Paul "Big Pookie" W.'s Profile

Kind of a disjointed menu, but tasty selections on it.  This is good food, not off the hook.  The wine was reasonably priced.  They gave me a free desert because it was my birthday, and they gave us a free round of drinks for "rushing us out" at the end of our meal when they were opening their dance floor.  Truth is, we asked them to bring things slowly because we wanted to stay for the club and we finished just when we wanted to . . . at the last second.  Well, they might of rushed us a touch, but not much and really, it was our own fault, so all and all I would say that was very gracious of them.  Service was super through the whole night.  Our server from NY had great insight, great wine picks, and was a general delight to interact with.  Even the bussers clearing our plates were friendly.  If I go to a party at Temple at again, I would definitely have dinner at Prana before again.  It worked out.  Oh yeah, not too full on a Friday night too, we were able to get the reservation pretty late.

I like this place.  Lots of people.  Interesting atmosphere.  The downstairs is pretty basement/dungeony, but I really like the feel of upstairs.  The little bar in the front is a nice decompression area that rarely has a line.  

Room for improvement; I know it is gross, but when someone barfs on your floor, clean it up really really quickly please.  Don't make your guests see that, and definitely do not leave it sitting around for 5 minutes so it starts to smell.

Even so, I would go back.

Wow, the bouncers and door people here are really really assholes.  I went for a private event and they still created an artificial line.  On a Wednesday night where the whole place was rented out? wtf?!?!?

They were further jerks with crowd control during the event.  There's ways to treat people with respect and they don't use them.  I am a mellow guy and this was a private event full of business professionals.

Then the icing on the cake.  At about 11pm they start picking anyone in the party that does anything even slightly "wrong" according to them and kicking them out, saying they must be too drunk.  I saw them kick one person out because she was dancing on their sub-woofer (even though it did not have a sign or rope or anything saying not to dance on it and it looked substantial, sturdy, and low like their tables which they themselves walk on regularly).  Didn't jump fast enough when some jerk bouncer said you are standing too closes to the stairs?  You are outta here.  Get pissed off because you are getting kicked out of your company party?  Well that only proves they were right to kick you out (can you say catch 22).

BTW, I was not drunk and did not get kicked out, but I saw this all go down.  Don't have a private party here unless you want your coworkers and guests thrown out rudely.  It will reflect poorly on you.

I really enjoyed my meal here.  The prosciutto from the small meat sampler was divine and almost made me not want to eat anything else the rest of the night.  But it was equaled by the fried flowering squash blossoms stuffed with sheep's milk ricotta and parmesiano-reggiano.  Tastes at least as good as it sounds, really.  Anyway, the rest of the meal was only outstanding, not as over-the-the-freaking-top sick as those first two, but we had the pasta with braised rabbit and the beef cheecks, which are huge by the way.  The drinks were as good as the meal, we had both aperitifs and we let the server pair a glass of wine which we shared with each course.  It was really good.  I can imagine that it would only be better with a group, as they had some big fun tables.  Our server was great with reccomendations, pace, knowledge and humour through the night.  I almost four starred them because of prices.  The food is not bad really, but the wine is not cheap.  But everything was just so well done all the way around.  I can't in good conscience do it.

4.5 stars?  Near perfection in a breakfast diner.  This place is an out of the way hole in the wall that is hard to find and small, and there is a line standing outside waiting for a table.  We walked right up at 9:30 am and got a seat at the counter though.  No problem.

Generous portions of the real deal diner food will keep us coming back anytime we want some hearty diner breakfast.  Karen got the pancake stuffed with sausage and I go the corned beef hash with eggs over easy, home fries, and toast.  Both were cooked to perfection and ginormous and about $9 each.

The dude next to me had obviously been going there a lot of years, and he ordered the Teriyaki steak breakfast which both he and his breakfast buddy said was the best thing on the menu, and I got to tell you it looked really good.  Next time, I am ordering it, but I think it could feed Karen and me both, and we have hearty appetites!

Yummy food at yummy prices make this our only regular spot in San Mateo so far.  The hours are the only tough thing.  They open at 10am and they are only open for dinner one day a week.  The chinese hamburger is a must order if they have not run out yet.

A solid three and a half stars I think.  I almost want to give it four, but I think itwould be score inflation.  The pizza is good, a lot better than generic pizza places like godfathers, pizza hut, dominoes, frozen pizza from store, etc, but for me it was almost but not quite thin enough and almost but not quite crispy enough to be as good as Delfina's in the Mission or Cheese Board in Berkeley or something.

No complaints though, on the contrary the pizza was fast and good, the restaurant is clean, and the service friendly and genuine.  If I worked in San Mateo I could see this as part of a reular lunch rotation.

From the context of catered lunch, this place is a winner to me.  I am fortunate to have my company order lunch every day, and Chaat cafe is a keeper on our list as far as I am concerned.

We get lamb, chicken, fish, and vegetarian wraps, spicy and mild potato salad, vegetarian samosas, and cucumber salad.  The samosas are perhaps my favorite, and the spicy potato salad second.  The fish wraps could use improving, but the lamb and chicken are good.  If they had more spice in their sauce it wouldn't kill me, or they could add a sauce with a little kick to their delivery, but I like it fine as is.  The cucumbers are especially nice compliments to the spicy sauce on the samosa and potato salad.  I look forward to Chaat cafe days here.

