Must own, no. Would I mind owning it? I'll buy a previously viewed DVD form the local video store like we did for the fourth Indiana Jones movie ($3.99!!).
Not to spoil things, but this movie isn't the Joe's against Cobra. Cobra doesn't exist (yet) so you get to see the precursor to that.
If your familiar at all with G.I. Joe from the cartoons back in the 70's & 80's, then you'll recognize some of the character names while watching this. A number of your old favorites do NOT make an appearance in this film, but that is somewhat understandable since this isn't the whole Good Guys vs. the persistent Bad Guys yet (no Cobra).
Still, it was quite entertaining overall. I thought they did a pretty good job of bringing the franchise up to date, and found some good people to play the key roles for the most part. Some of the history has been altered, and I can kinda see why it was done that way. Those alterations do a good job of explaining why certain 'outside military' personnel were brought in to the fold, and also does a good job of setting up for future movies in the line.
To keep things short: Duke was seeing this girl, and this girl's brother was a geek assigned to his team for some operation overseas. Things went bad and the brother died. The girl went all Gothic and evil on Duke, and went to the dark side unbeknownst to him.
A few years later, Duke and his team are charged with transporting some new weapon the Gov just bought, and his ex-girl shows up to take his new toys. The Joe's show up during this fight, and Duke and his buddy end up joining them since he has some history with her.
Turns out the ex-girl is working for the really bad guy, and he has lots of other really bad guys working for him. Remember Snake Eyes from the cartoon? He has a 'brother' who's one of the bad guys, and they duke it out at the end. The head bad guy turns out to be Destro, and the dead-brother ain't so dead, and he becomes The Commander (and creates Cobra from the ashes of the other lead bad guy's remains).
Of course the movie does end there, but the writers or whoever built-in a couple spots were a sequel can show up, and I expect there will be at least one.
Overall the movie was good, entertaining and mostly well thought out. There aren't many plot twists, but they are creative and thought out. The movie ended up being mostly predictable for me, but I enjoyed many a school morning watching cartoons before heading out for the day, and G.I. Joe was one of them so I'm still pretty well versed on the history and people involved.
If some friends wanted to go see it again in the theater, I probably would. And when it comes out on video (provided there isn't some big deal alternate version or something on Blu-ray) I'll most likely stop at the video store and get a previously viewed DVD. The movie wasn't bad, but I can't see spending $40 on a Blu-ray disc for it (unlike Ironman which I bought on DVD and then later on Blu-ray, gave the DVD to my parents).
Your kids would like seeing this movie I think. It's high tech, but not so technical that young teens wouldn't understand what's going on (provided they like this kind of movie).
The special effects and overall cinematic experience can't be ignored though. If your going to see this movie, try to catch it in a good theater before the run ends. It'll make a difference.
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Monday, July 27, 2009
Ciao Bella, Bloomington
Rating: B
We went for dinner here after recommending it to a friend (he had guests from out of town, wanted a nice place that wasn't real expensive to take them for dinner). We'd never actually eaten here, but always heard from others that it was a good place to eat if you like Italian.
We were a party of seven, adults and children. We ordered pizzas, pasta and Maryanne and I had steaks.
Everyone's food was great, no complaints about taste or quantity and such. Except for mine. Maryanne and I ordered the same steak cooked the same way. Her's was cooked near perfect, mine was very underdone.
To the restaurants credit though, they asked if I wanted this one refired or if I wanted a replacement (I choose to refire). They took it off the bill and gave us free desserts on top of that. Everyone apologized, some repeatedly, about my steak being undercooked and they also apologized for me not being able to eat with my party and ruining the flow of our dinner.
Many points in the positive for that.
I give it a B rating not because of my steak problem, but because of the overall atmosphere and pricing. Prices seemed high for the bit of food you got, and the food itself was not bad or exceptional, just good. The same "good" that I would get at most other places for a lower price. Maryanne had the same thoughts, the kids just said it was good pizza. The pasta's were apparently pretty good, getting thumbs-up and such.
