Ricky C.'s Profile

Blueberry Hill is THE definition of a dive bar. It's a comfortable-but-basic neighborhood pub with everything you could ask for in a bar: good drink selection, attentive service (Kayleigh was great!), billiards, darts, and an internet jukebox with hundreds of awful choices. It really doesn't get any better than that.

The downside which prevented me from giving Blueberry Hill a full 5-stars was the fact that despite the name being reminiscent of a pancake/waffle joint, this pub doesn't have a food menu.

So if you find yourself in the forest park area with a handful of friends, Blueberry Hill is the place to go. It's a Cheers-style pub, with friendly staff and friendlier patrons. Can't go wrong here!

Eat Chow is not chinese food.

I visited Eat Chow with a group of friends, and we were discussing the fact that we all first thought it was a Chinese place based on the name alone. That nonsense aside, Eat Chow is pretty fantastic. The vibe it gives off isn't quite restaurant, isn't quite diner, isn't quite....i don't know. The walls are glass and the place is attached to The Closet which is a retail store. So while you're eating your food, you've got women shopping for clothes on the other side of the glass wall.

Now, normally this would make me somewhat uncomfortable, but not at Eat Chow! Why you ask? Because the food is so good that frankly, you won't care what else is going on around you.

We started off with the Truffle Parmesan Fries, which are tied with the upscale STRIPSTEAK's Duck Fat Fries in Las Vegas as my favorite fries in the world. Lucky for me, Eat Chow is a lot closer than Las Vegas. The fries are served in a bucket, with a side of blue cheese dressing which compliments them perfectly.

Now, the group of friends that I went with, well, we're self-proclaimed grilled cheese connoisseurs. So when it came time to decide an entree, the grilled cheese burger was the obvious choice. So, having learned nothing from our previous experience with judging a book by it's cover, we assumed that it'd be a cheeseburger that maybe had buttered bread in place of a bun.

NOPE!

The grilled cheese burger is literally a full sized, and fully loaded cheeseburger, but in place of buns Eat Chow uses entire/complete grilled cheese sandwiches. That's a grilled cheese sandwich on top, AND bottom. It was quite the mouthful to eat, but each bite seemed more wonderful than the last. The burger however is a mammoth, and if you can finish the entire thing then you have my respect. I only managed to eat half of it and i feel as if it took a good 10 years off my life and greatly increased my chances of heart disease. BUT WHO CARES!? It's so good!

After our meal, we headed to the local liquor store for 40oz beers, which might I add complimented our grilled cheese burgers perfectly.

Regarding the service, atmosphere, etc.. I was too mesmerized by the amazing food to notice or care, but the place seemed rather snazzy prior to eating, but who knows what could've happened during our meal.

EAT CHOW, YOU'RE ALRIGHT. Put 40's on the menu and you've got yourself a fifth star.

I had made plans to grab dinner with a friend, and they happened to be a vegetarian, so when looking into places to go in the area that offered vegetarian/vegan cuisine, one name repeatedly came up: Avanti Cafe.

Avanti Cafe is known for it's Vegan/Vegetarian friendly menu made from fresh organic ingredients, it's selection of wines, microbrew beers/ales, and their teas/coffee. At first glance it looks almost like a coffee house, however they have a full menu chock full of delicious and healthy options. We went around 8PM on a Saturday night and the place was packed! Clearly the popular establishment, however we managed to luck out and found a table open up shortly after ordering.

This being my first time eating at a Vegan/Vegetarian restaurant, I wasn't sure what i'd like or wouldn't like. Lucky for me, the woman who took our order was extremely helpful in providing suggestions based on the foods I already liked.

I  went with the Pizza Bianca which featured Avanti's own cheese blend, ricotta cheese topping, garlic & shallot greens, olives, almonds and a touch of rosemary sea salt. It was unlike any other pizza i've ever had, and i throughly enjoyed it!  The caprese roasted cherry tomato salad complimented the meal nicely, and the salad was very fresh.

Service is extremely friendly, helpful, and attentive. The restaurant is clean, reasonably priced, and had we had a bit more time, would've been a good place to hang out thanks to the homely atmosphere.

If you're looking for tasty Vegan/Vegetarian cuisine, Avanti Cafe in Costa Mesa is the place to go.

