Darren W.'s Profile

Caribou Coffee rocks and this location is my favorite, primarily because of the friendly people.  The service is always fast, and a far better value than Starbucks.  They have a great selection of snacks and cool decor.  They always have a daily trivia question posted, and the correct answer scores you 10 cents off your order - Not a big savings but fun.  

Check these guys out if you haven't yet - Delicious coffee, good people.

I brought my car into Merlin's Muffler & Brake (actually they are now going by the Merlin's 200,000 Mile Shops) for an oil change and to get an estimate on repairs to my exhaust system.  When I called to make an appointment, I was greeted by a friendly guy named Dan who offered for me to come in immediately.  I arrived and was taken care of upon arrival, no waiting.  They not only performed the oil change, and tested out other maintenance items on my vehicle, but were able to include repair of an ongoing issue for no charge, and provided me with multiple options for repairing the exhaust system.  After checking with me on the options, they were able to obtain the parts on short notice and had them installed the same day.  Affordable, honest car service is always valuable.

I found everyone at Merlin's to be honest, friendly, and budget-conscious.  They provide high-quality services and take pride in their work.  The employees all seem to really love cars and respect the customer's needs.  I will definitely return!

EGGSellent Omelets and more!  This restaurant has a great selection of breakfast items with generously large portions at a reasonable price.  I found the service there to be friendly and extremely attentive on beverage service.  I was surprised to receive the bill with the meal (here's your food now pay up?), but maybe that's the style there.  The food tasted great and arrived quickly.  I will definitely return.  Yum!

Finally I have located the source for overpriced rabbit food!  OK, to preface - I'm a carnivore and try to maintain an overall low-carb lifestyle, so this isn't the best place for me to dine.  This being said, I can usually find something enjoyable at most restaurants, but was somewhat challenged here.

The plain foods, such as lettuce, cucumber, spinach, etc. were perfectly fine and fresh (ironically, except the tomatoes - the grape ones were fine, the regular ones weren't in great shape) - the tossed and prepared salads were all on the mushy side - which I was extremely disappointed with, as they sounded tempting, though looked unpalatable.  I imagine had I shown up earlier (I was there around 2:15pm) these probably would have been fresh and delicious, unfortunately, they weren't for me.  Perhaps they should charge a reduced fee for mushy offerings in the afternoon or provide fresher made salads.

The muffins, pastas and desserts all looked and smelled fantastic, unfortunately I don't eat these.  The complete lack of any type of meat was rather unsettling.  I was able to purchase a small sampling of chicken for an additional fee and made my way through lunch with grapes and sunflower seeds.  

They had many soups, but alas I am also not a 'soup guy'.  Did I mention they don't serve any meat at this restaurant?  I'm not anti-vegetable by any stretch.  I do enjoy many vegetarian restaurants; I just found this to be overpriced and disappointing for not much besides plain vegetables to consume.

Overall - this place had potential for being a fun restaurant.  If the prepared salads weren't sitting out for so long they probably would have been enjoyable.  Had I been on a high carbohydrate chasing day, this also would have offered me many opportunities to fill up on breads, pastas, and desserts.

The great steak has arrived - and it's from Texas!  

WOW I do love this all-you-can-meat restaurant; it's one of the greatest restaurant experiences around.  I have been to several Brazilian style steakhouses throughout North America, Europe, and even the Middle East, and often continue to return to Texas de Brazil in Schaumburg for the excellent service, quality, and selection.

I will admit - my favorite local churrascaria was for the longest time Sal & Carvao.  They are now Zed-451, which is good, though not as great as when it was Sal & Carvao.  The good news is that Peter, one of the original meat carvers from S&C and a true believer in customer service is now the manager at this location of TDB!  I have been here a few times and he still remembers my favorite meats and is always enjoyable to see and catch up with.

Now, do understand, I wouldn't put the meat in a competition with the best Chicago steak restaurants, as that's not the entire appeal of the all-you-can-meat experiences.  The attraction is variety & quantity.  The gauchos are friendly, and will circle your table with fresh meats to enjoy when they spot the green side of your card showing a 'GO' to serve.

Even the salad bar is enjoyable.  I suspect they set up so many delicious items not only to complement the meals but to tease beginners of the all-you-can-meat into filling up.  I do enjoy the items, even more than Brazzas or Fogos.  They have both hot and cold selections to enjoy.

My favorite cuts are the 'house special' Picanha (rump roast 'triple C') and the garlic sirloin, both served perfectly medium rare.  I was impressed with the wine selection as well.  It's not on the budget side, so I advise you take advantage of their email coupon offers or stop in for lunch which is almost half of the dinner pricing for most of the same meats.

BEWARE!  Care Animal Hospital performed an unauthorized procedure on my iguana.  Dr. Nicole Siegel told me my 7 year old iguana just "decided to stop breathing".  A year later they bill me for unauthorized services.  

Although I normally have preferred veterinarians, due to an evening concern of lethargy, our iguana was brought to the first open veterinarian office.  I was quoted a high price for a "C-section", which Dr. Nicole Siegel acknowledged was unusually high due to the time, and stated the pet's life would be at risk to wait until normal hours.  This is a standard procedure, even Care Animal Hospital's Dr. Nicole Siegel, in writing stated "many captive iguanas require assistance in passing eggs".  I paid the requested $1000 in full.

I have been raising iguanas for over 20 years, and have experienced many situations.  Dr. Nicole Siegel herself described the diet and husbandry that I provided my iguana to be "perfect".  Despite this, Dr. Siegel's, pre-surgery inquiries imposed her views about the need to spay, despite clarification that I wanted her to be able to breed.  

