8 Overall Rating - Teela Taqueria 5/17/11

227 Sandy Springs Place
Suite 506
Sandy Springs, GA 30328
(404) 459-0477
http://www.teelataqueria.com/

with Karen & Julie

Ambiance: 9
This is the perfect energetic, neighborhood spot conveniently located in the Kroger shopping center on Sandy Springs Place. The music selection was great, creating a fun & upbeat climate with the volume set just right to enjoy the music while still allowing diners to easily converse at the table.

Food Quality: 8
Casual food...everything was delicious. I had three different tacos: the BLT, the Fish and the Steak Fajita. The BLT taco came with a generous portion of bacon and fried green tomatoes – yummy! The fish taco was served with jalapeño coleslaw and slices of jalapeños – spicy & tasty! The steak fajitas were just what you would expect, with a little sweetness and a little kick.

Service: 5
Our server was polite, but didn’t really know the menu. We had a few questions about the menu and had to point a few things out to him when he didn’t understand what we were asking about or why we were asking for specials. He seemed new, judging from his nervousness and the fact that he forgot to bring our drinks to us; although I will give him some points for splitting the bill for us and even splitting the appetizer 3-ways.

Value: 8

9 Overall Rating - Pepe's Grill in Cozumel 5/8/11

Todd, Marty, Greg & I dined at Pepe's on Sunday night after our Delta flight was cancelled. Pepe's was rightfully highly recommended by a few individuals. We were definitely glad we went!

Ambiance: 8
It was fun with the mariachi band. They were actually very good. Restrooms very clean and modern.

Food Quality: 9

Salad bar was lacking, but it was included with your entree so it's hard to complain.

The shrimp were enormous, succulent. The King Crab was deliciously sweet, served with butter, garlic butter and mayonnaise (a little odd).

Entree....10 for grilled shrimp and my King Crab.








My goodness - get a look at these things!!

Service: 10
Second to none! Our server and the wait staff were on top of things throughout the entire service. They cracked the entire crab for me (thank goodness because I'm still a rookie when it comes to crab legs)! Warm water in a dish with lime was brought for tableside service to clean our hands. Toothpicks served in a dish were brought to the table as well.


Value: 10
$76 for two
$39 for King Crab, salad bar comes with it!

6 Overall Rating - Village Tavern 4/29/11

http://www.villagetavern.com/

Dinner with Rosie

Ambiance: 7
Village Tavern offers a slightly darker, comfortable environment. We were tucked away in a small booth near the back of the restaurant. There's a large bar off to your left as you enter through the doors. This isn't a bad choice at all for a suburban stop.



Food Quality: 5
Colorado Chips (homemade potato chips with melted cheese, bacon & bbq sauce) was mediocre. The bbq sauce made the dish palatable. If it weren’t for the sauce, the dish would have been dry and bland.


The tuna tartare was only average.

The bacon-wrapped scallops served on top of a strip of seaweed were delicious, boasting succulent flavors from the scallops and bacon. The sauce was magnificent adding a different dimension to the dish. The sauce can be a bit overpowering, so would recommend that they only lightly top the scallops with the sauce instead of drizzling it on.

I also had their Shoestring French Fries...they were absolutely delicious!!! Just like Steak & Shake!


Rosie had a steak and baked potato.






Service: 7
Server had a good personality and had a good handle on the menu.

Value: 8
Loved the menu.

8 Overall Rating - Local Three 4/26/11

3290 Northside Pkwy NW
Atlanta, GA 30327
(404) 968-2700
http://www.localthree.com/

A much needed girls' night with part of our Lady Smack crew, Amy and Michelle! Local Three was recommended by Kristin.

Ambiance: 8
Local Three was nestled in a nice cluster of mid-rise buildings and parking deck off of Northside Parkway just south of Paces Ferry. The dining room was surprisingly small. With its high ceilings, stained concrete floors with nothing in the décor to help absorb the chatter in the dining room (like so many of the newer restaurants), it was very loud and difficult to hear each other at the table.
For a 5'3" frame, I found the high chairs quite uncomfortable...I think I lost blood circulation to my toes.

Food Quality:
For starters, we had the oven roasted mushroom and asparagus goat cheese risotto. The mushroom dish was unbelievably delicious! Full of rich cheese, creamy polenta and truffles. When Michelle asked if we would mind her licking the plate, what does that tell you?!




For entrees we split the Grilled Flatiron Steak - Patatas Bravas, Vidalia Onion, Charred Tomato

braised beef short rib,

and monkfish

And no dining experience with Lady Smack (or me, for a matter of fact) would be complete without a sweet finishing touch! Here's to their snickers dessert...







Service: 9
Great service from X. Timing was perfect, never needed refills, and never had to ask for anything else.

Value: 8
An enjoyable dining experience.

6 Overall Rating - La Fourchette 4/24/11

3133 Piedmont Road Northeast
Atlanta, GA 30305-2516
(404) 748-1229
http://www.lafourchetteatlanta.com/

After Easter service at Buckhead church, we headed to La Fourchette with Tema, Brian, Janice, Rich & Terrie (a.k.a. T-Jo)

Ambiance: 8
The interior was clean, elegant and nicely appointed; unfortunately, La Fourchette lacks curb appeal. It would be easy to overlook this understated restaurant from Piedmont. The signage didn't help either.

Food Quality: 6
We were welcomed with deliciously warm bread...perfect with butter.
Their roasted eggplant appetizer was delicious!

The entree portion sizes were great, but the food wasn't very good. I had the Grilled Loup de Mer was okay. The fish was overcooked, but the mussels were good. The sauce was average, the lemon flavor overpowered what could have been a nice complementary sauce for this dish.

Greg's Duck Leg Confit was bland. The duck seemed to have been simply basted in oil without seasonings, it needed more sauce or for the duck to have been prepared in the sauce.







Janice and Tema's mushroom pasta was very good, but unfortunately, they had 86'd the the potato gnocchi and in place of it they served the dish with tagliatelle. I could only imagine how wonderful the dish would've been with the potato gnocchi!

Service: 5
Our service was efficient, but they weren't very friendly.

Value: 4
Overall, I found the menu to be overpriced for its food quality. We were generally underwhelmed with the food.