Bruce "not Campbell or Willis or Lee" K.'s Profile

Pretty good for a Subway. Not my choice, my travel companion this week prefers simpler foods, so this was our lunch stop.

Speedy service, we arrived just before the lunch rush and had our sandwiches prepared and over roasted in front of our eyes. Efficient team with a good store layout that offered plenty of tables as well as two separate soda fountains, plus urns for sweet and unsweetened tea. The place was very busy when we left at 12:30.

Burger! Burger! BURGER! This was my second Ted's experience and it was just as good as the first. This restaurant is rather hidden at the far end of the shopping plaza and barely caught my eye as we pulled in to the Chili's.

First, we arrived well after the usual dinner hour on a Sunday night and received a warm welcome the hostess. She showed us to a booth and left the menus. The waiter came by with that great bowl of slices pickles (More cucumber than pickle. Yum!) and asked if we had any questions.

I ordered the "Montana" burger, bison please, on a wheat bun. There are a good dozen or more different varieties of burger toppings available, plus you can make your own. Mine came with a slice of grilled ham, cheddar cheese, grilled onions and barbecue sauce. Somehow, I avoided wearing any of this delicious and gloppy mess. Rather than fries, I went with the onion rings on the side and was barely able to eat three of these monstrosities. Excellent.

I had a local brewed beer to go with it - Red Oak - and we skipped dessert.

An absolutely excellent meal! (I can't believe we nearly ended up in Chili's. What a waste that would have been!)

They are trying really hard to be a higher class of Mexican restaurant, from the displayed special in the entry way to the theme dressed hostess and waitstaff and even the fresh guacamole cart that wanders the restauant (dude, get al tip jar, that plastic bucket thing is tacky).

The food is very good, as good as any other Mexican I've had in the Charlotte area. I had a shredded pork burrito, which was served with a generous portion of rice and beans though a small dash of guacamole on top. We also had a bowl of hot queso to go with the chips, but the bowl used to serve cooled off quickly, ending up with a chilled mass of mushy cheese.

The margarita was maybe not as strong as it could have been, served in a fishbowl sized glass with a wedge of lime. The follow-up beer was served with a chilled and frosty mug.

The prices were pretty good, maybe more expensive than the usual Mexican place, but they are a higher class of restaurant and so it was deserved. Would I return? Probably yes.

I was here to help a friend and appeared as his witness in his uncontested divorce proceeding. The building is easy to find in "downtown" Lancaster, with a large gravel/dirt parking lot behind.

There was a security presence, with a local police officer walking people through a metal detector and wanding everyone who entered. I'm not sure if he was a Lancaster city officer or a Lancaster county deputy. He seemed pretty thorough.

Clearly posted signs indicate that no pocketknives, purses or lighters are permitted. What was odd was that cell phones and beepers (who has a beeper these days?) were not allowed at all - you have to leave them in your car. I felt very disconnected for the hour we were there. No Yelp! What to do? There were a couple of well dog-eared magazines on tables in the waiting area, as well as a Coke machine. (60 cents per can. Bargain!) I had to actually... talk... with my friend. Weird.

The courtroom was pretty simple with a bored looking bailiff (Rusty?), the white haired judge and a court reporter. Standard set up with two tables, chairs and a witness stand with readily presented Bible for the swearing in process.

Easy, pleasy. Once our case was called, my friend's attorney asked him some questions, the judge asked his required questions, I was called and answered my questions and we were done within a very few minutes. Divorce granted. There are now two more single (and happier) people on the planet.

Yeah, it's weird to post a review of a court. I'm not sure if I'll keep it. Yelp already had the listing. I wouldn't have reviewed it if i wasn't already here.

The apartment complex where I have lived for the last three and a half years and I am leaving later this month.

The grounds are very well cared for and the maintenance staff does a good job of keeping things up to snuff with one major exception. The security gates (the management calls them 'traffic control' gates for liability reasons) don't work most of the time. For three months last year, they were down due to a lightning strike. I don't know the reason they're currently not working for two months as of this post.

We've had limited crime here and I won't try and blame them for that. It's a relatively isolated neighborhood despite being in west Charlotte. There was a stolen Char-Meck undercover police car and a car that was set on fire (with a gunshot victim in the trunk!). Google "courtney ridge stolen police car" for the former and "car fire courtney ridge" for the latter. Otherwise, the usual random stuff you'd get in any big city.

