Concord-Dalis Gardens Mobile Home Park, Concord

3/31/14

I am in mobile home parks for work from time to time, and this is one of the nicer ones I've been in.  I'm not a resident here, but loved the big sign at the entrance and the tall, pretty palm trees behind it.  It was also very easy to find the home I was looking for.

There are some communities where this is next to impossible to locate a home if you don't have landmarks or clearly marked streets, like they do here.  I thought the grounds were very clean as well, and all the homes looked like they were kept up well.

We saw several for sale signs and I was very curious what the average cost of a mobile home is, but none of them had information fliers in the boxes below the "for sale" signs. I remain curious...

San Mateo Toll Bridge Plaza, Hayward

3/30/14

I don't understand why all toll plazas that accept FastTrak aren't like the Benicia Bridge toll plaza, which allows you to maintain your speed as your proceed through on the Hayward side. My guess is it's probably a traffic issue, but traffic can slow beyond the toll plaza on any bridge, so that doesn't really answer my question either.

Even with our FastTrak, we had to slow to 25 as we went through. It's nice to not have to stop, but it'd be even nicer if wide, open toll lanes didn't make us slow down either.  We were headed across at a point in the afternoon when there wasn't much traffic, and really no reason to slow (other than to obey the posted speed limits).

At least once you get through the toll area, a beautiful, long, and scenic bridge waits on the other side as you drive toward San Mateo.

Nini's Coffee Shop, San Mateo

3/30/14

We decided on this place for a late breakfast after a late night out in Milbrae.  My husband picked it based on picked of biscuits and gravy, even though they didn't have hash browns (home fry potato chunks instead).  We arrived a little after 1 and were told it'd be a 20 minute wait.  Two friends joined us 20-30 minutes later.  It was raining as we waited but hot coffee was free out front.  The place was packed which I took to be a good sign, so the wait wasn't a big deal.  What was a big deal was that after we were finally seated (35 minutes after arriving) another table of four was seated after us, at the table next to us.  They were brought menus and water right away, and greeted by name.

We were actually never brought menus. I never had a menu to look at, other than the one that one of our friends grabbed while we waited. I don't know why we wouldn't be seated and handed menus. After the table next to us ordered, we were brought water and asked if we wanted to order.  I don't care how regular of customers they are, we were sat first and should have been greeted first. After waiting the better part of an hour to be sat, we deserve that at least.

This will probably freak most people out, but I'm going to share it anyhow. We stole the bread from another table. No, I'm not kidding. Technically, our friends that we were dining with lifted it.  It was a plate with several slices, untouched, and they had all gotten up to leave. We watched the bread, starving... all thinking the same thing but nobody saying it.  Finally, Bill got up, grabbed the plate and slowly, one-by-one, we ALL gave in and had a piece. I thought of it like the complimentary dinner bread basket you get at nice restaurants. Except ours was semi-used and stolen.  It was good though. Glad that's off my chest.
I had only seen a couple items when I briefly glanced at our shared menu and ended up with the vegetarian omelet.  It was stuffed with veggies and was a huge serving.  The extra crispy potatoes weren't really crispy, but it's hard to crispy giant home fries.  I ate the second half of my omelet at home this morning and had crispy, crunchy, homemade hash browns.  The omelet was still really good, even a day later.

Husband enjoyed his biscuit/gravy plate but... we're prob more likely to find somewhere new if we're in the area again, before returning again.  The place itself is fantastically decorated.  Plus, we ate on a well-heated back patio with a lot of fun things to look at.  It would have been a better experience overall if the staff were organized enough to bring their guests menus and acknowledge people in the order they're sat.

McDonald's, Sylmar

3/30/14

We enjoyed a breakfast here last month. I say "enjoyed" because we ordered, sat inside and ate our food at a clean booth.  Our order was correct, and it was nice and quiet inside.  We had spent a weekend with our family laying a loved one to rest, and it was nice to just sit in the silence of the morning and think about things. We didn't talk a lot and the people around us were mostly wrapped up in their own morning papers or quiet conversations as well.

