Mike Orren
Joined Nov. 22, 2005
reviews
comments
favorites
Reviews
-
1 year, 3 months ago
Mike Orren's review for:
Lakewood Landing
The classic dive.
-
1 year, 3 months ago
Mike Orren's review for:
The Old Monk
Beer selection is great, if not as wide as Gingerman. Upscale pub grub is great. One of the few places in town to get a cheese plate right. Highly recommend the frites.
Only complaint is terrible acoustics that make it impossible to hold a convo when crowded. But then there are always Capitol, Idle Rich and the place across from IR - all basically the same place. Capitol is least crowded but give it time.
-
1 year, 4 months ago
Mike Orren's review for:
Wang's Chinese Cafe
Needs more air conditioning.
-
1 year, 4 months ago
Mike Orren's review for:
Howard Wang's China Grill
First, if someone tells you to meet them at Wang's off NW Hwy, they probably mean Howard Wang's and not this joint.
Portions are generous; everything is fresh; and spicy means spicy.
-
1 year, 4 months ago
Mike Orren's review for:
Brothers Fried Chicken (Closed)
The main reason I go on picnics.
-
1 year, 4 months ago
Mike Orren's review for:
Kitchen 1924 (Closed)
Always delish, and the service is always attentive and genuinely friendly (as opposed to the forced uncomfortable chatter you get many places).
Often really crowded prime-time dinner, although they do have a large common table you can sometimes sneak into.
We prefer it for a late supper, as their sides and appetizers steal the show from the entrees anyway. They rock the deviled eggs, although the portion seems to have gone heavier on the salad garnish at the expense of the eggs. Flatbread pizzas are great and light enough to leave room for more. Spinach dip and/or hummus come with cracker-crisp pita bread.
New dish for us tonight was the gouda grits. And they were the star of the night.
-
1 year, 5 months ago
Mike Orren's review for:
Nick & Sam's
I've been a long-time Bob's zealot, but a dinner with a group of pals last night may have turned me around.
The bone-in fillet may well have been the best steak I've ever had. Really well-flavored, tender and cooked perfectly.
And while there was no Bob's carrot, the array of sides presents a lot of variety and decadence. We shared potato croquettes, creamed corn and broccolli. Only the broccosparagus was unremarkable.
Appetizers were excellent too. The Jumbo shrimp cocktail had a great remoulade. Garlic bread with blue cheese was fought over.
Salads went beyond the usual lazy wedge. I had a great pile of alternating layers of tomato and red onion smothered in Gorgonzola dressing.
The service was excellent -- not over-officious like at many pricey steak houses. The server even helped us play a prank on the pennypincher in the group by faking a higher tab when presenting the check.
Highly recommend, although I also recommend an expense account. Food prices are a decent value, but even more so than most places, the wine markup was extreme.
-
1 year, 5 months ago
Mike Orren's review for:
Ali Baba
Ate at the new locale last night. I'll confess I'd never been to the Greenville location because I've always been a die-hard Izmir guy.
But I've got to say that I think that Ali Baba is better, especially if you like things a little less oily. And certainly a better value, as their prices are about 25% less. Only thing they lack is that to-die-for Russian Chicken Salad.
Service is good, if a little clueless (read: High School kids) and you can't help but notice that the decor still feels a bit like a chain (the Carrabas that recently vacated).
But the food is first-rate. Particularly enjoyed their hummus (less oily, but served with a side of oil for those who like such things), falafel (very crispy) and the veggies/rice that sided my kafta kabob were flavorful and cooked perfectly.
-
1 year, 8 months ago
Mike Orren's review for:
Dixie House Restaurant
This once-favorite is becoming more like "just another Black-Eyed Pea" every day. The days of the extra side seem to be over; the food isn't as good as it used to be; and the long-time staffers seem to be gone. No more barrel of peanuts either.
Recent visit for to-go yielded mashed potatoes with the gravy left out (sacrilege!), but an inexplicable extra bag of bread to make up.
-
1 year, 9 months ago
Mike Orren's review for:
Sal's Pizza
I must be eating different items at Sal's than micastio is: Granted, I tend towards the entrees over the pizza, but I've always found it stellar too.
Get the blue cheese instead of the house dressing on your salad and be sure to get garlic cheese bread. All entrees are great, but when I need comfort food, there is no better Italian dish in town than their spaghetti meat sauce. The secret is the more-meat-than-sauce sauce that has the consistency of a Cincy chili but the spices of an Italian dish. Believe me-- I'm usually the last one to be so pedestrian as to order spaghetti, but... damn!
On rare occasions I'll stray for the chicken or veal parm or the sausage.
Staff is friendly and chatty. I only regret that I'm no longer close enough for delivery. But even cross-town, takeout is so piping hot it's still on-point when you get home.
And did I mention it's pretty cheap too?
Well worth the trip into this otherwise seedy Wycliff shopping center. The cop cars parked at the door mean that you're still pretty safe.
-
1 year, 9 months ago
Mike Orren's review for:
Urban Dog Coffee
Great coffee (Urban Dog Blend). Unpretentious, comfortable and good wifi. Great refuge from the office if you need a little quiet catchup time.
-
2 years, 5 months ago
Mike Orren's review for:
Riccardi's (Closed)
Although I happen to agree that Riccardi's is quite good, it bears pointing out that atina has said that he/she is directly involved with the restaurant:
-
2 years, 5 months ago
Mike Orren's review for:
Greenville Avenue Seafood & Jazz (Closed)
Nice to have a restaurant with real jazz down on Greenville. Even nicer that the food is good.
Started with drinks -- can't beat $1 call 'ems.
Piano player and strong female vocalist with great rapport provided entertainment. They started out a little whitebread, but got scattier and funkier as the night went on. Classic jazz videos filled the intermezzo nicely.
Crabcake appetizer was excellent. Breading was light and crab was flavorful without being krabby. Light sauce mixed with crawfish was a nice touch.
Crawfish bisque was also very nice. Had a spanish flavor, heavy on the red pepper without being overwhelming.
Simple salad was nice-- Balsamic dressing managed not to taste like every other.
Blackened snapper special was also quite tasty. Nice that they accommodated substitution of cheese grits for dirty rice. Unfortunately, grits were the one disappointment of the evening. WAY too salty and came out cold in the middle. Left 2/3 of the generous portion fallow.
Pecan pie desert came a la mode AND with whipped cream. Oh well, was nice to put something besides half n half in the coffee.
Overall, a great dinner experience and fairly reasonably priced. Highly recommend.
-
2 years, 6 months ago
Mike Orren's review for:
Kenny's Wood Fired Grill
A good place to grab a late-night supper after theater in Addison.
Service was excellent and the food was pretty good. The lettuce wedge had a nice, thick blue cheese dressing but wasn't drowned and included generous showerings of bacon. The waiter split the order without even being asked.
"Adult Mac n' Cheese" features gouda instead of plain cheddar and includes ham, albeit a bit too much for even my porkniverous tastes.
Tuna nachos with an aoli-like Wasabi were also generous, but would have been better if they were half-sized. It was too hard to bite through the lightly seared fish without making a mess.
The most pleasant surprise was the portabello fries with balsamic and blue cheese dips. Highly recommend.
-
2 years, 6 months ago
Mike Orren's review for:
Izmir Deli
Agreed, although as a deli counter, there isn't much of a vibe to rate.
Best Russian chicken salad anywhere.
-
2 years, 7 months ago
Mike Orren's review for:
Sherlock's Pub
The advertised free Wi-fi only works inside a small portion of the restaurant.
And yet, our staff is sitting on the patio right now, working through my EVDO connection in a makeshift network.
Scrappy and geeky. That's us.
-
2 years, 10 months ago
Mike Orren's review for:
Byblos Lebanese Restaurant & Hookah Lounge
April and I really enjoyed Byblos. The atmosphere is casual without being shoddy. Very comfortable.
Food is simple, but wonderful. We especially enjoyed the aramish appetizer: Melted skim mozzarella on pita chips with a melange of oregano, sesame seeds and oils. Think Lebanese nachos.
Entrees carried on the same motif: Stuffed squash and chicken kebabs had few ingredients -- but that's not a bad thing. Everything was wonderfully seasoned and delicious.
The server was green, but good intentions make up for a lack of training.
We had to leave for a show, so we missed the belly dancer who takes the stage at 7:30 on weekends.
Highly recommend.
-
3 years, 3 months ago
Mike Orren's review for:
Uncle Buck's Brewery & Steakhouse
I've not eaten there. This is just a test.
| 2 of 2 |
Next
Google tells us who dominated the local zeitgeist in 2009
I flagged my previous comment because it's too wordy and because it contains speculation that might be best made privately. The answer can b