Yelp

Berkeley, CA

Because of it's proximity to my workplace, I end up eating here about once a month. That's about to change, because the under-cooked potatoes, while not without their rustic charm, are no longer tolerable.

I did eat here many times before I reached this epiphany because there are good points to Ann's. Besides being among the cheapest place on Telegraph, the service is also fairly quick.

They may appear rude, but I think they are just tired. The Telegraph Ave. crowd can get to you after a few years, so I can sympathize. They also are closed on Tuesdays.

Palo Alto, CA

My favorite Thai place on the Peninsula.  Every meal I've eaten here has been good, the ambience is unexpectedly pleasant, the service is decent, and the prices are average for Thai.  (I keep worrying they will raise prices.)

Thaiphoon could hold its own in a real foodie town - SF or Berkeley.  You can't say that about many mid-range places in Palo Alto.

Oakland, CA

The fall-back plan was scones and/or shortcake at Bakesale Betty, but I wanted something more substantial, ideally including some fried potatoes.

"Is that place new?" she asked.  

It had a cartoon of a skillet on it, so I said, "It looks perfect."  No one is perfect, but this place was just what I wanted.

Good coffee, a creative omelette (named Zorba! Opah!), generous cinnamon roll with frosting that reminded my date of cookie dough before the flour, and competent biscuits won me over.  Oh, and they had the requisite Potatoes O'Brian.

The wait staff deftly handled the few snags of the morning, mostly new-business fumbles in the theme of condiment availability.

This is my new favorite breakfast place.

San Francisco, CA

I went for the second time here with some friend's for a birthday desert outing. The first time I just got lunch with my girlfriend -- unimpressed  over-priced (Frankly i'm disappointed in food network for suggesting it). On my second visit for desert -- again unimpressed. its not the worst meal or the worst desert you will find, but man its not even close to the best.

Alameda, CA

Rosenblum opens early for wine tastings (11 am on Saturday) and is pretty easy to get to by the water in Alameda.

It is very nice for them to offer a free wine tasting. There are 3 wines in this tasting including a very good Russian River Merlot for only $18.

The reserve tasting is $8 and includes an additional 4 (?) wines. One, the Holbrook Mitchell Trio 2005 was spectacular. It was $25 and for some reason I did not buy it.

There were a couple of little things that were annoying. It didn't annoy me at the time because I have only been to Napa tastings and it would be normal in the valley but after spending the next 5 hours in East Bay wineries, it was disappointing.

First, we showed lots of interest in the Black Muscat and someone asked to taste it. They don't open it for tasting. They talked up their chocolate flavored wine but didn't open that one for tasting either. To me, that is the whole point of tasting, to taste the wine and then buy it. If I'm not sure I like it, I'm not buying it.

Second, their tastings were really, really small. Everyone else in the bay tended to give larger pours. But this is a minor complaint.

I would go back to Rosenblum Cellars. I would go back to one of their events as they have a lovely space and it would be great to roam around the patio and the cellars and drink wine with other East Bayers. However, I didn't join the wine club nor buy any wine.

San Bruno, CA

Food here is just ok, not too good, not too bad.  If you've been to one BJ's you've been to them all, there is absolutely no need to come back here again and again.  It's got some big screens and many smaller TVs so it should be decent if you come here to watch games.  

Their brews aren't bad, I'd say above average.  My favorite is the Red.  Our waiter at this particular was this no-so-bright emo kid.  Couldn't recommend anything to us, couldn't tell what's good and what's bad.

We went on Sat night at around 10, a group of 5, and there was no wait to sit around the bar area.

Palo Alto, CA

This is a review for the IKEA Bistro (the one downstairs, not the restaurant by the kids department, btw)

Just an FYI

The servers/cashiers do NOT change their gloves in between handling cash and food. I watched as they took the customer's money, put it in the register, and then picked up the hot dog with the same dirty gloves on. Yecch.

I was craving something sweet though, so I still stayed in line for the frozen yogurt for $1. The cones have a protective paper lining on the bottom where you hold it, so I just made sure not to eat the cone afterwards.

Stinson Beach, CA

Gayle, my son and I came out to Stinson Beach yesterday (Saturday) via the curvy and scenic Panoramic highway.  Gayle's friend and husband were having their annual Columbus Day/Indigenous Peoples Day/Canadian Thanksgiving party at his long-time family house that is right on the beach.  I think someone mentioned that the family bought it in the 1950s for around $3000 furnished. The house itself has a nice roomy, comfortable and funky feel that reminded me a lot of our family cabin back on Spirit Lake Iowa.

