Nathan "+" B.'s Profile

Pros:

they have iStuff
the employees have cool beards
their shirts have some sort of daily color code system

Cons:

Long wait time even with an appointment
crazy crowded
Kinda loud
Located deep in the bowels of International Plaza.

I'm not a foodie. I'm family guy that likes to be social. So when I rate a place, the food is a pretty small part of it - it doesn't take much to make me happy.

But I'll tell you why this place gets 5 stars in book:

1) It is near my house.
2) It family owned.
3) I can take my kids there without feeling guilty or it being a lot of work.
4) The staff is nice.
5) The food is good.

So really it, is a win-win-win-win-win for me.

While I like cheap Mexican food as much as the next guy, this place has much fresher, more unique offerings. I don't know how traditional they are, but I don't really care.

To start, we had chips and fresh salsa, queso fundido, and some very flavorful sangria. For dinner I had Carne Tampiquena (steak and enchilafa with mole) and my wife had Tacos Al Pastor (pork and pineapple). Both were great. The kids had chicken tenders and french
fries. The nice thing about both of these is that they were not just opened from a bag from the freezer, they were actually cooked for our kids.

One of the downsides for me were the two large TV's showing sports. I know, know. For most people this would be a plus, but I don't watch follow sports and I think is generally annoying when I am trying to have dinner.

Jalapenos has been open less than two weeks, but you wouldn't know it by looking around. There were a lot of patrons coming and going while we were there.That bodes well. In this time of jobless recovery turning into a double dip recession, I'd be reluctant to open any business, especially a restaurant. But they are starting off strong here.

For sure, we'll be back.

It isn't really fair for me to write a review because I didn't eat there. But I wanted to give them 5 stars just for the door. I spotted on my way home form a meeting at IKEA. The door was so cool and stickered-up that I literally stopped and got out of my car just to take a picture of it, even though I wasn't hungry and didn't have time to eat anyway.

I need more doors like this in my life these days.....

I don't know. Maybe it was just a slow day. But this was really different than any other Best Buy experience I have ever had. Yes, they had the same stuff in generally the same places as I am used to finding. But the the staff was 100% different.

What I usually experience at any Best Buy in Florida is me wandering around looking for whatever specific thing I came in to get. I kind of like the game of looking through the various aisles by myself and I'm rarely asked by I need help from a blue-shirted staffer. Sometimes I have questions and I have to flag someone down or wait for them to get off the phone. When they do assist me they are generally competent, but interested.

This was sooooooo different. No less tan 4 different people came up and asked if I was doing OK or if I needed anything. They were are each happy and cheerful. I really didn't need any help, so I didn't request any, but I'm sure if I did they would have done whatever it took.

I don't know what it was. Maybe they all got a big raise that day? Maybe it was way over-staffed and they were bored? Maybe people are just nicer in Michigan... Regardless, it was noteworthy.

Very old school. All the guys are great, but different. One of the few places where you get a hot shaving cream straight razor shave. Very nice. I've seen kids 4 or 5 years old and guys probably 95 years old and everything in between.

Even if you don't get a hair cut there, it is cool to stop in and see all the planes and stuff on the walls.

Stopped by when I was visiting from out of town. I had a great chicken wrap with some amazing fries. Gotta love the local places like this!

I'm loving this place more and more. I wasn't planning on going today, but   this week on my way home from work I've noticed the guy holding the J. Bajas sign on the corner of BBD and Amberly was going WAY above and beyond. You know that most sign holders just stand there and listen to music while leaning on their sign. Some wave a bit. This guy was going off. Waving the sign around, jumping in the air, dancing. Really hard to miss.

So I called my wife and asked if we could go to J. Bajas. She told me to get take out. While I was ordering I was talking to the owner. It is a family owned and run business and it shows. They really pay attention to detail and are very friendly. We talked about the challenges of owning a small, indy business while my food was being prepared. Fresh and warm, it was great when I got it home.

And the guy with the sign - the owner's son. I KNEW he wasn't just being paid by the hour. He was showing the passion that family businesses are built on!

This place used to be a beef O' Bradys. I went there once but it's not really my scene. I checked out the new place 1) because I was interested to see what it was about 2) because I do like barbecue and 3) because I was eating a lot of meat for a while when I was on the Paleo diet and was looking for some new options.

So here's the rundown: the staff is nice but not amazing. The food is pretty darn good. The meat is tasty and that is what I was there for. I am not as big a fan of their sauces but they are served separately so you can do what you want with that.

What I like most is actually the way they do the sides. Green beans, collard greens,  slaw, that kind of stuff. Those were really great and I would go so far as to say memorable. They are through and through southern!!

It seems like Big Pappa's is trying to retain a little bit of the sportsbar feel -  with some of the sports paraphernalia around and the screens near the bar. I don't know if that's really going to work, but I wish them the best.

This is the kind of place that I really hope succeeds in this terrible economy.

So my first impression of any Whole Foods Market may be slightly different than that of the average person's. For about a decade of my life I was vegetarian, but I was only vegan for about three days. I was on a roadtrip with a vegan friend and we were in California. We stopped by a Whole Foods for the first time ever to get some grub for the next few days. What made the biggest impression on me was not the organic food or the free range meat or the variety of the supplements they have but how crazy stressed out all of the patrons were. It was around five in the evening on a week day and everyone was rushing around trying to find what they wanted and stand in line and check out and get out of there. It was not a positive experience.

Unfortunately this impression as it stuck with me over the years. And it really resonated with me on my recent trips to the whole foods market on Dale Mabry near 275. It is sandwiched in the back of a classic, horrible retail plaza that defines Dale Mabry. I hate it.

However, Whole Foods does provide alternatives. I recently attempted to do a 30 day strict Paleo diet and whole foods. It was a great option for grass fed beef and chicken, etc . And I was able to get some stuff for my kids like organic oatmeal and healthier snacks and coconut milk for my coffee. All of this is great.

One other thing - It is just sort of weird that Whole Foods Market is kind of like the alternative person's Walmart. A mega-health-store. What we really need is not one giant facility for every possible non-mainstream eco-friendly lifestyle but dozens and dozens of smaller neighborhood facilities where people can get local and real food.

Full disclosure: I attended an event that she specifically organized by Yelp on Thursday night. So I did not have the typical have-dinner-with -the-wife type of experience. However I did get to sample the food, drink, staff and decor so I think a review is worthwhile...

I don't usually come down to South Tampa that often. I live and work in north Tampa and so I just typically will not make the drive unless if there's some reason to go. And it never fails that when I do go down to South Tampa I am always surprised. Everything is so much more like a city! More interesting non-chain restaurants and clubs. Prettier people. And decidedly less parking.

The first thing that I noticed how about Cheap was that they were effectively engaged with social media. They have deals on Yelp and other  check in applications and that is a good thing in my book!

After hanging out for a while I was kind of surprised at the diversity of the place. It seemed like there were many concepts going on at the same time: Pool tables, DJs, Asian cuisine, fancy drinks, arty decor... and I was not really sure what to make of it. When I pointed this out to one of the people I was with she handed me then menu and, lo and behold this was exactly the theme behind Cheap: a conglomeration of the best parts of many different enterprises of the owners. To my surprise, I felt that it worked.

I like sushi but my wife doesn't and that means that I really don't eat it as much as I would like. So I took the opportunity to you have a volcano roll. It was tasty but not over done and I enjoyed it. I am more of a beer drinker but I felt more in the mood for a glass of wine and so I ordered Merlot and while it wasn't anything to scream about it went down fine.