Q: negative

A: Roast Beef is almost eleven dollars a pound. Eleven.Dollars.A.Pound! Broccoli Spears $1.95 limp as dead trout. In fact, all their vegetables looked sad. Only upside: Ears of Corn 4 for a dollar, and Fresh Baked Bread regularly $0.99 a loaf, for a limited time only BOGO (buy one get one). Just because it worked out that way, I drove directly from this Vons to a Wal-Mart Neighborhood Market that turned out to be a modestly significant distance away. In this Von's parking lot, 4 of 5 cars were foreign makes, almost all of the were SUVs, and the one American car I noticed (a Cadillac Escalade) was parked with its engine running the entire time I was in the store. Inside this Von's is a Panda Express with a line six and seven people deep. When I get to the Wal-Mart Neighborhood Market, I see every other car is a Chevy pickup or Pontiac, and if the car was of foreign make was it a BMW or a Mercedes SUV? No, it was a Nissan Sentra. Wal-Mart Neighborhood Market had Roast Beef for $6.98/pound, Broccoli spears at $1.58/pound, etc.etc. And a Pick-Up Styx in the parking lot instead of a Panda Express inside the store, but I think I can make do. I am slowly beginning to despise this store.

Q: positive

A: Karaoke on Tuesday night is so fun! i love this unpretentious, accepting place. The drinks are well priced.

Q: negative

A: 2.5 stars The short: Open and clean setup with friendly staff, but it's basically just-ok carby kid food. The long: On the south side of Thomas, just west of 44th St., turning left into the lot can be a bear during peak traffic, but it's otherwise fairly accessible for people driving in from the west or walking up, like I did. The inside is wide open and clean with plenty of chairs and tables that were just a little too cluttered around the restaurant floor plan. Otherwise, it doesn't stick out much from other fast food joints. I went during the middle of a somewhat busy lunch period, and who seemed to be the head cashier loudly greeted just about everyone who walked in the front door on the other side of the restaurant. My cashier was friendly and quick, though he seemed a tiny bit frazzled by the small rush. I ordered The Box combo and a lemonade to go and headed back to my office a short 5-minute walk away. I hoped the freshly squeeze lemonade would be awesome, even if they did charge only about a dime more than fountain drinks for a regular. Although I could taste the lemon, the drink was so sweet, it may as well have been from a mix or carton. The Box comes with a small container of sweet coleslaw dressed in a lot of mayo, a slab of soft-in-the-inside, perfectly browned-on-the-outside toast, somewhat slightly crisp, thin crinkle cut fries, a container of Cane sauce (which tastes like burger sauce), and, of course, four chicken strips. Unless you're me and you get only three chicken strips . . . or two smallish chicken strips and one big chicken strip that maybe they counted as two, but really, halfway through the meal, you're so carbed-out full that you don't miss anything aside from the extra dollar you paid for that extra chicken strip. The strips were fine. It was real chicken, and true to advertising, it was fresh. Sort of crispy, but not as crispy as I'd hoped, or even expected. Tender and moist enough to not be bad. But not special. All of it was pretty one-note. I can't even tell you what part of the meal I liked best . . . maybe the toast. Coincidentally, every time I took a bite of that toast, I'd think, "This is the most random slice of toast ever. What's it even doing here?" So, it's fine if you're like me and want to try every new eatery that opens near my home or office and appreciate the novelty of places like this, but personally, I won't be making a return visit. Edit: I almost threw my drink cup away before I noticed the giveaway pull tab on it--I won a free slice os Texas toast! How do you like them apples? =)

Q: positive

A:
Metro Pizza is one of my favorite pizzas in Vegas I've had them here and at the various locations. I always joke about that you can't screw up making a good pizza but I've had people screw even that up. Metro Pizza has never served me a bad pizza. You can order the usual pepperoni, cheese, mushroom, sausage, etc. They are delicious and huge. But you can also order the stockyard. You say what exactly is a stockyard!? It's only a stuffed pizza. A stuffed pizza on steroids. Eat it with a knife and fork or just pick it up and stuff it into your mouth. You can eat a slice but can you eat another or maybe another after that? Don't forget the baseball sized garlic knots and desserts like cheese cake, tiramisu, and cannoli. It's located in a shopping center on Flamingo and Decatur next to a Food4Less grocery store and Makino restaurant. Though it's spacious it does get busy. Also the interior is straight from the 80's in it's fluorescent colors kind of reminds me like The Max in Saved by the Bell but older notice the water stains. Customer service has been fast and friendly. I don't frequently go to this location but they all service excellent food.