Time. For Snacks.

This was actually supposed to be lunch time but we wanted to save our appetites for something else in the area. But you know how things are in Vegas during the summer, burning and scorching so we opted for a poor attempt at staying indoors as long as we can. Seems like a great idea except we aren't the type who can tolerate the stuffy casino air. To get our minds off of this, the heat, and give our angry stomachs something, we dropped into Gordan Ramsey's Pub in Caesar's Palace.

English Ale Onion Soup. Yes, go ahead and call me an idiot for ordering hot soup in the middle of summer. I enjoy onion soups. I love French Onion so why not try out the English take on it. Has Welsh Cheddar Rarebit on it. The cheese is good but the soup and onions were actually quite sweet. Not something I would order often because I would rather had savory or something a little more balanced.

Mac n Cheese! Black truffle, gruyere, English cheddar, parmesan cheese with duck fat croutons. Oh my goodness those fatty fatty yum yum croutons. Gives a good meaty, savoriness to the dish. The cheeses were great. The pasta was traditional elbow pasta but I thought it was good. Always love and appreciate the earthy flavors that truffles provide. Get this dish ... assuming you aren't lactose intolerant.

Was this place great? Not really. Portion sizes were leaning on the small side. When you think about how much you spend, you can go else where for a little better quality and maybe even a little bit less money. But we were hungry and needed a temporary snack fill up. We would go back for the mac n cheese only. Try it if there is no line, you're hungry, and in Caesar's Palace.

Gordan Ramsey Pub & Grill
Caesar's Palace
3570 S. Las Vegas Blvd.
Las Vegas, NV 89109
877-346-4642

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Snooty. Cupcakes.

Sweets. I like em. Maybe that's why my fiance's nickname is Sweety. She's quite sweet to me. Actually, I'm not quite sure how I gave her the nickname. So the infamous desserts. I used to only enjoy candy. Yet, something has changed and I cannot seem to emphasize how picky my tastes buds have become. On a normal day, only having a dessert or sweet item really completes my meal. Without it, my tongue is usually telling my brain: "Yes, the meal was good but something is missing." With it I get this: "Oh baby you treat me so good. I love it when you do me right." Haha, I just really like removing savory tastes out of my mouth using some sweet dessert. Not overly sweet though. So about the cupcakes ... Kara's Cupcakes. Oh that bitch. Not her personally but her establishment. I was at the Walnut Creek, CA location but I have also been to the location in the Oxbow Public Market in Napa, CA.

Cute logo I must admit. Pretty nice location in Walnut Creek. Very close to a lot of other eateries and shopping.

Their cute box. Of course it is a slightly modified doughnut box but whatever.

Their selection.

Like many other places they have a changing menu. Certain days have certain things. Blah blah. We got the plain vanilla, carrot cake, and a chocolate. All were eh. The frosting was a bit sweet for my taste so, as usual, I tossed over three-quarters of the frosty away. Now, my issue with Kara's. Okay, I understand you went on Food Network. I understand you have a lot of locations in Northern California. I understand you company is getting a bit big. What I do no understand is why your managers are hiring employees who are pieces of garbage. Typically, I like to test out red velvet. Is it cliche? Maybe so, but who cares. When I went in to ask for it, your employee scoffs at me and says "Um, we don't carry RED VELVET as you can clearly see." Well I apologize, I thought since it seems to be quite popular in many cupcake bakeries that Kara's would have it. Thus, I went and ordered ... whatever the hell I ordered. Hell, what I said I ordered might have been wrong. We were both so unimpressed I cannot remember anything about it besides being very very expensive and mediocre. Next couple people order a chocolate velvet cupcake. Uh, sounds like red velvet without the red. So I ask this bitch about it. "Yes, it's basically like a red velvet cake except I just told you we don't carry red velvet." Well defecate on my face and call me Donkey Puncher. If I said it needs to be the color purple and have a pair of hairy testicles on it would it make a difference? Chocolate velvet and red velvet ... is it so hard to just inform me you have something very similar and without the food coloring? Wow. Yes, I tend not to judge on service so long as the food is good or great, but these cupcakes were not good and the service matched it. Suck my balls.

