The Strip Club

Well what can I say the Strip Club definitely impressed me. Our service was fabulous and he was also very knowledgeable. The ambiance was perfect and it was a really quite night so I have to say that I really enjoyed myself. Besides it being located in a sketchy neighborhood and the walk to and from the restaurant was a a tad scary everything else was very delightful. We started off with a couple appetizers Salumi ai Peperonata, Beans & Toast, and the Devil Eggs. All were quite interesting. The Devil Eggs had a little spice with a curry flavor. The Beans & Toast were just delicious, and how could a person go wrong with salami and cheese! While Marlo enjoyed our bartenders recommended concoction all the rest enjoyed nice glasses of wine. We then ordered our main meals which consisted of Chef's Loaded Burger, Hamburger, Filet Mignon, and the Roasted Pork Shoulder. I tried them all and I was very pleased. The burger was probably the best burger I have had in the past ten years. I had a nice charcoal grill taste but was cooked to perfection. The Filet Mignon was excellent - Durbin didn't try a sauce on it and it was very tender. Though I have to say I'd pass on his carrots because they were swimming in butter and all you could taste was the butter. The Pork Shoulder was amazing... it was served with pomegranate seeds along with squash and spicy onions. There was so much unique flavor within the every bite that I was amazed. Plus I loved the spicy onions!! All and all I would definitely recommend this place. And if you are trying to save money just go for the burger as it there was plenty to eat and it was definitely worth it.

**** 4.5 out of 5 Stars

Gingerhop Review...

Here is a SPECIAL and well deserved ADD ON to Restaurant Club....

Monte, Mia, Chris and I headed to Gingerhop on Friday Night. We started out with Calamari and Chicken and Beef Satay. The Calamari was excellent and the sauce had a little quick which you know I love. The Satay was good but the sesame dipping sauce was their favorite. Then we ordered dinner which consisted of the Green Curry, the shredded chicken along side of the red peppers and spicy curry sauce made this a definite hit. And we even had extra to bring along home. We also ordered the General Tsing's Chicken which was in a Tsing Tao beer spicy sauce - definitely got your taste buds in gear!! We had to pass on the dessert but the Guinness Chocolate Cake did sound interesting with it's cream cheese frosting. We instead topped off with another beer. The ambiance is awesome and how can I not mention that we had Al Franken sitting at the booth right next to us. Monte got to see him pick food out of his teeth and did I mention he's short!!

Anyways, all and all this was great night with phenomenal friends and fabulous food! Service wasn't the best and basically she just did her job and nothing more. But I will definitely go back. If you like SPICE then this place is for you.

**** 4.5 out of 5 Stars (The men even agreed!)

Nick & Eddies

We will give this one a 3.175... yep I did the unthinkable and went off the quarter scale. But I think all of us would definitely go again once they are back up and running. It sounds like one of the owners has sold his half and the liquor license was under his name so things are a little rocky their right now. Kind of looks like it is shut down if you didn't know any better. Though we had a great server and I guess the pudding and the yo-ho were fabulous. Tacos weren't that exciting and pork tenderloin was good but smaller portion. Plus who can complain when we were able to bring our own bottles of wine in. We definitely scored on that!!!

*** 3.175 out of 5 Stars

Picosa

I think Lisa summed up the night perfectly....

A couple of fun observations/happenings from the evening...

* GREAT happy hour drinks & $1 tacos...and until 7 PM!
* some serious salsa dancers - fun to watch and makes me want to learn.
* other people...we'll just call them "interesting" outfitted girls walking about...enough said.
* I think we all agreed that my tamale meal was the best entree - leftover it was good too!
* the ice cream shop that really isn't but still yummy in my tummy. :)
* and how can we ever forget the end of the evening...I still laugh at the fact that Jana sprinted to her car like she was trying out for the Olympics trying to avoid getting a ticket and that the two lucky ticket winners were the two birthday girls, Stef and I. Of which, I still need to pay my $35 fine that was more than my entire tab for the evening! LOL.

After all is said and done, it was FUN to celebrate amongst great friends! Thank you!!

Cheers!
Lisa

We started the rating at 3.5, but we had to lower it when it took forever to get our bills and after Stef and Lisa got their parking tickets!

FINAL - 3.25 out of 5 Stars

The Sample Room

Good food but nothing to rave about. Great beer selection. Great Ambiance.

3.25 out of 5 Stars

Chapati

Chapati - 4.25
Excellent Indian food!!