Still, expect to pay a lot when you eat here. Don't be afraid to flag down a server when you need a drink refill or you might not get one (we ordered a bottle of wine, three of us finished it off and were not offered any other beverages the rest of the evening), and please don't go here looking for exceptional 5-star food. You will get at least 4-star service for the most part, and the food is at least Good. Your wallet will take a hit though.
Review posted late due to ISP issues. Actually dining experience was 7/23/09, evening.
We went for dinner here after recommending it to a friend (he had guests from out of town, wanted a nice place that wasn't real expensive to take them for dinner). We'd never actually eaten here, but always heard from others that it was a good place to eat if you like Italian.
We were a party of seven, adults and children. We ordered pizzas, pasta and Maryanne and I had steaks.
Everyone's food was great, no complaints about taste or quantity and such. Except for mine. Maryanne and I ordered the same steak cooked the same way. Her's was cooked near perfect, mine was very underdone.
To the restaurants credit though, they asked if I wanted this one refired or if I wanted a replacement (I choose to refire). They took it off the bill and gave us free desserts on top of that. Everyone apologized, some repeatedly, about my steak being undercooked and they also apologized for me not being able to eat with my party and ruining the flow of our dinner.
Many points in the positive for that.
I give it a B rating not because of my steak problem, but because of the overall atmosphere and pricing. Prices seemed high for the bit of food you got, and the food itself was not bad or exceptional, just good. The same "good" that I would get at most other places for a lower price. Maryanne had the same thoughts, the kids just said it was good pizza. The pasta's were apparently pretty good, getting thumbs-up and such.
Still, expect to pay a lot when you eat here. Don't be afraid to flag down a server when you need a drink refill or you might not get one (we ordered a bottle of wine, three of us finished it off and were not offered any other beverages the rest of the evening), and please don't go here looking for exceptional 5-star food. You will get at least 4-star service for the most part, and the food is at least Good. Your wallet will take a hit though.
Review posted late due to ISP issues. Actually dining experience was 7/23/09, evening.
Transformers: Revenge of the fallen
Our Rating: Wait
We saw this opening weekend, so the theater was almost packed. That wasn't an issue as we kinda like having more than just a few people in theater because the movie tends to be a bit more enjoyable (crowd reactions, etc.).
That said, we should've waited for the DVD and rented it. The movie moved terribly quick from cut to cut, sometimes seeming as though it was cutting to unrelated scenes just to make the cut. Overall the beginning of the movie was slow much like the last one, and things ended much too quickly to get that real sense of accomplishment, etc.
The fights were pretty good, and the graphics/CGI worked as well as they did in the first, but still we came out of the theater trying to figure out what the movie was about. Instead of saving the world from the Bad Guys, they... saved the world from the Bad Guys. Provided that is the point, but it was a bit difficult to figure out how this movie differed from teh first. They had different plots and stories, but it ended up being much of the same.
Some of it didn't make sense, such as where one bot gives his life to provide his power and parts to another so taht he'd know a power he'd never known before... and then ended up still almost losing with no real change in the fight that we could see.
Basically, it was anti-climax after anti-climax, with a few let-downs inbetween throughout the whole story. And again they spent a lot of time on the humans in the story instead of the alien bots the movie is named after.
All in all we were a bit disappointed. Maryanne commented that she needed to watch the first movie again so that this would make some sense, so we ended up buying a used copy of the DVD from a video rental store (4 dollars!) and watched it. Apparently that didn't help as Maryanne had more questions about this movie after the first one again. Things just didn't quite make sense to her, and I had a similar thought myself.
Wait for the DVD, watch it at home. You aren't missing much.
This review is posted late due to ISP issues.
We saw this opening weekend, so the theater was almost packed. That wasn't an issue as we kinda like having more than just a few people in theater because the movie tends to be a bit more enjoyable (crowd reactions, etc.).
That said, we should've waited for the DVD and rented it. The movie moved terribly quick from cut to cut, sometimes seeming as though it was cutting to unrelated scenes just to make the cut. Overall the beginning of the movie was slow much like the last one, and things ended much too quickly to get that real sense of accomplishment, etc.
