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We had a great meal here except a few minor missteps with the food. We came on a Friday night, visiting Bend for my fiancé’s birthday. Very fine dining feel, which is exactly what we were looking for. To start, I had an old fashioned and he had a margarita, both were well poured and the margarita particularly was excellent. We had the cheese plate for the appetizer, and it was hands down the best cheese plate I have ever had. It came with several delicious cheese selections, a fruit spread, grilled bread that had the slight charred taste I love, and these amazing candied almonds. They also have delicious complimentary bread and a house made dipping sauce that was a balsamic and olive oil base and several other ingredients. It was fantastic. For our entrees, I had the pork chop, which was delicious (I do prefer bone in though and it wasn’t), came with these really yummy thick polenta fries and brussel sprouts with bacon. The pork chop was cooked perfectly. My fiancé ordered the tender rogue which was a delicious tenderloin, cooked well, but besides the steak this plate had some problems. There was too much blue cheese atop the steak and with truffle potato sauce and the balsamic sun chokes and leeks that surrounded it; they were super delicious but far too rich. For dessert, we ordered the bread pudding to go and took it back to our hotel. It was the best bread pudding I have had in awhile but we did not care for the candied bacon it came with. Felt too much like breakfast. Really good though besides that. Great service and we really had a top notch dining experience here; we will be back for sure!!

Social Urban Bar & Restaurant – Menu with Prices – 509 E State St, Rockford

We stopped here on the way back from Milwaukee and were directed to the end of a communal table. We waited. The server asked us to slide in for another couple. We waited, then someone came– to greet and take care of the couple next to us, that had come in 5 minutes after us. Eventually we were able to order a salad, but had to ask him to hold the black-walnut vinaigrette, because M has dietary restrictions. I also asked how the pork was cooked, noting her diet again. “It’s cooked thoroughly,” he said, “it’s thoroughly cooked”. “Yes,” I said, “but how?” “With sage, spinach, and apples,” he said, parroting back the text of menu. I told him we’d take it, and asked for a drink, which he said would be right out. It took 10 minutes. I told M I was concerned the pork chop might be cooked in butter (she can’t eat dairy). “Flag someone down and we’ll ask” I said. Eventually, we stopped our waiter. “I’m sorry I wasn’t clear before” I said, “when I asked how the pork chop was cooked, I was asking because my wife has dietary restrictions, and I’m not sure she can eat the pork chop.” “Let’s figure this out,” our waiter said, slamming a menu on the table. Then he randomly named items saying “What about this, can she eat this?” He did this several times in rapid succession, without waiting to hear if she could. “I’m going to stop you right there,” I said, “Basically, she can eat meat, fruit, and vegetables”. “The pork chop is meat, vegetables, and fruit,” he said. “Right,” I said, “but she can’t eat dairy–” “–It’s a pork chop” he said, “its dairy free.” “Of course,” I said, “but is it seared in butter or in sauce?” There was a pause, the waiter looked up, and into space. M later said it was like watching a resupply ship slowly dock with the international space station. He turned on his heel, and ran to the kitchen. Someone came out. We explained M can’t eat dairy. They said the pork chop comes with a butter-based sauce, but they’d leave it off. We waited. Two women next to us were brought a cheese plate. There were four wedges on the plate: one of them was *orange*. Orange is not a natural cheese color. One of the young women said “Doesn’t this look delicious?”. M smiled weakly at her. Our salad was sliced beet, alternating with sliced apple, covered with maybe 20 pieces of wilted arugula. M picked at it, then I finished it because I was starving. Our waiter came and said our pork chop was “just crossing the bridge”. We waited long enough for our pork chop to cross the bridge, climb a tree, and get a haircut. When it finally came, it was a nice tomahawk chop; I had been worried that we’d get a flimsy grocery cut, but this looked substantial. The cook/chef described how it was prepared. We were impressed. Then M cut into it: it was *raw*. Beyond a 1/4 inch at the top/bottom most of the inside of the chop was shiny and smooth, not pink and juicy. We flagged down our server, showed him it was raw, and told him we wanted our check, for the drink and salad. We waited, then a manager came out. “Your server told me you sent back your chop because of doneness,” she said. “It was raw,” we said. “Well, the thing is, our pork is fresh, so we cook it rare,” she said. Remember when we asked the waiter how it was cooked, and he said it was “thoroughly cooked”? Of course meat is cooked. Of course it should be fresh. And of course, there’s a difference between “thoroughly cooked” and “rare”. If you get fancy-fresh pork from a local farm and cook it a particular