Kara's Cupcakes
1388 North Main Street
Walnut Creek, CA 94596
925-933-2222
http://www.karascupcakes.com

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Dessert. Quick.

I'm craving dessert right now and stumbled on this. Just a quick upload. Some times when I want a dessert, it doesn't have to be super sweet. Even that subtle sweetness is fine. Or fruits. Fruits for dessert are great. Maybe it's because I have Asian blood. It's alright if you want to make that type of stereotype, Asians always offering stupid slices of oranges after your meal. Well, fruits are good and they got some vitamins. What's not to like? On a serious note ...

Silky tofu with tapioca and mango. Yum. Do you like silky tofu when you go to Dim Sum? It does not have the candied ginger sauce but it is sweetened a bit and has mangoes to do with it. Phoenix Food Boutique is an Asian cafe with some desserts. There's a gang load of them in Rowland Heights and in the San Gabriel Valley. Been opening up like crazy. They have some alright food but I usually just go for dessert. This, the mixed fruit tea or tapioca, and this Black Sticky rice with mango and tapioca. It's a bit similar to above except sweeter, with warm black sticky rice. Try it!

Phoenix Food Boutique
1709 Nogales St.
Rowland Heights, CA 91748
626-810-8988
http://www.phoenixfoodboutique.com

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Waffles. Late at Night.

So there aren't many places nearby with waffles. Yes, there's the waffle trucks and whatnot but I'm not the type to stalk those trucks on Twitter follow them to the edge of the planet. Found this place randomly when I craving something sweet. Ends up they serve up coffee too, Coffee Bean coffee. Hoorah.

Menu.

 Beans from the Coffee Beans.

Korean shaved ice. Never tried it and had no idea Koreans were into shaved ice. I am not sure if it was their recipe but I was not a fan of this. The ice was literally just ice. I was not expecting snow but I was expecting finely shaved ice. This was like ice chunks. Hahaha. Not a like of mine.

The waffle. Yum. It was pretty good. I do not like the whipped cream but I usually just sort of push aside all the cream. This waffle is Asian, that should mean something. Not too crispy, not too fluffy, not too sweet. One thing I really must say: the pink scoop of ice cream is divine. I love this ice cream. YUM! It has a slight sweetness to it. Texture is a good balance between creamy and icey. I have no idea where they get this stuff but I want to buy gallons worth. My taste buds love excitement so eating this waffle with a cup of black coffee was just great. Late night snack. Win. Lastly, service is very friendly and eager to help out.

Cafe Haus
20627 Golden Springs
Diamond Bar, CA 91789
909-598-0815

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Back In. Something Sweet.

I have been lazy to the farthest extent possible. Well, actually I've been keeping busy but lazy in terms of not updating this freaking blog. All the blame goes to the photographer, I mean camera. Haha, I think my issue is having a plethora of pictures and just lacking the desire to actually log in to post. Is it the typing? Nah. Is it the pictures? Most definitely not. Whatever it is shame on me. Please remember a lot of my reviews will be quite belated considering the fact I've been to so many restaurants over the past year or so. I got into cupcakes awhile back. Not sure how or why but they're fun to eat so I'm quite critical and particular about my cupcakes.

My Delight CupCakery. Oh my yes it is a delight in my mouth and tummy. However, for MY taste, the frosting is still a bit sweet. I have friends who love Sprinkles. I think those cupcakes are utter crap. I can taste the diabetes from Sprinkles' frosting.

Got three small cupcakes to try. If there's small ones I'll usually get a couple of these as samplers then choose the ones I like after.

Clockwise: Maple Bacon. Carrot Cake. Vanilla.

They're actually quite famous for their Maple Bacon. I'd have to agree, it's pretty dang good. I was a bit confused when I heard about it but figured I'm up to try new things so I got one and loved it. The carrot cake was good but I dislike walnuts so I trashed all those nuts on the side. Yeah, sorry but I trashed those nuts good. The third cupcake didn't stand out. Was fine but I would not pass up the other offerings this bakery brings out of the oven.

