Mary "Robotron Hero" M.'s Profile

Good food made by some great people. Yes it's a small business so they might be out of some things some times. But I appreciate that they cook food to order and there is less waste that way.

The service is excellent and I really liked my shwarma with hummous and baba ganoush. The only thing I didn't like was the pita because it wasn't heated up so it tasted kind of raw.

The are set up for off site catering so with some advance notice you could feed an army with their food.

Nice dining room? Check
Extensive menu? Check
Lunch specials under $10? Check
Your choice of meats and seafood and tofu? Check
Gracious service? Check

The fact that they found my purse and didn't take any cash, ID, passport, checks, work badge out of it? BONUS. And no I don't usually carry all that stuff, it was a special day so leave my purse alone ya heard yelpers?!

The food was good but based on that last thing alone they won my loyalty for life.

Someone brought bagels in from this Goldstein's. I gotta say that I have never had a bagel that good. Ever. And it was just the plain kind!

The cream cheese was the "whipped" kind though. Meh on that.

Choosing a dentist is tough. You have to choose carefully. After all, you only get one set of teeth and gums for you whole life. If you choose the wrong dentist you might not get the best care. The thing is, how do you know if you found the right one?

I have moved 21 times since 1992 (yes really) and therefore have had the experience of getting to know many dentists. Let me share the things you should be looking for as a patient:

1) There should be multiple ways to contact the dentist. Either phone, after hours phone, fax, e-mail, pager, whatever. There should be more than one way to get in touch. This is important if you have a dental emergency.

2) Setting an appointment should be straightforward and informative. You should be able to find out whether they work with your insurance, how much the exams should cost, what kind of exams are included, what are potential additional costs, accepted methods of payment, how long it will take, etc. And don't be like me - when you get this information WRITE IT DOWN so you remember. I'm bad about that.

3) When you visit the office it should be organized and clean. In my opinion there should be computers involved in addition to the paper charts and paper accounting.

4) Your initial exam should be thorough so that subsequent visits can set up a history so any change will be noted as an improvement or decline. Without good x-rays, visual exams, and DETAILED NOTES, there is no way for you or your dentist to know if your home care routine is working. The staff should be able to counsel you on how to improve if there is any need for improving your home care routine.

5) You should feel comfortable enough in the office to want to come back, even if it is the dentist's office.

6) Everyone you come in contact with including the Dr, the hygienist, the assistants, records/billing, reception, etc should be able to tell you what is going on, what they are doing. That includes telling you if and WHY you need any work done like fillings, cosmetic, restorative, or whatever. You should be able to understand the evidence of why you need the treatments, how much it costs, and a reasonable estimate of how long it will take.

7) Ultimately that dentist has gotta have some skills. That is something you often won't really know until you sit in the chair and open up. Even for something as small as a filling it matters a lot, because if they don't do a good job it could fall out or there could be decay trapped in there. For cosmetic work it should look good - no Jim Carrey chicklet teeth please. There should be a book or a web page with photos showing before/after. Often there is someone working at the practice that has had a similar procedure from your dentist. That person will always happily and (hopefully) proudly show you their teeth.

So after my detailed 7 point inspection, I can tell you that the office of Dr Shimasaki and Dr Chu is a great one and I highly recommend it.

The staff at the office of Dr Shimasaki and Dr Chu have bent over backward to make me feel welcome and comfortable and I really appreciate that. If you still can't decide after reading my review - I don't know what to tell you other than good luck.

This place is as awesome as everyone says. More sodas than you've ever heard of, same goes for the candies. AND they have all kinda cool yet geeky schwag all over the place.

Guys? You can get a pair of Bawls here.

First, a rebuttal to the review that said they don't sell epazote or peperoncini:

Yes in fact they do sell epazote in 1/4 cup jars all the way up to 8 oz bags of it. Peperoncini in dried form is very much something you'd have to source at a specialty Italian store, at least in the US. Peperoncino is the Italian word for chili pepper. And dried chili peppers are something that Penzey's sells in great quantities.