The Macintosh – Menu with Prices – 479B King St, Charleston

The Macintosh is known for being one of the best upscale restaurants in Charleston. I came here on a Friday night with my uncle after hearing great reviews. We made our reservation about a week in advance for 8pm, and when we arrived it was fairly busy. The Macintosh has seating both inside and outside under an enclosed patio, and the atmosphere is very dark, intimate, and modern. As for the food, we decided to go with 3 appetizers, 3 entrees, and a dessert. For our appetizers, we ordered the bread plate, scallops, and the head lettuce salad. These were about $8-10 each, and each were just large enough to serve one person. The bread was tasty and soft, the scallops were a bit chewy, and the salad was light and delicious. The scallops appetizer does only come with 2 scallops, but you are able to add on more at an additional cost. For dinner, we ordered the Pork Schnitzel, the Triggerfish, and the Vegetable Plate. The Pork Schnitzel was our favorite, and it came with two huge filets that tasted very similar to fried chicken. The Triggerfish was also delicious, but it was served over a savory succotash which we liked even more than the fish itself. The Vegetable Plate was surprisingly tasty considering that is was truly just a plate of vegetables. One thing you MUST try is the bone marrow bread pudding. This is a Macintosh staple and is truly nothing more than a fluffy, cheesy bread side. But, it’s truly unique and one of the best things I’ve ever tasted. If you enjoy this and want to take it to the next level, they offer their bread pudding as a dessert topped with apple butter and vanilla ice cream. Aside from the food, the Macintosh had exceptional service. Our waitress was attentive without being overbearing, and I was even escorted to the restroom TWICE when I couldn’t find it. The Macintosh also seems like a great place for groups. There were two large bachelor parties seated near us with 10+ people, and they received their food/drinks as quick as we did. Overall, I was very impressed with Macintosh. If you’re in Charleston and looking for an upscale fine-dining restaurant, this is your place.

Ngoc Suong 2 Restaurant – Menu with Prices – 960 Story Rd, San Jose

2.5 stars for the food, but service was decent so I rounded up. Located off Story Road. Ngoc Suong took over Phu Quy, which neighbors Banh Canh 3 Mien, Lucky Tea and Pho Ga Nha. We came here wanting to try out a new hue place as well as try their special BÃ? NÃ?. We arrived around 10:40am on a Saturday and were seated right away. Very spacious with only a few tables occupied. I was hit with a waft of delicious fried food and sizzling plates! lol. Everyone had a sizzling plate at their table. We ordered… BÃ? NÃ? $12.99 -beef steak served with egg, pate, side salad, chips (fries) and bread. My fiancé ordered this and he said it was decent. It came out sizzling. French fries were super crispy. Bread came out toasted but it was day old bread. Once the bread cooked down, it tasted even more old and stale. Barely any pate..:( The steak was thin and kinda chewy. There’s condiments available on the table for the bó né..A1 steak sauce, tabasco, ketchup, nuoc tuong/soy sauce or sriracha. BANH RAM IT (4) $5.99 -fried dumpling with shrimp and steamed dumpling. It was topped with ground shrimp and scallion oil. Pretty good. Small with bits of meat and shrimp. The fried part wasn’t fried all the way through like other places so it was still soft in the middle. So it was soft on soft from the steamed dumpling on the top..not enough texture contrast. The fish sauce was great though! BANH BEO CHEN (6) $5.99 -steamed rice flour cake with fresh ground shrimp. Topped with scallion oil and a few pork cracklings. The banh beo was a little thick, and kinda chewy. The ground shrimp had a dry/grainy consistency and it looked like Himalayan rock salt. Lol. The pork cracklings were small and stale. Fish sauce was a little on the sweeter side but I loved that! BANH BEO MIEN TRUNG $1.99 each -we got only 1 to try. Came out piping hot in a small bowl. Think of banh beo but thicker/gooier and topped with a ground meat sauce. It had thinly fried shallots and tons of ground peanuts which overpowered everything. It was also pretty salty from the ground meat sauce and adding the fish sauce that accompanied it didn’t really help. No bueno. Some other vietnamese dishes they offer include lau, goi, hu tieu/mí xao, com chien, pho, hu tieu, bún, mi quang, bo kho, banh xeo and nui xao bo/bo luc lac. That’s not even half..so a lot to choose from! Oh wee when we finished eating..we smelled like grease! Wasn’t really a fan of most of their Hue dishes..so my search for a new hue spot continues. Butttt.. to quote my fiancé, “who goes to a bó né spot and orders hue food?” *shrugs* I still can’t find a place better than Hue Restaurant off Silver Creek Road. Party trays available and extra $0.50 for TOGO orders.