I got a call from Dr. Siegel that the surgery went fine but at the end she "decided to stop breathing".  She elaborated, "We tried to resuscitate for over 40 minutes" and that "It wasn't a complication of the surgery, but rather the anesthesia".  I then received a call from Linda, demanding additional fees, when I already paid $1000 in full per their quote.  She couldn't even make out the bill.  How can they ask for money and not know the charges?  She said one was for clean equipment, and another for spaying, a service which was specifically requested to not be performed.

I'm disappointed to have to write a not so wonderful review on what used to be my favorite local China buffet.  This evening we decided to head out for a gorge festival and were unpleasantly surprised with the food and actions as previously we had never been let down.  This changed.

Previous trips to this restaurant provided an eclectic and flavorful selection of fresh foods, including crab legs and pizza amongst the regular Chinese style foods like sweet and sour chicken and beef and broccoli.  They even feature a custom Mongolian stir fry to enjoy.

Tonight we were presented with a poor selection of aged buffet items; dried out chicken dishes, bad smelling fish items, clumpy rice, none of the pizza or crab legs, and some rather scary selections overall.  The soup had a rather gooey consistency, and the worst part was the overwhelming smell of cleaning products throughout the restaurant.  It was challenging to work through a few of these unsavory dishes.  We ordered iced teas, which were fine, and after learning that they just weren't going to provide any fresh items, we decided on the stir fry, which was mostly decent, though somewhat limited in selection.

Through the meal we saw people cleaning up the restaurant, including a server who reached over our plates while we were eating to change out the soy sauce containers.  This wasn't closing time, but an hour before.  Overall I found this a poor value considering the several hour aged food.

Even the desserts appeared dried out and nasty.  We did try the ice cream machine, which being somewhat backed up was amusing.  In fact this machine and prior positive experiences helped to earn tonight's 2.

Unfortunately, I doubt we will be returning after this experience.

I recently hired Custom Care Cleaning and Restoration for a complete home refresh; carpets, tile & grout cleaning, etc.  I found their rates to be rather competitive, and the service outstanding.  They definitely aren't the cheapest game in town, but that's not always what I am looking for when hiring for home services.

The day before the actual cleaning, I received a call from a guy named Rick, who confirmed his start time, and gave me an estimate for how long the job would take and what I could do to best prepare.  The following day he showed up on time, was extremely careful in my home and did a thorough job on the carpets and tile/grout.  He definitely took great pride in his service.  Later that evening, I was phoned by the company owner, Joe who wanted to follow up and see how well I was pleased, and asked if he could stop by to inspect the job the following morning, to make sure it was done to expectation.

This is obviously a small, family run business who pays attention to detail and takes pride in the results of their services.  I like to see the small business succeed where many times the large commodity players shuffle volume and lose sight of customer satisfaction.

They seem to have a lot of tricks from experience, and inquired about certain areas before using specific techniques.  Be as thorough as possible when describing what you need, for instance, they have a cleaning chemical specifically for a red wine spill.  Nice!  They even provided me with free samples of their branded cleaning solution.  I found them to be very trustworthy and careful with items in my home.

With their free estimates, I highly recommend giving them a try.

The best burrito place this side of the border.  I love Tecalitlan and have been coming here for something like 20 years (enjoying the margaritas since well before I was legally able to).  Located right in the Ukrainian Village with ample parking in their lot or on the street if it's crowded.

This place has become a staple for birthdays, get togethers with friends and family, dates, business meetings, whatever.  The food is great for dining in or for take out.  The margarita Wednesdays are always fun.

I remember when nobody knew about this place until the Tribune wrote a review up back in the late 1980's and all of a sudden it became popular.  Back then you had to know Spanish or be able to point to the menu.  The decor has definitely changed too, as well as some serious expansion over the years.  The back is now a dining area where the kitchen used to be and they feature a full bar.  I really dig the sky ceiling and wish I could hire their painters to create a similar painting in my home.

The food is always excellent.  I highly recommend trying the queso fundido as an appetizer.  The chips and salsa are excellent too, and you can request the green sauce (salsa verde) as well, as it's not normally brought to your table.  They serve giant burritos, which is usually what I order, but their tacos, tamales, and Mexican steaks are great too.  I like the consistent quality and the service is always friendly and prompt.

Prices are very reasonable for the excellent food you will receive, and the meals are so large you will end up with leftovers unless you arrive in a particularly hungry mood.  I always enjoy bringing people here from out of town, especially folks from California or Texas who boast they have the best Mexican food just to put them in their place.  Tecalitlan rocks!

Well, I don't get to be the 1st review here, at least I get to be the 100th.

The red and the blue car bumped together - that's a collision and that's too bad...  

Accidents happen.  When they do, it's great that there are places like Cars Collision to help you get your car repaired and riding smoothly again.

I have been involved in two accidents in the past decade, both not my fault, both times the insured drivers were covered by State Farm Insurance, both times in the past 8 months, and both times I brought my car to this place.

I learned about Cars Collision through State Farm Insurance, and I chose them as they were nearby my home and I found them to be friendly.  When entering the facility you are greeted by a nice woman named June who is very friendly and explains the process for repair and facilitates estimates.  June also has a rolodex of resources, such as car rental places and other contacts to help you along during the accident's recovery process.

Each time I have had my car repaired, things were not 100%, but to their credit, they have recognized this and taken it upon themselves to repair and remedy until things were completed to satisfaction.  For instance, my recent pickup, a repair from being merged into, one of the employees informed me that he wasn't pleased with the results of the repair (it was outsourced to a different location) and would be ordering new parts for the repair and would call to schedule another appointment.  It's nice that they take pride in the final results of their work.

Car repairs are never a fun project, but these guys do a good job.