There were lots of print-related media and banking people there and it was great fun to talk about a lot of interesting political, financial, and local subjects such as the current declining state of the newspaper business.  Gayle had a great time catching up with several old friends and I enjoyed the witty and well-read repartee myself.

The pot luck food was fabulous and the wine and beer choices were excellent.  My son spend most of his time on the beach and sometimes in the water safe and really enjoying himself.  I'm still finding sand on him.

Gayle and I also had a chance to walk along the beach together.  And it was a perfect day; clear, sunny and warm even considering a nice cool fall breeze.  The beach itself was also nearly empty.

A great day....

San Francisco, CA

Spend your money on something else
The Bay City Bombers roller derby was completely fake and so boring that we all left half way through.
If you want to see roller derby that is entertaining, go to the one at Fort Mason

San Francisco, CA

I have to be honest.

I really hate to do this for two reasons. One - I was put up in this  hotel and two - there is a chance I will be coming back to stay at this hotel. But I have always believed that honesty is the best policy....thus my honest bad review.

It is five a.m. right now. I am lying in my hotel room at the Mosser, and for the second night in a row, I have barely slept more than 20 consecutive minutes at a time. Could it be the dump trucks outside my window (which has to be open because of the lack of air-conditioning and the default ninety degree temperature of this eighth floor room)? Could it be the old run down air duct outside my window that sounds more like a small percussion band, than heating and cooling product? Could it be the paper thin walls and the people who have come in and out and in and out all evening long?

Either way I have completely given up on the idea of sleep during my stay here. I would love to be able to watch my TV only it is broken. I would love to surf the web only there is no internet access. I could even order some room service and have an early breakfast only they don't offer it. I can't even take a nice relaxing morning bath because the bathroom is not only the size of a broom closet; I have found more than one piece of evidence proving it's non bathing conditions.

I talked to the front desk on two different occasions and it seems like they have heard about all of this at least 200 times, from 200 guests, in the past 24 hours alone. They are less than thrilled to deal with these problems, and really offered defensive excuses more than solutions....I get it....I would not want to have their job either. But a returned smile never killed anyone.

I wanted to like the Mosser. The concept is charming. Their potential is definitely there. The execution was not.

Fremont, CA

So this is the first time I've been here... I went here with my bf, his cousin and gf and two other friends.. so 3 girls 3 guys... and obviously us being total chicken girls... we went into the first haunted house maze.. and I'm not a fan of scary things... I love scary movies but put me into the scene.. I DON'T THINK SO... so all I remember was clenching on so hard to my bf arm cutting off his circulation to his arm and my circulation to my fingers were going out.. and I had Cathy grabbing onto my whole body behind me and Merryl grabbing onto her arm from behind her and all of us screaming and the bf's behind them.. SO YA... AS FOR US.. I DONT THINK WE SAW MUCH BUT being grabbed and screaming our asses off and sweating like hell trying to get out... and the guys getting spooked also and remember we all have thick jackets on by the time we got out it was freaking hot as hell...

ended up at the rat maze? with the strobe lights... that thing took forever and all I remember was running around with my bf and I see Cathy and Nico on the other side of the fence and Nico runs into the fence.. seriously that was so hard to get out of but hella funny... that was a good one...

the last haunted maze wasn't to fun because they had these loud pops that would go off in your ear... but I do like the first maze..

apparently last year they had like 5 mazes? according to my bf.. but they moved part of it to santa cruz.. they had a projector screen showing off last years thing and how better it was... and 20 bucks for 3 mazes wasn't all that good.. atleast 10 bucks for the 3... but you'll get a kick out of the rat maze because all you see is a bunch of people running in circles and GUYS running into fences thinking this is the way out.. :)

and glad to say finally my circulation to my fingers came back.. .and us three girls were loosing our voices and jumping up and down all crazy and ya...

oh and some dude believed the fortune teller.. .haha... that was hella funny because he believed what she said and ya.. if she says touch the magic ball.. IT WILL SHOCK YOU.. it's what the thing was made for... you can find those at Spencers except in a clear ball with the light..

San Francisco, CA

Insurance companies are supposed to be able to support and assist you with the situations you get yourselves into.

