i'm a bit torn about writing this review, but after reading the recent ones, i feel like i have to chime in, too... we were visiting vegas from la this week and wanted to eat at some off-the-strip (read: cheap) places. babystacks actually reminded us of cici's cafe and ninong's cafe here at home in that they offer lots of crazy yummy creative pancakes, plus homestyle classic filipino dishes and are small family-owned businesses. unfortunately, the similarities end there. red velvet pancakes, hazelnut pancakes, and banana cream pie pancakes were all fantastic. we liked how you could get just a short stack of 3 instead of 6 - who can really eat 6 pancakes anyway? the banana cream pie ones, especially - the banana slices in between each pancake plus the banana pudding on top... wow! the chicken adobo fried rice omelette dish was really good, too, and I'd definitely order it again. now the reason for two stars: the corned beef hash was spoiled. like totally rotten, could smell it before tasting it. whoever cooked it should've been able to tell it was no good. we eat out (for breakfast, especially) all the time and this is the first time we've ever been served spoiled food. EVER. the worst part was that when we told the waitress that the corned beef hash tasted off, she didn't even seem surprised!!! she just asked if we wanted something else. only when she brought the new dish of bacon and eggs did she apologize. it was all quite shocking, actually. or maybe the sugar/carb high had us all foggy and unable to react faster. she did remove the dish from our bill without us having to ask her to - which was cool, but again, she didn't seem too fazed or apologetic about it. when the hostess (who i'm guessing is the main proprietress?) asked us how everything went as were paying, i didn't have the heart to say anything about the corned beef. i certainly hope the waitress did, though, or at least brought it to the attention of the cook! after she took our plate away, i kept an eye/ear out to see if anyone else ordered it, but no other orders came out. so, two stars with reservation because the pancakes were so good, but really should be one star for serving spoiled food. thankfully my senses are in overdrive from the pregnancy hormones so that it only took one tiny bite to know the corned beef was bad, which i promptly spit out anyway. future customers, beware! or just stick to the pancakes!!!
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negative

How did a $33.99/day rental of a small 4-cylinder "economy car" for 2 days turn into a $270.61 rip-off gouge? I rented from Budget Rent-a-Car at the Phoenix Internat. Airport ... linked to the rental via Travelocity. That's how. It is a lesson in the old "Yes, the basic rate is $33.95 - very cheap! - but, oh, you want a steering wheel on that car? That's an extra ..." type scam. And they added a mysterious 11.11 percent "Concession Recovery Fee" on top of the quoted rate - no extra service or feature gained - it's just an unadvertised "additional fee" - I assume the argument is that the quoted rate was just for the car, but the act of the customer simply showing up to pick up and drop off the car (on time) is "extra cost"!! The "LDW" was almost as much as the car rate, at $25.99/day (I am sure that rate is inflated to maximize costs ... It's actually not even insurance. It just absolves you of the responsibility for car damage - so what they "choose" to charge you is not fixed to any market-controlled rate) - it's whatever they can get away with. The personal injury waiver (also not insurance) was $14.49/day. Etc ... Etc ... The contract actually states, "If I (renter) return the car prior to due date, I may be charged a higher rate." !!! - what!?! Worse of all - the agent at the desk, when hearing where I was going, INSISTED that I would use a full tank of gas to get there and back, "and probably a bit more." So she really pressed that I opt for the "purchase a tank of gas" to "save money" - also stating that it was cheaper than the going rate "outside". But any unused gas was non-refundable ... You guessed it - I had a whole one-third of a tank left, on return of car - Ka-Ching! More money in their pocket! (and they can re-sell the same gas again to the next sucker!) ... and - the rate Budget charged me for the gas was EXACTLY the same as what gas was sold for on the street. I complained upon return and seeing these charges rack up, but they smiled and said, "sorry ... I see a signature here ... that yours? " So - I will NEVER, EVER use "Blood-let" Rent-A-Car again and will steer my friends and colleagues away from them. Yes, I take some responsibility for being such an easy "mark" - but they are trained to be snake oil salesmen and openly con people into every expense they can. I have rented cars multiple times before from various agencies - never have I come up against a "shake down" like this - and was unprepared for the "gaming" I was put through. If you must use them, go over everything with a fine toothed comb. Take your time. Ask every "dumb" question ... Even if you assume you know - ask them to explain ... you very well may be surprised. Check with your own auto insurance to see if they cover car and personal injury, to see if you can decline all waivers ... else know your rate is something quite astronomically inflated from the "stated rate".
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negative

Ok - So I've been here before and didn't like it but I thought I'd give it another chance. I decided to take my mother here for a birthday lunch as we were going to see a movie at the nearby Colisee. We started with the pan-fried calamari and the onions rings, both were very good - the calamari was crispy on the outside and tender on the inside and the rings were crispy not greasy. Both my mother and sister chose the Madison's burger for their main - the burgers were grey - way overcooked and very salty. They also had a house salad with some kind of a ginger dressing - it was ok. I ordered the Oriental Chicken Salad - which was swimming in dressing and the chicken was also very salty. I couldn't bring myself to eat the greens. I know this is a chain but come on - not good enough. One positive note was our waiter who was very charming and attentive. He even brought over a brownie with sparklers for my Mom, which was very sweet. All in all meh. They should serve the dressing on the side, cut down on the salt and not squish the burgers when cooking them (as I suspect) rendering them dry. I think I owe my Mom another lunch after that one!
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negative