The fights were pretty good, and the graphics/CGI worked as well as they did in the first, but still we came out of the theater trying to figure out what the movie was about. Instead of saving the world from the Bad Guys, they... saved the world from the Bad Guys. Provided that is the point, but it was a bit difficult to figure out how this movie differed from teh first. They had different plots and stories, but it ended up being much of the same.
Some of it didn't make sense, such as where one bot gives his life to provide his power and parts to another so taht he'd know a power he'd never known before... and then ended up still almost losing with no real change in the fight that we could see.
Basically, it was anti-climax after anti-climax, with a few let-downs inbetween throughout the whole story. And again they spent a lot of time on the humans in the story instead of the alien bots the movie is named after.
All in all we were a bit disappointed. Maryanne commented that she needed to watch the first movie again so that this would make some sense, so we ended up buying a used copy of the DVD from a video rental store (4 dollars!) and watched it. Apparently that didn't help as Maryanne had more questions about this movie after the first one again. Things just didn't quite make sense to her, and I had a similar thought myself.
Wait for the DVD, watch it at home. You aren't missing much.
This review is posted late due to ISP issues.
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Peter's Grill
Her perspective: C
Honestly, I have never gotten good service here, but it had been several months since my last visit, and I had people with me this time.
My friends were running late, so we were in a bit of a time crunch by the time we got settled. Our server did not come back for 20 minutes after my last friend got there. When she finally came back, she was not very pleasant. She circled the items we ordered on her pad, but still had to look at a menu to see what we were ordering.
We did get our food rather quickly, and the food was the only redeeming quality. I had the gyro plate. I would have ordered a side of ranch for my fries, but I knew that she wouldn't remember it and that would just irritate me more. She did forget to bring out my friend's milk, which she did apologize for, but then started making excuses for why she had forgotten. We had been finished eating for quite a while and were actively looking for her so we could get our checks. We finally got them and left. I don't think I will go back as this is the third bad experience I've had in as many visits. I would be willing to do take-out, but not eat-in.
Honestly, I have never gotten good service here, but it had been several months since my last visit, and I had people with me this time.
My friends were running late, so we were in a bit of a time crunch by the time we got settled. Our server did not come back for 20 minutes after my last friend got there. When she finally came back, she was not very pleasant. She circled the items we ordered on her pad, but still had to look at a menu to see what we were ordering.
We did get our food rather quickly, and the food was the only redeeming quality. I had the gyro plate. I would have ordered a side of ranch for my fries, but I knew that she wouldn't remember it and that would just irritate me more. She did forget to bring out my friend's milk, which she did apologize for, but then started making excuses for why she had forgotten. We had been finished eating for quite a while and were actively looking for her so we could get our checks. We finally got them and left. I don't think I will go back as this is the third bad experience I've had in as many visits. I would be willing to do take-out, but not eat-in.
Tuesday, June 02, 2009
Melting Pot
Her perspective: A
I think this is the first time I've given out an A!
I went for Ladies Night with four friends. Apparently, they do special events the last Tuesday of every month, but it is VERY hard to get in on these nights. You need to be getting their newsletter and call for reservations as soon as you see it pop into your inbox.
I arrived at 4:30 and my friends showed up shortly thereafter. I was asked to wait in the lounge until a majority of my party had arrived. No problem, they were close behind. I went to a bar table and the bartender came right over with a sheet explaining all the specials and events for Ladies Night. They happened to have a German Riesling on special, so I ordered that. My friends all got the Love Martini when they arrived.
We then walked back up to the host stand and were seated immediately. The host advised us to be careful sliding into the booth as you can hit your knees on the heating elements under the table. Our server came over quickly to make sure we were all set with drinks and understood how everything worked. As there were 5 of us, we were allowed two choices of cheese (appetizer), two choices of broth (for cooking the meat), and two choices of chocolate (their term for dessert, but not all the choices are chocolate).
We selected the fiesta cheese, which can be adjusted according to your taste for spicyness, and the spinach/artichoke. I don't like artichokes, but you couldn't taste them and there was a lot of garlic in it, so I actually liked that one better than the fiesta cheese. We had bread, apples and vegetables for dipping.