Don't expect this office to be of much help. Sympathy is not part of their training I suppose and its a good idea to try to keep your relationship with your client on a more personal level.

Yes its nice to call someone sir and or maam, but you are not running a hotel, your not a bellboy. You are the one that assists us when we get ourselves into accidents and what not. Call a person by their first name make it on a more personal level and your clients will be more comfortable with you. Our agent didnt even look at us in the eye when we talked.

Im guessing he wanted to get everything finished as quickly as possible but for an insurance agent he sucked. Customer service is obviously not one of his key points. Its not hard to follow guidlines of customer service and its not hard to incorporate a good image of yourself to your clients. Its practically common sense....please..

Allstate has all these commercials of being safe in their hands and etc etc etc. Unfortunately its only the commercials and the only ones really protected are the ones in the commercials... -___-

Insurance companies have many ways of improving themselves, Allstate needs to go over and re-evaluate this office of theirs. If you want more people to be insured under your company then you better start giving yourself a better self image.

Look Im not one to point out names of people when they suck at doing their job but if this office reads this review I'm quite sure they will know who I'm talking about. In the end, yes the guy did his job, could of did it a lot better but I guess some people have that mentality where just doing enough...is enough..

Concord, CA

I've been to this store a few times and for the most part it was not an enjoyable experience.  The staff lacks attentiveness and barely do their job.

However, I interacted with Ron this afternoon and he was GREAT.  Sweet and personable guy that walked me through my transaction with a super chill attitude.

Palo Alto, CA

This food here is just fine.  No, it's not Chez Panisse, and not Vik's, but it's definitely not as bad as some of the other reviews suggest.  In fact, I'd say HH food is tastier than most of the competition on University Ave - and compared to the local sit down Indian places, it's a great value.  (In Berkeley, this same place might earn fewer stars, but we're not in Berkeley any more.)

Does the service leave something to be desired?  Probably, but only a very confused white person would expect good service at an Indian restaurant.  That's just not what it's about.

Albany, CA

Where does one go on a very drunk Saturday night at 4:30 a.m.? Well we were en-route to Denny's but as soon as we passed by Happy Donut I was promptly instructed to turn around!!!!!!

Like any donut shop the choices were overwhelming. I had to get some sort of sprinkle confection, of course. My man required one of those ridiculously delicious lumps of buttermilk dough (we got maple flavored). Chocolate needed to be included somewhere and then of course, a fritter.

We each grabbed a mini milk from the fridge. I was pissed there was no non-fat, but we were already about to eat 4 donuts among the two of us so its not like the non-fat would have done any good anyway...

The only other customers at the time was a ridiculously old couple silently reading the newspaper in the corner; it was mysterious. Did they just get up? Were they about to go to bed? It looked like they had been settled in there for a good long while. weird/kind of cute.

I was a little bummed that at that time of the morning the donuts were not fresh out of the oven like at King Pin, but they were delicious none-the-less. I can't believe I actually agreed to eat so much crap that late at night, but it was o-so delish.

Oakland, CA

Aside from their cruel joke of a bathroom, which is clearly not designed with those who have been consuming copious amounts of alcohol in mind, Baggy's is the kind of place you can either bring a book and enjoy sitting in the red velvet cake ambiance, or you can wind up grinding drunkenly against the jukebox and singing Fleetwood Mac's "Little Lies" at the top of your lungs.

Not that I've done that.

San Francisco, CA

All I have to say is that this place is a fantastically delicious meat parade.

Concord, CA

I should have known better then to get mall food, but I hadn't eaten for more hours then was good and I used to get the Stir Fried Noodles at the Rincon Center location in SF all the time.

The meal was priced decently for the amount of food that you get.  For $6.50 plus tax, I got a heaping box of stir fried noodles with beef and veggies.  That, my friends, was the highlight.

The dish was sweet with sauce that drowned everything.  Some of the beef was strung together and mostly overcooked to a point of almost being a jerky.  

On a plus side for Sorabol, they have some Japanese items that were reasonably priced and the CA rolls didn't look so bad for $2.75!

OH!  And watch out, they have a sign that says "credit cards for purchases over $10, please" which is technically not allowed.

South San Francisco, CA

Didn't eat at the restaurant itself. Instead, my mom placed an order to be picked up for a small family get together at my house. Everything from the sisig to the mechado looked friggen good, and yes it was. The only downside is that they're a little pricey. If I wanted pricey, I would've gone to Patio Filipino. Still, the food was pretty good.

