Katie P.'s Profile

Yet ANOTHER update...but this one is really important!  The word is that they now do have Diet Coke and Dr. Pepper in the fountain!  On tap?  How does one say that correctly?  Anyway, YAY.  It is a big deal.

I've been here several times and I never really knew what to order until I finally listened to a friend whose standby is the black bean burger.  I don't think I've ever eaten a veggie burger in my life, so it wasn't something I was drawn to.  But I've been branching out lately with tofu and other meat substitutes, so I thought, why not?  And wow.  It is GOOD.  SO good.  It's got a real tex-mex flavor to it that I wasn't expecting.  I got mine with all the stuff it normally comes with (sprouts, spinach, carrots, cucumbers--minus the tomatoes) and it was excellent.

Also, their fruit cup is very substantial.  It is probably a cup and a half of fruit, and it includes bananas, strawberries, honeydew, cantaloupe, grapes, oranges I think...that might be it.

I've also had their chicken and rice soup before when it was a soup of the day.  It was great.  I've never been totally thrilled about anything else I've ordered there, but I'll admit that everything else I've ordered there has been pretty boring, like plain turkey on wheat or something.  They have several chicken salad options, including a curry chicken salad, that all look great.

Drawbacks: no fountain drinks, and it can get pretty cramped in there.

I think this is the perfect Zumba class to attend if you're not a member of a gym.  Since it's at a church and not a gym, Kim realizes that her students don't necessarily do workouts other than Zumba, and they probably don't do weights or strength training.  So we do it all.  Typically a class is about 40 minutes of actual Zumba, then squats (she LOVES squats), arms (with 1-3lb weights), abs (including plank), and stretching.  I love that because while I do cardio several other times per week, I can NOT make myself do strength training on my own, so I absolutely need those squats/abs/arms, even if the squats make me die inside a little bit.

It's $5 per class and worth every penny.  It's really fun and fast-paced, but there's a lot of repetition so you have plenty of chances to catch up if you don't figure the moves out at first.

Kim is SUPER nice, and the class is totally un-intimidating.  I have avoided cardio classes in the past because I tend to have problems with exercise authority, but I don't know, something about her is just so unassuming and you just can't get mad at her.  She pushes you without making you feel worthless if you can't do it, and has a great sense of humor.

Class is Monday and Thursday from 6:15-7:15 at Shady Grove Presbyterian Church (you don't have to be a member--I'm not).  You'll need water of course, a mat, and 1-3 lb weights.  She does usually have mats and weights to borrow but there's not always enough to go around.  Class size has varied from 4 people to about 20 people since I've been going.  

She also has a Saturday morning class that is apparently an hour and a half.  It's located at Cornerstone Church in Bartlett.  I would absolutely go to it, but I'm not free on Saturday mornings.

Donna with RAOT is an extremely dedicated trainer who has the best prices in town.  For a 6 week class, it's $80.  And she gives all kinds of discounts, say if your dog is a rescue, or you're fostering it, or you've put another one of your dogs through her class. Her classes are held at Hollywood Feed on Broad at 10:00am and 11:30am.  You do have to pregister though.  She takes PayPal, which I love!

You ever have one of those math teachers who is so good at math they can't possibly explain it to you because they don't understand why you don't understand?  That is the only thing to be aware of with Donna.  Her understanding of dogs is so deeply ingrained in her, it seems like sometimes she doesn't understand when we human students don't get it right off, so it's possible you may feel chastised from time to time.  Don't take it personally.  The important thing is that your dog will NOT feel chastised.  All of Donna's training methods are positive, and the dogs in class usually really enjoy themselves.  She gives reading for you to do at home, and checks that you do it, and she has a "no excuses" attitude, which I like.  She emphasizes that most behavior problems dogs have are most likely because of the owner, not because the dog is stupid or stubborn.  I think her approach to training is perfect because you can't just take your dog to six classes and it will be trained.  You have to work with him or her continuously.  Donna helps people arrive at that realistic realization, and I think that is a huge step toward preventing owners from surrendering their dogs.

This is our neighborhood vet...we could walk there if it weren't hot and I weren't lazy.  So it was an obvious choice, but I wouldn't go there if A) their prices weren't great and B) the service wasn't great.  Their prices seem to be a lot lower than McGehee, which is also sort of nearby, and everyone there is just great and treats you like family.  When I took my dog in (different dog from Pope Animal Clinic review) for the first time, I had to fill out some paperwork, and one of the girls at the counter brought my dog back behind the counter with her and played with her while I was doing that so I didn't have to keep tugging on her and could focus on getting the paperwork done.  I thought that was awesome.  I've seen two different vets, and I really liked both of them.  I called the other day with a question about her prescription, and I got a call back very promptly.

The people at Pope Animal Clinic (also apparently known as Pet's Choice) are the salt of the earth.  I have a reactive dog who has a real fear of strangers that translates to his usually being very rude to them in an attempt to get them to go away and quit scaring him.  Yet they showed exceptional patience and understanding of his situation.  

