For over a decade, Claim Jumper was one of my favorite family restaurants. Things changed when the Landry's corporation began taking over. Favorite dishes like the Whiskey Chicken, Gold Rush Chicken and others started disappearing. Prices slowly crept up. A favorite of mine, the salad bar, is now only available in a couple of locations. Then before you knew it, no more muffins with your entree. Landry's, thanks for ruining a good thing. I have to remind myself not to be tempted coming here based on memories of great past experiences.

negative

I had to take 1 star away because it's a bummer when 2 of the signature items are sold out. I made quite a journey to taste the beef brisket and ribs but they were both gone. As I searched the menu, nothing else really jumped out at me other than the fact that a turkey leg was $19. I get it that their meat is smoked in house for 8 hours, but Holy smokes! The menu was a little pricey, so I just went for the Nacos which were scrumptious and the 3 for 10 moonshine shots only because I had never had moonshine before. The homemade apple pie moonshine sample is what sold me. If I was a regular at Bootleggers, I'd be a lush for that shot! The 4 cheese mac and cheese was above average but I wouldn't need it again. I have high hopes for the beef brisket and ribs on my next visit.

positive

These days, I find myself getting more and more disillusioned with outlet shopping. The merchandise is only so-so and you can get better deals at the mall. In fact, a lot of the stuff is made for the outlets which to me, defeats the purpose. I guess not everyone feels this way because there were TONS of people! What recession?! Between my mom, grandma and myself, all we got was a LeSportsac laptop sleeve, which ended up not even fitting my macbook. If you want to buy it, check out my ebay auction haha! I was also super excited to see a Catherine Malandrino outlet and while prices were an additional 50% off the tag price, there were probably only about 20 different styles, 18 of which were hideous. The girls working at the store were also more concerned with gossiping and putting makeup on than helping any shoppers. Skip the outlets and head to the Fashion Show Mall!

negative

I went to Thai Cafe for lunch, and I wasn't sure if I had been there before or not. But the atmosphere was not bad at all. The waitress who served us was polite and friendly, and the food was one of the better Thai cuisines which I have had the opportunity to consume in Arizona. I had ordered Thai Iced Tea and the Pad Kee Mao (drunken noodle) at the Thai Hot level of spice. It's level of spice definitely met the requested level of spiciness, and in fact, it was spicier than I had expected (and I actually prefer very spicy food, and they even said that I could have it spicier by my request). It also had a good flavor, and I followed my meal with a Thai Iced Tea Ice Cream which was very pleasing to my taste sense. It was quite delicious. Though, I have to admit that the cost is not cheap, and I personally could not visit this restaurant frequently due to personal budget constraints. For my meal (including the drink and gratuity (but not the ice cream), it was close to $16. However, for my beverage, there was also a refill which I was not charged for. I had also tasted a friend's Papaya Salad (Som Tum) which was rated at a medium spice level; it did not taste spicy at all. So if you would like a flavorful Thai meal, with little or a lot of spice with good service but don't mind paying a little more money for the meal, then this may just be the Thai restaurant for you.
positive