grace b.'s Profile

I'm not really a CPK fan. Sure I've eaten at CPKs every now and again, but it's not exactly the place I'd choose to go get something to eat. I mean, I've gone years without going to CPK, if that gives you any indication. But we were with friends last night and we went to the Kodak Theater to see Ricky Gervais, so we figured we'd just eat there since it was close to the Theater.

We get there and put our name in. For a party of four, it was a 45 minute wait. It's about 7 so we figured that was an okay wait. Not too bad. We walk around for a bit, show up at 7:20 and they seat us. Good thing we didn't come back after 45 minutes like all those other suckers who were in line. They seriously need to figure out a new time estimation system. I'm not REALLY complaining about there being a shorter wait... okay, I am a little bit. If we weren't totally anal, we wouldn't have been seated. We would've come back around 45 minutes later and STILL have had to wait because EVERYONE else would've come back at the same time. Just seems retarded to me. But you know, whatever. I've never worked in the food industry. Maybe that's just the way they do things.

I ask the girl who seated us if CPK had any nutritional information. I just like to know what's in my food. She acted as if I asked her the most inconvenient (and stupidest) question EVER. She said very condescendingly, "No. We don't have that information." Dude, I kinda thought that was mandatory. I thought that if you asked a restaurant for nutritional information, they had to have that information available for you. But I guess you don't have to? I don't know. Regardless, I didn't appreciate her attitude. There is a polite way to tell someone something and she... didn't do it.

I know that CPK is casual dining and I'm not expecting STELLAR service, but on the other side, I'm not expecting to be treated like total SHIT.

Jessica (from Las Vegas, apparently), our server, is obviously trying to get "discovered" and being a waitress isn't her primary goal in life, and that's fine and all, but I don't know... I would think that if I were in Hollywood trying to catch someone's eye, I wouldn't treat my customers like crap because maybe someone you were serving might actually have some connections somewhere. Just because it's not some A-list celeb, it doesn't mean that the person you're serving couldn't help you out in some way. Or at the VERY least, that person could, I don't know... LEAVE YOU A GOOD TIP if you were helpful... I mean, helpful at ALL.

This girl showed up when we first got seated and took our drink order. And didn't take too long getting back. She took our food order. And then didn't come back for FORTY MINUTES. I was the angriest person EVER. She never came back to ask if we needed refills or anything. She was too busy attending a bigger party, in hopes of a good tip, I guess. She came out multiple times to help just about every other table and completely ignored us.

When she finally came back around, I asked her for some silverware and plates and some bread... Which apparently, you need to ask for now? But HOW WAS I TO KNOW THIS? When I asked her why there was no bread (when there was bread on EVERYONE ELSE'S table) she replied VERY rudely to me, "BECAUSE YOU NEED TO ASK FOR IT NOW." Oh, really? Wow. Apparently, I didn't get that fucking memo. How the fuck would I know that? Has that been going on for a while? I don't know. And apparently, every single table around us was in the know because they all got bread.

But whatever.

After the large party left, she started being more attentive, but you know, the damage has been done. You treated us like crap, you were rude and unhelpful... why would I want to give you a good tip? I seriously wanted to leave her a DIME for a tip, but the people I was with were nicer. They didn't leave her 20% (which is my customary tip amount... more if they were good, of course) but in my opinion they still gave her too much.

Oh, and the food? Still fucking mediocre.

Why do people love it so much? I don't know. I avoid CPKs normally, but I would REALLY suggest avoiding this particular CPK. If you really NEED to eat at the H&H center, I'm sure there are plenty of other eateries that don't have the level of SUCK that this one does. I'd suggest... just about anywhere else. But if for some reason, you just fucking love CPK and you just HAVE to go here, just try to NOT get seated in Jessica's section. You will be able to tell who she is, not only by her handy dandy name tag, but also because she's the one with dull, vacant eyes.

If I could give this place ZERO stars, I would. First of all, there are literally no more than 4 places to go in Downtown Monterey. And apparently, this is one of them. There was a LINE to get into this shithole. They also wanted to charge us a $10 cover. Uhm, say what?

Since we were in a bachelorette party, he decided to cut us a break. He let the bride-to-be in free and the rest of us he charged us $5 each. Thanks... I think.

We get in there and the first thing I notice is that MY FEET ARE STICKING TO THE GROUND. The horror.

The second thing I notice is that... there are NO GOOD LOOKING PEOPLE. I have never seen SO MANY FUGLY PEOPLE IN ONE LOCATION IN MY LIFE. Also, I realize that I'm not exactly a 10 or anything, but I'm not a 3, either. So, tell me why the grossest guys in the joint think it's okay to hit on me? HELL NO. HELL FUCK NO.

The only good looking girls were the tall, blonde bimbos with the enormo-fake-boobs. (And of course the girls in our group. hehe.) And there really weren't that many of those blonde bimbo-y girls, either.

They SERIOUSLY need to upgrade their sound system. It sounds like shit. No joke. My ears started hurting because it sounded so damn "tinny." Also, their music choices were crap.