I ordered an egg white delight without the Canadian bacon. $3.19 I actually had a homegrown avocado my uncle had given me. I also had some jalapenos. I like to keep jalapenos in my purse  :D  So I customized my delicious breakfast into a healthy McMuffin of goodness.

My husband had a couple bacon egg and cheese things (mc griddle $3.39 and biscuit $3.19) - He also ordered a Coke $1 (ughhh, soda at breakfast drives me crazy).  I had water.... I felt like it was a pretty healthy and hearty breakfast, and was glad we stopped at the convenient McDonald's location before our long drive home.

Grill & Vine, Westin Hotel, Milbrae

3/30/14

As guests of the Westin SFO, my husband and I were happy to find a restaurant inside the hotel.  One menu had some March Madness specials, all items like hot dogs and sliders, for $9 each.  I stuck to the regular menu and ordered only a kale Caesar salad and a bloody Mary.

I love a good, spicy bloody Mary.  My husband does not.  He ordered chips and the same drink as me, but asked for a non-spicy version.  His was almost undrinkable.  (For him, I mean. I could prob drink pureed habanero juice and not break a sweat). But his was just as spicy as mine, which was on the very warm level.

His chips were good though.  And my salad was good. I eat a lot of kale and other leafy greens.  I really liked the pieces mixed in with the regular lettuce. I guess I expected all kale, but it was nice to have the assorted lettuce.  The croutons didn't taste like fresh, house-made ones,  but I wasn't sure totally if they were or not and I enjoyed the little guys. Lots of cheese on the salad, but not a very big serving for $12.

Loved our stay at the hotel, but we ventured out for all food needs after our visit to their restaurant.

Chili's, Concord

3/30/14

I imagine the Chili's in Walnut Creek only closed their doors due to outrageous rent prices. They were always busy, so I was not surprised that on a Sunday afternoon, Chili's Concord was busy as well. It's been years since WC closed and I think Ive only been to Concord one time other than today.

We stopped in for margaritas, but both ended up ordering food as well. My husband had a Southern Smokehouse burger. It came with fries (lucky for him they were thick cut so I didn't steal very many). The $10.49 burger was cooked great but he was upset about all the pickles and lettuce that came on it (which I was happy to take all of).  I had eaten not long before, so I requested a custom order of fried jalapenos.  Their onion strings come with jalapenos, so I requested the onion strings, without the strings.  I received a small cup of perfectly cooked and fried pieces for $1.79.

Casey surprised me by ordering an infused (pomegranate/blueberry margarita) $8.99.  I stuck with what I know, the Presidente ($7.59 if youre okay with well tequila). It has brandy in it as well, be warned! I love these and think they're a great deal. Plus, the infused one was much too sweet - mine was perfect.

Our server, Knecht, was awesome. Very friendly and attentive and happy to accommodate my weird food request and even ask the kitchen some questions on behalf of my husband.  She promptly brought our check and cleared our plates.  The woman who took our drink order when we sat (bartender, most likely?) made my day by IDing me.   We also saw her again working hard clearing plates at other tables. Great team work.  Glad we stopped in today!

Bayfront Park, Milbrae

3/30/14

As guests of the Westin Hotel, we had our parking covered so we didn't have to deal with the small parking lot that seems to frustrate other park-goers.  We walked over to the park before walking along the Bayfront Trail.  There are benches for sitting (all along the trail) and we saw lots of people sitting and resting, watching the planes come and go.

Tide was out the afternoon that we strolled along the park and then down the path, but it was a very enjoyable walk. We walked quite a long way before turning around, and were blessed by perfect weather and a little bit of wildlife.

Talk a walk if youre in this area! We would have returned on Sunday - the tide had come in and the Bay was full, but it was raining and cold, so we will have to return another time.