Now, Dr. Shaw.  Absolutely wonderful.  Nicest man on earth.  Don't argue.  We came in to see about my dog being put on thyroid meds and when he came in to see us, he had printed out two articles for me on the subject.  He gave me his email address, which I have never had any vet do and I think that's amazing.  He didn't walk away until my dog stopped barking at him, which is CRUCIAL with a fear aggressive dog.  Although he must be very busy on a Saturday, he took those extra moments to make sure he didn't reinforce any undesirable behavior.  He was extremely knowledgeable.  He had someone call me yesterday to see how the dog was doing on the meds, and I told her the results I was seeing thus far might not be good, and he personally called me back today to find out more about it, and asked me to keep him posted via his email address.  He's just so much more than I've come to expect from a vet.

He is not our regular vet because it's about 20 minutes from our house, and we have a great vet nearby who I also really like, Eastgate Animal Clinic.  But if you don't have a known reputable place nearby or if you live anywhere close to Pope, go there and ask for Dr. Shaw.

Also, the staff is great on the phone.  They take the time to answer ALL of my questions and don't try to rush me off the phone.  Just awesome all around.

Let me tell you how good their panini vegeteriano is.  When I found out my husband ate the half I had leftover, I got so mad I had to A) punch the couch cushions repeatedly and B) go find a pillow and scream into it.  I am still hoarse.  I wish I was making this up.  My dogs were VERY alarmed and that made me laugh, a lot. So I got over it pretty quickly, but I mean, I was MAD.

Also, I just ordered one yesterday, and I've already decided I'm getting a to-go order today and ordering the same thing.

Also, not sure if I'll ever order anything else.  Everything else is good (especially the Italian panini, but alas, the saturated fat), but any sandwich that's good enough to make me briefly consider keying my husband's car obviously has me hooked.

Also, vegetables!  They are good for you! And I don't eat nearly enough of them.  It has spinach, artichokes, red peppers, and hummus, and provolone.  And it comes with sun-dried tomatoes, but I leave those off.

My four stars don't really represent my feelings about dining at Cafe Toscana...it's more of a mix of an apathetic 2.5 stars for the food (that fancy Italian food strikes again--but it strikes me as the kind of local place foodies would love...my stepmom did and she's a bit of a gourmand) and an ecstatic 5 stars for the shot glass desserts.  SO GOOD.  I think the one I am remembering was either like a mocha or a tiramisu...?  We had several.  

They are the perfect size, because you just want a little taste of something sweet, right?  You'd rather not go from pleasantly full to miserable and vomity for the sake of dessert, right?  But I mean, once you order dessert, and it's there, you have to eat it.  It's there!  Dessert shots: perfect solution.  Love it!  They are TURRIBLE at Chili's, ok at Carrabba's, and AMAZING at Cafe Toscana.

I've only been here once.  I was a little turned off when we walked into a COMPLETELY EMPTY restaurant and the hostess acted put out when she asked if we had reservations and we said we didn't.  I mean, it was empty, and her attitude was all like, "Sigh, let me see what I can do...maybe I can move this around, hmm..."  Really?  But then, I've never worked in a restaurant, so maybe I don't know what I'm talking about.

God.  I PROMISE I try to write short reviews.  It just never works out.

Hmm...This is another one of those Italian places with food a little fancier than I prefer (I prefer more of a Pete & Sam's or Bruno's approach)...however, like most other comparable places, the apps, salads, and desserts suit me fine.

Went with a party of five for Father's Day lunch.  I called ahead and we were seated after about a ten minute wait...not bad.  It's one of those places where instead of bringing you a box, they take your plate to box up your food FOR you.  So you know service is going to be a step above what you'd get at a Huey's or Memphis Pizza Cafe...I've never experienced anything but great service at Carrabba's.

Several people I was with ordered the shrimp scampi, and RAVED about it.  Like, wouldn't shut up about it.  And I don't care, because I don't like shrimp, but I assume you care, which is why I'm telling you.

The dessert shots were not as good this time around as I remember them being...but still, I love that idea.  They are much better executed at Cafe Toscana though (across the parking lot from Whole Foods near Poplar/Mendenhall).

I am a huge fan of brinner (breakfast for dinner) and have wanted to try Republic Coffee for a while so when a low-key dinner opportunity presented itself, friends and I ended up here.  

There was some live acoustic music the night we were there (got there around 7:30pm), and that can be nice, but it seemed extra loud.  There were moments where I had to yell for my friends to hear and moments where the loudness was jarring.

But anyway back to brinner.  I ordered the Nashville, which was a waffle served with bacon, eggs, and cheese grits.  It was ok.  The bacon was very burnt.  My friend ordered the Vegas, which I think is a bagel which cream cheese plus the bacon, eggs, and cheese grits.  She said her bacon was cooked perfectly.  No fair.  She loved the eggs; I didn't eat more than one bite of them.  They were really peppery and I'm just not a huge pepper fan.  We agreed that the cheese grits were good but not spectacular.  The cheese was just on top of the grits, and we'd hoped for grits with cheese all up in 'em.

Another note: no fountain cokes.  Sigh.  I settled for iced tea (unsweet only) and it was fine.  A friend tried to order a frappe, but they were out of the powder/mix stuff, so our server recommended the same thing just on the rocks instead of frozen, so that was nice.  

They have a HUGE coffee menu at the table, which I like a lot.  I was tempted but ultimately resisted since they were out of frappe mix and since I already had something sweet with my waffles.  Next time I'll try the mac n' cheese, which our server recommended, and maybe the che che, which is a bacon-egg-cheese croissant.  I did like the atmosphere and the originality enough to go back.  Also they have a special brunch menu on Saturdays and Sundays until noon or 1, I think.