Michael "Mike" G.'s Profile

I took my car in for a recall. I felt the service department was fairly quick and efficient, and it's located near all sorts of stuff in Santa Monica so you can easily kill a few hours as you wait. I also like the fact that they give your car a quick rinse before giving it back to you. Show owner comment »

I bought ten passes to Punchline at a charity auction. The passes are basically useless. The restrictions weren't listed at the time of the auction, so when I got the passes, I unhappily found out that they can only be used Sundays through Wednesdays, they can't be used for special events, and there's a two-drink minimum on top of the cost of the passes. Fine. Despite the false advertising, I can deal with it. It's for charity after all.

What I can't deal with is the idiocy of them not knowing if a show is a "special event" or not. I called two days in advance to reserve seats, meeting the 24-hour advance reservation requirement that is also yet another restriction that wasn't advertised when I bought the passes. The guy on the phone said he didn't know if the event for that night was a special event or not and said he would check and give me a call. How your own employee who is picking up the reservation line doesn't know if an event is a special event or not is beyond me. I called back the next day. He STILL didn't know if it was a special event or not. Finally, on the day of the show, late in the afternoon, he informs me it's a special event and that my passes won't work for the show. WTF. To me, this suspiciously sounds like events are "special" when they feel that they can sell out tickets and are not "special" when it'll be dead.

Good for you, Punchline, for supporting charity. Bad for you, Punchline, for being assholes about it.

Mr. Kim runs an amazing school. If my work schedule hadn't been so rough, I would've been here much more often. The instruction is solid, and there is an extensive schedule of classes. I've studied at several schools as I've moved around the country, and Jae H Kim was definitely one of the better schools. The only downside I can think of is the location by Fenway, which can be problematic during home Sox games. For those detractors, keep in mind that in the end, a school is still a business. There are rent and equipment costs, instructors need to be paid, and electricity isn't free. It can seem expensive, but if you want solid Tae Kwon Do instruction, then this is completely worth it.

The only day you should ever come here is Tuesday, and the only thing you should ever order is the 99 cent Tuesday special. Where else can you pay only $1.08 to get two beautifully fried pieces of chicken (leg and thigh)? They're quite nice about it, too. In fact, when I order my two-piece special, they usually ask me, "How many?" Yes, they will actually allow you to order ten two-piece specials for yourself in one order without an argument. There's little better than this in life. It makes for a great day of passing out on the couch with a stack of empty Popeye's fried chicken boxes next to you.

Do yourself a favor and go to the Popeye's on Divisadero instead. You'll save yourself a lot of trouble, even if it is harder to find parking. If you feel like some adventure, though, try taking in a coupon and seeing if they understand how it works.

Yank Sing delivers dim sum in a fancy way, though unfortunately, fancy also means expensive. Everyone has mixed opinions about this place with worse opinions coming from those footing the bill, but if you're looking for good ethnic food where you can take finicky types who might not want to try something new but will be impressed by your worldliness, this is a great option. I definitely recommend getting some peking duck and small dragon buns or whatever they're called in English.

Holy crap is this place expensive! It's a good thing I wasn't paying. It's especially expensive in comparison to the quality of the dishes and the amount of food you get, but I suppose that's what happens when you elect to go to a frou-frou restaurant. If you've ever been to a PF Chang's, then you've essentially been here before, except for the live jazz. The one thing to watch out for is the prix fixe menu. They stick one of those on the table for everyone while giving you only one regular menu from which you can order individual dishes. What's the deal with that?

This place has your general staple of mediocre takeout food. I found the garlic fries to be not so good, though the wings were decent. As for the cobb salad, what the hell? There was no bacon or at least ham in it. That's not a cobb salad! Delivery service was an overall good experience, and you can do it all online on GrubHub.

This place has incredibly good salt and pepper chicken wings. Everything else on the menu is good, too, though I'd skip ordering a waffle. Really, who orders a waffle at a Chinese restaurant? I actually have no idea what else I've eaten here, as I'm always with people who speak Cantonese, and I can't understand a thing they're ordering. However, you could almost certainly order randomly and still be happy, provided you're truly omnivorous. Just make sure you get the wings!

This place is freaking awesome! If you don't come here at least once for the samosa soup and tea leaf salad, then you haven't lived. This is one of those places where a veggie meal is as good if not better than one with meat (though they do have meat on the menu if you're so inclined). Just be prepared to wait for a table.