Italian Village, Chicago oldest Italian restaurant is a good choice.

Kudos to Italian Village Chicago, IL

I was once again in Chicago and needing a good meal, went to the oldest Italian restaurant in the city.   It is three restaurants on three floors.  Very charming with good food to match.  The portions are huge and everything that came out of the kitchen looked better than the next.

 

The best part of a wonderful young waitress with a Russian accent, she was the best.  She is a 10 in service, from her smile to us asking all sorts of questions about the food, she is what makes Chicago food servers rate so high in my book.

 

Next trip I will be back.

Wild Tunas second try was rough around the edges

On my watch list for Wild Tunas Phoenix, AZ

After my wild about Wild Tuna blog where I was a raving fan, I went back to see what else I could find that was going to wow me again.  Well.. after the waitress spilled her tray and soaked the booth right next to us and then proceeded to swear in front of me and my family, served the wrong beer I thought we were off to a terrible start.

 

She did gain her composure, said she was sorry, but the magic I was hoping for never appeared as it did the first time.  The sushi was good, just was not made with the same care that I saw during my first visit.  The sushi was not all sliced the same size, the pieces were not evenly rolled.  It was just an off night for their entire team. They are now serving lunch and will have to see if that will once again wow me.

 

Not terrible, just was not able to be consistently good.  But I will try them again.

Chompies still the best ever.

Kudos to Chompies at PV mall in Phoenix AZ

We went to Chompies at PV Mall for fathers day.  It was packed, but got us in, in less than half hour.  The food was great, if not better than any other time we have been.  The chopped liver, corned beef and potato knish are all the best. Double yum. yum

 

The half sour pickles and a Dr Brown soda, spending time with my dad. Ah the good times.

RA in Kierland was average at best.

Blah to RA restaurant at Kierland in Scottsdale, AZ

 

We went for lunch, the decor is great. We had high hopes.  Ordered the bento boxes, grilled salmon and shrimp tempera,  they both arrived cold, and limp.  Try two was better but not great.  Would go back to Wild Tuna before a repeat to RA.  The food had very bland taste.  The sushi, Viva Las Vegas, at the next table looked good, but was not impressed with the bento box lunch we had.

Claim Jumper stumbled, but good customer service made it a kudo

Kudos to Matt the manager at the Claim Jumper at Deer Valley AZ.

 

Claim Jumper was out next stop for dinner  and the place was hopping. The pear salad was excellent and the soup was very good.  The steak came cold and underdone.  The rating was not headed in a good direction.  But the training in customer service came through and right away Matt the manager came by, wisked it away, brought a new one, stayed until we tasted.  Then offered a free desert to the problems.  Bravo…. Big Kudo to exceeding expectations.

 

We will be back.  They have raised there prices, so they are getting on the pricey side.