Jeremy "Big Papa" S.'s Profile

A perfectly fine place to refuel your global warming generator. The proximity to the car rental return can't possibly be beat. So don't blame me for getting hit with the $10 gallon penalty for not fueling up your rental beast.

The minus two stars is for the awesome soda offer. Buying 52 ounces of delicious soda water to go (yes a single serving) will score you free music (see photo). But alas the free music won't do you any good since you'll be in hyperglycemic shock.

In brief: A solid neighborhood sushi joint, good for a casual date, favor the rolls, go light on the nigiris.

I was back last night and yes I can confirm it's still a very nice sushi restaurant in the Inner Sunset. The rolls were par excellence, particularly the Tokyo Crunch. The nigiris however, were a disappointment. I had the toro ($14) and while it was generally the right color the texture was neither fatty nor soft enough. I also had red snapper which was ok, but not remarkable. Service was great, our water glasses stayed full and our waitress frequently checked in.

They make a solid Vietnamese sandwich, fresh ingredients and some great bread (I always go with the chicken). It's the smallest food stand I think I've ever seen and sometimes they have as many as three people working inside, amazingly efficient use of space... how green!

Most of the time there is what seems to be a husband and wife team working behind the counter. They know most of their customers by name and are super friendly. I love to see businesses like this thrive. Oh and did I mention it's a freaking bargain? $3.95 per sandwich; it's so cheap I usually get two.

Ok it's so weird and goofy I have to admit that all-in-all, my recent visit to Tonga Room was pretty fun. Best part is that the staff and floating band take everything seriously...

Highlights:
1. Strong drinks
2. A cover band that floats on a boat in the middle of a fake ocean of  water and "sails" back and forth all night. Oh and did I mention the storms?
3. A big ship themed dance floor.

Lowlights:
1. Everything is very expensive for what it is.
2. Staff can be curt and often pushed their carts through too quickly
3. Food tastes like Americanized Chinese and isn't much to write home about.

So was the $100 each worth it? No way. Granted my dining buddies drank like fish-ies (I'm looking at you Mike and Jon) , but the bill was still an eye popper.

So maybe go once when someone else is paying or go with only teetotalers to avoid emptying your entire piggy bank in one sitting.

Disclosure: Tonga Room is a Yelp advertiser and I work at Yelp.

When I lived in Great Falls as a teen this was my favorite restaurant and I practically lived off their fajitas. Even as Reston Town Center has grown up Rio remains as popular as ever and you can count on a wait during prime time.

I really can't speak to much on the menu since I only order the chicken fajitas. There was a time where they had chicken fajitas and half lobster special which was awesome, not sure if that's still around.

I was here last night and the fajitas are still great, but the salsa was a little milder than I remember (unfortunately). The chicken is salty so don't be surprised if you're downing glasses of water like a camel afterwards. The super thin, fresh tortilla chips are another highlight.

Overall it's a great place if you're out in the burbs. Now that I'm a city snob I have to admit I've grown up and moved on (it's no longer 5 stars in my book), but whenever I'm home visiting Mom this is the first place we go.

I've been coming here for years since I grew up in nearby Great Falls, VA. The library is well maintained and right now I'm sitting inside by a window overlooking some trees and green, very relaxing.

I do wonder what the future holds for libraries like this though I do see real value in providing a secular community gathering point and a place for some peace and quiet.

The bathrooms could use some love, soap dispensers aren't dispensing a lot of soap these days and it smells.

But really in this day and age fast, reliable, and free WiFi is the key and they've got it.

Love it.

Been here 3 or 4 time now and every time I've had a great experience. First off the people who work here and run the place are so nice and friendly this must be a family-run operation. Everyone seems to actually care, how refreshing! You walk in the door: smiles. You sit down: friendly hello. You get your food: is everything alright?

It's the 4 Seasons of pho!

Though it's a mom and pop, the restaurant is super clean and is way nicer than most random pho joints. There are a couple flat screens, but I have to say that is a negative in my book since I hate TV (but I won't ding 'em for that since I realize I'm the weird one).