Vittorio’s Italian Restaurant – Menu with Prices – 5921 Warner Ave, Huntington Beach

We went last Saturday evening for a date night. We were both in the mood for Italian food and have wanted to try this place for a while. We walked in and the atmosphere was adorable, what I would describe as as old school romantic Italian. Red leather booths, oil and balsamic on the table tops, dark wood tables with a candles, it really looked nice. The front of the restaurant only had one other table seated but there was live music going, so I assume the other side was filled where that was playing and there were quiet a few people in the bar. That’s about where the good ends. Our waitress took a little bit to greet us, she did not write down our order. I ordered cheese ravioli with the minestrone soup, my fiancé ordered the salmon with a salad. Our soup and salad came, my fiancé liked his salad just fine, my soup was extremely bland. We asked for some bread considering the oil and balsamic on the table. Our waitresses responded very rudely with “the bus boy will have to bring that to you, we are understaffed and if I don’t get some other food out I am going to have upset customers.” While that maybe true, we both found that a very uncomfortable and unnecessary comment to us. It made us feel as though we never should have asked for bread to begin with especially since when it came it was very hard and bland as well. Then our food came, my cheese ravioli was good, solid enough to order again (except there will not be an again). My fiancé ended up with chicken pasta, not what he ordered. The waitress took about 10 minutes to recheck on us so I was almost finished before his meal was even corrected. When he got the correct order he said it smelled funny and turned the salmon over and the side that was turned toward the plate was burnt to a crisp, completely black. When our waitress came back and could see this, she really asked “what is wrong now?” My fiancé had to literally explain his dish was burnt when it was obviously scorched. We simply asked for our bill. The kick in the pants was that she charged us for my meal, which I was happy to pay for, and then she charged us for a side salad that was part of my fiancé’s meal that had problems twice. She had stated his meal would be taken off the bill when she took the salmon plate away. We had no visit from a manger to correct this situation. I was shocked to have the salad charge on our bill, weather it be minimal, it was wrong. I basically ate by myself and he still needed to eat dinner when we left. The service was astronomically bad, which is why I will not be back. Even if understaffed this waitresses fell apart with the stress and made us feel as though these errors where our fault. She is 100% of the reason this restaurant lost our business and the reason I felt the need to leave this review.

HAKUNA MATATA PIZZA CUBANA – Menu with Prices – 395 E 10th St, Hialeah

Let’s start by saying that this is Not a restaurant, but rather, a take out pizza place. If you wish to sit and eat there you better pray there is no one else there as the only sitting possibility is limited to 4, maybe 5. We ordered 3 personal pizzas of which they messed up on one of them and had to redo, which I don’t understand since we were the only customers there at the time. The pizzas barely, barely had any sauce, to the point that I can dare say it didn’t have any. Pizza 1~ cheese: well cooked. but this pizza was bread and cheese only, no sauce. My wife lifted the majority of the cheese looking for the sauce, the dough was dry light pink, but no sauce was present. Pizza 2~ ham & bacon: the dough was cooked, but the ham and bacon were halfway cooked. It was edible, but it definitely needed more oven time. Sauce was present, but very little in the center only. Pizza 3~ bacon & pineapple: first time, they got the order wrong; they made it with bacon only, no pineapple. The second time, they made it correctly, but it was waaayyy undercooked. The bacon was mostly raw. My wife was grossed out and did not even attempt to eat it! Mind you, this was her pizza. I was going to have them cook it more, but my wife stopped me as she was grossed out and was going to throw it away regardless. I dissected the pizza looking for sauce, found pinkish dough towards the center. We had 2 ice cream milkshakes, which were not bad. We will not be returning!

Restaurant Orsay – Menu with Prices – 3630 Park St, Jacksonville

Lovely experience! Fun and modern, but still has an old time-y charm to it. The lobby has a nice lounge with a couch to enjoy appetizers and drinks. We had a reservation for 6:00 on a Friday night and it was packed! Tip: Go between 4:00-7:00 on Monday-Friday for happy hour. Well worth it!! We got the shrimp cocktail and mac and cheese and our cocktails for much less than normal! We told them we were celebrating our 4.5 month wedding anniversary and we got free champagne to celebrate! It was such a nice touch! We got two cocktails: Hey Jealousy and Eastbound and Down. The Hey Jealousy was a little more Jolly Rancher-y than I would’ve preferred. The Eastbound and Down was their version of an old fashioned, and it was just okay. We got the shrimp cocktail and mac and cheese as appetizers. Both were great. For our entrees, we got the sea scallops, which came with fingerling potatoes. It was a good dish! We also got the filet mignon, which came with truffle potatoes, Brussels sprouts, and bacon (we got the bacon on the side). The meat was cooked to perfection. The sauce was great. The bacon was great. The only thing I was disappointed in was the Brussels sprouts–they weren’t as roasted as I would’ve liked them to be. For dessert, we got the bananas foster bread pudding, which was fabulous. The warm bread pudding was balanced perfectly with the banana ice cream. Our waitress, Taylor, was great. The entire staff was attentive and great! For 2 happy hour cocktails and appetizers, 2 entrees, and one dessert, it was $130 before tip. Not too bad! Definitely worth it to celebrate a special occasion or just for fun!

