jr "Parents too poor to afford a full name" c.'s Profile

Brought my car in to have the rear fender fixed. Excellent, friendly staff that did a fantastic job in less time than quoted. I did have to call them to find the status of my car, but I believe they had just finished on the one and a half day job.

Happily recommend them for body work in the future.

Do you like beer? Do you know the difference between a Porter and a Dark Ale? Are you, in fact, a beer snob? This is your heaven.

Ales Unlimited is a tiny shop with a huge selection, kind of like a TARDIS, with a thick, creamy head. There's the normal stuff, sure, but for a few dollars more, why not treat yourself to something far, far better?

They also have a good variety of specialty foods and wines for those not kin to the elder of drink. Speaking of which, they had Pilney the Elder in the cooler, ready for a picnic spread.

It's worth the trip. It's worth driving around Pacific Heights for half an hour trying to find a parking spot. It's worth letting the wife drool over the imported chocolates and bags of snacks near the counter while you giddily debate grabbing a Rye'd Piper or a Voodoo, when you decide that both would be just fine.

We had a few small colonies starting at our home, and having spent time in Hawaii, I knew how effective orange oil is for spot treatments.

The inspector came out, identified the areas that needed treatment, and spent time discussing options and what would need to be done. Orange oil is injected into the termite galleries (rather than seeps in when you tent), he made sure to examine the exterior walls for any bulges, "dirt" or other tells for termites, and did discover one additional colony I was unaware of.  He also noted that this method was best for spot treatment and that if you have larger colonies or ones in areas that are impossible to reach (e.g. deep in chimney flume supports, very large colonies or the like), they would recommend tenting. Fortunately, we did not have those problems.

He managed to set up a time for the crew to come out and treat the areas. The crews were friendly, professional and left the areas cleaned and presentable. They also took time to show us their work in progress and answer questions we had.

Two weeks since treatment, there are no more tells, so I know the colonies are dead. I'll happily recommend them to others with similar problems.

I have been a customer of Stacey Wilkinson for years and have nothing but praise for him. I'm not sure why the previous reviewer had such a bad experience. I know that they are still accepting new clients (mind you, calling them a few days before quarters close is probably not a good idea).

He has moved his office recently, and perhaps that may have also caused the previously mentioned issue.

Still, anyone who can turn a $25K due to a $2K refund is pretty much aces in my book.

There are excellent boat sushi restaurants. Sushi Maru really isn't one of them.

While the prices are low, sadly, so is the quality. The miso is thin, the tuna, a kind of light pink, and the salmon was mushy and dull orange at best. The crab is more salad than crab with liberal use of mayo. Oddly, nothing really has that much flavor.

Honestly, I've defrosted better tasting fish from Trader Joe's.

You can eat quite a bit for not very much there, but I don't think you'll really remember any of it. Unless you're just looking to load up after helping someone move, I'd recommend one of the many other Sushi joints in Japantown.

First off, this is a hotel that impresses. It is built into a cliff overlooking the golf course, and filled with beautiful art. Live jazz plays in the cafe and entertains the rich folk and sales reps sitting in the lobby.

That said, it suffers from the same problems that plague most high end hotels from a general usability point. Nothing is included in the rather inflated room price, so expect that the actual cost if your stay will be about 20% higher than what's on the bill. Likewise expect a few things to be missing, like a room fridge, free parking or ample power outlets. (You can request a fridge for the room from housekeeping, but I'd also expect a room charge for that. Parking, however, is $20 a day self serve, $25 a day for valet.)

I really don't want to sound cheap, but as a resident of the 21'st Century, I have certain expectations regarding my stay, and I'd like to think that a high quality resort would not get shown up by a hotel down the street.

Pizzas are curious things. I think there are slightly fewer dog breeds than pizza styles. To follow said odd metaphor, Blue Ribbon leans more toward a show poodle rather than faithful mutt.

The pizzas are small, very pretty, and tasteful. If you get the salad (you really want to get the salad, particularly the BLT featuring lots of crumbled bacon on butter lettuce with cherry tomatoes), you'll happily share your 12" show pizza with your companion and leave happy.

You'll also be happy getting a half pint of the draft microbrew to accompany everything.

Then, you'll hand the leash back at the end of the night and go back to your faithful hound next week.

A lot of folks are comparing this place to In & Out. It's understandable, since they both server burgers and fries, and both have a variation of russian dressing they slather on the bun. Still, comparing these two kinda misses the point.

Knockout is a local burger joint. It's not gourmet. It's still darn good.

Following the age old recipe for success of "Do one thing, do it well" they serve burgers and fries. The burgers are either stacks of 1/4 lb grilled angus, or sets of smaller sliders. I'll note that far too many joints tend to burn the hell out of the smaller sliders, but that's not going to happen here. Burgers come with cheddar cheese unless you ask them to skip it, fresh produce and fries that are crisp and seasoned (if a bit salty, but that could have just been my batch). Everything is cooked to order and served fresh.

Are there better burger joints on the planet? Yep. Are there better burger joints in Carlsbad? I haven't found one yet.

A bit more information about this fantastic place.

The new owners (Mora's) took over about a year ago, and have brought their own recipes along with keeping some of the best from C&C. Everything they sell is made from scratch on premises. They roast the turkey and make the fruit chutney for the Special themselves. The baked goods are insanely good, and they're always willing to tell you what's in each.

If nothing else, try the banana bread. Actually "bread" isn't the right term since it's light and amazing. Possibly "mana" might be better. The "muffins" are smaller versions of the same batter they use for their cakes, and are nearly the size of your head.

Honestly, this is a family that loves what they do, and Good Golly does it show.

Cosentino's is a foodie market.

This is not a bad thing. In fact, they don't really go out of their way to try and sell themselves as one. Quite the contrary really. They're just a neighborhood market. Still, as soon as you step in, and look at the fresh, local produce you quickly discover you're somewhere that gives a damn about what they sell.

Even better, is that they don't overcharge for what they sell. Sure, you'll get cheaper produce from Target or Safeway, but it won't be nearly as fresh or more likely speed ripened on the boat.

What's more, for those of you that can remember when meat didn't come wrapped in cellophane and pumped full of carbon monoxide to make it red, they have a full service butcher shop.