I guess if you don't know any better, Doc's is the place to go? But if you actually know what fun and good music is? Then you want to avoid this place. What a shithole.

I love me some buffet action. So when the server came by asking what we wanted, I was pretty sure I wanted the buffet, but I thought I'd check out what was going on there first.

Eggs and omelets to order? Fresh made waffles? Pastries, biscuits and gravy? Yes, please. Breakfast potatoes and bacon and sausage... yeah. I love all that shit. hehe.

The only thing that concerned me, though, was that they didn't have any hash browns. Only corned beef hash. And that's just not the same thing.

So instead of the buffet I ordered an omelet (hash browns came with it) and some yogurt. He promptly told me that he'd just get me the hash browns free of charge and that I should get the buffet because it would be cheaper that way.

Why, thank you, nice waiter dude! So, the 3 of us just ordered the buffet. It hit the spot, but I wouldn't say that it was super delicious or anything. It was just conveniently located since we were staying at the hotel and I'm not from that area so we just went there since we didn't know where else to go. The waiter was nice and also helpful.

Most comfortable beds EVER. I mean, ridiculously comfortable. I had the best sleep I've had in a long time here. I am actually contemplating calling them and asking them what kind of beds they have because they were just THAT awesome.

There are some pros and cons to this place.

Pros:
Great service. (very quick, too)
Great location.
Bath & Body Works toiletries (which smell awesome).
Nice decor (especially for a Marriott).
Their chocolate covered strawberries are delicious.

Cons:
Their "balcony" area is very scary. It's about 6 inches wide. Yeah. Scary.
$19 valet. Which you're forced to use since they don't have self-parking.
My washcloth had some brown streaks on it that kind of worried me. Needless to say, I didn't use it.
The sink drained VERY slowly.
One of the lightbulbs in the vanity area was out. (What? It bugged me.)

They gave me a huge corner room which I was grateful for. It was huge so I could finish up my bachelorette party prep in there.

It wasn't nearly as expensive as some of the other hotels in the area and the location was perfect for running around in Downtown Monterey.

After reading the reviews on Yelp, I thought this would be a good place for dinner for our bachelorette party. Also, it helped that the bride-to-be is a fan of this place.

I liked it... but I don't know... I didn't LOVE it. I felt like it was kind of overpriced. Also, my filet mignon was a little too rare for me. I don't like it when I'm eating steak and I have that aftertaste of blood in my mouth. Blech. Maybe it's just me, but that isn't tasty to me. I requested medium well and it just wasn't medium well. It was more like medium or medium rare. Just not my idea of medium well. If I ever go back there, I'm ordering it well done.

The service was really good, though. I laughed at how the waiter didn't bring the tray of raw meats to our all-women's table, but he brought it to the table of guys the next table over. I guess he figured that the women don't want to look at raw meat or something. hehe... He DID bring us the dessert tray at the end of the night. I didn't try any of the desserts, but the other girls seemed to enjoy it. I would've ordered the chocolate souffle if I thought it was made fresh, but I don't think it was because if it WAS, he would've mentioned it at the beginning of the meal. What? I'm a little bit of a souffle snob. I only like it fresh. hehe.

The bill was more than $60/person. And we didn't really order drinks or wine or anything... Nor did we order appetizers. And we only ordered 2 desserts. So slightly on the pricey side.

I don't know. I liked it and the food and service were both good... but I just... wasn't WOWED.

I am in love with an older man named Richard. Seriously. I loved him. I was literally about 2 seconds away from asking him to go to dinner with us later that evening. He was charming, friendly and funny and never made us feel stupid about the wine tasting.

I planned a bachelorette party and we started out with a private wine tasting. Unfortunately, 2 of the girls were late (effin' slacker asses) so we got started late. Fortunately, Richard let us hang out and didn't try to push us out of the winery even though we were running late.

Just the wine tasting itself was $12/person, but if you wanted some cheese, crackers and fruit (grapes) it was $15/person. I opted to include the cheese and fruit platters since dinner wasn't until 8. The cheese was delicious.

The wines weren't bad either. I enjoyed them. Maybe a little too much. I got light-headed. haha! It could also be because I had been running around since 5AM to make sure that everything was going to go off without a hitch... And I hadn't eaten anything all day except for a blueberry muffin...

Or maybe I'm just that much of a lightweight. hehe.

Some of the girls bought a bottle of wine and some of those divine chocolate covered blueberries and I think all of the girls enjoyed themselves. We had a group of 6, but it looks like they could accommodate maybe 12 or so in their outdoor tasting area.

Anyway, I couldn't have asked for a better start to our evening. We had a wonderful time and I'd recommend it to anyone.

Okay, everyone's talked about how huge and great this Safeway is.

So yeah. Ditto.

But I haven't seen anything about the catering. I ordered a Petite Croissant tray in the large size. I called two days before and made sure to tell them that I didn't want ham included in the sandwiches... ONLY ROAST BEEF AND TURKEY. I even went in at like, 6:30AM to double check my order. Everything was all set.