Two Red Velvets to go. One for my Sweet Half. Other for my lame ass.  Was good. I tossed the Dove chocolate or whatever that thing is on top. I do not need the extra sugar. I want cake and a little bit of frosting. With all of the cupcakes from this place I still threw away about 2/3rds of the frosting from each cake. As mentioned, my actions do not indicate in any form that these cupcakes are no good, I'm just a weirdo and like x portion of cake to x portion of frosting.

I like this place a lot. I have been back a few times. They've actually grown a lot too, they have a Food Truck or two. I'm sure you could check out their website and chance down those trucks like a dog if you choose so. Try them out if you're craving some baked sweets.

My Delight CupCakery
1520 Mountain Ave., Suite B-108
Ontario, CA 91762
909-988-4151

http://mydelightcupcakery.com

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Chain. Cheesesteak Comfort.

Okay, to start off I've never been to Philadelphia. I'm not sure what a Philly Cheesesteak is supposed to taste like. Don't take me as someone who is a good judge of this infamous sandwich. What I can say though is out of the chain Philly Cheesesteak joints, my favorite is Great Steak & Potatoes. Not all of them either though. There's ones in particular where the owners and cooks season the meat as it's cooking to add the extra pizzazz to it.

This particular Great Steak in Richmond had Chili Cheese Fries on the menu. I wish I knew they use the cheese goop instead of real cheese because if I knew this information prior, I definitely would not have ordered it. Meh, pass on this weak side.

We don't get anything special. Just the regular Cheesesteak with everything on it. Is it the best thing in the world? Nope. Is it good? Yep. Is it great? Depends if I'm craving it. Nothing great, but try it out if you haven't before.

Great Steak
2439 Hilltop Mall Rd.
San Pablo, CA 94806
510-262-0606

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Pizza. Made by Awesome People.

Awesome folks indeed! Remember when I said in the last post that Izakaya was a huge expensive let down? Well, we went to walk around Whaler's plaza afterwards just to browse and see if there was anything interesting and planned on trying a slice of pizza from this joint after seeing the positive reviews.

Partially Eaten Slice of Pepperoni. Yeah my fault. I was eager to get something else in my belly and pizza is my comfort food so my better half and I were nibbling on this during the car ride back to the hotel. She was smart and quick enough to stop me from consuming it all. Always sweet of her to remind a retard (such as myself) to take a picture of the food since I'm the retard who figured to start a food blog no one wants to read. Is the pizza great? Nothing spectacular BUT it's still good. I like the cheese and the dough. I think it's a couple notches above Sbarro. The pepperoni let out a little too much oil. If you look in my picture some of the pepperoni looks strangely dry and jerky-like. Well guess what? I took some napkins to those suckers!

Either way, if I just had a couple slices of pizza I would have been much more satisfied here than Izakaya. The best part was the staff. Super friendly, nice and down-to-earth. I was a couple bucks shy of free validation but the owner punched me a validation on my ticket anyway. Thanks, I most definitely appreciate such a kind gesture. Will definitely go back for a slice and chat when I'm visiting. You should do the same. Thumbs up!

Nikki's Pizza
Whaler's Village Food Court
Lahaina, HI 96767
909-667-0333

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Shrimp. MMMMMMM. Great.

Wow. I love this Shrimp Truck. It's not one of those random ones you have to chase down via Twitter or their website. It's in a set location on the Hawaii in Kahului near the college. We sort of passed it but quickly made a U-turn after realizing it was probably sitting with the group of other trucks.

Hawaiian Scampi Shrimp. I usually hate the shells but these shrimp were so large, juicy and full of flavor I didn't care. We just ate this in the car because the scent was so intoxicating. Funny thing is we already had breakfast a few hours earlier. It's too good to pass up, and yes it's worth it to stuff your face and feel the pain of overstuffing yourself afterwards. We just relaxed in the car, and I peeled all the shrimp so my better half could avoid getting her hands greasy. Great teamwork I think, I peel she eats, then she feeds me. The prices might seem expensive but look at the portions and the size of the shrimp! Love it. Go to Maui, go to this truck, drink all the greasy seasoned juices at the bottom too (just kidding that might clog your arteries). Just make sure you drop by this Shrimp Truck when you're in Maui.

