Monique R.'s Profile

Kristina's Grill is a welcome addition to the Cameron Park dining landscape.  Next to the DeAnza bakery and Mad City Pizza at the corner of Green Valley Road and Cameron Park drive.

The portions were very large and food fresh and hot.  I ordered the salad to go with my dinner, but the clam chowder sounded delicious.  The salad was mixed greens (yay, not just iceberg) with nice crispy bacon bits and a generous helping of dressing.  

The hot wings were very good, and I liked that they have the mild style of wing.  I can't stand when hot wings are excessively hot. I know what you're thinking, isn't the purpose to be hot, hence the name hot wing?  True enough, but many cooks use this as an excuse to pile on the heat and not pay heed to the other flavours of the wing. These were nicely balanced and the buttery undertones did shine through.

I did try to order a lemonade to drink, but they don't offer it, so I did have to go with a refreshing iced tea. That's a pretty minor quibble though.

The best hotel to stay at in the whole Natomas area.  Rates are very reasonable at around $130.00 a night.  I have always booked the two bedroom suite, which is great because you have two bedrooms, two baths and a great living room and kitchen. Bonus-flat screen tv's in each bedroom and the living room!  Woohoo!

I also get priority club points for staying there, as well since it is in the Hilton chain of hotels.

The lobby is really beautiful, and they have great little touches like refreshing infused water on hand for the guests.  The check in staff are wonderful and remember you and your preferences and that was the second time I had stayed at the hotel.

The hotel is also visible from Highway 80 and close to shopping and restaurants.

I had a wonderful birthday dinner here.  Fed 10 people for only $130 family style dishes and that is with a full order of the peking duck!  We also had three boxes worth of leftovers, so I'm not sure why folks say the portions are small.

I would recommend the peking duck.  You get quite a few dishes they make with it and it is quite delicious.

We had chicken and asparagus, mushu pork, walnut prawns, salt and pepper ribs and a couple of things that are not on the menu that our friend ordered for us.  Everything was tender, perfectly spiced and wonderful.  My friend who ordered the dishes for us is very particular about food.  It has to be damn near perfect for her to compliment it and she had nothing bad to say about the food here.

I will agree with the reviewer who said the bathroom was poorly decorated and smelled funny.  But it was clean and fully stocked with soap and paper towels, so one can't complain too loudly.

This Walgreens kicks butt!  The customer service is top notch.  Aisles are wide enough.  I also like how tall the aisles are, but then again I am tall, so I have no problem getting what I want from the top shelves.

I was buying condoms.  The checkout gal said "Good for you. Too many people, especially women are embarrassed to buy condoms.  They make their guys do it."  "What?" I exclaimed.  "That's so sad. Do they think the clerk is judging them maybe?" I queried.

"I guess, so.", she replied.  "We even have a guy who works here who doesn't like to buy condoms here.  If you're embarrassed to buy them, then you probably aren't mature enough to be using them.  Plus a ton of guys always go for the Magnums."  Well by this point I was cracking up-funny and true.  Thank God someone at Walgreens had sense enough to hire such a great, caring  and no-nonsense clerk.

This review is only for the adult store part.  I didn't go the gentleman's club because I am a girl.

Adult store-great selection.  Just about anything you can think of and more.  Layout is a little weird, but I've yet to find an adult store where that wasn't the case.  Staff very nice and friendly.  Many times as a single gal you feel a little weirded out in adult stores.  Not so here.   I didn't spend any time in the movie section of the store though it looks pretty big, because my primary visit was to get toys.

Pure gold does many things right.  They write what type of batteries the toy takes and how many on the package.  Yay.  Nothing worse than finding out you've got the wrong size or number of batteries for the job.

They do have the packages stapled to prevent theft.  Which I understand the rationale, but it is annoying.  Because the package is harder to open, especially if you're a girl.  Also, some of the toys are quite delicate and could potentially get damaged when removing them because of the sharp edges of the staples.  If anyone from Pure Gold reads these reviews, maybe you could proactively offer staple removal services for any lady clients?

Checkout was easy and the clerk checked my ID!  Yay.  I can't stand when clerks don't check for ID with credits cards.  The checkout guy did biff my name when he tried to say it, but he was a sweetie and gave me great care instructions.  For some reason or another, not many adult toys come with instructions.  Now this sounds like an invalid complaint-because I know what you are thinking.  If you can't figure out an adult toy, you shouldn't be buying them.  But just about every other thing you buy comes with care and usage instructions including your clothes!  Why should your toys be any different?

As a bonus, I got to see one of the dancers as I exited the store, because she was talking to the ID check guy.  She was very pretty, natural looking and we exchanged smiles.  

I honestly think that this could be the best adult store in the Sacramento area for gals.

This is definitely the place to go for breakfast.  Especially if you are staying at one of the local hotels.  The omlettes come in jr, regular, and large sizes.  I ordered the regular and it was huge!  I can't even imagine how large a large is.  Definitely a good value for the money.

Food fresh and hot, service friendly.  The decor is a little over the top.  It's like they decided to take every old thing they could find and tack it to the walls.  The counter seating looked like it had been there since the 1940's or maybe 50's.

Sonora isn't that big of a town.  So there aren't many lodging accommodations.  The Sonora Days Inn is one of them.

There are a lot of things to like about the hotel.  It has a unique rooftop patio and hotel.  It also has a street level courtyard.  There are many things to see and do while walking the historic main street.  There is a Save Mart within walking distance where you can get some groceries, or anything you may have forgotten. There is ample parking in the annex lot.  This is a  big plus, as parking space is precious.

The rates are reasonable and the room was clean. I was quoted an $80 a night rate so I figured with hotel taxes that I would really pay $100 a night.  I actually paid less than that.  I was in the annex portion, so I think my room was larger than the ones in the historic part of the building.  The only thing I didn't care for was the colored bedspreads which I promptly removed along with the blanket.  I like white clean fluffy bedspreads.  A big plus, the room had a microwave and a fridge.  

Check in was a breeze.  Staff  was friendly. I skipped the continental breakfast and walked to the Miners Shack to get an omelet.

My Grams lives in Isleton, so we go into Lodi for her grocery shopping.  Inevitably, she always wants to stop at Panera Bread and have a bite to eat.  If there are other restaurants in Lodi, I haven't eaten at them.  

Definitely recommend any of the sandwiches and their soups are divine.  Especially the tomato soup.  I don't generally like tomato soup, but theirs is really good.  The restaurant is generally clean, but the pager food system is a bit confusing.  Mainly because pagers are generally used to tell you your table is ready, not your food.

This location is great because you can get a great sandwich and great ice cream.  Yay.  Also, they tend to stay open past 8:00pm.  This doesn't sound like a big deal, but when you have tried to go to the Quizno's nearby only to find they are closed, believe me it is.  

Their Tuscan ham and Artichoke sandwich is divine.  Get it on the Parmesan bread.  I can't eat ice cream due to food allergy issues so I can't offer any info about the ice cream here.  Generally, though you can't go wrong with Baskin Robbins.  Bonus-there is a Starbucks next door, in case you wanted coffee with your sandwich.

Okay, you can definitely do worse than Debbie Wong.  Like Pick up Stix  on the other side of the freeway.  Uggggh.  Their fried rice is decent, not the best I have ever had, but not what passes at most Chinese eateries either.

Their chicken three ways is the best.  You get three different types of chicken.  The lemon chicken is the best, I think.  The decor is nice, the service fast.  

The bathroom, however, has all the ambiance of an industrial meatlocker.  It was seriously cold in there.  Just about the antithesis of what you are looking for when you drop your drawers to take care of business.