The two broths we got were their standard vegetable broth and a carribean style broth. They were both good, but I liked the citrus of the carribean style better. The meats were shrimp, chicken and teriyaki-marinated beef. We ended up popping the meat that was left over into each of the broths to take home.
For the chocolates, we got the Bananas Foster and the Turtle. Both were flambe'd at the table. The Bananas Foster was WONDERFUL, but both could have been hotter in temperature. We had bananas, strawberries, cheesecake, pineapple and marshmallows covered in cinnamon or in chocolate. Very tasty!
We had a manager come over as we were waiting for our cheeses to ask if our server had explained everything and asked questions to make sure we understood. He was very welcoming, gave his name (Randy) and stated that if we needed anything, we could just let him know.
Our server was there every time we needed anything, checked back as appropriate without being overbearing and just made sure we were having a good time. He explained what he was doing as he was doing it - all food is prepared at the table. He even told us that we could trip any employee passing by if we needed anything and he wasn't there... :)
The bussers were exactly where they needed to be, ready to take empty plates/dirty dishes and were quick about it so they weren't in our way.
After our chocolate, we stopped Randy and had him take pictures with several different cameras. He was more than happy to oblige and made a raunchy joke without realizing it which had us just about in tears.
The only deterrent to this night was the amount of time it took to get our checks and get our payment processed. We were there for 3 1/2 hours and all of us had to work early the next morning, so we were anxious to go at that point.
However, the whole experience was very well worth it. It is fairly pricey, but we loved it. What are you waiting for?
I think this is the first time I've given out an A!
I went for Ladies Night with four friends. Apparently, they do special events the last Tuesday of every month, but it is VERY hard to get in on these nights. You need to be getting their newsletter and call for reservations as soon as you see it pop into your inbox.
I arrived at 4:30 and my friends showed up shortly thereafter. I was asked to wait in the lounge until a majority of my party had arrived. No problem, they were close behind. I went to a bar table and the bartender came right over with a sheet explaining all the specials and events for Ladies Night. They happened to have a German Riesling on special, so I ordered that. My friends all got the Love Martini when they arrived.
We then walked back up to the host stand and were seated immediately. The host advised us to be careful sliding into the booth as you can hit your knees on the heating elements under the table. Our server came over quickly to make sure we were all set with drinks and understood how everything worked. As there were 5 of us, we were allowed two choices of cheese (appetizer), two choices of broth (for cooking the meat), and two choices of chocolate (their term for dessert, but not all the choices are chocolate).
We selected the fiesta cheese, which can be adjusted according to your taste for spicyness, and the spinach/artichoke. I don't like artichokes, but you couldn't taste them and there was a lot of garlic in it, so I actually liked that one better than the fiesta cheese. We had bread, apples and vegetables for dipping.
The two broths we got were their standard vegetable broth and a carribean style broth. They were both good, but I liked the citrus of the carribean style better. The meats were shrimp, chicken and teriyaki-marinated beef. We ended up popping the meat that was left over into each of the broths to take home.
For the chocolates, we got the Bananas Foster and the Turtle. Both were flambe'd at the table. The Bananas Foster was WONDERFUL, but both could have been hotter in temperature. We had bananas, strawberries, cheesecake, pineapple and marshmallows covered in cinnamon or in chocolate. Very tasty!
We had a manager come over as we were waiting for our cheeses to ask if our server had explained everything and asked questions to make sure we understood. He was very welcoming, gave his name (Randy) and stated that if we needed anything, we could just let him know.
Our server was there every time we needed anything, checked back as appropriate without being overbearing and just made sure we were having a good time. He explained what he was doing as he was doing it - all food is prepared at the table. He even told us that we could trip any employee passing by if we needed anything and he wasn't there... :)
The bussers were exactly where they needed to be, ready to take empty plates/dirty dishes and were quick about it so they weren't in our way.
After our chocolate, we stopped Randy and had him take pictures with several different cameras. He was more than happy to oblige and made a raunchy joke without realizing it which had us just about in tears.
The only deterrent to this night was the amount of time it took to get our checks and get our payment processed. We were there for 3 1/2 hours and all of us had to work early the next morning, so we were anxious to go at that point.