W Xyz Bar, Aloft Hotel, Milbrae

3/30/14

After an event next door at the Westin SFO, we walked across the street the w xyz bar inside the hotel Aloft.  It was only 11 p.m. or so but it was last call for my husband and me. One more drink for us, and if we were lucky, a little bite to eat.

Totally got lucky! We walked in and the fun reception area led to a large, open room with lots of seating, a pool table, and a bar with pulsing lights on its surface.  The bartender didn't take long to notice us and brought some menus and water (at our request). He wasn't really paying attention to us and missed the beer that I ordered with the waters. We finally got his attention again but he was never really that attentive.

I ordered a $9 Caesar salad (by coincidence, my second Caesar of the day), and husband reluctantly ordered the $10 cheese plate.  The last time we ordered a cheese plate was at a beer place in Walnut Creek and we would have preferred the pre-packaged single-sliced American to what we received there.  However, this plate came out with a variety of delicious cheeses, both hard and soft. It had a couple types of crackers and a handful of red grapes. Definitely better than what we were expecting.

My salad was also good, minus the boxed garlic croutons on top. Croutons are so easy to make and last a couple days.... I just don't understand why any business wouldn't take the 10 minutes to season and bake up their leftover bread.  Also, I asked for hot sauce and I was given three packets rather than a bottle. Even though it's a pretty small amount of waste, I feel this is really wasteful. Why put all those tiny packages into a landfill, rather than just buying a Costco sized glass bottle that can be recycled? (Okay, this granola-hugger will stop there, but... seriously?!)

Overall, we were really glad they served food late into the night. We finished our plates and my drink and headed back to the Westin for bed. A friendlier bartender could have talked us in to another round, but it was probably for the best that ours was too busy with the group at the other side of the bar.

Wells Fargo Bank, Clayton Road, Concord

3/27/14

I have had nothing but good experiences with the business staff inside this Wells Fargo branch.  Their team is knowledgeable and easy to work with. I've dealt directly with several of their financial advisors but most closely with Jenna and Augustine. Not only are these hard-working employees always friendly, but they are punctual when meetings are set which shows respect for my time, and they are very organized.

Organization in a professional industry is so important.  I feel like a lot of business professionals forget how important it is to a client to see their different document sets easily separated and labeled, etc.  It gives a person security that you take your job seriously. I would compliment whomever is training the employees at this branch, but organization isn't as much a learned behavior as a quality of a person. Their staff is great overall!

I also enjoy being greeted by the guard at the door. I occasionally have to circle the parking lot to get a spot, but no matter how long it takes to park, he's always waiting at the front door to say "hi" and "goodbye".

Goodbye, friendly guard.  :)

Victoria's Secret, Sun Valley Mall, Concord

3/25/14

I do all of my undergarment shopping at V.S. - I don't mind paying a little extra for comfort and quality. Plus, it's usually good service, once you get an employee to help you.  I prefer the Walnut Creek store, but parking is a nightmare so I often come to Sun Valley Mall.

Service here can be a little slower and hard to find. Last night I wasn't acknowledged at all until check-out, but the girl on the register was very nice and apologized for that. I found everything I needed and was really happy with the sale price for the "cheeky, low-rise" style. The cashier joked that I "must really like that style" :) perhaps I bought a lot?! :)  That's okay with me... and with hubby!

It's pretty much the only store my husband or myself could spend a lot of money in, and the other person would definitely never complain about it.  Be sure to sign up for their rewards program and get the VS card for even better offers and deals in the mail!

La Fondita Taqueria, Graton Resort & Casino, Rohnert Park

3/25/14

We arrived at Graton Casino after a big lunch at my in-laws. I don't know what it is about taquerias, but I see them and I start to get hungry! Such was the case here. We walked the entire casino and strolled through the impressive food court.  Not even an hour later I was back in the court, eating my tacos!