Pleasanton, CA

I first want to start off saying that I had high hopes for this place since it is just down the street from me.  The place is absolutely adorable - remodeled similar to a 1950s diner.  What struck me was the lack of service and employees right away....part of me was like "uh oh" but I shrugged it off and ordered anyway....I know why they now call it Rage Burgers now...it's not for the taste but the take-out service which caused me to go INTO a rage!!! Literally.

The clerk at the register was very sweet - asked him questions about what was especially good there and he recommended the onion rings, the delicious shakes and burgers (go fig haha).  So, the wait for placing the order was fine.  It was the waiting for the food that really gets bad.  

So this is where I warn ALL of you NEVER to do take-out here.  1) Eat the food there- it's fresh; 2) they don't communicate to the cook or other staff that "To-Go" does not mean=phone order; and 3)  they take advantage of you by not giving you the same quantity of food as they normally would if you were dining in.  Here's my personal experience:

I sit there waiting for my food (which was placed to-go) and I notice an Asian woman coming into work and begins to assist the cook behind the counter.  I'm thinking, "one more person! All right- my order will be quicker." WRONG.  I have a couple of orders ahead and wait for 20 minutes.  Finally, I see an order in styrofoam containers get placed on the counter.  I notice the woman fails to call an order.  I think to myself, "Maybe she's waiting on the rest of my order to come- I did order a Rage burger and chicken strips with fries/onion rings." NOPE. Wrong again...

After 5 minutes of waiting and hearing 3 numbers higher than mine go by (they call your order chronologically), I go to the cashier and say, "How much longer will my order take?" In which he replies, "Huh, you haven't had your order yet?"  YES, my thoughts exactly...

Cashier goes to the back and consults the woman preparing the orders and I head over to the pick-up counter to see what is going on!  The woman exclaims, "#27?  Whaddoumean 27?"  OH GREAT- isn't that what every person wants to hear after waiting 20 MINUTES.  So, then she remembers, "Oh- to-go order you mean?  Yah- that not phone order? I thought it phone order"....almost to softly say "Opps..."  There was a quick apology but little remorse. At least the cashier looked apologetic.

On top of the experience, I opened up my containers to find out that I had  2 chicken strips with a small amount of fries.  Now tell me that isn't a small quantity. If I ordered a meal for a child, that would work but for $5.49? It seems like I was getting taken advantage of.  I should have complained but did not. I was just too annoyed to even begin a shout down.

Moral to the story:  The "Rage Burger" was really tasty, onion rings and fries pretty good but no better than Denny's.  Do yourself a favor and go over to InNOut if you are looking for good quality. I don't need to remind you that with a good place like that one, management provides = cheaper/delicious/fast food.  

This place is way too overpriced and take-out service was beyond ridiculous.  Location is perfect but as another yelper said, a wasted one on a mediocre joint like this.  Gluck to the owners.  Unless they consult In&Out Burger management for advice, they might just find themselves in a tough economy like this, IN-and-OUT of business.

San Mateo, CA

Yummy yogurt.  I am glad they have the plain tart kind that tastes so good with fruit.
The self serve thing is cool because you *can* control how much you want, and can add as many toppings as you want to or not.  I like choices.

I am fortunate I can walk here from my house!

San Francisco, CA

I went to tikka Masala on haight street with my girl friend last week end and we ordered bunch of stuff. I can tell you their keema aloo / chicken karahi  and mix veggie is off the hook.
I always go to naan n curry but this restaurant on height street sure got my attention.

Palo Alto, CA

Boyfriend and I stopped in for a quick lunch today while shopping for some housewares and knicknacks for our new place. Ok, I'll admit I was a little wary about eating here but I guess it wasn't so bad. Not GREAT either, but it was cheap and somewhat more healthy than most fast food options we had.

I had the Penne Marinara combo ($4.99) which came w/ garlic toast and a choice of soup or salad. I opted for the soup of the day, which was some type of cheesy potato chowder. My dish was basically pasta and 5-6 Swedish meatballs with tomato sauce poured over it.

BF had the Chicken Fingers and fries platter ($4.99). The chicken was pretty good, not all dried out or anything. Fountain soda was not included with any meals, but they offered free refills.

All in all a cheap meal. I agree there aren't much choices to choose from but ah well. I wasn't hungry enough to finish my plate but he took care of that for me =)... next time I'll just order a kids plate or something if I just want a snack-type meal.