However, the whole experience was very well worth it. It is fairly pricey, but we loved it. What are you waiting for?
Thursday, May 21, 2009
Star Trek
This was odd for me. I'm not a huge fanboy of Star Trek or anything like that, but I've seen enough of it often enough to have a good feel for the 'universe' and history of Star Trek.
That said, they've just rewrote the book.
Lots of TV shows and stuff talked about this movie as a prequel to the rest of everything (Trek before Trek ever was I guess). It's not a prequel. Don't go into it thinking that or you'll be disappointed if you do (ask Maryanne about that).
This movie was really quite good (note: not GREAT). The writers have taken a very special opportunity (to me it seems that way) to reinvent the entire series all over again. Of course, they use time travel to set the whole thing up (seems to be a rather large crutch the writers continually fall back to) but it still works alright if you just let it be.
The interesting thing with this is that now future teams of writers can do whole new stories, create an entirely new history basically, for all of Star Trek. Hopefully, that's what everybody was thinking when they were writing and shooting this, and they'll jump on the possibility of creating a more up-to-date version of Star Trek for the movie theaters in the years to come.
I'm not dropping specific spoilers (just in case your one of the 17 people in the world that hasn't seen this yet) but it's still not the greatest movie it could've been.
Still, I'm getting this on Blu-ray when it's out.
That said, they've just rewrote the book.
Lots of TV shows and stuff talked about this movie as a prequel to the rest of everything (Trek before Trek ever was I guess). It's not a prequel. Don't go into it thinking that or you'll be disappointed if you do (ask Maryanne about that).
This movie was really quite good (note: not GREAT). The writers have taken a very special opportunity (to me it seems that way) to reinvent the entire series all over again. Of course, they use time travel to set the whole thing up (seems to be a rather large crutch the writers continually fall back to) but it still works alright if you just let it be.
The interesting thing with this is that now future teams of writers can do whole new stories, create an entirely new history basically, for all of Star Trek. Hopefully, that's what everybody was thinking when they were writing and shooting this, and they'll jump on the possibility of creating a more up-to-date version of Star Trek for the movie theaters in the years to come.
I'm not dropping specific spoilers (just in case your one of the 17 people in the world that hasn't seen this yet) but it's still not the greatest movie it could've been.
Still, I'm getting this on Blu-ray when it's out.
X-Men Origins: Wolverine
Ok.
We've seen it. Friends said it was actually bad and not to bother.
Not that I mind that they changed the origin story for this character quite a bit (though in small ways) and introduce characters now that he never met until later in his life (and had him meet them now), and changed the appearance of some characters from the first three movies (though this is technically a prequel), it still was pretty good.
It dragged in spots, some portions of the movie should've ended up on the editing room floor in my opinion, but all-in-all I'll probably buy this on Blu-ray when it comes out.
Remember Sabertooth for the earlier movies? He looks a lot different now, and exhibits powers we hadn't previously seen in him. We get to see Gambit in a bit of action, and he does well. We also get to see a young Cyclops burn through a school.
It was odd don't get me wrong, and it felt like the movie jumped around a bit as I lost track of things at one point (and there is quite a bit to keep track of) and the 45 minutes or so spent on Wolverine's childhood-to-manhood was a bit much (and kinda boring). Still the last half-hour or so makes up for a good chunk of the mistakes (ok, they're mistakes to me).
I'd see it on eh big screen if you get a chance, just try for a matinee show if you can. Not a must own or must see, but well worth $5 bucks on a weekend if you have the time (and your a fan of the series).
We've seen it. Friends said it was actually bad and not to bother.
Not that I mind that they changed the origin story for this character quite a bit (though in small ways) and introduce characters now that he never met until later in his life (and had him meet them now), and changed the appearance of some characters from the first three movies (though this is technically a prequel), it still was pretty good.
It dragged in spots, some portions of the movie should've ended up on the editing room floor in my opinion, but all-in-all I'll probably buy this on Blu-ray when it comes out.
Remember Sabertooth for the earlier movies? He looks a lot different now, and exhibits powers we hadn't previously seen in him. We get to see Gambit in a bit of action, and he does well. We also get to see a young Cyclops burn through a school.
