Wednesday Dinner 1/18/2012

Wasssssssup!!!!!!!! Happy Thursday to you all! I hope this has been a cool short week for you all and that you have a wonderful weekend. Let me just get right in to this weeks "Wednesday Dinner", I was on a solo mission looking for something fresh and filling. I was craving a salad but not just your regular lettuce, tomato and dressing salad. I wanted something good, filling and fresh! I had been wanting to try this place called Salad Farm" (http://www.saladfarmrestaurants.com/). I passed "Salad Farm" numerous times on my way downtown, but I never stopped in. Well last night was the night! "Salad Farm" is located on Figueroa, it sits in a shopping plaza that has the strangest parking lot I have ever seen, however the parking was free! Which is rare! Anyway, walking in the place was not crowded at all, there were 2 people in front of me and 2 people working there. Looking at the menu one might get excited with all the salad choices! Not only do they serve salads, they also have stuffed baked potatoes, sandwiches and soups. "Salad Farm" is very clean and they use nothing but fresh ingredients. The set up is actually like a buffet and they make your salad there right in front of you. So it was time for me to order, I had:

#7 Chinese Chicken Salad

It took all of like 2 minutes for the lady to make the salad, it was like she was a salad magician! The salad had iceberg lettuce, carrots, green onion, wantons, rice noodles, cabbage, chicken, mandarin oranges and almonds. The salad was topped with an oriental dressing and that salad was HUGE! Definitely enough for 2 people. Anyway the salads at "Salad Farm" range from $7.95-$9.75 which isn't bad. The one thing I did NOT like was that I was charged $.75 for extra dressing and extra mandarin oranges. So I took my salad home and it was time to eat! This salad was everything my life needed yesterday! It was fresh and so good!!!!!! It was way more than I needed and I have enough for lunch today!! If you are not familiar with "Salad Farm" get familiar! My total for the salad with the extra dressing and oranges was $10.28, I will definitely be going back. If you would like to join the "Wednesday Dinner" crew drop me a line wednesdaydinnerwithash@yahoo.com and follow on Twitter http://www.twitter.com/wednesdaydinner . Also stay tuned for a HUGE announcement next week for the month of February. In closing I'd like to leave you with this "Don't play hard to get if your hard to want" . Until next week, smooches -Ashley

Wednesday Dinner 1/11/2012

Good morning!!!! And so it is Thursday and the weekend is almost here, CHEERS!!!!!!!!!! I hope everyone has had a wonderful weekend and are looking forward to a long fabulous weekend for those of you who are off on Monday due to the MLK holiday! Anyway this weeks "Wednesday Dinner" was dedicated to one of my favorite burger joints "Fresh & Meaty" (http://www.yelp.com/biz/fresh-and-meaty-burgers-los-angeles)!! My plan was to be on a solo mission this week because I have just been out of it all week, but Shelby hit me and wanted to know what my "Wednesday Dinner" plans were. I told her and she said her & Melissa were gonna come over (slow down turbo, hahaha). I decided to make it a family thing and include my mom (Big Deb) and my dad (Charlie). So let the "Wednesday Dinner" story begin. I got to my moms house and my sisters were too hyped! They both looked cute, not
sure if they thought we were going to some fancy burger stand or what but I had a mental laugh that was out of this world. Anyway if you know anything about "Fresh & Meaty" you know if you don't call your order in you'll be waiting for at least 45 minutes for your food. So I placed our ordered waited a good 10 minutes and left. "Fresh & Meaty" is located on the corner of Florence and 7th ave, not the nicest looking place on the outside or inside but hey! The reason why I love "Fresh & Meaty" so much is because the food is cheap and good! For about $6 you can get a nice size burger, fries and a drink, whhhhhaaaaaattttt???? Yea that's right, all that for $6. However I must say the customer service there sucks big time! I usually find myself waiting at least an additional 10 minutes for my food when I call it in and I've noticed no one working in there is smiling. Anyway here is what we ordered:

3 Meaty Specials (Turkey)
1 Meaty Special (Beef)
1 Meaty Special (Beef)- No cheese, pickles or onions add chili

Basically a "Meaty Special" includes a burger (turkey or beef) with or without cheese, fries and a drink. The price is about $5.83 and the burger comes on toasted bun,with mayo,lettuce, tomato, onions, pickles and cheese if you like. Anything extra like bacon, chili, egg of course is extra. The total for everything came up to like $27, which is not bad to feed a family of 5. Anyway we waited like an additional 20 minutes for the food but at least the food was fresh! So we went back to my moms house and it was time to eat. Its funny when its dinner time the entire room is silent. Anyway the burger was good as always. The burger is well seasoned and well done and all the toppings are fresh! No wilted lettuce, mushy tomatoes, nothing like that! My only issue is I DO NOT like the fries (sad face). "Fresh & Meaty" offers  those thick ass potato fries, with the skin still on them YUCK! Some people like them but for me I prefer thin fries. All in all dinner was good and spending time with my family is always great! Everyone enjoyed their burger which was a plus! My sisters and I had a conversation with my mom and all I can say is it was HILARIOUS! My mother is a riot and my sisters just add to it. Anyway if you are not familiar with "Fresh & Meaty" get familiar. Also if you would like to become a "Wednesday Dinner" scout drop me a line wednesdaydinnerwithash@yahoo.com and follow me on Twitter http://www.twitter.com/wednesdaydinner . Inclosing I'd like to leave you with this "Know WHAT you want before you know WHO you want" Until next week, duces!-Ashley

Wednesday Dinner 1/4/2012

Well I'm officially baaaaaack. Took a minute off but I am back and ready to be better than ever. I hope you all have been well and have missed me as much has I have missed you! I hope this year has started off positive and refreshing for you. Now enough of all that, let the "Wednesday Dinner" story begin! Yesterday was dedicated to my sisters Melissa and Shelby! Its been a minute since we all have spent time together. Shelby had gotten us tickets to see Chelsea Lately so the plan was to go to the show and then go have dinner. I had taken the day off work so I was all excited to go. But in true Shelby fashion she was late waking up which meant we were late to the taping and didn't get in. Oh brother! However we will have priority seating and entry to the taping the next time we go back. So it was extremely early a little early for dinner but whatever, luckily the studio and the restaurant we were going to go eat at afterwards were in the same area. So off we went to "Sushi Stop" (http://sushistopusa.com/). "Sushi Stop" was brought to my attention by my friend Jesse (if your reading this your famous now, hahaha. What up Jesse!). This was my 3rd time at "Sushi Stop" but the 1st for my sisters. "Sushi Stop" is a very small but friendly place. With all sushi items $2.75 and limited seating you can't help but to at least try this place once, however for me I have become addicted. Most sushi spots over charge for everything and the quality and taste pretty much suck, but at "Sushi Stop" that is not the case! Service is good, food is good and I've never waited longer than 15 minutes to be seated. "Sushi Stop" sits on the corner of Mississippi and Sawtelle, this street is kind of like a Japanese food fest with all the other restaurants surrounding the area. Anyway Melissa & Shelby were a little skeptical of trying "Sushi Stop" because of the extremely low prices but they were also excited to go. So we got there waited about 15 mins and we were seated. And Oh guess who was in there looking like a celebrity has been?!?! Remember "Buddha" from "I Love New York"???? (http://www.buddytv.com/articles/i-love-new-york/i-love-new-york-buddhas-letter-13523.aspx). Yea him, we sat right by him and his date and I must say this man talks EXTREMELY LOUD!!! I was embarrassed for the chick he was with because I knew all their business because I heard everything he was saying. I don't remember hearing her say anything so maybe she wasn't interested or who knows anyway back to the food. When your ready to order your given an order form to fill out and then return it back to your server, here is what we ordered:

2 Sashimi White Fish
2 Crispy Rice
2 Popcorn Shrimp Rolls
2 Stuffed Jalapenos
2 California Rolls
1 Salmon Avocado Roll
1 Spicy Tuna Roll
1 Crunchy California Roll
1 Philly Roll
1 Spicy Tuna Tempura Roll
1 Order of Tempura