Geste Shrimp Truck
Kahului Beach Rd.
Kahului, HI 96732
808-298-7109

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Soft. Shaved. Yum.

Yeah, I know what your filthy funny mind thought of when you read that title. Haha, well too bad because I'm going to be talking about shaved ice from Ululani's. Great stuff I must say. It's not the typical shaved ice at the carnival or from the ice cream man/woman that's all tough and filled with loads of artifical syrup. Well, there's plenty of those around so those are not appetizing at all. Actually the night we tried Ululani's my better half and I tried one of those crummy places just down the street. I coerced my Sweet'um to trash it and not waste stomach space of such mediocre treats. I'll be honest, I do not recall the name of the store that we grabbed it from. All I remember was that shaved ice was something I wanted to try on Maui.

Sunset Beach. Yes, please, let's stay there all night far from a camp fire so we can have some more alone time. It was delicious. My better half and I fell in love with this flavor and Ululani's. The best parts: the ice was shaved super super fine, almost snow like (but not quite there) and the flavors they drizzle over the ice isn't just normal concentrate, it's fruit puree. This is such a wonderful treat. Get the large if you're sharing. The shaved ice was great, the employees who helped us were great. Love this treat. Must find a Ululani's if you happen to be close to one. Many happy thumbs up!

I have one quick note to add. The first night we had it was the best, the reason for this is my better half and I don't like the excessive puree poured onto the shaved ice. The guy who helped us our first night almost knew exactly the puree to ice ratio so there weren't spoonfuls that were lacking flavor nor too sweet. But still a great place to go, so if you don't like anything too sweet, just ask them to go easy on the flavoring. If you don't eat it quick enough it'll look like the first picture. Second picture is what it looks like fresh out of their hands. Yum.


Ululani's Shaved Ice
815 Front St.
Lahaina, HI 96761
360-609-5678

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French. In A Wall.

Alright ... so Gregoire in Berkeley. Under Yelp it is categorized as French & Gourmet Ghetto. I am definitely unsure of what Gourmet Ghetto would be besides perhaps being a nicer cramped small crappy looking place. Gregoire is nicely decorated. Cute boxes. Super small but lots of places in Berkeley do not have the luxury to be spacious. Staff is quite friendly, because when I came here I had no idea what to order and the cashier just suggested things that were good and what was most popular. Besides his suggestions, Yelpers seemed to rave about the potato puffs so definitely needed to try those. So onto the food:

Garlic Fries. Of course we had to try them. My better half is a fried food (especially potatoes) fanatic and what's not to enjoy about the intoxicating scent of garlic on fresh fries out of the fryer? Only problem? Fries were either too old or a bad batch. Over cooked potatoes are usually just really crunchy. This batch we got some crunchy, some hollowed out, some hollowed out with oil floating in it. Either way, the nice smell was superceded by the horribly disappointing quality of the fries and lack of any attention going into the batch of fries in the fryer. We ended up throwing it away after maybe 1/4 of the fries because we picked out all the edible ones. My significant other did not want to waste it but I just snatched it passed it to the trash can.

Potato Puffs. I don't let hype get to me too much so I had a good idea of what this would be like. I just thought it would be fried a little more but geez, this puff is literally a scoop of mashed potatoes thrown into the fryer to lightly crisp the outside. Taste is nothing special, actually quite bland, and makes me want to just eat a serving of mashed potatoes with gravy.

Steak Sandwich. Keep in mind that Gregoire changes the menu every couple months so I went about, 4 months ago. Anyway, the bread was nicely toasted, meat was tender, and nice tasty roasted peppers. I did enjoy this sandwich. Is it something I would go out of my way for? Not really because this place is really small and pretty busy most of the time. My better half said it was fine but didn't stand out to her either. There's more options considering this is only a block from a small little "food court" and Cheese Board Collective. There's other options nearby. If you're curious to try the potato puffs go for it but to us, it was not something special that makes you smile and want to throw a puff then hope it magically lands in someone's mouth so they can experience a sense of happiness.

Gregoire
2109 Cedar St.
Berkeley, CA 94709
510-883-1893

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Mmmm. Cheese. Board.

My favorite thing to eat is pizza. I love how some have crispy crusts, some are more on the doughy side, some airy, some dense, and especially how different combinations of sauces and toppings with the cheese just end up creating a masterful mixture of flavors and textures. Meat usually adds a big punch to the vegetables and cheese but Cheeseboard knows how to put their creative Cooperative minds together to create a splendid party for your taste buds.

I do not remember what day we went to get this but basically it had a cheese blend, olive oil, tomatoes, and basil. It is basically a margarita pizza (without the tomato sauce) which I love anyway. Cheeseboard is constantly busy. Long lines, fresh pizza pies out of the oven when you order. By the slice, half or whole. Whenever I go with my significant other we tend to get a whole pizza ... sometimes 1 and a half. Hahaha. There's even times when they've had fruits for toppings and we were quite skeptical but after trying, well it's just worth giving it a try. Must must must get a slice (AT LEAST) if you're nearby or in the neighborhood for the weekend.

Cheeseboard Pizza Collective
1512 Shattuck Ave.
Berkeley, CA 94701
510-549-3055

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Sweet. Cupcake Love.

Obviously it has been awhile since I have updated anything. What can I say? I've succumb to the infamous I'll-pretend-I'm-on-a-hiatus-but-really-I've-been-lazy-and-putting-things-off-then-getting-more-lazy-and-still-putting-off-updates-even-though-pictures-have-been-taken mode.

As of recent (within the past year) I have fallen for red velvet cupcakes and whatever creative siblings a bakery might be able to conjure up. Also, exploring new places while visiting my better half is always nice. So here it is: Love at First Bite.

Yum carrot cupcake. This is not the first time I've been here but I do not recall if I have pictures from last time. Grabbed some mini cupcakes to go and I like trying the things this cute bakery has to offer. These little cupcakes are a nice intro to flavors you might want to try so I always go for those just in case I might not enjoy the baked goods. The cupcake has a fair amount of air incorporated into the body of the cake without being intrusive. Its texture is not too dense, it does not suck up all the saliva in your mouth when you're chewing and it doesn't make you scream for a cup of water or milk. I like these cupcakes. The cupcake frosting is usually very good, compliments the cake. Some have more sugar than others, maybe a little more tart for some, etc. The bakers at the store have thought out how to make the frosting bring out other flavors in the cake and not just be an overbearingly sweet addition.

I would like to point out my significant other and I both are not sugar heads and probably only consume about 15% of the frosting you see. The rest gets scooped off. Is it nasty? No. Was there a hair in it? No. Did I just say we're not sugar heads? Yes.

We. Just. Don't. Like. Consuming. All. That. Frosting. Period.

Green Tea Cupcake front and center. To the left is the Red Velvet. I'd have to say it has a nice tea flavor without having the bitterness of tea leaves. Consumed it but if you don't enjoy green tea that much I'd have to say pass. The Red Velvet oh yum. There is no ridiculous amount of red food coloring, nicely colored, good cocoa taste, moist, and the frosting just dances with the cake in your mouth. If you're in Berkeley, try this place out. Yelp reviews are a hit or miss apparently. I can say the two times I have been, the cupcakes were moist. Then again can't really count on Yelp for anything accurate (will babble about this later on). Perhaps little hard to find, but right past Shattuck on Walnut.

Love at First Bite
1510 Walnut Street
Berkeley, CA 94709
510-848-5727

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Cold Night. Add Some Soup.

I have been putting off updating for awhile because I wanted to just come home, be lazy, and stay a bit away from the computer. Haha, so anyway, I felt it was definitely time to update a bit on where I have been recently. There's more places that I went with my better half but I decided to just add this place first.

So, little background ... we already had dinner but I was craving the tomato pastry soup ... and it was very cold out that night in Yountville. Hahaha, so what is the best way to warm the body up? Yes, alcohol. Yes, fire. Yes, more clothes ... or no clothes *wink wink* Haha. Back to what I was saying, we already finished dinner but it was freezing and since I have not had this soup in quite some time I said "Tomato soup!"

End up in front of small intimate French bistro. Weekends are usually busy so as I open the door for my beautiful date I'm just telling myself "I hope there's space for a quick soup." And they did!

Waiter gave us some complimentary bread with some delicious butter. As you can see I was not able to help myself from the soft bread centers because one of the baguette pieces on the left is missing the middle portion. Little hard on the outside and soft, warm, and chewy in the center. Only a few pieces were eaten, I mean hell we already had our dinner no need to blow up.

Better half was craving some fries so here they are. Seasoned very well, sometimes a little too salty (and in this case it was but still tolerable and delicious). Usually we get the rib eye steak with the frites and bearnaise but pomme frites by itself is very satisfying. Who needs McDonald's? Oh yeah, not everyone wants to pay $6.50 for a large serving of fries. Haha.

The tomato pastry soup before digging in and destroying it. I love this tomato soup. Very very rich with lots of butter and lots of cream. Do you like tomatoes? Do you like puff pastry and all it's flaky buttery goodness? Do you enjoy your clam chowder in a sourdough bread bowl? If you answered yes to any of the above then you must go and try this.

Aftermath. This soup is served in this awesome mini cauldron thing with lion/tiger heads on two sides and they just stick it in the oven and bake it until it reaches its destination: Splendidton. Be careful, this soup is hot when it comes out. Like I mentioned earlier if you like any of the above you need to try this. The restaurant is known for this soup. If you dislike tang then best not to give it a whirl since ... its a tomato based soup.  Yum, craving satisfied.

And a dessert wine for my sexy date. Asked for a sweeter wine for my better half because she wanted to try, got the Moscato. She took a couple sips and did not really want that alcohol taste on her taste buds. So ... it was passed on to me. Very good, aromatic, light fruit taste. Alcohol content obviously is not high and (for me) it was only noticed a bit before swallowing the wine. Leaves my palate very satisfied as a sweeter, dessert wine should. Although not full bodied, it was what I would want to end the meal.

Environment: very intimate and small as mentioned before. What else is a French Bistro supposed to give? The service is very good and attentive. I have never experienced problems with this place. Price, it is so so. I would say for two people without drinks for dinner probably $40-70. Just really depends what you plan on eating. Stop by this place for a quick bite or for lunch/dinner. Great place in Yountville.

Bistro Jeanty
6510 Washington Street
Yountville, CA 94599
707-944-0103

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Coffee? (Scoffffff)

This is where we found ourselves after finishing up at The Stinking Rose.

Friend suggested we just go up the street (about a block) to try out this little Cafe and get some coffee. Clean up our palates and get some sweets. Seemed pretty busy, lot of people outside (but I come to realize maybe it was for the Cafe right next door) and a couple people inside.

I realized not many places serve good coffee. Starbucks isn't good. Coffee Bean isn't too great either. Had their Brazilian Light Roast the other day, black, no sugar or cream. Acidity was low, not a very full bodied coffee and the beans were fried to hell. How do I know they went to hell and managed to come back in this dark liquid form, the bitterness that screamed "I was a decent bean whose family, along with self, were kidnapped, grounded, and burnt by scolding water temperatures only to have all our flavors stripped from us."

Back to what I LOVE to emphasize: service. Here's our conversation:
Me: "So what kind of beans do you use to brew your coffee?"
Man: "Illy"
Me: "Oh right, duh (finally realizing their little canisters with Illy written all over them)"
Man: (waiting with notepad)
Me: "Are there different types of Illy beans or you use the same beans for everything?"
Man: "Illy"
Me: "Okay ..."
Me: "I guess I'll try a cup of that"

Yeah......

Here's the coffee. Full bodied, high acidity, mild bitterness. Not great but better than Starbucks.

My better half and friend got the hot chocolate. It was fine. Upgrade from a packet of Swiss Miss. Didn't use great chocolate though but overall not half bad. Can actually taste the chocolate ... milk chocolate I think. Some mint chocolate chip gelato was also ordered and it was fine. Just nice to get a little bit of flavor on the tongue since The Stinking Rose was just superb ....

Would I come here again? Never. Would I suggest you visit? Sure why the hell not if you need some coffee, little goodies, and just so happen to be in the neighborhood. Do I agree with the Yelpers on this place? Hell no. 

Caffe Greco
423 Columbus Ave.
San Francisco, CA 94133
415-397-6261

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