It was odd don't get me wrong, and it felt like the movie jumped around a bit as I lost track of things at one point (and there is quite a bit to keep track of) and the 45 minutes or so spent on Wolverine's childhood-to-manhood was a bit much (and kinda boring). Still the last half-hour or so makes up for a good chunk of the mistakes (ok, they're mistakes to me).
I'd see it on eh big screen if you get a chance, just try for a matinee show if you can. Not a must own or must see, but well worth $5 bucks on a weekend if you have the time (and your a fan of the series).
Angels & Demons
Ok.
We've seen it.
For a Prequel story, they worked awful hard at making it a sequel (seemed that way to me). BUT the main character, Langdon, doesn't do the same kinds of things he did in the first movie, doesn't even act quite the same way. You remember in the Code when he was thinking through a problem they did a nice special effect to show us what/how he was thinking? You won't see that here.
The story is good, though the plot twist was obvious and expected (I nailed it not an hour into the movie, and when I say nailed I mean dead on).
Still, it was interesting none-the-less, though I'm sure I'll think twice before I purchase it on DVD/Blu-ray when it comes out. It just wasn't that memorable. In fact, we created our own double-feature and saw another movie after this one (see next review) and after that movie I had to ask what we saw first because I simply couldn't remember. That's how forgettable Angels & Demons is. It was bad, it just wasn't all that great either.
We've seen it.
For a Prequel story, they worked awful hard at making it a sequel (seemed that way to me). BUT the main character, Langdon, doesn't do the same kinds of things he did in the first movie, doesn't even act quite the same way. You remember in the Code when he was thinking through a problem they did a nice special effect to show us what/how he was thinking? You won't see that here.
The story is good, though the plot twist was obvious and expected (I nailed it not an hour into the movie, and when I say nailed I mean dead on).
Still, it was interesting none-the-less, though I'm sure I'll think twice before I purchase it on DVD/Blu-ray when it comes out. It just wasn't that memorable. In fact, we created our own double-feature and saw another movie after this one (see next review) and after that movie I had to ask what we saw first because I simply couldn't remember. That's how forgettable Angels & Demons is. It was bad, it just wasn't all that great either.
Saturday, April 11, 2009
Watchmen
Umm yeah. Don't bother. It took an hour to figure out what was going on, then another hour to catch up, all for a very disappointing climax.
I'm not going to describe the movie or post spoilers here for those that are truly interested in seeing it, I will say that you shouldn't bring your children due to multiple and very adult themes.
That aside, I must say that we have not read the graphic novels at all. I suspect it wouldv'e helped us to not be lost for the first half hour or more of the movie. The back story and multiple flashbacks made up the majority of the movie, with the last 30 to 40 minutes being the only real 'current' part of movie, the driving plotline. I can't say it wasn't interesting, but I spent more time trying to figure out what was happening and what the history was behind the story instead of enjoying the story. This being caused more by the editing of the movie and not the script (though it didn't help either).
Stay away if you wanna see this movie based on the advertising and trailers. Get it from a Redbox or something for an overnight rental when the DVD is released.
I'm not going to describe the movie or post spoilers here for those that are truly interested in seeing it, I will say that you shouldn't bring your children due to multiple and very adult themes.
That aside, I must say that we have not read the graphic novels at all. I suspect it wouldv'e helped us to not be lost for the first half hour or more of the movie. The back story and multiple flashbacks made up the majority of the movie, with the last 30 to 40 minutes being the only real 'current' part of movie, the driving plotline. I can't say it wasn't interesting, but I spent more time trying to figure out what was happening and what the history was behind the story instead of enjoying the story. This being caused more by the editing of the movie and not the script (though it didn't help either).
Stay away if you wanna see this movie based on the advertising and trailers. Get it from a Redbox or something for an overnight rental when the DVD is released.
Bonnie's - April 11
Her perspective: C
We have gone to this diner many times for breakfast on the weekends and is one of our favorites.
However, this visit was an exception. They were busier than when we usually go, so it took a few minutes for our server to come over. She took our drink order and brought back our two Mountain Dews, asking if we were ready to order.
