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Rick E.'s Profile

Photo of Rick E.

Photo of Rick E.
Photo of Rick E.

"Finally, a Davis Defector"

Elite 2008

profile votes icon Review votes:
211 Useful, 188 Funny, and 184 Cool

Compliments You're Funny (6) Thank You (8) Good Writer (10) Just a Note (6) Hot Stuff (7) You're Cool (11) Write More (3)
Location

Sacramento, CA

Yelping Since

September 2007

Find Me In

North City Farms

My Hometown

Bridgeport, CA

My Blog Or Website

http://artforspastics....

When I'm Not Yelping...

Info. for public affairs, weirdpunk record collecting, freeform radio DJing

Why You Should Read My Reviews

I patented my own Q.Q. quotient (quality and quantity).

My Second Favorite Website

http://www.terminal-bo...

The Last Great Book I Read

City of Quartz

My First Concert

Savage Republic

My Favorite Movie

After Hours

My Last Meal On Earth

my mom's sopita

Current Crush

1969 Toyota Corona

Recent Reviews

131 Reviews

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603 N McLean Blvd
Memphis, TN 38107
(901) 725-1718

Cafe Eclectic  

Categories: Breakfast & Brunch, American (New), American (Traditional)

4 star rating
 9/29/2009  
If it were just another place in an average West Coast city, Café Eclectic would be adding to the glut of "New American Bistro"-type places, but apparently, a panini sandwich is still kinda exotic in Memphis.

This place surely satisfied an important need while we visited on vacation. I was hellbent on enjoying some of the more sinful local specialties such as fried chicken, fried catfish, and BBQ, but I knew I couldn't possibly eat like that for every meal. Plus, traveling with my vegetarian girlfriend meant that I'd hafta search for the rare veggie-friendly oasis in Memphis. This place also cited their meat sources by ranch name, so locavores will appreciate that as well.

People thought this was:

  • Useful (1)
2101 16th Street
Sacramento, CA 95818
(916) 441-2009

La Garnacha  

Category: Mexican

2 star rating
 Update - 9/18/2009  
Complete this analogy....

Beer Goggles are to Eyes as ________ is to Taste Buds.

I dare all the people who've given this place 4-star and 5-star reviews to try n' choke this food down sober.

I regretfully got railroaded into eating here again late one night, and it was more disgusting than ever. My burrito filling melded into a morass with a texture not unlike renuked leftover potatoes au gratin originally from the freezer aisle. And it was about as bland, too!

Still, it was a total trip just witnessing the waster action. On one side of the patio, there was a shoving match that almost got really scary, and on the other side, complete strangers started making out.

And once again, there was a war between two cars bumping music extremely loudly with the windows down. I can't remember when was the last time I heard MC Shy D's "Gotta Be Tough"! That song is such a paradox.....a rapper that sounds like he could hardly squish an ant trying to talk tough?!?! Of course, those Earth Wind & Fire samples were as smooth as silk. That production still holds up after all these years.

Next time, please bump some Gucci Crew!

2 Previous Reviews: Hide »

  • 2 star rating
    9/2/2009

    I'm upgrading La Garnacha one star this time because it is truly a spectacle any night after the bars close. Also, they got wise and added a bean burrito to the menu. When I first tried La Garnacha when it was brand-new, they had no beans....not even beans on the side. It was more perplexing than a burger place that strictly bans french fries. The food is still awful, but now there's something besides a cheese quesadilla for your vegetarian friends to order.

    Truly, the only reason that this place thrives is because it's 24 hours and centrally located. I suppose that they don't hafta cater to connoisseurs...not when most of the clientele is staggering up to the window off-the-rails drunk. Something hilarious and/or pathetic always happens there if you hang out after the bars close!

    What is the Pakistani equivalent to "Guidos"? There's probably some kinda slang for that. Maybe it's better that I don't actually know. But a blingy Escalade fulla these guys cruised up one night while I was waiting forever for my order of nachos to arrive. The dudes each exited the vehicle one-by-one almost like it was choreographed as a scene in "Night at the Roxbury" or sumthin.