Here's the deal. The prices and quality are much better than Albertson's or Von's and certainly better than Whole Foods and Gelman's. The prices might be higher than the Mexican or Indian market, but you will notice that nothing is old at Penzey's. You won't see brown chili peppers or crappy worn plastic bags of star anise or annatto like you find on the shelves of those stores.

Penzey's is based in milk bread, cheese makin', Milwaukee's best drinkin' Wisconsin. Their target demographic is suburban white people. Like me =D  In the past 18 months or so, Penzey's has really expanded to more urban markets, but they still try to locate themselves where they will find their demographic. I am not sure if this will work out well in coastal cities. Indeed, Penzey's may have to evolve and begin to carry more exotic products. But until then, if you are really concerned, you can look online to see if they carry what you need, or you can CALL THEM and they will tell you if they have it. Then you don't make a big trip for nothing.

This store is very much like any of the other Penzey's I have visited, including Minneapolis, St Paul (yes they are really separate cities), and Palo Alto. The setup is cute and kind of Northwoods Cabin Retro.

One star off for the new 1/4 cup jars. The glass ones look nicer but don't stack as well as the old plastic jars and I assume they cost a lot more.

A tip - if they don't have hot choc mix in the size you want: buy dutch processed cocoa, some vanilla, and either some cinnamon, nutmeg, or cardamon to add. When you get home just put milk on the stove with some cocoa and sugar. Whisk it over medium low heat and you will have great cocoa in a few minutes. Add a couple of drops of vanilla when you take the pan off the heat.

It is amazing how Herberger's has evolved in the past decades from a frumpy sad cousin of a department store to one that can compete with the big dogs.

With as many choices as a small Macys, with the lighting and store organization of the Dayton's (think Maplewood, not Minneapolis) past, you will find yourself feeling like there must be something here that you want.

The store has a few cosmetics counters that are staffed with well trained people. The jewelry counter has excellent service (not a ring a bell for service kind of set up). They have a good selection of housewares, kids clothes, mens wear, shoes, etc. I think that if you took your time to get to know this store, you could avoid mall shopping for a long time.

Kudos for them always having a sale, a coupon, a deal, and a discount. This is the kind of store where the cashier will help you find the way to get the best price on your finds. If you bring two coupons they will ring the price with both to see what is the better deal. If you only picked two and the third one is free they make sure to tell you.

One star off for a parking lot that gets so packed people park on the dangerous frontage road / highway intersection.

Chef's Gallery has so much going for it. If you are at all interested in cooking or baking or entertaining with food or beverages you need to shop here at least once.

The store carries an enormous number of quality brands at every price level. You can get an $11 Lodge cast iron pan and you can get a $279 All Clad Stainless lidded pot. Knives of all shape, size, and material can be purchased here. Specialty bakeware. Beautiful table linens. Cookbooks. Jars and tins of all things tasty. Cute little butter spreaders.

A wonderful thing is they staff the store with people who know their way around a home and a professional kitchen. The service is top notch.

Hagbergs is a small grocer with an amazing butcher counter. And for you hunters, they will process your kill. It's so funny to type that after having lived in California for long enough that I feel compelled to look around to make sure no vegans are listening or watching me type...

Anyway the people who run this place are very nice. The quality is excellent. If you live anywhere in the area, you eat meat, and you haven't shopped here: go check this place out sometime soon.

Oh River Oasis. This place has been in business for years and it is indeed a locals joint. Be assured they are happy to serve "outsiders" too.

The food is solid. Nothing amazing, I mean it's a hash and eggs cafe you know? But it's very consistent. If you are a soup person you should come in because they do good things with a big pot and a flame.

Don't be intimidated by the truck stop appearance on the outside. The service is very good, warm and friendly.

If you are feeling adventurous after your food, walk up the steps for an amazing view of the river. If you are driving don't look for them, let your passenger keep her/his eyes open for the steps that go up the hill. Climb those and you will have earned at least a few bites worth of calories.