We were. I ordered the Buttermilk special with bacon and the eggs cooked over medium. William ordered the 2x2x2 with eggs basted and added a side of toast. We had waited for about 12-15 minutes when our server came over and asked if we had ordered and what we had ordered because she couldn't find our ticket. She tried to assure us that the kitchen probably had it almost done, she just couldn't find the ticket and wanted to check.
Our food arrived a couple of minutes later and she went back for William's side of toast. I tried the bacon and found it was cold, so I touched the eggs, which were also cold. The pancakes, however, were nice and hot. When she came back with the toast, I told her that my eggs and bacon were cold and she said that she would have them remake it.
What actually happened, though, was that they put the eggs and bacon back in a pan and reheated. I could tell it was the same bacon and the eggs were exactly the same, just with a bit more color. Not to mention that my eggs were still over easy, not over medium.
When she dropped off my reheated food, she said she would get us refills, but never did. She never checked back on the food after that either. She finally dropped off the check while I was still eating and pre-bussed the table.
She was pleasant enough, but didn't really know what she was doing. I overheard her say to another table that she was new and they were busy, but that doesn't explain her forgetting if we ordered, then the kitchen messing up my food.
We'll have to let some time pass before we try to go back to this one.
We have gone to this diner many times for breakfast on the weekends and is one of our favorites.
However, this visit was an exception. They were busier than when we usually go, so it took a few minutes for our server to come over. She took our drink order and brought back our two Mountain Dews, asking if we were ready to order.
We were. I ordered the Buttermilk special with bacon and the eggs cooked over medium. William ordered the 2x2x2 with eggs basted and added a side of toast. We had waited for about 12-15 minutes when our server came over and asked if we had ordered and what we had ordered because she couldn't find our ticket. She tried to assure us that the kitchen probably had it almost done, she just couldn't find the ticket and wanted to check.
Our food arrived a couple of minutes later and she went back for William's side of toast. I tried the bacon and found it was cold, so I touched the eggs, which were also cold. The pancakes, however, were nice and hot. When she came back with the toast, I told her that my eggs and bacon were cold and she said that she would have them remake it.
What actually happened, though, was that they put the eggs and bacon back in a pan and reheated. I could tell it was the same bacon and the eggs were exactly the same, just with a bit more color. Not to mention that my eggs were still over easy, not over medium.
When she dropped off my reheated food, she said she would get us refills, but never did. She never checked back on the food after that either. She finally dropped off the check while I was still eating and pre-bussed the table.
She was pleasant enough, but didn't really know what she was doing. I overheard her say to another table that she was new and they were busy, but that doesn't explain her forgetting if we ordered, then the kitchen messing up my food.
We'll have to let some time pass before we try to go back to this one.
Chili's
Her perspective: D
Our visit was a couple of weeks ago, but we were so upset with this experience, that we needed some time to cool off before we wrote this review so we could maintain our objectivity.
We seated ourselves in the bar area at one of the tall tables. Our server came over quickly and asked if we wanted a drink for Happy Hour. We love the Presidente margaritas, so we ordered two of those. She tried to convince us to order a Happy Hour drink, but that's not what we wanted. She brought them over and we ordered an appetizer of Southwest Eggrolls with chipotle ranch instead of the avocado ranch. She informed us that they don't carry that anymore, but they have an ancho chili ranch. So, we decided to try that. It was actually pretty good.
When our server came to take our order, I ordered the fajitas with both chicken and beef. She asked me if I wanted it for 2 people or 1 person, and I said 1 as it was just for me. She then turned around and left to put in the order without seeing if William was going to share the fajitas with me. He had wanted to order his own entree, but she just assumed that we were going to share the fajitas for one. We were able to catch her before she put the order in, so William was able to order his entree, which was a steak.
While we were waiting for our food, we had to flag down the bartender to get another round of drinks. Once we got our food, she never checked back on us. If she had, she would have known that William's steak was quite undercooked. My fajitas were as I had expected.
We tried to tip the bartender separately for taking care of our drinks, and he wouldn't accept the money.