    The first three looked ridiculous in their ultra-gelled hair and popped collars (one dude had two popped collars!), but they were all handsome on some objective standard that even the most homophobic man can recognize. The fourth and final guy, though...what an unfortunate guy! He looked like that bulbous yellow fellow from the old Saturday morning cartoon PSA called "Don't Drown Your Food!" with a body like an apple with two toothpicks for legs. He was so drunk that he could only ooze outta the vehicle, and after a deep knee bend and dry heave, he slowly stood up and began to waddle blindly behind his friends, almost tripping over the curb. His eyes were swimming, and he had the most severe case of bitter beer face I'd seen in a while. He attempted to light a cigarette, but couldn't succeed in making a flame or even holding a cigarette steady in his mouth, so his buddies helped, and to steady the cigarette, he choked up on it so that half of it was inside his mouth!

    With the worst of commercialized hip hop blaring from their ride with the windows down, the debonair three made the rounds at tables trying to kick it to all the ladies who had come from various parties, including women who were obviously partnered with boyfriends or girlfriends and teenaged indie rocker gals who were trying to disappear into their chairs. Their teenage indie rocker boy tagalong could do nothing to wedge into the conversation 'cos Dude No. 1's game was more relentless than the cloud of Axe body spray that was nebulizing throughout the patio.

    Just then, the wretched bitter-beer-face dude upped his game by retrieving a basketball from the back of the Escalade. He attempted to put on a ballhandling exhibition under the patio while threatening to choke on his cigarette--the whole butt-end half still deep in his mouth--which degenerated into the most inept game of patty-cake. Finally, his friends were like "WHOA! WHOA! WHOA! WHOA!" and tried to calm him down. The dude looked really peaked, so they put him into the backseat and told him to rest. That's when things got contentious. He kept getting out to pace and wander, so eventually, his buddies let him be while they tried to compensate for leaving whatever club they were at empty-handed in the hoochie department.

    Before long, I had my nachos, and I ate what I could before submitting to the grossness. Seriously, awful!!! But by the time we left, there were two more cars blasting music with the windows down, and it turned into a battle of the car stereos at 2:30 on a Wednesday night with JJ Fad's "Supersonic" being the only discernible song.

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  • 1 star rating
    9/10/2008 First to Review

    This is a walk-up/drive-up stand at the corner of 16th & U, the former home of Angel's Fresh Mex. I never ate at Angel's because of bad memories of some crappy eats here about 15 years ago (can't remember what it was called back then, but it was miserable). A couple weeks ago, I got the itch to ride my bike over there and give it an honest chance. Alas, the building was vacant, and a FOR SALE sign was in the window. Now, imagine my surprise when just a few days later, I saw this place all lit up after midnight on a weekend!!

    A taqueria on the grid open really late??? How can this be a bad thing?

    So I luncheoned there today with high hopes....QUASHED! My pork burrito was slightly sub-mediocre. My buddy gave his chicken burrito an "F" grade. The burritos were just meat on one side, and a cold squishy side of pico de gallo, sour cream, and guacamole...pretty cold to the touch because it is so segregated from the warm meat. No exotic meat choices...just beef, chicken, or pork. I got the pork hoping that it would be marinated or sumthin....NOPE! Just semi-dry diced chunks. No beans, no rice. I know there's some folks that prefer a burrito with meat only, but I know that this burrito would've benefited from beans and rice. Hell, even lettuce woulda been welcome!

    Because there's no beans and rice, there are no vegetarian options for burritophiles.

    Should we go back to try tacos instead? Not for the prices we saw on the menu!

    The menu features two types of tacos, "Crispy" and "Soft". Crispy tacos are $2.25-2.50 depending on meat choice. Soft tacos are $3.50-3.75!!! The only difference according to the menu is "with melted cheese". How can it be $1.25 worth of melted cheese? These are some awfully expensive tacos!

