CourtHouse Cafe

While driving around this morning, Raven and I decided that we needed some breakfast.  We decided that this would be a great opportunity to go on a breakfast-seeking adventure.  We drove quite a while before succumbing to defeat and determined to go back downtown, which is not far from where we live.

I have seen the CourtHouse Cafe many times while driving down Sierra Street.  After all, it is the street I drive down to return home if I happen to be on the freeway.  It appears to be a hole in the wall, but once one enters, it's actually a very cute establishment. The decor is perfect for the space with tall tables and shorter tables.  The music playing was 106.9, which is a mix station of adult contemporary, also fitting of the atmosphere.

The staff was amazing.  The lady behind the counter was energetic and just entertaining as heck.  She was extremely attentive and had the cook make Raven another turkey bagel sandwich when she discovered that Raven doesn't care for mustard.  The lady didn't have to do that, but it was the nicest gesture.  The cook brought it out himself. 

We ordered a variety of things from the menu.  As previously stated, Raven had a turkey bagel sandwich on a blueberry bagel, a strawberry smoothie, and I had their special which consisted of two eggs over easy, four sausage links, hashbrowns and two slices of sourdough bread.  The special was $6.95.  I must say that their sausage is phenomenal!  I totally recommend it.  The same goes for their turkey bagel sandwiches and the strawberry smoothing.  I tasted just like strawberry ice cream.  So yummy!

If you happen to be downtown, I recommend stopping by this cafe and indulging in some great food and nice calm atmosphere. 

The only issue I had with this place is that because it is downtown, the parking is somewhat horrible.

Overall, I give the CourtHouse Cafe:

Squeeze Inn - Squeezing out the Awesome!

The other day, Falcon mentioned this really great restaurant to go to for breakfast.  It is a little bit out of the way from where either of us live, but as we love a good adventure when it comes to discovering new places for food, we decided that this would be just that.  A great adventure.

And we were not disappointed.  Upon entering the Squeeze Inn, it was obvious that this was a place that was not only family friendly, but a fun and interesting environment for a special dining experience.  The only thing difficult about writing this review is exactly where to start. How about atmosphere.  Yeah, that's a great place.

Brightly colored walls adorn the interior of the Squeeze Inn on Foothill Drive.  Yellows, oranges and reds in a brilliant gradient that was as warm as the sun itself.  Offsetting those colors were the markings of what I can only assume were previous customers.  While it looked as though adults and children alike scribbled on the walls so that it looked like someone defiled a restroom stall, the drawings and comments were neither offensive or inappropriate and provided even more charm to this building's interior. This behavior is encouraged by the staff, however, Falcon did see a sign in the Men's room asking that people not scribble on the bathroom walls per state law.  This request was being respected.  (Way to go patrons!)  Behind where we sat was a fishing net with an abundance of beads and other charms and bobbles.  It rather seemed out of place, but looking around to things hanging from the ceiling (an antique-looking toboggan, old bicycle, and model planes) it really added to the charm. Falcon noticed that all of the tables were different.  The table next to us even had a lazy Susan. Amazing! I could probably spend the next several paragraphs on the decor alone. You'll just have to visit to get the full experience.

We were given a choice of two table and after seating ourselves, we were greeted by our server, Bryan, who was just the friendliest server I've had in quite a while.  He was attentive, polite, and I could tell that he enjoyed his job.  Observing the rest of the room I could see that the waitstaff at the Squeeze Inn enjoyed their work and paid great attention to their customers. 

Their menu was quite overwhelming.  I believe it is the most extensive menu of any place I have visited in quite some time.  It was a difficult choice to make when it came time to order.  With menu items such as the Dirty Dick, Rednecker, Amanda Panda and the Hangover Helper, it is really difficult to choose!  We both decided to go with the Manly Morris Meal.  Oh, and chocolate covered bacon!!  While the chocolate-covered bacon sounds like a good idea in theory, I took one bite and decided that it was a waste of perfectly good bacon.  Falcon loved it.

I must make mention of something that I am giving the Squeeze Inn extra props for.  Falcon did not have his reading glasses with him.  Bryan immediately brought out a selection of reading glasses for Falcon to choose from.  While there are other restaurants that might provide this very small, but highly meaningful and appreciated service, I have never been in such a place.  Way to think about your customers far beyond the expected!

The food was excellent!  The Manly Morris Meal came with a half order of biscuits and gravy, spudz, two eggs, toast, and bacon.  Falcon says that one can tell a lot about a restaurant based on basic menu items such as biscuits and gravy.  Well, he ate all of his.  As for me, I couldn't finish.  I was that full of yummy goodness.  As Falcon had stated, there was a war going on between his mouth and his stomach as to which one was happier.
Some of the other things I noticed about the Squeeze Inn included a patio area and toys for the kids to take to their tables.  Oh, I would be remiss if I didn't mention that they had toy robots!  The icing on the cake was the excellent music playing overhead provided by SiriusXM.  It wasn't too harsh or too mellow, but just right for the atmosphere.  They also offer their club card which includes some pretty awesome perks.