I take regular trips to Las Vegas for work, and on this past trip I happened to find myself staying at Fitzgerald's, or "The Fitz" as the sign read. Of all the Vegas hotels i've stayed at, this one is my least favorite to date.

Our first interaction with the Fitz was the parking garage, which although free, was seemingly to small for the casino as there was not one vacant spot in the entire garage.

Check-in was quick and fairly painless, however our room was less than favorable. The TV was off to the side of the room, completely off-center from the bed, the room smelled of deodorizer, and the bed is by far the most uncomfortable thing i've ever slept on. Just a step up from a thinly carpeted concrete floor.

I wasn't a fan.

A coworker recommended this "museum" to me after visiting with her kids. A lack of plans on a Wednesday night caused me to find myself at the Citizens Commission on Human Rights taking the tour on Psychiatry throughout history.

The tour itself is littered with Scientology overtones and beliefs, which make for a PETA-like biased view on Psychiatry. The guides and videos give you the feeling that they're trying to push their beliefs on you moreso than educate. Now, to be completely honest, I did find the exhibits, videos, and material all very intresting and informative, but I've never been keen of any person/organization that tries to push their beliefs on others.

The museum has plenty of artifacts from the 18th/19th century, psychiatric drugs throughout the years, and some parts are decorated to reflect the era in which they're describing which made it pretty cool.

So there you have it. If you've got nothing better to do, pay the creepy museum a visit. It's free, educational, and gives you insight to the dark history of a field that not many people really stop to think about.

I paid Maru a visit while on a date with a friend after having read the rave reviews both here on yelp, and on a few food blogs, and quite honestly i'm glad i did! The atmosphere isn't overly loud, the decor is upscale and modern, the wait staff is attentive, and the sushi is incredible.

We started our meal by sampling two selections of Sake which we were assured would pair nicely with our meals, and they did. I was skeptical about our waitresses' suggestions as she appeared a bit on the younger side, but she seemingly knew her sake and the suggestions worked out great with our sushi and dinner selections.

Now, before i go on, i will make a bold statement:
The sushi at Maru is FRESHEST sushi i've found while in California.

I've had sushi at a handful of places in LA, and Maru blows them all out of the water! The rolls are prepared perfectly and quickly, while staying true to the belief that sushi is art rather than a finger food. The fish tastes incredibly fresh, which comes to no surprise as the website claims that it's flown in overnight from Japan.

Now, the sushi alone is worth rating Maru 5-stars. Unfortunately, Maru lost it's 5th star due to the other entree item I had which was the Steak pasta. Although the Steak itself was incredibly tender and delicious, the pasta and it's accompanying sauce were very bland and mundane. Now, it is entirely possible that my palate may have been spoiled by the incredible sushi i had before hand, however I was simply not impressed with the pasta.

BUT! despite this, Maru quickly rose to become one of my favorite restaurants, and hands down the best sushi i can say i've ever had.

It's a bit on the pricey side, but I can assure you that if you stick to the Sushi, it's worth every penny. Not very many things make the drive to "Awesometown" worthwhile, but this place is definitely worth the trip!

Conroy's Flowers is who 1-800-Flowers uses as their local florist in the Canoga Park area.

I decided to use 1-800-Flowers to send an arrangement of flowers to a friend at her work, and Conroy's was contracted with the job. While they did a great job putting together the arrangement and delivering it on the day we agreed upon, i was concerned with how late the delivery took place, and the quality of the flowers received.

Delivery took place later in the afternoon, which ended up working out for fine for my situation, however should've someone sent flowers to a workplace that closes down somewhat early, they wouldn't have made it. Per their agreement with 1-800-Flowers, they're also supposed to notify the customer when the order has been received and is out for delivery. None of this happened, and I had to call customer care to have them reach out to Conroy's to get an ETA as i was concerned that they would not arrive in time.

Now, delivery is only a small contributor to my 2-star rating. As i previously mentioned, I was pleased with the arrangement itself, however the life and longetivity (or lack thereof) was unacceptable. My european arrangement that was just shy of $90 was dead after just under a week. I've sent flowers in the past from the grocery store florist which I would naturally imagine wouldn't last nearly as long, and are a FRACTION of the cost, and they've always lasted a minimum of two weeks in the same care, by the same recipient.

