California Grubbin'

food: 4/5 experience: 4/5 overall: 4/5 Pluto's is another create-your-own-salad chain in NorCal that bears striking resemblance to Jack's in both format and menu, though they're more based in the Bay Area. It's another favorite of mine, mostly due to convenience. Their menu items all have super-cool stellar names because that totally makes them taste better. My go-to here, of course, is the create-your-own salad. Their toppings selection is abundant and they have stuff for everyone, including vegetarians and vegans. I usually make my salads vegan just to save some calories and money. Some locations have butternut squash which is my absolute favorite salad topping, but it's rare to find. Of course they have the pre-made salads as well but that's no fun. Unlike Jack's, you get a free slice of focaccia with your salad. Yet like Jack's, they also have some sandwiches in their repertoire, and yes, you can customize those too. I've tried the f

food: 3/5 experience: 0/5 overall: 0.5/5 Thai Basil is okay for Thai. This was a regular stop for me in high school along with Chada. Too bad it's kind of expensive here. But it is in midtown after all. The restaurant is decorated nicely and they have a nice little wraparound patio outside too. Good atmosphere. Being vegan in high school I tried basically all of their tofu stir-fried dishes and that was it. Now they have a special vegan menu for all the snowflakes out there. If you've tried one Thai stir fry you've tried them all I suppose. They're good. I don't have any particular comments on any of them, other than the sweet and sour dish which is the best because it has sweet and sour sauce and pineapple. Spicy eggplant is pretty good too with the squishy little Japanese eggplants, and I like my spicy. If you get brown rice it's not the typical thin grain, it's a chunky hearty grain and it's multi-colored. So that's different. I th

food: 5/5 experience: 4/5 overall: 4.5/5 You may have read my (ongoing) post about Tower's bakery selection. I've also had some sit-down brunches here. First off, I had to try this famous French toast everyone talks about. Now let me tell you about this toast. I was looking through pictures online in anticipation and thought to myself, What is this paltry one slice of bread that is supposed to be the famous Tower French Toast. I was ambushed I tell you. My friends this is no ordinary slice. This happens to be a majestic, bro-sized half-loaf of sourdough bread meeting all your daily carbohydrate energy requirements soaked in a vat of custard to make sure it sticks to your insides all the livelong day. See human for scale: And it's spectacular. I honestly can't decide who does French toast better, B&B or Tower, but I will gladly demolish both plates if I could do so with no consequences. Unfortunately for me Tower's is so rich it made me sick enough

More of your favorite series (I'm guessing... no one comments) - California Livin' ! This time we're going coastal. I'd never been to Bodega Bay before but when my amazing awesome friend offered to take me to a spa resort I was immediately in.  Escape the relatives for Thanksgiving break and get a massage instead? Yeah, I think I'm down to do all that. Speaking of massages, they have warm shell massages, which is what I got. I know, it sounds amazing. It's like a regular 80-120 minute massage only they also get hot shells and slide them all over you to relax you. It's pretty good but I wish she went a little deeper. Didn't get all those knots out if you know what I mean. And the shells felt more like hot stones to me. Hm. The beds are very comfy and come with a lot of pillows, as is standard. But the best part of the room is the entertainment section, which is stocked with a big flat-screen, a fireplace with log, and a cooler full of goo

food: 4.5/5 experience: 5/5 overall: 4.5/5 While staying at the Bodega Bay Lodge during Thanksgiving break, we had the opportunity to dine at Drakes (no apostrophe) a few times. Yes, this place is $$$$. It is inside a resort, after all. Drakes has a fireside lounge area as well as an actual dining room. The fireside lounge is open late and it's actually a lot nicer because it's all cozy and the chairs are big. Plus they have my favorite high-top tables. And of course the bar is right there. We started off with small salads for lunch. Simple, light. Mine just has mixed greens, almonds, goat cheese, and pears. Then we came back for supper (dunno why I'm using that word but it's cute). Started off with the bread which is focaccia... Decent but tastes normal. Then we go ourselves one of their cheese and charcuterie plates. Haven't had these in a while. This is Point Reyes bleu cheese, goat cheese (hard cheese on the left) and sheep cheese (soft,

food: 4.5/5 experience: n/a to-go order overall: 4.5/5 Go tugboat go! There's one thing you need here and it's their namesake, fish and chips. Great, fresh, huge and super fatty (fork for scale). The batter is delicious, the fish is delicious. As you can see they're whole pieces of fish so be careful what you wish for (or order) cus you're gonna get a lot of food. Chips are just okay. Go for the fish. I'm not sure what kind of fish it is but it's good. Probably cod or haddock. I'm guessing haddock because I hate cod and these are good. And they're too long and skinny to be cod. They also have red snapper and catfish as fish options. Much better. Okay so they do have some other items to try, mostly seafood. All of the battered and fried variety, naturally. Shrimp, scallops, zucchini, onion rings, mushrooms, cheese sticks, chicken... mostly all in the same scrumptious batter as the fish of course. Yes, vegetarians can get a plate of fried

food: 5/5 experience: 4/5 overall: 5/5 Bacon & Butter has been Sacramento's go-to brunch spot ever since it opened up in 2014 and took the city by storm. They eventually had to open another location in East Sac because it got so crowded (or they just wanted more money). The line will give you about an hour's worth of time to waste should you come any time other than butt o'clock in the morning. Buttermilk biscuit: 3/5 You can get it as a sandwich or plain. I got it plain. Buttery, flaky and crispy but not that great flavor-wise. Comparable to Pillsbury to be honest. It comes with seasonal preserves which I completely forgot about so I ate them plain afterwards. They're alright I mean, literally just candied fruit. Bacon: 4/5 I'm not one to rate bacon in general but it is called Bacon & Butter so... it's good. Thick cut and crispy. I mean it's their signature after all so it better be good. Flapjacks: 5/5 Bacon & Butter's pa