Jason R.'s Profile

I can only speak to the food and restaurant side, but the pizza was very good.  A margherita pizza can be ruined by even slightly poor ingredients, and this pizza was very fresh.  Our only minor complaint was that the tomatoes were too thick and didn't cook as deeply as we prefer.  Now consider just how picky that complaint is...  On the flip side, these people understand that the cheese should be browned.  Finally!

Service for us was great.  We clearly were there before the Saturday crowd, but everything was prompt without being overbearing.  The artwork is fun, and the environment was relaxed at 8pm on a Saturday.

One word of caution, though:  Those stairs are very short and narrow.  They may serve to keep the bar patrons downstairs, so perhaps that's good?  I don't know; the band was only arriving as we were leaving.

After being soaked on a mountain while looking for salamanders, these good folks' cheeseburgers and fries were just right for the very, very low price.  The meat and trimmings all were good quality and fresh, far better than typical inexpensive burgers.

The seating's nice, and the atmosphere certainly would have been much nicer if the storm that soaked us hadn't followed us.  This seems to be a common stop for people along the Virginia Creeper Tail.

And the ice cream is *rich*.  Perfect follow-up for a yummy burger.

At a special event (Local Foods Celebration for the Virginia Highlands Festival), they seated a full restaurant at the same time.  The menu naturally was limited, but this situation is where you see the quality not only of the food but also the wait staff.  There weren't many, but they were incredibly efficient.  No one had to wait an overly long time for food, and drinks were kept full.

This is on top of the local food emphasis and high quality.  Gazpacho with truly fresh vegetables.  Meat you can almost meet.  Good stuff.

Oh, and the candy orange slices you can find in the adjacent Meadowview Farmers' Guild (general store) are GREAT!

Comfortable, relaxed, and good.  The gelato is made in-store.  The staff is friendly and tolerant of people who stay quite a while.  (Remember to at least buy refills every so often...)  The muzak is annoying, but it seems to be the only thing coffee shops in this area will play.

Their care in selecting and reviewing the green coffee they carry is perfect for beginners and dabblers like me.  Start here.  They not only carry coffee but also host a ton of information on-line, actively participate in their coffee mailing list, and generally try to form a community around good coffee from tree to cup.

If you're nearby, you can pick up during limited hours.  Saves on shipping and lets you meet (quickly; they're really busy) some great people.

The prices seem good, and the quality is superb.  I've only had their pre-roasted coffee once (at their 10th anniversary party), but it was excellent.

And yes, I'm drinking coffee from their beans as I write this.  An Ethiopian Golocha.  Wonderfully rich on the City/Full City border.  I nailed this one...

I just realized Christensen-Heller might be on yelp!  These people are wonderful, amazing, talented, and great!  The people who work here are *jewelers and artists* rather than salespeople.  Ask to see their work and their favorite work, and be prepared to be taken on a journey through some beautiful areas.

The store is small, and you'll still want to spend all day looking and discussing.  Excellent traditional pieces, astounding experimental pieces, and just plain great stuff.  They never skimp on the components in the pieces, either.

They don't look down on small purchases, either.  Anything supports them and the artists whose work they carry.   Or take pieces to Christiansen-Heller for repair; their initial evaluations always have been accurate for my wife and I.

Oooh.  I wasn't expecting grilled pizza and tamales in the same place...  And it works.  The tamales are good (even though they're not pork).    The formaggio pizza was quite good.  The basil was a little dark, but I'm not sure it's quite in season here and now.  Otherwise, really good.  And the crust was perfectly grilled, thin, and crisp.  Cheese was browned and flavorful.  Plenty of good-looking choices on the menu besides the pizzas.

And my server was perfect, which is pretty surprising for an inexpensive place.  Not hanging overhead and stopping by exactly at the right times.

Plus, a restaurant with free wi-fi?!?  Handy for stopping in while the car's in service around the corner.  Smaller and larger beers on tap, too.

Pop Rock ice cream.  No pop, but the flavor.  I think the ice cream is made there.  That, and a robot.  Come on!  How can this place not be cool.

It's almost too spacious inside; you can't see the robot and ice cream making area clearly from the door.  But they're there, and it's cool.  Robot.  Seriously.

The folks were friendly, although on this day I think they were glad to have anyone come in and break the monotony.  This ice cream place was the only cafe-like place open for the July 4th weekend.

And a robot.  I love it.

Hm.  It's difficult to be fair here, but I'll try.

The good: They allow pets.  They were relatively inexpensive.  Most families living there are wonderful people.  The manager is nice to your face.  Walking distance to BART, Panama Red, the farmers' market, and downtown.  A gate keeps the worst out, when it works.  These raised it to one star over none, mostly because the scale won't go let me give none.

The bad: 115 degrees F upstairs INSIDE during the summer.  Repairs made incredibly slowly, if at all.  Don't bother to report failed plumbing on the weekend when you're moving out; it won't be fixed.  Steady rent increases with no improvements.  Regular shootings and drug deals all around.  Police chases through the property.  They like to keep most of your deposit for problems you told them about.  Has incredibly shoddy work done (e.g., the external painters painted over a trash water bottle, paint started peeling a week after it was completed, repaving covered a tiny, bizarre path into the parking lot).

In short, if you have pets, you may find you have little to no choice in where you live.  This place can be made to work.  But you won't sleep well.  And you won't want to come home.

Good BBQ and meat, excellent service.  Nice locale.  I definitely like the "Richmond Guano" sign.  Don't expect vegetables with your meat, though.