This is a place that we will be visiting over and over again.  The price for food was right in line with the quality of the meal.   



Overall, I give Squeeze Inn:

Actually, I give it 5.5 stars out of 5, but I couldn't find any pictures to represent!

Batch Cupcake - Never Again/Jus - Again

First impressions are the most important, People!












The other day Raven and I decided to rekindle an old tradition that we did when we were living in Idaho.  So we hopped on our bikes and rode to Batch Cupcake for Cocoa and Cookie Day.  (In this case Cocoa and Cupcake Day, but who is counting anyway?)

Batch Cupcake is a half mile from where we live so we thought it would be a great thing to ride our bikes.  We managed to get there without too much hassle and after fumbling with the brand new bike lock (a U-lock that I forgot to take packaging off of) we went inside to Batch Cupcake.

The inside decor was interesting.  It had three-piece pub sets that had chalkboards for tabletops where people could draw.  The walls also had chalkboards, but I did not realize that until Raven mentioned it.  By that time I was so blinded by contempt for this place that it didn't matter.

We looked at the cases full of cupcakes.  They were on the counter tops in large glass-topped cake trays.  Ummm... it's pretty and all, but how does one get one without accidentally giving cooties to the surrounding cupcakes?  Not that our hands weren't clean, but there weren't any tongs or pastry papers in sight, so we went up to the front counter.  (Now, I still don't really know if people just help themselves to the ones displayed out there or not.  I didn't ask, but that didn't matter.)

Okay.  We were there for cocoa and cupcakes (long before reaching this establishment that we were going for cupcakes).  I looked on the menu and was pleasantly surprised to find cocoa on the menu.  I ordered cocoa.  Oh, but NO!  They don't serve cocoa there!  I always get irritated with a place that has things on their menu that they do not actually sell.  Okay, well then how about milk.  That was on the menu.  Nope, no dice there, either.  They have juice on their menu.  Okay.  Well, it would be okay if you like grapefruit juice, which I do not.  *sigh* I ended up ordering a chocolate cupcake with white frosting and Raven ordered a chocolate cupcake with mint frosting and and Andes mint on top.

By this time I was so irritated that I almost thought of walking out.  But I didn't.  I paid the overpriced total and we left to find Jus, which the cashier said was right next door.  (We ended up turning the wrong way going out the door, but found Jus nonetheless.)

The guys at Jus (yes, there is supposed to be an umlaut above the u. I haven't figured out how to put it there yet) were amazing.  They saw us riding our bikes by when we were looking for a place to park.  They were super helpful in explaining their menu as we had never been there before.  They were upbeat, smiling and treated Raven with respect.  Not ignored her as though she wasn't there.

Their decor did leave something to be desired.  It was a bit sterile for my taste, but cute with the wooden panels.  I would like to think that a place such as this would have a more fun atmosphere, but no one is happy all the time although I do take atmosphere and decor into my review along with other things.  In addition to drab decor, the tables wobbled.  They just need a slight tweak, guys!

I ordered a Gotta Green, which had strawberries, bananas, kale and spinach (try it before you hate on it) and Raven got a strawberry/banana smoothie without all the green stuff.  I tried mine and then I tried hers.  Both were really good.  I got her to try mine, but I guess her mind got her all confused because she didn't like mine, probably because it was green.  LOL!  They were a bit spendy, but that is to be expected in midtown.

We spent time inside because at this point (in February no less!) was too hot outside to sit.  I'd say I was sensitive to the heat, but I'd only be fooling myself, although I didn't want the sun beating on my back.  So we sat and had our cocoa and cookie day sans cocoa, avec cupcakes.  Overall it was a pleasurable experience.

My overall review for Batch Cupcake is not a great one.  The best thing about this business is the chalkboards on the table tops and walls.  Their service leaves a lot to be desired and their menu severely needs to be updated if they are not going to serve things that are on it.  Seriously, guys!  Their cupcakes tasted good, but I have had better for sure. They are not worth the over $3 a piece that I paid for them. For the quality of service, or lack thereof, that's way too much, even in midtown. I will not be visiting again here anytime soon.

 My overall review of Jus is not bad.  Please fix your wobbly tables!  It was a pleasure to come into an establishment who treats their customers, especially those who have never been in before, so awesome.  I didn't catch their names but the gentlemen behind the counter at Jus made the half-mile bicycle trip worth it.  And thank you for not having any grapefruit juice in sight!

Overall, I give Batch Cupcake:

And this is being generous.  I was going to give only 1.5 stars, but Raven talked me into giving 2 because of the chalkboards.

Overall, I give Jus: