Q: positive

A: Uh oh! Someone's got their skinny jeans, converse, blue nail polish and disenchanted face on! You know what that means--they're getting ready to either go shopping at Avalon or dancing at brillobox (or, more likely, they're going shopping at Avalon for something to wear to a brillobox dance party). Welcome to PGH's hippest thrift store.* I tend to wander into Avalon aimlessly and usually end up leaving with something because: 1. Their prices are really good. I found a Marc Jacob's skirt in mint condition for $33 one time. Srsly. I got a Lacoste dress that still makes me light-headed thinking about how adorable it is for $15 and my favorite cocktail ring was only $3. 2. I do my heavy lifting. The store isn't crammed full of things I simply can't resist: I spend an obnoxious amount of time digging through racks of fugly floral-print skinny jeans and hideous H & M rompers before I find a cute plaid tunic or members only jacket. If you want to find the buried treasure you have to dig. 3. Their accessories are tops. The counter is dotted with baskets overflowing with pins (I got an awesome James Dean one for fifty cents), jewelry (snagged a turquoise beaded bracelet for five bucks), headbands, scarves and every other kind of flair you can imagine. The wall as you walk in is lined with a bevy (I used the word "bevy" in a review!) of sweet shades. 4. They don't have a lot of competition. I don't know if the other vintage stores in the city signed some sort of non-compete agreement or what, but Avalon seems to have cornered the market on wearable used fashion. Like all thrift stores, sometimes you don't find anything, (although from what I can tell, my male friends seem to walk out empty-handed fairly often, so I think the dude selection could use some beefing up), but on the whole this store is definitely worth a visit if you've got a lazy Saturday afternoon with some time to kill. *Being hip is one thing (I'll let you decide if it's a good or bad thing), but for interesting vintage finds I like Eons in Shadyside, and for stuff that's plain old bizarre and dirt-cheap (we're talking like $1-$4 range) I head to the Goodwill in East Liberty.

Q: negative

A: I do not normally write reviews but I am so mind blogged about what happened last night that I have to write this. (Pros: The Greek Salad and The Milo Special.) The Greek Salad: It was surprisingly great! It was a mixture of tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers and onions, that was accompanied by feta cheese and dressed with a vinaigrette. It was very delicious, if you like the tomatoes. If you don't, I would skip it. The Milo Special: At least this is what I think it is called. It was zucchini and eggplant that was lightly fried and had a yogurt dipping with it. That was the highlight of the night. (Meh: The Calamari and The Wine) The Calamari: It was a little chewy. I didn't really care for it. The Wine: It was sweet, but I could stomach it. (Cons: The Service/Staff and The Fish, The Atmosphere, and The Steak Fries) Let's Start with the food: The Fish was okay. It was basically red snapper with capers, lemon, and olive oil. It was okay, but I had better. It would be in the meh section, but it was 200 dollars. For 200 dollar fish, it better knock my socks off. Also, it had bones in it. The steak fries were awful. There was no seasoning or anything there and they were soggy. The atmosphere: It was was so loud in this place. I couldn't hear anything. We had a large party and couldn't hear half of the conversation. It was very loud. The service and staff: They were slow. We arrived at 7:30 didn't leave until 11 or so. Plus, when I asked them to explain a few items on the menu they couldn't adequately explain things to me. (that is if you can hear anything in this place) They are also business people. They like to deceive you here. We asked for water, they bring us bottled water that they charge 8 dollars a pop for. We asked for fish, they tell us that it can't feed a group of our size, and adds lamb, which is another 200 dollars. (I didn't eat the lamb that is why is it not on here). Its not the prices that were the problem, it was the fact that they deceived us and ranked up the bill. We had eight people and they added 18 percent gratitude on the bill which is probably why he was making a lot of the suggestions. I rather you be upfront with me about the prices and let me make the choice if I wanted to eat there or not. This is the type of thing that is admired there, and it is a shame. I will not be dining there anymore. But needless to say, we were blindsided by the bill and took about 30 minutes to figure out, which they complained about. It was ridiculous. Never again will I eat there for some mediocre fish. I had better fish for a 1/20 of that price. Real disappointment.

Q: negative

A: Went here because we had a groupon. Not opposed to going back, but would not make a special trip for to get there. Chips seemed to be out of a bag, the salsa was tomatoes and salt--and a very small portion at that. Entree portions were large, hot and tasty. I had the chilequiles, and had no complaints. The chicken was done well and the sauce was nice and spicy like I like it. Hubby had sampler of enchiladas, no complaints. Daughter had veggie plate #4, and she thought it was good. That's it, good--not great--no complaints! Wait staff was very nice!

Q: positive

A:
T. Cooks is one of my favorite restaurants in Scottsdale, and I don't know if it's because it's part of one of the nicest hotels there or what. I like the atmosphere and attentiveness of the wait staff, and I could drink by the gallon that pesto sauce thing they give you for the bread. I had the best gnocchi in the world there, but since their menu changes all the time, it's a crap shoot whether or not I'll ever have that again. I like it because since I'm so not into dressing up for dinner unless I have a super hot date, it's okay to go somewhat biz casual. The strawberry salad is good, and I can't even remember what I had for dessert, but whatever it was, it was delicious. People have complaints about the prices, but I say have business meetings there!