I stood in line behind a man who had no idea how to use the credit card machine. (It was a basic, swipe-your-card kind of thing). The cashier helped him along but it was a painfully slow process. Then, with one customer after him ahead of me, they changed the register drawer. This took a couple of minutes also and it would have been nice for an employee to acknowledge the line and say they'd be with us shortly.

I was happy to find tacos for $1.75. I also bought a plate of chips for $2. The veggie taco was very good but I enjoyed the habanero sauce on a marinated pork taco. They were definitely bigger than I expected them to be for the price (in a casino!) And they were good. I'd definitely be back for more next time we're here! They had a good selection of meat choices, including lengua and cabeza. But I'll probably stick with veggie and request extra delicious hot sauce on the side!

Miraku Noodles, Walnut Creek

3/24/14

I've always known that there was a separate restaurant on the Miraku property, I just never gave it much attention.  Miraku Japanese Cuisine & Sushi is easily seen from Broadway St., but it's little sister in the back, Miraku Noodles, is easy to miss.  They are actually the same building, but are painted different colors to differentiate the two restaurants, have different signs, and customers cannot access one from another without walking outside.

It was pretty warm out as I walked to the Noodle house and I started to rethink my idea of a hot soup for lunch, but I was too curious to turn around. A tiny woman greeted me and sat me in front of a TV broadcasting sports. So far, so good.  She brought me an iced water with lemon and a one-page menu listing the soup and salad selections. I ordered a hot ramen soup with spicy broth.  For $2.50 extra I choose seafood instead of the land animal options.

A small plate of edamame was served complimentary and followed by a lightly dressed bowl of salad. Shortly after, my soup was set in front of me, hot and steaming! Fresh broccoli, bok choy, green onions, delicious ramen noodles, and a very tasty broth! Plus lots of shrimp, mussels, fish cake and more! This was actually the first time I've ever tried a fish cake, and I liked it.

It was a huge serving and I wasn't able to finish the bowl but I was happy to have some leftover.  I took it to-go in the container I brought with me and walked back to work, glad to have tried and enjoyed somewhere new today!

McDonald's, Firebaugh

8/6/13

Wow. Fast food employees make like $7/hour so you aren't always going to find ones that care about what they do. While this isn't always the case, I do try to be patient when we encounter apathetic employees. Luckily there were no such people at our drive-thru stop here to get my husband some food.

Drive-thru was fast and very friendly. He ordered a double cheeseburger, 20 piece McNugget and Large Coke. $8.10 total. I really wanted a fry but I didn't give in. I regretted it as soon as we left. Stupid self-control, getting in the way of the delicious fries!

Our order was correct and we had napkins, a straw, and 3 sauces. That's all I need from a drive-thru.

Walmart (Tire Center), Milpitas

8/16/13

An experience that started out not so great at the tire center ended up very good. We saved some money and the work was done efficiently and correctly.  I would actually recommend this place. I usually buy tires at Costco, but we got lucky that we ended up here. Paid $71/tire and had a $36 oil change. Less than $400 and we only waited an hour or so (not counting the hellishly slow line to place the order). All good in the end.

Our story:

Husband suggested we head to Dave & Buster's to have some Sunday fun. Unfortunately, his tire had low air when we reached our parking lot. No big deal, right? Fix-a-flat to the rescue. Except that his Altima Hybrid has sensors in the tire and you are definitely not supposed to fill them with Fix-A-Flat.  $#*! Thought about that a little too late and it wasn't far down the freeway that his car was doing a weird rumbly, shake thing. We decided it was time to just replace the tires completely. We hoped there was somewhere near D&B so that we could go have fun while the shop did the work.

What we found was the Walmart Tire Center. We first called Walmart to see if this location even had a tire center. We then wanted to know if they were open. We were transferred to the Tire Center and the phone rang and rang and rang. We called back and again, no answer. Plus, the person transferring our call didn't understand that we didn't need to speak to anyone, we just wanted to know if they were open.