    There's a thing called a "tlacoyo" on the menu for about $4-5. That's a pretty intriguing name, but it's actually just a sope-type thing. A couple of salads are on the menu, too, but they have meat also. Looks like my veggie friends will hafta get a plain cheese quesadilla or meatless tlacoyo.

    The service was friendly, but super-nervous and scattery. I paid with a $20 bill, and the counter help told me "I'll bring your change out in a second." Then he helped the next customers and gave them change for their $20. When he came out a few minutes later, he gave me my change with the 80 cents all in nickels. Then he jumbled up our orders in a weird triangle trade that took a few minutes to resolve. He was really trying, though...I can appreciate that!

    I probably should give it two stars for the central location and the fact that it's open 24 hours, but...

7431 Madison Avenue
Citrus Heights, CA 95611
(916) 967-5464

The Fire Escape Bar & Grill  

Categories: Nightlife, Restaurants

4 star rating
 9/16/2009  
I've known about shows at the Fire Escape, but avoided coming for quite some time. Honestly, I had expected the worst aspects of the Boardwalk in Orangevale (where dreadful screamo and other teen fodder predominates and the staff herds patrons like cattle) to meet the hokey fake-nightclub-feel of a TGI Fridays. Certainly, Jody B's unfair wrong-night/wrong-show scathe didn't help my attitude going into it either. But, y'know what....this place is definitely one of the best legit all-ages venues I've been to anywhere. For one, the sound is damn near impeccable!

I'd definitely not hesitate to see another good bill there. I really feel like a dummy for letting my own perceptions of suburban stripmalls prevent me from coming out sooner. Sure...it is kind of a long haul from the binary DIY music epicenters of the Sacto grid and Davis, but for a band I really like, it's totally worth it.

Last night I saw the Paul Collins' Beat play there, and it was definitely worth the money...and the drive time! There's some cheesy memorabilia on the wall, but it was easy to forget about once the music got going. Also, the door price includes a free drink. My guests were really stoked on that. Me? I just got a coke. I was driving.

Yeah...of any old guy still playing his old songs from 30 years ago, I'd say Paul Collins nailed it about as well as anyone I've seen this side of Fred Cole from Dead Moon. He was an excellent showman, very likable and funny personality, the songs were all pretty spot on. His band was definitely an asset. Total ringer on lead guitar. I could see some cougary claws comin' out for that guitarist when Paul invited some ladies onto the stage to dance. Even as cheesy a move as that usually is, it was all in good fun. There were a few fans Paul's age boppin' around and singing everyone song. One guy was dressed like he'd just come straight from a round of golf, and he was the most animated guy. It was just kinda hard not to enjoy watching it. For once, I was at a show where all that mattered was the fun of the music and not what people were wearing!

There was one song which Paul introduced as from his new album. It was the only iffy song. But it was bearable. Everything else just ruled pretty much. I felt like my $10 was well spent even though the first band was semi-blah and the final band--Pansy Division--was a good reason to leave early.
12th Ave and SE Hawthorne
Portland, OR 97214

El Brasero Mexican Cart  

Categories: Mexican, Food Stands
Neighborhoods: Southeast Portland, Central Eastside

3 star rating
 9/14/2009  
This place was at the right place at the right time to save a 17-year-old from borderline alcohol poisoning. He was goaded by some totally off-the-rails waster into drinking way too much the day before at a house-show in Olympia, and he spent the entire day curled up in my friend's Subaru. So, I yanked him out and said "We're going for a walk", and he said "I can't...I can't..." But I knew this vacation would be completely wasted if we didn't get him up n' Adam, breathing the outdoor air, and sopping up that alcohol with some food. I took him to the foodcartopia zone, rounding the corners gently and slowly to avoid any puke action.

I thrust this burrito in his face and said "EAT!" He said, "No way...I'm just gonna throw it up...I can't!" So I assured him, "It's okay...burritos in Portland taste the same way going in as coming out." And by that I mean bland, which is characteristic of most burritos north of the 42nd parallel....but maybe especially this one! It was just beans wrapped in several layers of tortilla so that the first few bites were only tortilla. It was less textural than a 99-cent bean burrito at that worst-of-all-Pac-NW Mexican fast food chains, Taco Maker (see the Texaco station in Roseburg).

The kid did puke the first bite, and it came out looking like a little chunk of phyllo dough. He was like, "What is that?" And I was all, "I told you, dude. Keep eating."

He got the whole thing down, and it stayed down. Normally I'd rate a completely uneventful burrito as a one-star disgrace, but uneventful was indeed a virtue on this PDX burrito adventure. The kid was a lot sprightlier the following day and was able to withstand the pit of a seriously packed and heavily-jostlin' house-show with the Mayyors that night. That basement was so rough that night, walls were threatening to come down. No joke! But the kid did champion through it.
449 E Main St
Ashland, OR 97520
(541) 482-8268

Astro # 227  

Category: Gas & Service Stations

5 star rating
 8/31/2009   First to Review
For just a few pennies more per gallon than more freeway-accessible gas stations, you can be treated to the most enthusiatic and effective windshield-cleaning possible and the least awkward banter as well. I'll be sure whenever I'm halfway to or from Portland to combine my refueling trip with a visit to downtown Ashland or the Co-Op because this uncommon service was really worth it.

People thought this was:

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237 N 1st St
Ashland, OR 97520
(541) 482-2237

Ashland Food Co-op  

Categories: Grocery, Health Markets, Delis

4 star rating
 8/31/2009  
I first shopped at this co-op when a friend of mine was living over the Cascades in Klamath Falls and was restricted to a very unorthodox diet that strictly forbade the kinda processed foods that dominate the shelves of so many K-Falls grocers. This was the closest place to find a great selection of fresh, local, and health foods, so it was worth the hour-plus twisty, turny, slick, and slippery drive across Dead Indian Memorial Road.

Lately, I've used it only to avoid eating megalocorporate chain drive-thru crap near the halfway point of my Sacto/Portland roadtrips. The deli area has excellent sandwiches which are easy enough to eat even while driving a stick shift through up the Siskiyou Summit grade or up and down the canyons of Southern Oregon.

Prices are high, but pretty typical of co-ops. Selection and variety of goods is pretty surprising...especially considering the population of Ashland. If this co-op were here in Sacto--where we have probably the worst-stocked and least practical co-op of any major city with a co-op--I'd actually shop here frequently. (But the co-op in Davis, CA, is truly the gold standard.)

People thought this was:

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3235 Market St NE
Salem, OR 97301
(503) 362-5517

Rock-N-Rogers  

Category: Burgers

2 star rating
 8/31/2009  
On our long drive back to Sacto from Portland, we wanted to get outta the big city before rush hour, so we nixed the plan to eat something really good in Portland in favor of getting on the road a little ways before braking for breakfast. I've had the burgers and shakes at the other Rock-N-Rogers location and remembered that experience fondly, so after we cruised past this more freeway-friendly location, we pulled in.

Service was appreciably earnest, but it was wayyyy sloooowww! We tipped big anyway, but the kid who waited on us really seemed to struggle with memorizing the canned/scripted pitches, such as reciting what types of toast they had. He was incredibly nervous. Poor guy! I hope he's acclimating.

I got the corned beef hash with eggs. The serving size was just right for me. A two-egg breakfast would be just enough to fill me up, but not too much to put me to sleep for the next eight hours of driving home to Sacramento. But, would the corned beef hash not sit well in the tummy? I guess it was benign enough, but it looked rather unlike any corned beef hash I've ever seen. It was burnt around the edges and tasted burnt.

It was a one-star breakfast, and the slowness of the service knocked us off-pace to make it home on time for a planned engagement.

People thought this was:

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1620 W El Camino Ave
Sacramento, CA 95833
(916) 922-7410

Bangkok City Thai Cuisine  

Category: Thai

3 star rating
 8/31/2009  
I ate here last night, and while I'm not ready to rave about it exactly, I'm really shocked at how abysmal some of these previous reviews are because these reoccurring jeers are completely different than our experience.