San Francisco, CA

Theater Yelp event is sort of like booze Yelp event, only more cultured.

And, dare I say, a little less friendly.  However do you explain that?

A litle more organization would have been great.  Maybe we could have had a Yelp-elite-exclusive pow wow in the corner to discuss cheering strategy*, or an email could have requested that we all show up drunk so that we would actually talk to each other.

Big thanks to Jessica for coordinating with the theater and making this happen.  The more offers I have to go see theater for free, the more theater I go see.

More on the play in my Exit Theater review...

*troubling lack of standing ovation energy here at the end of the show.  The show was fan-effing-tastic, I tell you.

San Francisco, CA

1. I dont understand what takes so long.
2. Why is my americano lukewarm?
3. Why are the above 2 always true?

Gets the big EH out of me.

Fremont, CA

Went back to this place again because I was craving for some spicy hot pot.  Unlike the first time, this experience was absolutely abysmal.  After about 20 minutes wait we were finally seated, at a rather dirty table I might add.  It seemed like someone wiped the table once over and called it clean, I mean there were grease and residual food bits from the previous meal...disgusting.  

We sat there for another 10 minutes without anyone ever bother bring us tea or take our order.  Finally I had to flag the hostess down and had her take our order...ridiculous.  Then the wait starts again, 20 minutes later and still no appetizers in sight nor no pot on the table, was getting seriously pissed off.  When a waiter finally brought us our appetizers I asked him if he could bring us the hot pot first so we can start boiling it.  He looked at me with disdain and said "When the hot pot ready I will bring it out obviously".  I couldn't believe my freaking ears.  

I'd give this place negative stars if I could.  This restaurant has no service, the waiters insult the customers, I'm never coming back here again.

San Francisco, CA

What a night! We first got here around 9 and the bouncers outside were super friendly and funny. They just started a conversation with us like we knew each other. Went inside and it definitely looks better on the inside then outside. Went straight to the bar. $10 for a AMF? WOW! I never knew alcohol cost so much now. But at least I can taste alcohol unlike other places when there's no alcohol in it what so ever.

Place was not crackin so we went to Taqueria Cancun and then came back an hour later when all our friends showed up. Then it was pretty damn packed inside. Went straight to the bar again and got another AMF. Music was good and crowd was diverse. Lots of different people which I love.

After 2 AMF, 1 Mojito, some kinda henny mixed with vodka drink, and shots out of a Henny bottle, I was GONE. Didn't remember anything after 1am and remembered I started crying like a damn baby for maybe an hour because I lost my new HELLO KITTY card that I JUST got! If you read my BofA review, you'll know how much I love my card. I was reminded by my friends how my quote of the night was, "They didn't use my card right!?!?!?" A security guards/bouncer guy found it outside the bathroom when I had dropped my purse and I guess I didn't pick that up.

Super nice and gave it back to me and assured me that no one used it. Gave him the longest hug and cried on his shoulder for the longest time! Thanks bouncer guy!

One of the best nights I've had!

(Oh, and I saw Steven T. here! Too bad you didn't come inside!)

San Mateo, CA

I finally made it in here once and for all.  I usually pass by after hours and look in the windows.  I love this place- they have great comforters and bed sets.  They also have a lot of different kinds of decorative pillows, and neat huge floor pillows.  Upstairs they have Chinese lamps and end tables- some of the end tables have Chinese poems written in them.
The prices here were unbelievable, and the quality of the items were excellent.
The cool part about the store was the lady who helped my friend and I.  Her name is Lina, and she was very helpful, and very informative about all of the merchandise, and I wanted to buy everything I loved in there because of her ( and this usually does not happen.)  My friend got a cool handmade bed set, and we both walked out of there with one of a kind home made glass pendant necklaces.

GO HERE and support your local businesses!  The prices for the items here were so much better than what you can get at those chain linen and home stores.

San Francisco, CA

Met some random people who dragged us here.  We're 2 straight girls and we had an AWESOME time here.  The drinks are super cheap (and WAY strong) and everyone was amazing!  I LOVE this place!!

San Francisco, CA

This place was not as good as I expected.  It was a creative idea to have a waterway with boats carrying sushi and sashimi but food itself not that great and they only had very few selections to choose from.  

It's a cute place but I wouldn't go there for sushi though.