We arrived to find they did have a tire center. They slow line was being worked by two employees. Thank goodness the guy working was who ended up helping us because the girl working moved like glue. Super slow speed. We were told it'd be two and a half hours so we decided to go for a hike. Didn't get far though before CAsey's phone rang and we were called back to sign a new work order since they were out of our tires. First we were quoted a new price on the phone $3 more / tire. But when we arrived it was $12 more / tire. But finally the same guy helping us suggesting a different tire which SAVED us $7 / tire. That was awesome. Also, the time it took to get the work done was about half of what they quoted.

Westside Country Store, Firebaugh

8/6/13

Not what I expected inside, but perhaps even cooler?

Bought some dried edamame for me ($7.99), peanut brittle for him ($5.99) and some dip mix (called Dip Shit by Big Cock Farms). hahahaha It was just too funny not to buy. They also sold hot sauce, wine, gifts, and other dried fruits, nuts and veggies.

Clean store and friendly employee that helped me at check out. Glad I stopped in!

Pyramid Alehouse, Walnut Creek

8/7/13

"There is no 'I' in Special Olympics."  That was our 5-person team name for our fun experience playing trivia here a week or two ago. We met with friends who arrived early and had a booth. Good thing because the trivia room was packed!

We ordered Happy Hour hummus and a half nacho, plus a couple pints of Hef. It was literally the minute happy hour was ending when we were seated so we were glad they were flexible. Hummus happens to only be on the HH menu and our friend wanted to order some for herself when ours arrived but wasn't able to (so we shared). Thought the amount of veggies served with the hummus was laughable (a couple tired looking pieces of celery and carrots, I think). But it was only $3.50.  The half nacho was really big ($4.95) and came with sour cream and guac on the side, along with some salsa. Here's where I want to point out something I really liked. I asked for limes on the side and they were brought in a glass, rather than on a napkin like a lot of places. Do you know how much water it takes to produce one sheet of paper, or a napkin? Between 13 oz to a gallon. For every single ONE! So I try not to waste napkins. My limes came quickly, even though Joana was a very busy server in the packed room.  She came back and checked on us quite a bit. I even got a refill on the yummy salsa. I was very impressed with our server.
She had to tell the other guests at our table "no" quite a few times though. It seemed like every beer they wanted to try, Pyramid was out of. They were drinking a lot more than we were. We did end up ordering one Apricot pint to share before we asked for our check. Unfortunately, everyone's check was together and we had to figure out who ordered what. Since we had three parties that wanted separate checks, it meant lots of circles and lines on the paper. Some of the people still wanted to keep drinking but now they were closing their check too.

Trivia itself was fun. We almost came in second until the last two bonus questions got us. It took hours though. Their system of adding up points and collecting answers after each question would be much faster with an additional person helping. I'll definitely go back for more nachos, but prob won't stay for trivia again!

Villa Fresh Italian Kitchen, Great Mall, Milpitas

8/7/13

In need of some body fuel before getting our gaming on at the nearby Dave and Busters, we moseyed over to the Great Mall's Food Court. F'n insanity! Their food court is huge!!! Lots of great places to eat but I didn't want much so we stopped at the Villa hub for some pizza. I had a slice of the vegetarian and husband had a slice of pepperoni.  We ordered both well-done because we wanted crispy toppings and crust.

My veggie was pretty good but it definitely was overwhelmed with tomato chunks and not enough of any other vegetable. Husband enjoyed his pizza but not one pepperoni was crispy. Sauce was pretty good. Crust was okay. Overall the slice was a good size but not huge. Mine was $4.79 and his was $3.89. Next time we're at this mall, we'll probably try something else in the food court, but this wasn't bad at all.