Review from Barrio

So I'm a little busy right now so I haven't gotten around to this... blah, blah, blah... are any of you even reading this?

So when entering the restaurant I was very pleased with the ambiance and decor but was surprised at how snug the restaurant was. As we sat down we were greeted by our waitress that seemed in a hurry and not to patient. While at Barrio we enjoyed a few cocktails that were very tasty. We had the Macho Camacho which had a very distinctive flavor with the Blood Orange Ancho. The Caesar Chavez which was just a good old Margarita! The Old Cuban that was unique but good. The Cobra Verde that had a nice sutle cherry lime flavor. And then there was the Black Bonita that was fabulous and we could have thrown a few of those back a piece they were so good.

Then we ordered a few small plates and a few tacos/enchiladas which consisted of:
GUACAMOLE - which was served chunky so we weren't really sure if we were suppose to wait for them to mash it or do it ourselves?!?
BARBECUE PORK SOPES - good, tender, and tasty.
BLACK BEAN & CHICKEN TOSTADA - The best small plate we had... very tasty and we'd definitely recommend.
POTATO SOPES - We didn't know what to think of these, they were kind of weird tasting.
QUESO FUNDITO - You can never go wrong with queso but I would recommend adding the chirizo for more flavor.
FRIED MAHI MAHI TACO - This taco was excellent and something different and the citrus pico added the perfect flavor.
GRILLED SKIRT STEAK - This one was also good but a tad greasy with the mushroom and steak combination.
CHICKEN ENCHILADA - Simple but good.
SPICED SHRIMP TACO - Definitely good flavor.
POTATO-CHORIZO TACO - Our favorite taco, it had a the most spice and flavor.

Throughout our dinner the service was so so. She took away our menus when it's obviously a place you continually order throughout your visit. Then she took cocktail's that weren't finished. Basically she was just going through the motions and was just "there". During our visit we go a little shower when a waitress spilled a drink upstairs and it splattered on us below.

All and all we were very pleased with the restaurant. We would definitely recommend the tacos and enchiladas versus the small plates because they had better flavor and were cheaper. The cocktails were spendy but delicious. I will definitely return but maybe try making it during their happy hour to save money on the cocktails.

**** (4 OUT OF 5 STARS)

Test

Review from Boba Cafe

Walking into Boba Cafe I have to say I had a lot of doubts, even though I had read some great reviews I was surprised to notice the empty bar I don't think they even used the bar for water - so I knew they didn't have a liquor license and so it wasn't looking good. Then looking at the huge menu I got really excited and wanted to try something different. We started off with the Appetizer Sampler which included Springrolls, Eggrolls, Wontons, Wings, and Chicken Satay. I think the springrolls were excellent, the eggrolls were really greasy, Wontons are always good and they were a little sweet, the wings didn't have much flavor, and the chicken satay also didn't have any good flavor. But we did finish the whole appetizer... or should I say I did cause I was super hungry! We then ordered our dinner which a few of the items we wanted were not available due to the peanut recall. So we finally settled on the Boba's Sizzling Platter Wraps, Stuffed Curried Crepes, Spicy Siam Combo, Spicy Peanut Chicken which we substituted cashews for the peanuts. The Boba's Sizzling Platter Wraps were nothing special - I thought instead of putting the meat and mushroom in the lettuce and rice paper wrap it was better just to through it over rice and add some spices. The Curried Crepes were... terrible, they were so huge and had no flavor of curry whatsoever. It tasted like an egg pancake with a little coconut milk. I think we all took a bite and then covered it up with our napkin. The Spicy Siam Combo was good and had good flavor and the Spicy Peanut Chicken was also really good. The restaurant was clean and our service wasn't the best but she wasn't terrible either.

I don't think we'd ever return to this restaurant, I realize we have to take into consideration where the restaurant is located and how cheap the food was. But personally I will not return and if you do go please steer away from the Crepes even though it is one of their signature entrees!!

***(3.25 out of 5 stars)

Review from Rinata

When walking into the restaurant, I was quite surprised at how busy it was. It is a very small but cozy restaurant. We didn't have a reservation, but next time I would definitely make a reservation as it filled up fast. We started off with the Artisinal Salami Plate with olives artichokes and fresh mozzarella for an appetizer. I thought it was excellent and a great light appetizer. We then ordered dinner which consisted of Gnocchi with chicken, Ravioli with Porcini, and Fettuccini Puttanesca. The Gnocchi was simple but good, the Ravioli was very tasty but a tad salty, and the Fettuccini was excellent. I thought everything was excellent and in regards to the prices it was super affordable. I would definitely recommend asking the waitress for a more detailed explanation of the entrees cause that was very helpful, otherwise they all sound kind of simple. Our waitress was a little too nice... her voice made me just want to cringe, but she was very knowledgeable so I'll give her that!! We would definitely recommend this restaurant for a good and reasonable priced meal.