I went in around 10:15 and picked up the tray. It was ready to go. We got to the house and finished getting everything ready for my friend's bridal shower. And that's when they noticed the ham sammies in there. I was pissed. It was written RIGHT THERE ON THE ORDER.

Apparently, they don't know how to read. Or they just hate to follow directions.

After the shower I stormed back in there (I was already in a bad mood, anyway) and told them that they messed up. The Deli Manager was pretty calm, although, I thought I sensed a little bit of an attitude from her. (It might've just been me getting all defensive because I was in a crappy mood.) But she did tell us that she'd give us 50% back on the purchase of the tray (That's $25 back on a $50 tray.)

That was fine. I was feeling better. And then she got HER manager and they gave us back $30 instead of $25! Then I was appeased. hehe. They didn't give me a hard time or ask me for the remainder of the sandwiches or anything. They were really cool about it. Thank God. I would've ripped them a new one, otherwise.

A couple of other things.

1. The produce guys were super-friendly. I get the feeling I was getting hit on, just a little bit. Which kind of worked to my advantage since I have NO idea how to pick out a cantaloupe. hehe.

2. The Starbucks is really convenient. Also, the restrooms are pretty clean. Then again, it *WAS* 6:30AM and the cleaning guys JUST left.

3. The produce was really nice and fresh.

4. They had EVERYTHING I was looking for. And where they put all of their products was really intuitive so it didn't take me an hour and a half to find everything on my list.

5. The guy at the checkout was very helpful and friendly. I've got no beef with the employees here.

6. There's a food court type thing where you can get a quick fix of Chinese food. And some other stuff. Which was perfect because I was TOTALLY craving fried race. And it was surprisingly good. Or I was just super hungry. Either way, it hit the spot.

Okay. I think that's it.

My only advice is that if you're gonna order something from catering, you should triple check your order if you've got any special requests because apparently, double checking just isn't enough.

Oh, I didn't get a chance to taste any of the croissant sandwiches, but EVERYONE said they were delicious. I did notice that they put in mayo and mustard in the sandwiches already. Which I thought was kind of odd. No one had any complaints, though.

This is literally the closest I've had to NY pizza on the west coast. When we walked into the joint, it smelled JUST LIKE NY. I couldn't believe it. I almost cried tears of joy.

And it was REALLY good. Not quite as good as pizza from NY, but pretty darn close.

Everything was delicious, but it was super duper crowded. Also, some racist bitch (customer, not an employee) was super rude to us. I felt like she wanted me to apologize for not being white. I almost started a fist fight with a soccer mom.

FOR REALS.

Anyway, really good food... but I did have to take it down a star because we found a fly just hanging out in the parmesan cheese shaker. And that is just gross. It probably just crawled in there through the top holes. NASTY.

It's probably not their fault, but it was just too gross to not say anything about. We should've complained... but instead we put it on the next table to see if someone would use it on their food. haha! Unfortunately, the group of teenaged boys saw it. And they wouldn't SHUT UP about it. I wanted to punch them in their stupid acne-ridden faces.

Anyway, it was super crowded... If you're looking for a nice dining experience, I would suggest NOT visiting Gianni's, or perhaps just ordering take out. But if you just want some delicious pizza, head here.

PS - The private parking lot is kind of small for the number of people who visit this place. AND I would suggest driving the smallest car you've got. My friend has an ENORMOUS pick up truck and we had a really hard time parking.

This little bookstore is tucked away in the University Center by UCI. It has an awesome selection of books and toys for kids.

It's an awesome place to take your kidlet for an outing. Hang out at the bookstore, pick some awesome books up and then check out some of the restaurants in the center... go get some food or dessert or whatever. Your kid will have a blast. Seriously. Mine is not even 2 yet and she loves this place. (Maybe it's the snackages we get her after... hmmm... she IS a piglet, after all...)

They have some hard to find books and also lots of books that aren't by your usual boring authors that are in B&N and the like. Lots of classics and soon-to-be classics, too.

The owner also draws in some really big names for book signings. Just to name a few: Julie Andrews, JK Rowling, Brian Jacques, Laura Bush... Smaller names, too... which to me, shows that she really does care about the authors, books, and just literacy in general. Not just making a buck.

You can just tell that the owner really cares about spreading the love of reading to the next generation. I really love this place.

Let's be honest... there reeeeeally isn't a whole lot going on in terms of Asian cuisine out there. That being said, this place is actually pretty darn good. It's not AWESOME, but I like it.

The service has always been top-notch every time I've been there, the food has always been really good and I've never been disappointed. They are quick and efficient and they're very moderately priced. There's a good amount of food for the price you pay.

I like the decor in there because it looks really clean. I also like the fish tank in there. The bathrooms have always been really clean, too.

Ooooh, and I like their glassware. When I order a Thai Iced Tea, they come out in these frosted tall glasses. I totally dig them.

When I was doing a search, I saw that there's another place to go eat. I guess I'll have to check them out to do a comparison... Hopefully I won't be back out there for a while, though. Nothing against the valley... it's just hella hot out there in the summer...