This is the most disappointing visit we have had to Chili's to date.
Our visit was a couple of weeks ago, but we were so upset with this experience, that we needed some time to cool off before we wrote this review so we could maintain our objectivity.
We seated ourselves in the bar area at one of the tall tables. Our server came over quickly and asked if we wanted a drink for Happy Hour. We love the Presidente margaritas, so we ordered two of those. She tried to convince us to order a Happy Hour drink, but that's not what we wanted. She brought them over and we ordered an appetizer of Southwest Eggrolls with chipotle ranch instead of the avocado ranch. She informed us that they don't carry that anymore, but they have an ancho chili ranch. So, we decided to try that. It was actually pretty good.
When our server came to take our order, I ordered the fajitas with both chicken and beef. She asked me if I wanted it for 2 people or 1 person, and I said 1 as it was just for me. She then turned around and left to put in the order without seeing if William was going to share the fajitas with me. He had wanted to order his own entree, but she just assumed that we were going to share the fajitas for one. We were able to catch her before she put the order in, so William was able to order his entree, which was a steak.
While we were waiting for our food, we had to flag down the bartender to get another round of drinks. Once we got our food, she never checked back on us. If she had, she would have known that William's steak was quite undercooked. My fajitas were as I had expected.
We tried to tip the bartender separately for taking care of our drinks, and he wouldn't accept the money.
This is the most disappointing visit we have had to Chili's to date.
Saturday, March 07, 2009
Masa Restaurant - March 5, 2009
Her perspective: C
I went to this restaurant as it was part of National Restaurant Week and I wanted to try something new. I was a little disappointed that, despite the fact that we arrived exactly on time for our reservation, we had to wait about 10 minutes for our table. When you only have an hour for lunch, that's unacceptable.
When we were seated, our server was excellent. He upsold me from a regular Coke to a Mexican Coke and was able to tell us the difference. He also explained the two special menus. He was really on the ball the entire time we were there.
The food was very good as well. I had a chicken taco with chipolte cream that was really tasty. The beef torta had way too much cilantro in it and they only offer one salad dressing. It would be nice to have a choice.
Overall, it was a good experience. I went on line to try to find nutritional information on their menu, but could not find any. So, I e-mailed them and got a response that they did not have the resources to keep nutritional information on their menu items as they change frequently, but the individual restaurants have ingredient lists. Ingredients? In other words, if I want to know the nutritional information, I have to get the ingredient list from the restaurant, figure out what the ingredients were that were in the dishes I had and in what proportions, and look up the nutritional information on each ingredient. That's ridiculous. I sent a message back saying that since they cannot provide this information, I will not be eating there any more.
It's a shame, too, because the food and drinks are actually very good. I went back the following day (before I got their e-mail response) for Happy Hour and had a very good margarita. Well, it is pretty far from work...
I went to this restaurant as it was part of National Restaurant Week and I wanted to try something new. I was a little disappointed that, despite the fact that we arrived exactly on time for our reservation, we had to wait about 10 minutes for our table. When you only have an hour for lunch, that's unacceptable.
When we were seated, our server was excellent. He upsold me from a regular Coke to a Mexican Coke and was able to tell us the difference. He also explained the two special menus. He was really on the ball the entire time we were there.
The food was very good as well. I had a chicken taco with chipolte cream that was really tasty. The beef torta had way too much cilantro in it and they only offer one salad dressing. It would be nice to have a choice.
Overall, it was a good experience. I went on line to try to find nutritional information on their menu, but could not find any. So, I e-mailed them and got a response that they did not have the resources to keep nutritional information on their menu items as they change frequently, but the individual restaurants have ingredient lists. Ingredients? In other words, if I want to know the nutritional information, I have to get the ingredient list from the restaurant, figure out what the ingredients were that were in the dishes I had and in what proportions, and look up the nutritional information on each ingredient. That's ridiculous. I sent a message back saying that since they cannot provide this information, I will not be eating there any more.
It's a shame, too, because the food and drinks are actually very good. I went back the following day (before I got their e-mail response) for Happy Hour and had a very good margarita. Well, it is pretty far from work...
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