Whew looking at it now we ordered A LOT of food! Anyway I love that fact that the sushi is not coming out all at one time, considering the amount of space given it would be impossible to enjoy your food if it was all brought out at once. Anyway the sushi was DELISH!!!!! My new favorites are the stuffed
jalapeno and the popcorn shrimp roll. Both Melissa and Shelby loved "Sushi Stop" and definitely will be going back! Over dinner we laughed and joked and it was like old times. It amazes me to see how wonderful and beautiful my sisters are becoming! Watching them grow has truly been a gift! Before leaving you know I had to try a dessert! I decided to have the Ginger Creme Brulee, and surprisingly it was very good as well! All in all I was full and happy when we left. The total for everything came up to $51.50 not bad at all. If you are not familiar with "Sushi Stop" get familiar! And if you would like to be a part of the "Wednesday Dinner" crew drop me a line wednesdaydinnerwithash@yahoo.com and follow on Twitter  www.twitter.com/wednesdaydinner. *Disclaimer: I totally forgot to take pictures this time so I stole some photos from their website. Won't happen again*. In closing I'd like to leave you with this "Protect the things you love and love the things you protect". Until next week 2 fingas! -Ashley

Wednesday Dinner 4/27/2011

Daaaaaaaaaaaaamn! My bad ya'll!! I've been gone way too long; I didn't realize I haven't blogged in a month. Ok I am making a promise now to keep my blog updated on all my "Wednesday Dinners". I hope you all are doing well and are staying COOL in this weather!!! Well it’s been to long so let the "Wednesday Dinner" begin. Ironically the last time I blogged I had dinner with Tiff, Pooh and Moe and in this blogged I had dinner with them again. All of them except for Moe, she stood us up. Pooh, Tiff and I decided to do a little happy hour, I suggested Gyu-Kaku (http://www.gyu-kaku.com/). I have been there before but as of late I had been hearing about how great their happy hour was, so I suggested we give it a try. So we all met and it was ON!!! Tiff and I were the first to arrive, Pooh came a little while after (she was stuck in traffic) and Moe's ass just didn't show up (I mean she called and said she was on her way but that was about it). Gyu-Kaku has quite a few locations in California and we decided to do the one in Torrance since it was kind of in the middle for everyone. We arrived at 5:30pm and as soon as our bottoms touched the seats it was time to order drinks!! This happy hour is INSANE with drinks and food starting at $3 that’s ridiculous, so it was only right that we indulge. I was soooo HUNGRY and so was Tiff, we started off with the:


Spicy Tuna Volcano
Calamari
Fired Cheese Wonton
Fried Chicken Karaage

It was been my mission to get Tiff to try sushi and that day was my lucky day because she tried it and she liked it!!!!! It didn't take long for the food to come out and when it did I was in heaven. I was thrown off by the Fried Chicken Karaage but come to find out it was just fried chicken thigh meat and it wasn't too bad. The only complaint I will make is that Gyu-Kaku doesn't have many dipping sauces, they serve the same spicy sauce with everything, and I mean EVERYTHING!!!!!!!!!! When Pooh arrived she ordered a drink and she ordered the Fried Chicken Karaage as well. Over the food and drinks we all just mainly caught up with the events in each others lives, I have to give a shout out to Tiff on getting her 1st client!!! Tiff has been practicing doing hair and will be attending cosmetology school this summer. So CONGRATS on your 1st of many clients!!!!!!!!!! Talking with Pooh & Tiff is hilarious we all get each others sense of humor and that is so rare these days, they listen and they give the best advice!!!! On the 2nd go round of ordering I ordered:

Tuna Tartar
Philly Crunch

I totally forgot to mention that Gyu-Kaku has happy hour from 5pm-6:30pm and from 9pm-Last Call, crazy, right!!!!!!!!!! So we continued to eat, drink, talk and laugh. By the time I looked at my watch it was 8pm, then I checked it again and it was 10:45pm. WOAH, we had been there for a LONG time so long my ass was hurting from sitting (hahaha). I think that was the longest I had ever sat in a restaurant. All in all dinner with my girls was GREAT, even though we kicked Moe out the group (hahaha). If you are not familiar with Gyu-Kaku get familiar hands down a great spot!!! The food was great the thing I love about Gyu-Kaku is that their sushi is not your typical sushi and the food is very good. I totally enjoyed myself and will be going back, the total for dinner was about $52 which was about $17.33333 each which isn’t that bad. If you would like to make a "Wednesday Dinner" reservations drop me a line wednesdaydinnerwithash@yahoo.com and follow me on Twitter www.twitter.com/wednesdaydinner. In closing I would like to leave you with this “The only thing you change about a good woman is her last name" until next week -Ashley