****(4 out of 5 stars)

Review from Spasso

When we pulled up to the Strip Mall where the restaurant was located, I wasn't quite sure what to expect. But the moment we walked in the door I was pleasantly surprised - the nice decor, a huge wood burning stove, the friendly staff, and needless to say it's a lot bigger inside then it looks from the outside. When we sat down our waitress was very polite and helpful in suggesting a wine to our tastes. Most of us had wine and the cocktails were served in pint glasses (this is my type of drinking...). What is unique about their wine selection is that if you don't find what your looking for on their menu you can go next door to the Wine Shop and pick out your wine and they'll cork it at the restaurant. Plus the wine prices are very reasonable starting at only $20 a bottle. We then decided to get the Spinach Artichoke Dip for an appetizer and it was fabulous - it tasted very fresh and the Parmesan Flatbread was excellent. We then proceeded to order dinner which we tried the Crab Cakes, Pepperoni Pizza, Margherita Pizza, Bacon White Cheddar Burger, Seafood Volcano, and the Skirt Steak. The pizzas were good but simple - basically what you'd expect. Crab Cakes came with three dipping sauces that were exquisite - each with their own unique flavor, it was definitely a winner. The Bacon Cheddar Burger was huge and I assume it was good since Luis kept it all to himself :-). The Skirt Steak was tender and juicy and the hunter sauce added the perfect touch to this excellent dish. And then there was the Seafood Volcano...shrimp, scallops, and crap in an absolute phenomenal cream sauce. I'll definitely be back for more of this. If you like seafood then there is no doubt this is the dish for you! We all ended up passing on the desert as we all were full and a few of us had to go boxes. The prices were very reasonable and we would definitely return.

****(4.25 OUT OF 5 STARS)

Review from Obento-Ya

This small little restaurant was definitely something different and good. We snuck in a couple beers on happy hour and ordered a couple appetizers. First we ordered both the Agedashi Tofu and the Kushi Katsu Vegetables. The tofu didn't really taste like anything - I would definitely not order that again and the Kushi Katsu Grilled Vegetables were interesting but definitely nothing special either. At this point I was kind of worried the food seemed blan and didn't have any flavor. We then ordered different Bento Box Combos which included the meat of your choice - we had the chicken, pork, beef, and the salmon. The bento box also came with white steamed rice, spring greens, Japanese potato salad, spicy burdock root saute, a Japanese egg omelet, and miso soup. The salad was fabulous, the potato salad was creamy goodness (we were all hoping to have gotten an extra scoop!), the egg omelet was also very tasty, and the miso soup was good but the shallow spoons made consumption a tad difficult. After becoming pros with our chopsticks all and all we were very pleased with this restaurant. We would recommend getting the Classic Bento Box versus the Combo box and save yourself $4 - maybe get yourself the Asparagus and Bacon roll (we also tried this and I thought it was phenomenal (anything with grilled bacon is always good!)

***(3.25 OUT OF 5 STARS)

Review from Cafe Maude...12.9.08

This resataurant has the ambiance that you love, it was fancy but low key. The service was good though it seemed the type of place that is in no rush to get you out the door and perhaps too polite to interrupt your conversation to get your order. Which among a bunch of girls - there was really no down time for him to sneak in, so it seemed as though we were waiting to order. We shared a bottle of wine and Marlo was excited to try the Bronco Nagurski (whiskey, rootbeer, and bitters) - she was definitely impressed and loved the extra kick!! The waiter was excellent when he noticed we weren't impressed with the wine and got us a new bottle which we definitely enjoyed. We then enjoyed an array of food everything from Mac & Cheese to Baked Escargot. The Mac and Cheese was definitely one of our favories. We also had the Corn Chowder, Egg & Spinach, House Cut Fries, and Grilled Asparagus. I have to say we all enjoyed the relaxed atmosphere and I have to say the conversation was the best. All in all we would definitely return and thought it would be fun to visit during the live music on the weekends.

***(3.5 OUT OF 5 STARS)