore's Thai Taco
Don't Tell Anyone Else But...I like country music
Most Recent DiscoveryKindle Fire is Amazing
Current CrushDrake
I had a chef salad and it was pretty good. Nothing too special, but it definitely hit the spot without leaving a dent in my wallet.