The ingredients in all the soups are well prepared (especially the rare steak, mmmm so tender) and the greens provided are always super crisp and fresh.

I'll be the first to admit I'm not the God of pho since I didn't grow up with it, etc. I'm quite curious to see what all the pho experts on Yelp will say, but judging from both the great reviews so far and steadily increasing crowds Pho Garden looks like it could be a hit.

Disclosure: Pho Garden is a Yelp sponsor and I work for Yelp.

I'm walking in with a couple friends and the door guy knows one of the people in my group and welcomes him in. As I'm passing by the very same door guy stops me and starts giving me crap about wearing a hoodie. He tells me I have to take it off to go inside, then when I do take off my jacket he makes another comment about my black t-shirt.

All the more amusing, was that the door guy had just welcomed in my friend who was wearing a near identical hoodie!

I'd understand if I was coming in from a basketball game wearing Russell Athletics, but in case you missed the trend hoodies are in fashion... yes even Marc Jacobs sells them.

The lady who appeared to be running the house found out I was part of Yelp staff and took my visit as an opportunity to complain about how yelpers have been giving her a hard time about the "dress code". Well for good f-ing reason.

Sorry folks I'm not a deadbeat and you shouldn't discriminate against people who don't adhere to your convoluted standard. I thought San Francisco was an open and tolerant place, I guess some unseemly backwaters still exist.

Ah what a nice day today, headed over to Crissy Field to let Darwin have his fun and then afterwards walked Chestnut St to take in the sights, sounds, smells, and handbags.

Stopped off at Pacific Catch with a friend and grabbed a sandwich to go. I decided on the wasabi ahi. Not sure I remember all the ingredients on there, but it was primarily seared rare ahi, ginger, and a wasabi sauce. I also had the sweet potato fries on the side.

Have to say I was pretty happy with the meal. I've never had an ahi sandwich before and the potent flavors worked out well. The high quality bread held everything together and I was able to eat napkin free (a good thing since we forgot to grab any).

A solid afternoon snack... also fyi there is a park about one block east if you need a sunny place to eat.

Imagining my neighborhood without this coffee shop is hard, it's so nice having Crossroads around I really don't want to think about that. Yeah so I really, really, really like it.

Why? Well mostly because it's a vibrant but rarely overrun place to get food on a Sunday or Saturday morning. If it's cold you can eat inside and if it's nice out they have a pretty outdoor patio. A little sun, my Economist, hot coffee, and some food is my weekly personal taste of heaven (yup, I'm a freak).

Ok so I will be the first to admit that the food items are decidedly 3 stars. I've tried just about everything and while I have favorites that work for me, compared to other places it's just not the best. That said, most of their food is decent which is fine since I'm not coming for haute cusine.

I'll go through my favorite food items:

Egg & bagel sandwich - ok, but the eggs are microwaved, yeah it's weird but when you're craving eggs this is what they've got.

Croissant - ok, very buttery, but not flaky unfortunately.

Waffle - decent, one of my favorites and one of the most consistently well made items, real maple syrup too! If you're a big eater you probably want to get something extra, it's not a lot of food.

Lox and bagel - inconsistent though sometimes passable, occasionally it's down right bad (if the bagel is stale or the lox is fishy, which happens). If you're a lox expert you won't love it, but I can't help but order it on occasion.

Oatmeal - I'm not an expert on oats, but it works for me. Comes with brown sugar and dried currants which are nice toppings.

Granola - Also a decent and safe option, order it with fruit on top for a healthy meal.

Orange juice - Very fresh tasting, always. I get it every time.

Coffee - I'm not a coffee snob, but it works for me. Free refills which is great for a junkie like me.

Bagels - When they are fresh, they're decent. Sometimes they've been stale, but fortunately this has been pretty rare.

The staff is friendly and caring, service is overall good. I've noticed they  are much more efficient than when I first started coming here back around 2001. Food comes out pretty quick and they're able to move the lines, so don't get intimidated if people are lined up.

Thanks for being there Crossroads, still