Smokin Fins – Menu with Prices – 900 N 54th St #1, Chandler

My my my! I liked this spot! Aesthetically, the exterior is nice and the interior is very pretty! Gorgeous light fixtures and rich wood shelves stocked with vino. It was a bit loud in there though. Booths are comfortable. Everything was clean. The service was excellent! My waitress was attentive and answered all my questions about the menu with confidence. She was super friendly and didn’t bug me all. Also very efficient. K, best part: the food! To start, I had the Bloody Mary, which I’ve never ordered at a restaurant before, but this one was garnished with bacon and shrimp so I had to try it. Because bacon. It was spicy and delicious! For my entree, I had the pistachio halibut with smashed potatoes and asparagus. I didn’t even try the asparagus because I got so wrapped up in the halibut and potatoes! Both were to die for. So why I give 4 stars and not 5, you ask? Because of the prices! $28 for pistachio halibut? Really? Come on. I would have expected to pay $20, or at the most $23, but $28 is dumb. That said, I know there’s no logic in what I’m about to say, but I’d so order that again. It was just that good. So, I guess it’s worth the $28. For dessert, upon the waitress’s recommendation, I had the bread pudding. I normally do not eat bread pudding cuz it’s weird to me. But this was bread “pudding” on steroids. It was big, it had chocolate chips in it, bourbon sauce, AND ice cream! I died. This is me writing a review from beyond. If you’re in the Chandler area, I absolutely recommend eating here!! Do et. You will not be disappointed!

Principle Food and Drink – Menu with Prices – 230 S Kalamazoo Mall, Kalamazoo

We were pleasantly surprised by Principle and will be recommending it to friends and family in the area. We were easily able to make a reservation on Yelp. From the moment we walked in we loved the chill, but trendy atmosphere. There was a diverse cocktail menu, as well as beer and wine. The beer list includes local craft beers and represented all tastes from IPAS to porters, and even PBR and 40s of Miller High Life. We started out with the cheddar biscuits, which were accompanied by bacon jam and dusted with fresh grano padano. Absolutely delicious. Hubby and I both opted for the flat iron steak, cooked medium rare. It was perfectly cooked and spread over a bed of charred summer veggies and a tomatillo and pumpkin seed mole. The mole had a great kick. The steak was topped with a chimichurri sauce as well. We added a side of the grilled broccoli which was dusted with crushed almonds and served with a spicy mayo, as suggested by our friendly and knowledgeable server Albert. The almonds added an amazing crunch. The spicy mayo was incredibly tasty. Our dinner ended perfectly by sharing the chocolate pudding. The pudding had a bourbon caramel sauce and a chocolate crumble which gave it some complimenting flavor and added texture. We are happy to have stumbled upon Principle and will definitely be back the next time that we’re in town. Also one of the more affordable options for upscale dining in the downtown area.

Panera Bread – Menu with Prices – 1028 S Harbor Blvd, Fullerton

Was afraid to come to this location because of the bad service reviews I glanced through. Walked right in and it wasn’t busy at all. Glanced at the menu for a bit and they were waiting, ready to take my order. I went for the bacon, egg, and cheese on ciabatta with the egg over easy with coffee. Ordering was easy! The also have the self serve option as well with tablets waiting for you to place your order. The restaurant is also mobile order ready as well. The tables have numbers so you can order directly from the app. For it not being busy at all, coming in around 10:00am, I guess you can say it was an average wait to get my sandwich. For such a small sandwich, I was really surprised at the large plate it came on. I would have expected there was something missing from the order with so much space on the plate. As you can see in my picture of the sandwich, the egg was cooked to medium. Just only a small bit of yolk oozed out of the sandwich. The bread was nice and soft, glad I asked for the the softest bread option cause I just had some dental work done before I got here. Over all taste, not a home run for me. Don’t get me wrong, you can’t go wrong with a standard bacon, egg, and cheese sandwich. But I really wanted that till to ooze out so I can use the bread to wipe the yummy told from the plate. And if I were to compare it to a McD bacon, egg, and cheese biscuit, I’d go for McD. Sorry Panera. ? Glad they didn’t go wrong with a cup of coffee. Although, I would have liked my coffee a little bit hotter. The Brew I had may have been out for a little while. It is self serve and all you can drink. So gonna grab one more cup before I leave. The place is nice. It’s a newer location, but could use a little maintaining. There’s crumbs on the floor in the dining area. I think with it being slow during this time, they have time to walk through the dining area to ensure cleanliness. It’s very spacious with a lot of seating options. Dividers are tall enough so that you have your own dining space, in some areas. As with other Paneras, it is a bus your own table, so don’t forget to bring your plates and stuff to the trash.

