Michelle M.'s Profile

Who knew failing repeatedly could be such a pleasant experience.

Wanting to make better use of my Saturday, I called ahead of time and made an appointment. I could tell by the proprietor's phone manner alone that my car and I would be in good hands. He (Brian) let me choose the time, showing an early willingness to accommodate the customer's schedule, and keeping our dialogue on the phone free of unnecessary jargon and drama, asking only the make and year of my car.

When I arrived, 15 minutes early, he offered to make coffee or tea, clicked on the space heater for warmth in the makeshift lounge area in one corner of the large, high ceilinged garage, rapid fired some paperwork, zipped my car into the shop and went to work for all of...seven minutes, allowing me just enough time to admire the resident, dilapidated upright piano and talk to the attendant artist whose 3 large canvas paintings hung on the north and south walls. This is not your ordinary smog test station.

On completion of the test, he pulled my car back out of the garage and parked it just outside the shop. Returning to the test machine computer he seemed a little bit surprised (way more so than I) to find that my 1999 Subaru Outback Sport had failed. He sat down with me and the print-out. I explained. He made a suggestion. I followed it. I returned. I failed. But I can -- and will -- try again, and again, and again, and again (until I bite the bullet and replace the catalytic converter) because Auto Row Smog offers unlimited FREE retests.

Fast, informative, cost-competitive, and ultra pleasant family business. Go WAY out of your way to come here, unless, of course, you're killing all of us with your smog test-failing, polluting vehicle.

I'll give Bittersweet 3 instead of 2 stars only because they make a couple exceptional drinks that I've not found elsewhere: the spicy hot chocolate and the chocolate thai iced tea. The wall of chocolate is also worth checking out if you're looking for a gift or want to try out some different bars.

There may well be some other fine drinks on the menu but with exception of the oatmeal with fixings and that incredible chocolate cherry sticky bun-roll thing (which is now outrageously priced at $4.95), the baked goods are entirely unremarkable and the pricetags laughable. Not even competitive with the best bakeries in the area (Crixa, Sweet Adeline) - what's up?

The prices are prohibitive, the staff friendliness is hit or miss, and install or turn on some lights, for pete's sake, so we can see what's inside the glass counter before we shell out the $10.

I had high hopes for this place back when it opened. If you're going to open a store predicated on chocolate...please know how to do it.

Bittersweet has turned out to be a huge disappointment.