Wednesday Dinner 6/15/2011

Hello and good morning, I hope you all are having a great day and preparing for an amazing summer. So Shameka and I are 2 for 2 with Wednesday dinner, however I think I might band Shameka from picking out food places because this choice did not impress me. Shameka had been trying to get to "Casablanca"(http://casablancarestaurant.net/). She was telling me how good the food was and we should go, so we did. "Casablanca" is tucked on a corner off of Lincoln in the Marina, its very old Mexican very Casablanca like the movie. So we arrived and it was pretty crowded, they placed us in a awkward table in the middle (epic fail) so as soon as a both became available we moved. It was Shameka, myself and Shameka's daughter Khaliah. We were served fresh, hot and home made flour tortillas accompanied by a green salsa. This salsa was DELISH it also had pieces of cheese in it, amazing. So it was time to order and we started with:

Shameka- Cadillac Margarita
Ashley- Mango Margarita
Shrimp Ceviche Tostada

The tostada was DELISH it was very fresh and had plenty of shrimp on it. The only bad thing is it makes the tostada shell soggy if you don't eat it fast enough. Next it was time to order dinner and we had:

Khaliah- Cheese Quesadilla
Shameka- Combination #10 (Two Enchilada Suizas (Chicken, Cheese, Onion, Green Sauce, and Sour Cream)
Ashley- Grande Burrito with Chicken (Stuffed with Beans, Lettuce, Onions, Tomatoes & Topped with Red Sauce and Melted Cheese)

It seems like it took almost forever for the food to come out and between the tortillas and the ceviche I was FULL!! Finally the food came out and mine appeared to look good but it really wasn't. The best thing on the plate was the rice and beans. The burrito was HUGE and I wanted to cry because I don't like wasting food. Anyway I didn't get a chance to taste Shameka's food or Khaliah's. I think all of us were FULL. Over dinner Shameka and I talked but Khaliah did most of the entertaining and talking. That little girl is too funny!! So since we all were full it was time to be out. The bill came out and I damn near passed out $88.00 HUH? For what?!?!? This place was NOT worth that. The food wasn't that great so I will NOT being going back. What I did like was the atmosphere and they had a live musician, it was very dim and romantic. And as we were leaving I smelled a aroma and it was amazing I think it was shirmp or fish but whatever it was I wish I would have ordered it! I would only recommended Casablanca if you want to over pay for Mexican food, and with that being said Shameka is on "Wednesday Dinner" probation. But anyway if you would like to take a "Wednesday Dinner" ride drop me a line wedenesdaydinnerwithash@yahoo.com and follow me on Twitter, www.twitter.com/wednesdaydinner . In closing I would like to leave you with this "Before you talk listen. Before you act think. Before you criticize wait. Before you pray forgive. Before you quit try" Until next week MUAH- Ashley

Wednesday Dinner 6/8/2011

WHEW!!!!!!!!!!!!! I know its been a minute and I know I've been slacking but I'm baaaaaacccck. So let me just get right on in to the "Wednesday Dinner". This week I went to dinner with my dear friend Shameka and maybe I shouldn't call it dinner, it was more like Happy Hour, well hell it was Happy Hour. Shameka had been urging me to try the Happy Hour at "The Cheesecake Factory" (http://www.thecheesecakefactory.com/). Shameka knows I am NOT a huge fan of "The Cheesecake Factory" I prefer The Grand Lux. "The Cheesecake Factory" has like 100 menu pages and I personally think they are over priced. However I decided to give this Happy Hour a try......Shameka did most of the ordering. The bar area was not full at all considering we arrived right at 4pm when Happy Hour started, we were pressed for time so we had to order and eat fast, here is what we had:

Fried Calamari
Spinach & Cheese Dip
Buffalo Blast
House Salad

I was afraid to drink a alcoholic beverage because I had been coming off one of the worst hangovers I had in a while. So I was taking it easy, I ordered water. Shameka ordered J.W.'s Pink Lemonade, Coke and Water. It didn't take long for the food to come out, first up the fried calamari. Ok so you really can't go wrong with calamari, unless its burnt. Next the buffalo blast, its like buffalo chicken and cheese wrapped in something and then fried served with ranch. It wasn't to bad it was a little heavy on my stomach tho. Next the spinach and cheese dip, lets just say BOOOOORING! It was really bland and the chips were kind of hard!!! And lastly the house salad, I needed a salad to balance what I was eating because I was starting to feel sick, I mean you can't mess up a salad. All in all the food was good, the one thing I will say is there was enough food for 3 people. The Happy Hour pricing it pretty cheap with most appetizers at the $5/$6 range. Shameka and I chit chatted over the food but like I mentioned we were pressed for time. I'm still stuck on not really fooling with "The Cheesecake Factory" but maybe I'll visit Happy Hour again, MAYBE. Thanks Shameka for the date, hahahaha! If you would like to get on the "Wednesday Dinner" dating scene drop me a line wednesdaydinnerwithash@yahoo.com and follow me on twitter, www.twitter.com/wednesdaydinner. In closing I want to leave you with this "Don't murder someone who is already committing suicide". Until next week, muuuuuuaaaaah -Ashley.

Daaaaaaaaaaaaamn! My bad ya'll!! I've been gone way too long; I didn't realize I haven't blogged in a month. Ok I am making a promise now to keep my blog updated on all my "Wednesday Dinners". I hope you all are doing well and are staying COOL in this weather!!! Well it’s been to long so let the "Wednesday Dinner" begin. Ironically the last time I blogged I had dinner with Tiff, Pooh and Moe and in this blogged I had dinner with them again. All of them except for Moe, she stood us up. Pooh, Tiff and I decided to do a little happy hour, I suggested Gyu-Kaku (http://www.gyu-kaku.com/). I have been there before but as of late I had been hearing about how great their happy hour was, so I suggested we give it a try. So we all met and it was ON!!! Tiff and I were the first to arrive, Pooh came a little while after (she was stuck in traffic) and Moe's ass just didn't show up (I mean she called and said she was on her way but that was about it). Gyu-Kaku has quite a few locations in California and we decided to do the one in Torrance since it was kind of in the middle for everyone. We arrived at 5:30pm and as soon as our bottoms touched the seats it was time to order drinks!! This happy hour is INSANE with drinks and food starting at $3 that’s ridiculous, so it was only right that we indulge. I was soooo HUNGRY and so was Tiff, we started off with the:


Spicy Tuna Volcano
Calamari
Fired Cheese Wonton
Fried Chicken Karaage

It was been my mission to get Tiff to try sushi and that day was my lucky day because she tried it and she liked it!!!!! It didn't take long for the food to come out and when it did I was in heaven. I was thrown off by the Fried Chicken Karaage but come to find out it was just fried chicken thigh meat and it wasn't too bad. The only complaint I will make is that Gyu-Kaku doesn't have many dipping sauces, they serve the same spicy sauce with everything, and I mean EVERYTHING!!!!!!!!!! When Pooh arrived she ordered a drink and she ordered the Fried Chicken Karaage as well. Over the food and drinks we all just mainly caught up with the events in each others lives, I have to give a shout out to Tiff on getting her 1st client!!! Tiff has been practicing doing hair and will be attending cosmetology school this summer. So CONGRATS on your 1st of many clients!!!!!!!!!! Talking with Pooh & Tiff is hilarious we all get each others sense of humor and that is so rare these days, they listen and they give the best advice!!!! On the 2nd go round of ordering I ordered:

Tuna Tartar
Philly Crunch

I totally forgot to mention that Gyu-Kaku has happy hour from 5pm-6:30pm and from 9pm-Last Call, crazy, right!!!!!!!!!! So we continued to eat, drink, talk and laugh. By the time I looked at my watch it was 8pm, then I checked it again and it was 10:45pm. WOAH, we had been there for a LONG time so long my ass was hurting from sitting (hahaha). I think that was the longest I had ever sat in a restaurant. All in all dinner with my girls was GREAT, even though we kicked Moe out the group (hahaha). If you are not familiar with Gyu-Kaku get familiar hands down a great spot!!! The food was great the thing I love about Gyu-Kaku is that their sushi is not your typical sushi and the food is very good. I totally enjoyed myself and will be going back, the total for dinner was about $52 which was about $17.33333 each which isn’t that bad. If you would like to make a "Wednesday Dinner" reservations drop me a line wednesdaydinnerwithash@yahoo.com and follow me on Twitter www.twitter.com/wednesdaydinner. In closing I would like to leave you with this “The only thing you change about a good woman is her last name" until next week -Ashley