The Celtic House Irish Pub & Restaurant Menu with Prices 2500 Columbia Pike, Arlington

Ok, a few years ago, I passed on this place. I was staying nearby but changed hotels to be closer to Capitol Hill. I can’t remember where I ended up while I was in Arlington, but always wanted to return to check things out. Tonight, despite my ride-share blowing past here, I finally returned. I was a little surprised that it wasn’t as busy as I expected on a Saturday night, but I’m totally fine with that. As time went on, more people filled in at the bar. I skipped appetizers and went right to the Reuben. It was good, not greasy. The rye bread was grilled well, with flavor and texture, not soggy or too buttery. Along with the fries, it was enough to fill me. I skipped the coleslaw. I looked for photos of desserts to help me decide between bread pudding and apple pie. In the end, I went with the bartender’s suggestion – bread pudding. The presentation was unimpressive with a square of the bread pudding in a square bowl with cream. I decided to chop it up to help cover it with the cream and that helped. It also improved the taste because the cream adds a nice flavor and without it, this would be boring and plain. I’d suggest that when they present this, don’t just throw a slab into the bowl. Chop it up and drizzle the cream all over! Better yet, serve it chopped with cream on the side to be mixed in when served. Overall, I was pleased. I have a few days in Arlington and will try to come back.

Catablu Grille – Menu with Prices – 6372 W Jefferson Blvd, Fort Wayne

Strip mall location with some outside seasonal seating. Saturday night reservation for 7:15. When seated the hostess uses a stamp on the cardboard table top that tells you the specials of the evening. Started with drinks,an avocado margarita and a pineapple flavored martini. The martini was superior to the margarita. Appetizer was Bang Bang shrimp. Spicy & good. Soup for the evening was Shrimp Bisque. Nice flavor but not enough shrimp to worry about. Wife had a wedge salad. Fresh & crisp with blue cheese crumbles & sweet bacon strips. We both choose the 14 oz. crusted rib eye steak with cheddar bacon butter and served with French Fries. Cooked medium rare with a great crust, boneless and very flavorful. I also had an order of the spicy onion rings. More like onion straws but with a little heat. Desert was next. Chocolate lava cake with a chocolate hazelnut tart. Both fine. Make no mistake, the star of the show was the Steak! At a price of $40 it should be. I need to also mention,service,prompt delivery of the food courses and atmosphere were excellent.

Mon Ami Cafe Restaurant – Menu with Prices – 14291 Euclid St D116, Garden Grove

NOTE: Cash only Such a cute place. It’s like dining on the streets of Paris with the backdrops and railings. I like that this place is clean and has plenty of parking. Each table has an organized utensil bin consisting of chop sticks, forks, spoons, and dipping trays. We got complimentary garlic bread as starters and ordered Bo Ne which is like an inexpensive version of steak and eggs on a sizzling fajita skillet. Each one comes with one roll of French bread for dipping and a side of Caesar salad with no dressing. Another way to describe Bo Ne is like country fried steak with gravy. The steak was soft and chewy, not recommended for old folks with dentures.                                          -Deep fried hen served with red rice, topped with an over easy egg, bowl of broth, pickled veggies with a side of green (cilantro lime) and red dipping sauce (sweet and tangy). This dish came out last. The chicken was dry in the inside but the dipping sauce helped as well as the broth. -Bo Ne with mushroom wine sauce – creamy. -Bo Ne with pate sauce – more creamy than the mushroom sauce -French Fries – First time I’ve seen French Fries at a Vietnamese restaurant. I guess it fits the theme of dining in France! -Rau Ma (Pennywort) – I ordered Rau Ma dau xanh (mung bean) but they probably only heard the first part. I didn’t bother to complain because it was pretty and the Rau ma was refreshing. I liked that they were careful on the sugar and left it kind of bland for you to pour more in if you want. -Fish sauce wings – The wings could be a bit crispier. It came with the same green sauce and a yellow sauce. The yellow was like a mustard.