Fresh & East Neighborhood Market, Walnut Creek

8/7/13

This store is not my most convenient shopping market so it usually only becomes a destination for me if I'm in this plaza doing something else. I don't mind shopping here when I'm in the plaza though - I enjoy this smaller-sized store.

I have found bags of salad lettuce for a buck and that's a pretty good deal. Also tried spinach tortillas that were here on sale once and thoroughly enjoyed them.

Whenever I am in here I've noticed that it's usually pretty empty. Maybe that's why it's so easy to keep clean. Everything's been in stock when I've come looking for something in particular.  I heard they were closing/moving but that's been several months ago now and they're still here. I'd probably stop in more if I diddn't have a Trader Joe's and Safeway both closer to my home.

Zpizza, Fremont

3/19/14

Zpizza is yum yum good!  I should have been adventurous and tried the vegan pizza, but I ordered a couple of vegetarian ones instead.  My husband and I were on the road headed south, and stopped in Fremont to get some food. Hungry Amy found this place right off the freeway. The convenient location and easy-to-access parking lot were nice!

We parked, walked in, and were able to view several by-the-slice selections. I picked an olive and an artichoke slice. Husband ordered a couple for himself. We watched TV while they cooked it well-done for us.

The pizza was really good! Hot and crispy. BUT not nearly enough sauce for my liking. I asked the man behind the counter who was prepping fresh veggies if he could give me a side of tomato sauce.  He obliged and I dipped in my bites; much better!

Would totally come back to this place if we were in the area and would definitely try the vegan pizza! Quality food and very reasonable prices!

OC Watch Company, Walnut Creek

3/18/14

I always try to distract my husband when we're walking by a watch store. We both love watches, but I'm pretty sure we feel differently about how many one person really needs to own. But today it was I who was eager to find this watch store in beautiful downtown Walnut Creek.

Let me back up 48 hours: While headed to see a production of Sleeping Beauty at the Lesher Center this weekend, my husband dropped his wallet in a parking garage. (doh!!)  Fortunately, the world is full of great people. The honest couple who found it had already tracked down my phone number and called me only 20 minutes into the play! Casey's credit cards, driver's license, pilot's license....all his pertinents and such ....all in good hands!

Kyle, the owner of OC Watch Company, kept it for me at his store. What a great opportunity to get the wallet back AND check out a local watch store. I had hoped to bring (but couldn't find) Casey's Luminox in with me today for an overdue, minor repair. OC Watch Co. not only buys/sells/trades luxury watches, but they do watch repair work too!  Their services also include authentication, movement service, overhaul, and full battery service. In addition to selling watches, they have a wide variety of men's and women's straps!

The store was easy to find and Kyle was really friendly as we talked briefly. Even their website is impressive and user-friendly. I enjoyed looking through the site's blog photos. My dad is a vintage-historic auto racer (Shelbys and Cobras) and seeing Kyle's photos of cars at some of the tracks I grew up on made me smile.

Whether youre looking to buy or sell a luxury watch, I'd start here your search at OC Watch Company. It's important to support local businesses, and youre absolutely going to get an honest business owner helping you here. And that's important to my husband and myself when we're buying any item, but especially a fine timepiece.

Contra Costa County Bar Association, Concord

3/17/14

I work as a paralegal and bookkeeper for a law firm in CCC and a few of our attorneys are Contra Costa County Bar Association members.  There are many benefits to being a member off the CCCBA. If you make frequent court appearances, you can bypass the court's perimeter security system with a restricted access security card ($50).

An online and printed directory provides information about attorney's  who are active members of the CCCBA, and if they choose, it allows them to list specialty practice areas on their profile. It also includes their photo and contact information.

They provide a lawyer referral service ($100 for attorneys who would like to be included on their list). I have referred countless callers to their number for matters our firm does not handle.

While completing our firm's most recent membership renewals, I had the pleasure of working with Jenny on two separate occasions.  One of our renewals had been mailed to the wrong address and another missed the (soft) deadline. Jenny went above and beyond to help me make sure both members stayed current. She initiated calls to me and responded quickly to my questions and emails.  Plus she was really sweet! Can't beat the reasonable renewal rates and friendly customer service!

