by Aryf H. on I was here for a friend's birthday gathering. The place is your average 'DJ club w/endless, droning, manufactured beats'. One of those places where you can't really have a conversation and meet people that way. Predictably, it turns into a short-phrased, friendly screaming match. -Hi, are you a friend of _______s'? -WHAT?? -ARE YOU A FRIEND OF _______'S!!?? -YEAH!!! MY NAME IS (for example) GINA. -OH, TINA? -NO, GINA!! -NICE TO MEET, YOU - DINA, RIGHT? -........ANYWAY, SO HOW DO YOU KNOW ___________? The staff is nice enough. I ordered a Bushmills neat and could instantly tell it had been watered down (why?? why do they think people can't tell?? very insulting to the intelligence of their patrons) and although I am not a complainer, I nicely told the waitress, "I didn't want to say anything and I know it's not your fault, but this is quite watery. Could you just bring me a Guiness instead, please?" The waitress simply brought me a Guiness w/o any comment nor apology and without any change (i.e. the Guiness costs less than a whiskey). Nice....... Oh, and to all the geniuses who wrote here about 'Asian Night' and such, try some other place that has 'White Night'; you'll get to see a whole bunch of White people standing around talking to each other...... I was at Mo's (my neighborhood bar) a few days ago and the clientele was about 90% white; must've been 'White Night' there.
by Kim P. on Only spent one night here, but this place made me happy. I had to be in Philly for a conference at the convention center, but I hate staying in the McChain type of hotels. The neighborhood was great -- local and funky, but within walking distance of the convention center and Redding Market. I got one of those half price Travelzoo deals and felt lucky. Beautiful room, plenty of space, fabulous bathroom, top floor. Nice shampoo! Even with the windows closed, there was some bar noise drifting up the back wall after hours, but hey -- it was a lovely summer Saturday night, and the lead up to Gay Pride week, which seemed to be a highly relevant celebration in the neighborhood. I found the staff to be professional and courteous. The desk clerk gamely spent at least 15 minutes searching for an appropriate dinner spot for my party of 5 vegetarian colleagues. (We were hoping for something - anything - that had more than 1 vegetarian entree on the menu. No luck of course, but that is a subject for another review.) This would have been five stars, but for the breakfast. You order from a list the night before and they bring it to your door at the hour you decide. Sounds great! I was excited, until it arrived -- General Foods artificially flavored, pre-sweetened microwave "oatmeal," inedible "light and fit" yogurt full of chemicals, and sorry, we're all out of apples and bananas. Ick! For a hotel of this caliber, I would like to see some food with style that is to the taste of the sort of person who drops big bucks on this stuff. At the very least, how about a "real" microwaveable oatmeal packet containing just oatmeal, and some raw sugar packets, and maybe a little pitcher of cream? I realize the issue may be packaging -- perhaps the hotel doesn't have a kitchen or something and therefore can't wash dishes. But we really found it insulting. Anyway, The Independent is a terrific bet.
by Edmond Spevacek on I went here because I've passed it up for years while driving up and down Anderson Lane. The positive rateclubs reviews didn't hurt either. I agree that they have some incredibly good New England clam chowder. I also got a California Club Sandwich. I'm not sure if all their sandwiches come on that thick, crusty sourdough, but I've never had any kind of club sandwich on bread like that. Although the bread is very good, it really isn't the right kind of bread to use on this sandwich. In fact, it's so darn chewy I'm not sure if it's good for anything other than serving with stew or soup. Now, you know what opinions are like, don't you? It seems plenty of other people don't feel the same as me, but there you go. BTW - we're having stew for dinner tonight, so I'm going to stop by there and pick up some bread. I'm sure I'll enjoy it a lot more with our stew than I did with the sandwich.