Lots of green space for dog walking and exercising, plus a pool and fitness area that are always in good shape. Parking is usually not a problem either and they've been good about shoveling sidewalks during the snow. Streetlights that go out are replaced quickly.

Neighbors are pigs sometimes, as it seems that putting their trash into the dumpster is too much effort and it tends to back up onto the sidewalk. That's rare but irritating. Most of the time, the place is very quiet and I was very surprised at how little noise carries over from the airport, which is nice and close.

The first dinged star is the noise from upstairs. I've dealt with four different people up there in my 3+ years and with one exception, I've heard them all. I've complained a few times directly to the neighbors and once to the management, but it is simply thin walls/floor. If noise is a problem for you, consider one of the top level units or one that does not have an upstairs.

And the second demerit. Despite being a tenant in good standing for 3.5 years and I am relocating out of the area involuntarily for work reasons, they are sticking to the letter of the lease, asking for me to pay the entire 60 days, even though I'm vacating after less than 30.  (They actually tried to hit me with a -90- day penalty, but realized that they made a mistake and I never actually signed that lease.) Shame.

Would I rent from them again? No.

Very large building with a drive-through. Associates will even take the stuff out of your car - how easy is that? And you still get a receipt for your taxes!

I've never been into the store, so I don't know much about what they're selling or prices.

I haven't given them five stars because the location isn't convenient to my home.

Decent, if erratic, service. Sometimes the rental shuttle arrives quickly and sometimes you end up waiting ten or fifteen minutes. The cars I've gotten have usually been clean, but every so often I get one with a few random bits under the seats or a windshield that isn't perfect. Perhaps my standards are too high.

Dollar does have an "Express" program, which is free to join and gets you into the priority line at the counter. And if you reserve direct from their website, they sometimes offer "city specials" that are cheaper than their regular prices and the ones you get from Travelocity/Orbitz/etc. They also have a "lock and go" which gets you an Intermediate or better, but you can't change it out when you get there if you don't like what they give you. So if you don't want a minivan, don't use this option.

Would I rent from them again? With cars, it's a commodity. So I'll rent from them again if they're cheaper than their neighbors.

I've said derogatory things about La Quinta in the past, that LQ translates to "near the Interstate" or "next to the Waffle House" both of which are true about this property. But I was completely wrong about the quality. This is actually a very nice hotel.

Even without status, my room is just as large as any I've had with other mid-tier hotels. A nicely decorated room with a very large LG flat screen TV, mini-fridge, microwave and coffee maker. Very friendly staff and the breakfast spread (free) is more than acceptable. The wireless Internet works well too. Five bars!

I think the only things that I would ding them on (just because) is that the electric outlets on the desk area aren't within easy reach. And there's a slight draft from the window, but with the heater on low, it's no big deal at all. Those are really minor complaints and everything else is ideal.

Would I stay here again? Considering that it's HALF the price of the Marriott across the street where I stayed last week, you betcha!

I have to disagree with Ben's review (sorry!). I drove by tonight looking for a reasonable stop for dinner and Tomato Jake's fit the bill. It looked clean and friendly - there were a few tables occupied at 7:00 on a Sunday.

More than a standard pizza place, they have a few signs up for a Wednesday night trivia contest (not my thing) and they get comedy too. And of course, pizza, subs and sandwiches with a selection of a half dozen or so standard bottled beers.

I was a little overwhelmed at the number of choices for pizzas, finally narrowing down to the Whitey White, which was, of course, a white pizza with mozzarella, romano, feta, and asiago, plus garlic. I also had a cheesy bread to start and a Corona, which was served with a lime wedge. ($3.75! Eeek!)

The bread was brought to me quickly and I had to wait a moment for it to cool down. Very yummy with a small bowl of marinara. A few minutes later, the pizza. Delicious. Plenty of garlic plus the bite of the feta cheese on a thin-ish crust. I had the "regular" and took more than half of it home. I was very pleased with the choice.

Good stuff. I'm not in Durham often, but if I was this would certainly be a solid option for pizza!

Higher quality and better taste than Subway, perhaps not as good as Firehouse or Quizno's. You want to be sure you're hungry, because the large is massive - it's a good 20 inches long and piled high with meats and veggies. One of these is enough for even the hungriest dude.

A reasonable selection of sliced meats, but maybe not the things you might get at Quizno's. The focus here is on sliced to order deli meats. I didn't see chicken on the menu, but there was chicken and tuna salad. I also didn't see options for the vegetarians that wander among us.

Would I return? Maybe.