Bland food?
High prices?
Slow service?
Small portions?

The only common denominator here was that...yes, we were the only people there.

We began our meal with a papaya salad. The papaya shreds were slightly browned, so maybe the papaya wasn't the freshest, but it was certainly crunchy and boldly spicy, and the quarter of a cabbage head the bookended the dish made it more aesthetically pleasing upon delivery, and it was indeed very fresh. So, we were off to an okay start.

Our entrees arrived just as we finished the salad. My girlfriend's drunken noodles with tofu was sorta too much like chow fun from a Chinese restaurant, but it tasted pretty fresh, if a little underwhelming in the flavor department. The serving size was large enough to pack one-third of it away for today's lunch.

My entree was duck curry. It's my barometer entree to judge a Thai restaurant. It was certainly spicier than advertised, and the serving size was above average. I'd estimate that there was a full cup of coconut milk in there, and that wasn't even enough to cut the heat from the curry below what's typical for "medium" spicy at my regular go-to places like Siam on Franklin or Thai Spice on Broadway. There was a generous amount of duck meat swimming in it, and even heaping out! Bangkok City might be a league-leader in that category. If there was one complaint, it was that there was so many pineapple chunks that they were crowding out the other ingredients such as bell peppers and Thai basil which is usually more plentiful. At $9.75, it was a dollar or two better-priced than most duck curries around town.

The service was attentive and friendly throughout our visit, and our ice water never went below the halfway point. The one thing that was a little bit disconcerting was when the waiter picked his nose. Sure...sometimes you gotta do that, but be discreet, dude! By this time, however, we were all done with our food.

Another thing worth noting in favor of Bangkok City is that they are open 'til 10pm on a Sunday night.

People thought this was:

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6035 Franklin Blvd
Sacramento, CA 95824
(916) 393-7353

Ciudad Nezahualcóyotl  

5 star rating
 8/31/2009   First to Review
This is a new location of the taqueria formerly located in the original mission-style Taco Bell on MLK near Fruitridge and known as Ciudad Neza, the shorthand nickname for Ciudad Nezahualcóyotl, the city adjacent to Mexico City on its northeast border. Gone are the shady front patio, the super-hot space heaters, and the low beam you must duck below in order to place an order. That's been replaced with central heat and A/C, four to five times the seating, and a bright welcoming interior. But the menu's still the same--mindbogglingly large and enticing--and so are the prices and the staff. It's still a great place to get some of the best Chilango food in Sacramento.

The new sign out front says "TORTAS CHILANGAS CIUDAD NEZAHUALCOYOTL". You may have noticed some variant of the word "Chilango" in or near the name of some of the newer taquerias around town. Wikipedia says "Chilango is a Mexican slang demonym for a person from or living in Mexico City or its surrounding areas. It may have a negative connotation when used by someone in one of the 31 States of Mexico." The negative connotation comes from the perception that people from the big city are snobby. But when it comes to food, just believe that it should only have a positive connotation. Indeed, Chilango restaurants want to broadcast to potential patrons that they serve food that is in the style of or inspired by the street food of Mexico City. This much I learned from my friends from Monterrey, Mexico, who told me that their favorite places in their city also identify themelves as Chilango. It's kinda like when a pizzeria or hot dog place invokes New York or Chicago, respectively.

You can read what I wrote in my Cd. Neza review. It all applies still. But most recently, I tried a "quesadilla niurka"--stuffed with shredded cheese and lettuce and some of the most boldly spiced and flavorful al pastor (marinated pork) in Sacto--and it was quite a bit different than quesadillas at non-Chilango places, and it was surely the best I'd ever had. The handmade tortilla was actually about four or five times the thickness of a typical tortilla, which made this as filling as a meal and sopped up the al pastor marinade to make for a brilliant last bite.

