Stopped by this little nondescript bar/pubhouse after arriving from a late flight into LAX. At first I was kind of turned off by the lack of attention that we received, maybe that was just because I was jet lagged, but after settling in for a couple drinks and ordering some food, everything was fantastic. The waitress was friendly and conversational once you got her going, and we ended up closing out the place and meeting the owner who's a good guy, originally from NYC. The food was good and portions were very fair. They have a lot of good beers on tap and happy hour specials are great for the area. Definitely worth a stop by.

Have been into Vivace a few times now, mainly for the after work drinks in the lounge. Most recently I had lunch which was out of this world, but more on that later. If you're looking for a great place to show off when a friend or family member comes in town, this place should be high up on the list. This place draws a great mixed crowd of wealthy, good looking and chic; definitely a great people watching spot. If you're interested in just drinks, check out the lounge, Wednesday - Saturday seem to be the hopping nights, and Thursday I think has been the best mix of young and old at Vivace. The drink prices aren't the cheapest, but you get what you pay for and with this type of scenery it's worth the little extra for that entertainment factor. Now to the food. I had lunch last week and planned on just getting something quick and heading out, but the knowledgeable waiter convinced us into a bottle of wine, cheese and cured meat platter on top of our lunch salads. The meat and cheese platter was some of the freshest I have ever had. We ordered the pick of six, three meats and three cheeses which consisted of: Prosciutto; Milano Salami; Sopressata; Pecorino; Parmigiano Reggiano; Taleggio. The portions were perfect for a pre-dinner course and enough to feed 3-4 people. The only thing I didn't enjoy was the chestnut honey that accompanied it....talk about a gnarly taste. For the main portion of the lunch, I had the grilled chicken salad which was out of this world. I know, I know...How hard it is to make a salad...not hard...but to make one with this type of flavor, I have to commend them on. I'm not a huge salad person, but this I would order over and over again. The bottom line, it's not too stuffy in here, so don't be afraid of an uptight experience. The people that come here tend to be sophisticated, sexy and don't care about spending money, so if you're single and looking for that sugar-momma/daddy...hey you may find it here. But if you're just looking for a good time and some great food and/or drinks, stop in, see what it's all about, treat yourself. Free valet parking right out front, otherwise park in the Best Buy deck across the street.

Had dinner at Tres Pesos on a Friday evening not too long ago and I left saying...ehhh, it's ok. As soon as you walk in it has a old school mexican cantina type feel. Colors, sounds, decor...it all works. But after sitting down, I wasn't too thrilled beyond that point. I had ordered the Steak, Chicken & Shrimp fajitas for dinner. The fajita portion was enough to feed two people, which is always nice, but the shrimp were horribly overcooked and the meats didn't have much flavor to them unless they were charred from directly touching the cast iron skillet. The fajitas, well every meal it seems, comes with a massive cluster of accoutrement which don't make much sense so I basically left the accompaniments alone. It had seemed like it was the waitress' first day and she didn't really have much to say during our visit. The beers are cold, if you get the one you ordered, and the decor is authentic...the food, well you get a lot, but the quality leaves some to be desired. Give it a shot, maybe I just had a not so good experience.

Made a stop at a place that seems to have been around for quite some time, but I have never heard about. Mueller's is located only a block away from the Queens/Providence intersection on Huntley Place. This place is tucked away in a quaint little cottage type looking house next to the big white colonial style place which now houses a real estate firm (I think). With a nice seating area outside, we chose to go that route. The waitress ( a local staple apparently, because everyone knew who she was) sat us and was extremely friendly. I ordered the Carolina burger and it was huge, very fresh and grilled to perfection. The sides that it comes with are pretty small, but the burger made up for the smallness of the sides. The menu is filled with various burgers, sandwiches, salads and desserts which all look fantastic, I definitely will be back to try some of their sandwiches. Oh, and just a side note, you get a side of dessert free with dine in purchases (at least today we did), and the banana pudding was awesome. Check it out, for what it is, it's pretty darn good.

Had lunch at the newly reopened Sir Ed's in the Park Rd. shopping center this week and it really didn't seem like anything had changed since before they closed down. I did notice they changed out the ceiling tiles and did some minor updates on the interior finishes, but the same old feel remained. As far as the menu, the lunch specials are second to none for their price. They have two price points, 8 and 10 bucks. Both are including tax and you get a meal plus a drink. They have a wide range of items from Sandwiches/Burgers to Traditional Irish/European fare. I decided to go with the Buffalo Chicken Wrap with Jicama slaw and a side of Fries. The Wrap was the same as before, and has good flavor. The fries are steak fries, which are rare to see in restaurants these days, so it was enjoyable. The service was good, probably because we were the only people in there. Just has an overall strange feeling like you are hanging out in a friend's basement in high school, only this is a bit more strange.