So, there's that. If you're looking for a pretty arrangement, a florist that delivers, and lifespan is of no concern to you, then Conroy's is a decent choice. But if it's someone you care about and you want the flowers to continue to bring a smile to their face for longer than just a couple days, then you may want to look elsewhere.

I'm unsure if the current drool on my shirt stems from a salivary gland disorder, or from reminiscing of my meal at stripsteak this past weekend.

Either way, Michael Mina's STRIPSTEAK offered one of the best meals i've ever had and will forever be a MUST while in Vegas. Each meal is started off with a trio of Duck Fat Fries, compliments of the Chef. Duck Fat Fries are french fries which are fried in duck fat , seasoned three different ways and served with three dipping sauces. These are easily the best french fries i've ever had are deserving of the 5-star rating alone.

Collectively, our group ordered the Japanese A5 Filet (market price of $95), a few orders of Salmon ($35), the American Kobe Burger ($25), and additional sides of duck fat fries and the truffled mac and cheese. While the prices are high, this is a prime example of "you get what you pay for." We were told that the A5 filet was flown in from Japan earlier that morning, and upon receiving it, was tender enough to cut with a fork alone.  

The Salmon, cooked and seasoned perfectly, was extremely fresh. Having eaten at places such as Neptune's Net on Pacific Coast Highway in California, I didn't think it was possible to taste a fresher tasting fish, but Stripsteak really nailed it. When served with a side of truffled Mac & Cheese, which might i add was some of the best i've had the pleasure of trying, it was truely an adventure for the taste buds.

Onto the burger. The American Kobe Burger was the least expensive of the various options. It featured a kobe beef patty cooked to a perfect medium served on a bun with fennel slaw and watercress. What was without a doubt the best burger i've ever had was served alongside a second helping of the succulent duck fat fries I had experienced at the beginning of our meal.

Overall, i was very pleased with the meal as well as the amazing service and I didn't hear a single complaint in our party except regarding the price. But like I mentioned earlier, "you get what you pay for." Unless of course you were the one ordering the $95 A5 filet... That should have come with a lapdance.

"Meh. I've experienced better."

the caption to the two-star rating lays it out perfectly. You really would expect more out of this highly stylish and modern cafe located in the newest hotel in Vegas, Aria at citycenter.

Cafe Vettro features high ceilings with floor to ceiling glass windows. Windows were complimented with exposed steel beams, and plenty of glass and stone decor throughout. This gorgeous cafe however, is brought down by the food which i can't speak as highly about.

I came here for breakfast and ordered their $16 omelette. For double the price of an omelette (with one less ingredient choice) than that of the Grand Lux Cafe at the Venetian, I expected it to be twice as good. Unfortunately this was not the case. The omelette was lackluster to say the least.. The cheese was a single slice layed out on top which left the inside of the omelette feeling very dry and tasting rather bland.

Coffee was an extra $4.50. Double the price of what you'd pay for a Venti coffee at Starbuck's. I don't mind this, but what turned me off about this was that our waitress brought me a cup, and left the thermal pot at our table. While this had a certain level of convenience, it lacked the personal touch and required attentiveness  most cafes and diners offer when our waitress returns to inquire if we'd like a refill.

So overall while the ambiance was easy on the eyes, my wallet had a hard time justifying the $25 price tag for a boring omelette, and a less than personal experience. Next time we're just going to go to Denny's.

I've had my fair share of Sushi while living in Southern California. It seems as though there are sushi joints on every block!....not that there's anything wrong with that.

What really sets Midori Sushi apart is their well designed contemporary atmosphere, their attentive staff, and the price spent for the amount and quality of sushi received. Their $25 all-you-can-eat is the only way to go!

Rolls average about $10-14 each, so if you eat two rolls you're already justifying the $25 AYCE price tag. The quality of the fish is FRESH and the quality of the sushi and rolls is superb.

Midori is also great for groups as well! We had a ~15 person party at Midori for my birthday (afterall, it IS my favorite!) and they were able to handle the group while still delivering the attentive service we've been used to. My friend and I regularly will make the 35 minute drive, passing many other sushi restaurants on the way to Encino to stop at Midori. It's worth every mile, and certainly every penny.