The place is doing brisk business in the South City Farms/Fruitridge Manor area apparently. The place was thronging on Sunday afternoon, but it was still pretty comfortable. All the babies were just being cute...no crying! Maybe I was just lucky. But surely they turn the stereo here a lot louder than at the old place. The fan was loud, too. So, you hafta be ready for lotsa noise.

People thought this was:

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5520 Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd
Sacramento, CA 95820
(916) 456-7760

Cd. Neza Chilangos - CLOSED 

Category: Mexican

5 star rating
 Update - 8/31/2009  
I'll miss the fun of ducking beneath the beam to place my order, and I really regret that I never took advantage of their shady front patio seating, but I'm glad to see the they reopened as Ciudad Nezahualcoyotl on Franklin at 41st Ave. with more seating. The menu, the prices, all the employees...everything's the same! It's still a five-star Chilango place!

1 Previous Review: Hide »

  • 5 star rating
    1/24/2008 First to Review

    Next door to the modern Fruitridge @ MLK Taco Bell is the old, original Mission-architectura l Taco Bell building, and where once everything was just add water, and where once the corporate taco filling had the lowest-grade textured vegetable protein, and Tri-Con beans were spiked with oats for extra fillingness, there is now Cd. Neza, one of the more peculiar environments in which one can enjoy some of the most authentic Mexican flavors.

    Those old Taco Bells usually only had four tables inside, so Cd. Neza shrunk their kitchen to provide more seating space behind what used to be the cashier's counter. The counter is now a breakfast bar with a pass-through to the left to get to the cozy booths in the converted kitchen area and the new counter where you order and pay. When walking into this area, anyone under 5'8" must duck to avoid bumping one's head on the low wooden beam. It's kinda like climbing into a kid's clubhouse. It's part of the fun.

    The walls are painted bright white and red, which is perfectly fitting for a Mexican restaurant, but it clashes horribly with the totally-80s puffy chairbacks in wispy sky-blue and sea-foam green. Don'tcha love it when a mom n'pop place is so budget that they must buy outdated consumer-grade dinette sets from South Sac garage sales? If not, too bad for you, because that is where the best food is at!

    I've noticed since moving near here that many Mexican restaurants in the South Area are too authentic for even most second-gen Mexican-Americans. Several of these places don't even have burritos on the menu because burritos were invented in the Southwestern USA, and burritos are unheard of in many parts of Mexico. These places cater specifically to very recent Mexican immigrants. But unlike a lotta similarly authentic Mexican restaurants in the South Area, this place does have more typical taqueria fare and even a few items for vegetarians to eat, so I'm happy that I can bring my herbivore friends along.

    The burritos are among my short list of the city's best, and now Cd. Neza's tortas are my #2 overall Sacto torta behind El Abuelo on Franklin. Cd. Neza's tortas are #1 for volume, though. All you size-queens need to see this monster. This sandwich is nearly four inches thick and the circumference of a dinner plate. The "nortena" is probably the best choice.

    Another funny thing I saw there last time was the DVD they had on. It showed a giant concert in Mexico with throngs of hip youth dancing to what sounded like the late-80s precursor to "rivethead" industrial/EBM shock/schlock. Music like you mighta heard at the Asylum clubnite back in the day. A dude dressed like Voltron was robot-dancing and pointing Mag-lites around, and this seemed to thrill the thousands in the audience. It is amazing to know that this is the current state of commodified youth rebellion in Mexico. It almost made our "rage rock" of a few years ago seem acceptable. But as horrifying as it was, it stopped me in my tracks and made me laugh.

    Parking is out back. Front patio seating with ultra-chintzy plywood covering will be nice in summer. More outdoor seating is also out back.

    Don't be afraid, 'nilla! You can read the menu, you Español-averse, Docker-khaki-clad Dilb-weed.

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51 Compliments

  • You're Cool

    yea...agree with you about memphis. the food was ok. the stax museum was… More »

  • You're Funny

    At first I was afraid, I was petrified. Kept thinking I could never live… More »

  • You're Cool

    Holy crap I love the Black Bear Diner in Willows! Great review.

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