I am happy that a catered place still puts some kick in their food instead of just delivering a safe but bland fare.

Upside: They came through and did the work for me when I was in trouble.  
Downside: as many others have said, they called me with an estimate for $2,000 of other work which my car did not need.  Details below.

My master cylinder went out two blocks from here on a Friday afternoon and I dropped the car off and they replaced it for $450.  We were on our way to the airport, so it was particularly cool that they were able to just keep the car over the weekend, and when we got back from Vegas Monday morning we just went from the airport back to Midas and picked it up with the work completed.

When they called me Saturday with the estimate, they told me I needed new brakes, new CV joints, new wheel bearings, new belts, and a new battery.  I was wary because coincidentally I had just tested the battery a few months prior and it tested fine.  And the belts are not that old either, and I changed them myself last time.  So I declined all of their recommendations.  So here's the part that pissed me off.  When I picked up the car, the battery was dead and the car wouldn't start.  They then tried to sell me a battery, which I was really pissed about.  If my car had started slow like a car with an aging battery does, I would have merely been suspicious, but my car was absolutely dead.  Nothing.  So I knew they had drained the battery, and I was pissed they were trying to sell me a new battery as if I did not know what was up.  I made them jump start my car (at least they did not try to charge me for it) and I drove ot work in Mountain View, which was plenty long to recharge the battery.  My car has been fine since.  The belts are fine too btw.

Also, if you are a good little enginerd like me, you know that one of the best ways to make a perfectly good lead acid battery die young is to drain it completely a few times.  Lead acid batteries used in most (non-hybrid) cars, like to stay fully charged, and will last a long time if they do stay charged.  By doing something like leaving the light on inside the car over the weekend to kill the battery, you can greatly reduce the life of a battery of this type.  In fact, I don't even think you should do the load test on the battery without asking first, as it stresses the battery too.  I only do load tests to diagnose problems with cars starting normally (rule out the battery before moving to alternator or starter or whatever).

These guys are crooked fear mongers seeking vistims.  Be careful if you have to use them.  

Someone should get a class action suit together on the battery thing really.  Any attorneys out there want to go after a franchise with a big national name brand (ie fat checkbook) on a consumer advocacy issue in California (dream state for consumer advocacy)?  Lick your chops and take a car in with a perfectly good battery like mine was, then subpoena their data on battery replacement rates, compare it to an honest shop, and watch the money pour into your account.  Please buy my wife and I dinner or something with a little of the proceeds after the payout and the story for 60 minutes :p

If you like to overpay and get totally unresponsive lack of service, then you will love Bay Car Stereo.

I really wish I had read the first review for this place.  1.5 years later, it is still exactly accurate I am afraid.  Delays, no communication, no apologies, and that after overcharging.

I went to Bay Car Stereo because Clifford car alarms sent me there as their authorized dealer and I needed a replacement remote and 30 minutes of remote programming service.  After paying too much, I was told that they would call me in a week and I could  come pick up the replacement remote and they would program it.  A week went by, no call.  2 weeks went by, still no call.  So I call them to ask if the remote is there.

Their response, "Oh, Clifford has been sending things to the Bay Car Stereo in San Francisco store, so let me see if your remote is there and call you back."

"Ummm, ok, but if you know that Clifford is sending remotes there, and you know my remote is now a week past the date you said, why do I have to call you to get you to call them and get back to me?"  Whatever, doesn't sound so bad, so I wait for them to check up and call me back.  I wait another week..  No call back.  So I call them and ask again (3 weeks total elapsed now).

Their response, "Oh, Clifford has been sending things to the Bay Car Stereo in San Francisco store, so let me see if your remote is there and call you back."

"Uhhhhhh, that's what you said last week!?!?!?!?".

"Oh, this time we will definitely get back to you tomorrow and tell you what is going on."

I wait two weeks.  No call back from them.

I could go on and on and on, but after 8 weeks of calling them without ever getting a call back from them or an apology, they finally said that I could come into their store and pick up the remote and get it programmed today.  I go in, and they say they are backed up and won't have time to program it.  I asked them if they remembered that I was the guy that had been waiting for 8 weeks for this one week remote, and the manager, maybe owner for all I know (same guy I talked to on the phone), immediately says "I can give you a refund if that's what you want."

I decided that I don't care how bad I need that remote, because giving any money that might help keep that business alive is doing too great an injustice to my fellow consumers.  I get the refund.

The manager says "Clifford was back-ordered."  

No apology, no concession or effort to get the remote programmed quickly.

I had stayed pretty quite and calm through this whole 8 weeks.  I was patient and understanding, but this finale I could not take, and I finally said quite loudly so that everyone in the store could here. "Clifford is back-ordered is a fine answer 7 weeks ago when you told me the remote would be in.  Even 6 weeks ago.  But I have called you at least 6 times over the last two months for a remote which you said would take a week.  And every time, you told me you would call back with status, and you never did.  It is a little late for this to be Clifford's fault."

And I left.  Given the other Yelp review is so similar one and a half years ago, I am guessing this is the same owner or manager.  If you can go anywhere else, I would suggest you do so.  If only to ensure that you will be able to get support for your purchase down the road, cuz there's no way this place can stay in business.