Barrel Aged Restaurant & Cocktail Lounge, Martinez

8/7/13



We're been in here a couple of times now. I enjoyed service more the first time but the experience was better overall on the second visit. We played trivia after dinner both times we were in.

The owner is really friendly. He seems like an ultra nice and sincere guy. We met friends for dinner on our second trip in and he accomodated their vegan diet with special meals. I had a bite of the stuffed eggplant he prepared for them and it was awesome. I loved the crunchy grain on top and the filling had so much flavor. I had a veggie salad with green tomatoes that I didn't like all that much. It was a lot of food but I found myself eating it pretty slowly.

The foods I do love in here start with the chickpea appetizer. ($3) So cool! I've never had (or even seen) chickpeas served this way and the seasoning is great. Very fun appetizer for the table. The table also gets corn bread and butter which is very good. I don't eat much of it though because I want to leave room for the fries! ($6) Loved the garlic fries. I think the cajun fries have the same or a similar seasoning to the chickpeas so I'll stick with an order of garlic fries and chick peas both!

To wash it down I've enjoyed a sour beer called Monks Cafe (the only one they carry, I think) . ($11). Also had a pear cider ($6) and a Lefee draft for husband $(8).

Service has been friendly - really liked Brittney as our server but we've had attentive service both times. Plus, I've felt comfortable stopping other staff to talk or ask a question. Last dinner, the bartender brought animal cookies with the beer our friend John ordered (a dark beer). He said it was a personal recommendation that they go together! How rad. Good service and fun trivia nights will keep us coming back.

Trivia rounds are fast and its a scouts-honor kind of policy (you keep track of your own points). Prizes are won and it's a good time for all. Seriously, everyone in the place gets involved and its a really fun date night. Or double-date night, like we enjoyed! (Thanks to John B. and Rachel C. for being our fun double! And letting us keep the prize wine!!)

Magoo's Grill, Pleasant Hill

8/12/13

I'm pretty sure that Magoo's has either found the most chipper employees that exist, or they have some extensive training that teaches these gals how to be friendly and excellent at what they do.  Our recent visits have resulted in excellent service with a smile.

We stopped for breakfast this weekend and had Jordan as our server. She was attentive and helped with our questions about the menu and item substitution. We ordered Bloody Mary's and the bartender made a strong, tasty drink. A blunder with my meal (forgetting to put Hollandaise sauce on the side) caused a bit of a delay for delivery of my plate, which would have probably been a bigger issue if a free Bloody Mary hadn't shown up to keep my mouth occupied while I waited for it to be remade. Great customer service.


 The food is good! I haven't had anything I don't like. The veggie Eggs Benedict was cooked perfectly and I unexpectedly had a large serving of crispy hash browns on the plate next to it. We ordered them extra crispy and they came out perfect. So good!

 Lots of TVs AND they had the volume on for my A's game. Another great experience dining here!

UPDATED from 4/24/13:

LOVED MY HAPPY HOUR SALAD

Stopped in here on a Tuesday for happy hour (HH); even though they don't do a Taco Tuesday special of any sort (skipping tacos on Tuesday makes Amy a grumpy girl). But my friends decided to brave my cranky.

I ordered calamari and a salad. The rest of the table did their own thing and I didn't try anyone's food but my own. The HH food must be smaller portions for the same items. I think menus should tell you this. (half order for half price). Because some places give full orders and the HH special is the half price for the same amount of food.  At least the salad was a lot of food! It was so good with cheese and yummies all over it. Great deal!

I stopped coming here when they took out the pool tables. On this day as I parked, I noticed some creepers in an Explorer out front, definitely up to know good. They were there when we left an hour later, just chillin. In their car. Weirdness. Guess eliminating pool tables didn't scare off all the bad seeds. So there's nothing really to do here but drink and eat. We did both.

