Jenna "Elite 2012?" S.'s Profile

This is like the poor man's Whole Foods, people!!  Why aren't you doing all of your weekly shopping here?

I am absolutely in love with Mariano's.  

Amazing produce section?  Check.
Fully prepared foods?  Check.
Caramel apple station?  Check.
Fresh-squeezed orange juice?  Check.
Fresh breads, cakes, pastries?  Check.
Cheese counter with knowledgeable servers?  Check.
Huge selection of brand/store brand name products?  Check.
Free samples?  Check.
Huge dairy section?  Check.
LIVE GRAND PIANO PLAYER?  DOUBLE CHECK!

How can you argue with all of that? How?!  

The prices are GREAT and you won't spend your whole paycheck here.  Also, join their rewards program.  I just got $20 off my last bill just because I shop here.

Seriously.  Fantastic.  I gush to this place to all of my friends and coworkers constantly.  You need to go here.  It's so clean, fresh and wonderful.  YES!

OK, I'll admit, I only went here because Diamond Nails had a Groupon Now! special for a $23 mani/pedi.  

I was definitely surprised and super happy with the mani/pedi.  The place was practically empty and I was the only customer getting stuff done (someone else was there drying nails).  

The place is small, low ceilings and I can totally see it being branded 'dingy' from the street, but all of the equipment is new and everything is totally sanitary.  

Great service, Daisee was nice and chatty.  She gave me some great tips for taking care of my feet in between pedicures and some great eyebrow care advice, as well.

I called ahead to use my Groupon, which I recommend you do, as well.  They take cards but I believe you can only leave a cash tip.

I'll admit, I feel bad with the A-OK review here.  I love breweries.  I especially love microbreweries.  I really, really love beer.  Why wasn't this place so great?

We figured it would be ridiculously packed before the Giants game, so we arrived 90 minutes early and the place was still annoyingly busy.  It took a few to get seated and then our server was sketchy.  

The beer was good... and that was about it.  I guess that's all a microbrewery needs to do well, but still.  The food was subpar and kind of pricey.  Again, the service was annoyingly slow.  

The beer definitely made this place a good go-to for a few drinks, but nothing more.

I'm totally disappointed in this place.  OK, I get it: there's nothing on Madison close enough to UC to actually go to except this place.  

Every suburbanite in a three-county area are here.  Yeesh.  

Packed.  Cramped.  Sweaty.  Annoying.  All appropriate adjectives for the Billy Goat.

Food prices are good and the burgers aren't half bad, so at least that's something.

Don't expect to actually get an alcoholic beverage here.  The bar is packed and the servers are nowhere to be found.  

I'll only go here before Hawks games when someone else makes plans.  Not worth it.

TRIVIA!  

Yes, I'm a trivia junkie and this bar does trivia on Monday nights.  Hence the reason I even showed up.

Small, but not over-crowded.  Plenty of tables of the amount of people in the place and a big bar.  Good, straightforward service and nice servers.  

Small menu but well-made food.  They could stand to add a few more apps, but a decent selection nonetheless.

Trivia is super fun and the competition is decent.  You should show up or trivia because it's awesome.  

I may be back.  The out-of-the-way location is not my scene, but I can show up once in awhile.

You're right.  Whatever you're thinking about the words "sushi" + "buffet", you're probably right.

Yep, it smells like fish when you walk in.  Not the good kind, either.  The kind where you know it's not fresh and it's just been sitting out under warming lamps all day.  Blech.

So, don't get the sushi or any other fish product.

All of the other stuff (noodles, mongolian beef, etc.) was pretty much on-par with a typical, bad Chinese restaurant.  Which means it wasn't that bad (definitely edible, anyway).  Just stick with that stuff and the desserts.  Ice cream and Jell-O are awesome.

This place is definitely not worth $22 per person.  

Also, not really sure if its BYOB.  There wasn't any signage indicating yes/no on that front, but no one said anything when we opened beer.  Weird.

OK, sometimes I forget about beauty-related things.  Suddenly, I realize I haven't waxed my eyebrows in who-knows-how-many weeks and I look like Jack Lalane.  I know, it's scary.  

During a recent visit to family in the D, my Jack Lalane look wasn't working and I needed to get my eyebrows waxed ASAP.  My mother-in-law immediately called her favorite gal at her favorite salon and set me up with an appointment.

I was in and out in 20 minutes.  With an appointment, I didn't wait at all.  The waiting area, though, was lush and nicely decorated with a good amount of seating.  My other mother-in-law and husband were comfortable while they waited for me to fix my issue.

Great service.  Quick but detailed, chatty but not too talkative.  It's been about 5 weeks and I still don't need a wax, so clearly this was a good job.  My mother-in-law's hair always looks great, too, so they do all kinds of great work here.

$2.50 Lagunitas?  Crepes?  YES!!!

Ok, this place was great, even if it was just for the cheap-ass, good beer.  Go here for that, you won't be disappointed.  The food menu looked pretty good but we had already eaten dinner, so I went for a crepe.  The butter and sugar crepe was DELICIOUS.  Warm, gooey, sugary... mmmmmm.  A great dessert.  

This is a short order place, so you order at the counter and sit down to wait for your food.  The atmosphere is nice, quaint but it's definitely quick and not the type of place to go if you're looking to sit down and have a 5-star meal.

Go here, though.  You won't be disappointed.

I haven't ever been in here, but their delivery service is awesome.

A few weeks ago, one of my students brought some of Pizza Nova's coupons to my attention: $13 for an extra large, one-topping pizza and a two-liter of pop, tax included.  

I have 19 hungry high school students in my advisory who could totally get down with some $13 pizza and pop, so we decided to have a lunch time pizza party.

For $65, we got five ENORMOUS pizzas and five two-liters of pop.  The restaurant was really great with our order (including my topping changes at least three times) and my specific pop requests.  They also let me pay in cash even though the order was big, which was nice.

I was able to schedule delivery three hours in advance and our delivery guy was prompt.  He arrived, pizza and money were exchanged, and we were on our way to eating some pretty decent pizza.

We all thought that $13 was too good to be true for pizza prices, but the pie wasn't that bad.  We all agreed the pizza was good and we've had much worse (especially at the school).  

This pizza joint is great for groups and it's just what my students and I needed right before winter break.  We may make this a standing monthly party because we liked the pizza and the camaraderie so much.

Oh my, my... this pizza is fabulous!  

A) They always have delivery.  So convenient.

B) They always have coupons.  So awesome.

C) They have an amazing selection of specialty pizzas.  So yummy!!

I love the taco pizza (trust me, it's good) and their cheesy bread.  I could eat that every day and still love it.  They have a ton of pizza options and specials if you order two of the same size (second one is cheaper).  

Delivery is always quick and this is a great option for parties or a night at home when you don't feel like cooking.  Never too expensive and always open.  What more could you ask for?  This is - hands down - my favorite delivery pizza in the city (sorry, Pizza Metro).