Normally I have a more descriptive headline, but I really didn't find much that stuck out to me other than the food at the Sunday brunch here at Upstream. This past sunday I popped into Upstream, located in Phillips place in South Park for their perpetual Sunday brunch. The set up is unique for the fact that they have both a brunch buffet as well as a small tapas menu which you have unlimited access to for as long as you choose to stay. I'll break the food down between tapas and buffet. First, the tapas. There were about 8 selections to chose from for the tapas and each one I had was great. I tried the crabcake with poached egg, smoked mahi mini tacos and the brioche french toast (my least favorite). Each of these delicately worked tapas are of great quality and have good flavor. The waffles with peanut butter cream looked great, but just was too stuffed at that point to try that out. Now for the buffet, this is a rather intricate buffet for brunch, but it works. To start off you have a table with fresh fruit, rolls and croissants. The next stage is a made to order omelet station. The omelet chef is very friendly and may get you to step out of your normal liking to try some of his freshly prepared ingredients. Your best bet is to order the omelet, get some food and go back to your table to eat for a bit and come retrieve your omelet a while later as the waiting line gets a bit long at prime times. After the omelet they had a seasonal shrimp and grits table which I did not try. After that section, there are hand carved prime rib roast and salmon tables with skewered chicken and shrimp. The next section has a nice selection of starches ranging from mac & cheese to roasted potatoes and a few options in between. The next two sections were unique to a buffet for me. A sushi bar and raw shellfish bar. I'm still not too sure how I feel about that...Finally a dessert bar with yougarts, puddings, lemon bars, brownies, coffee cakes and more fresh fruit...All were good and fresh. Overall for the price tag of 25.00 per person it is a good move IF you're hungry. There is something for everyone whether you want breakfast or lunch. The quality of the food is good and the only real problem I had was with the skewered shrimp which were extremely overcooked and almost inedible. I think that the hand carving stations could use a training session on how to cut portions better, more specifically excluding the majority portion of fat that comes on the standing rib roast cut of meat.

Had dinner at Akahana, which opened up recently in the not-so-lucky corner space of a shopping center on Central and The Plaza, in Plaza Midwood. From the time you walk into the restaurant you can tell it's nothing like any of it's predecessors. Decorated in asian influences, it's sort of calming when you get inside, which I think is key to make people forget the neighborhood they are in, unfortunately. To the left you have what I would call more of a formal dining area, and to the right the bar/lounge and sushi bar. I definitely would recommend sitting in the lounge area, just is a better atmosphere. I'm not sure how it gets late at night, but I could see this being a good spot for Plaza-Midwood locals to meet up and have a couple cocktails in a more sophisticated atmosphere. The menu is very large, almost too large. Any place with this many options, I am always weary about...If you have so many items on the menu, it tends to be mediocre at best. But so far, so good...Everything I had was great with no issues. With asian inspired cuisine ranging from Chinese to Japanese; Sushi to Thai, I'm pretty sure you can find something that pleases even the pickiest of eaters. I had started with an appetizer of the crab wontons which came with a nice sweet chile dipping sauce. There were about 8 wontons, pretty good in size, so plenty to share if you're with a few friends. I also ordered two sushi rolls, both were very good and fresh in quality. I had tried a friend's chicken pad thai and it was nicely flavored, not too hot, not too sweet and the portion was enough to feed two easily. I'm definitely looking to make a trip back, and hope that the plague of this location doesn't affect this attempt at a successful restaurant in that shopping center.

On my recent trip to Manhattan, wanted to indulge in some fine cuisine so on Saturday we made reservations at Tao. Like everyone else has pretty much said, the wait is extended, not sure that it's because they want you to rack up a big bar tab, but probably just because they are booked solid and probably overbook the tables. No worries, we were anticipating a wait, and squeezed into the lounge/bar area at the front of the restaurant for some cocktails which were great. Again, like any Manhattan hot spot, it was full of gorgeous people and some pretentious individuals, but met some good people and had some fun conversations. The atmosphere is dimly lit, asian over the top decor and high energy club-like music. They have a DJ on hand spinning which was a nice added touch to the feel. After about a 45 minute wait past our reservation, we were taken to our table on the 2nd floor. Surprisingly it wasn't tight seating quarters (like STK was), and the waitstaff was prompt and very attentive. I had ordered the Chilean Seabass which was fantastic, small portion but very good. I tried my buddy's pad thai and it was exceptionally good as well. The one thing I didn't really like at Tao was that they were definitely hustling you to get in and out. Our food came out in a matter of 15 minutes after we placed our order, and check came out almost immediately as the plates were empty. I'm sure if we wanted to stick around and get a couple drinks, it wouldn't have been a big deal, but drinking at the table isn't as fun as the lounge.

First and foremost, hands down, best location in the city regardless if you're a frequent traveler to the city or if it's your first time. Conveniently located in the Midtown East area on Lexington ave, across from the iconic Waldorf Astoria you cannot get any better. Close to the 6 train, taxis or towncar available within minutes and walking distance to literally thousands of places no matter what you want to do. We checked in this friday and our room wasn't quite ready yet, so we grabbed a few seats at the bar in the lounge and had a nice 7.50 beer...ha, all joking aside, great customer service at the bar and to be expected in Manhattan. Luckily we were upgraded to a larger room looking over Lexington which was a nice bonus. The room was rather spacious for a room in the city, had two queen beds and plenty of storage space for 4 people traveling together. The bathroom was kind of tight, but then again, to be expected. The Acura concierge, I'm convinced isn't ever available as we tried getting it about 10 times in the two days we were staying. That was probably a good thing though as we got to stop by a couple cool shops and pubs that we normally wouldn't have seen in Murray Hill and Midtown. This is like all W's young good looking crowd, chic and people seem to stay here to have fun. The lobby lounge is busy every night and the in house club (whiskey blue) is a nice touch to have some late night, close to home fun. I would recommend anyone to go and stay here, no questions asked. Just keep in mind, if you don't go with at least a ""mega room"", you're probably gonna be in tight quarters.