Our server was wearing some great pants. Husband asks the table: "are those yoga pants?" ohhh, boy. We then told the server we'd been admiring her uh, pants, from behind. Good thing it didn't creep her out. She seemed to take it as a compliment. Which it was.

Pleasant enough atmosphere but I bore easily at bars and there wasn't a lot to stimulate me. At least service was terrific.

Boulevard Apartments, Pleasant Hill

8/12/13

I don't live here but I've had two (or three?) friends that have. So my review is from a guest's perspective. Most important to ask: What the #$&! is up with the lack of guest parking?! There's practically none, so a few times we've parked in the prospective tenant spots which are oddly very short. The car sticks out into the main drive, and while it's not impossible for other cars to swerve to go around it, it's a really weird way to park.

The units are nice. A friend who lived in the back of the complex had a second floor loft. The front door opened into a good sized living room and the kitchen was pretty standard, but on the small side. It was in good condition though. Another friend on the first floor has a nice set up as well. It's not an inexpensive place to live, but it's very pretty around the complex.  And the pool isn't freezing cold! Not a very deep pool though and not a large area around it - and NO hot tub - but it's a nice place to sit poolside.

When entering the complex, there is a locked gate so if you don't have a clicker you need to dial whomever youre visiting for access. If youre a prospective tenant there is parking outside of the gate so that you can access the main office. When leaving, you can't turn left out of the complex (to go toward Monument); only right onto Contra Costa (toward Treat, or 680 South entrance). Pretty inconvenient sometimes.

Custom Garages, Inc., Pacheco

8/13/13

I've called Custom Garages twice to find out more information about customizing my parent's garage. I've been really happy with the helpful customer service both times. My first call was answered by Carrie and she was very courteous and professional. I had questions about pricing and she explained that since every garage and customization is different, the owner likes to come and look at your garage in order to work with achieving what it is you want for your space.

My parent's have a lot of boxes in their garage housing my old grade-school report cards and probably even some of my sister and my old dolls and other stuff. I think they imagined we'd have our own children by this point that would be playing with My Little Pony and Glo-Worms, freeing up some of the space. Nope.

My second call to Custom Garages was to inquire about all the "stuff" currently in their garage. I wanted to speak with a technician who does the installations and James was given my call. He works with cabinet installation and said the walls where they work need at least 6 feet of clearance around them with no personal items. He told me a little more about the company and the entire process. It was really helpful and I appreciated the time he spent talking to me.

While I don't think that taking on the task of cleaning out my parent's garage is at the top of my to-do list, I think that an organized area would really be beneficial to them.   And now I know a company I'd be happy to work with in order to get it done.

Bank of America, Oak Grove Rd., Concord

8/15/13


I have a checking account with B of A but rarely have to go into my bank, thanks to phone technology that allows check deposits, and an independent-ATM close to home where I can make withdrawals.

However, there are certain instances when you need more assistance than an ATM can offer. Like when you want to make a cash offer on a used car, but don't want to respond to a CraigsList ad with a purse full of $20s. So I took my bills into this branch and asked them to be changed to hundreds. This is when I learned you have to bank with BofA in order to make such a request. Not a problem, since I do, but I wanted to know why. I was told they "run low on hundreds" so I needed to get my debit card out and log into my account, as if this magically replenished their supply? I don't get it.

I go into my husband's bank (Chase) and get money changed without having an account. It's never a problem. Wells Fargo will also change bills and neither my husband nor I bank there. I go into the downtown WC BofA branch and get $2 bills without having to show I have an account, and I KNOW they run low on these because they rarely have them. Giving me no reasonable explanation of why I needed to get out my card and enter my pin before they could change my bills is pretty crappy customer service. Piss-poor job of customer relations at this branch. I'll stick to downtown WC next time I have to go in.