Carmen's Burger Bar

Right before Christmas, we walked in the McDonald neighborhood in Santa Rosa to check out the lights. After our walk, we stopped at Carmen's Burger Bar to have dinner. It's located at 1612 Terrace Way

Carmen's Burger with Grilled Onions, Mushroom, Bacon & Jack--$9.25. Onion Rings substituted for French Fries.

Lamb Burger--$10.50. I love the Ciabatta bun.

Carmen's Burger Bar serves wine & cocktails, in addition to beer.



2015 12 23

Lucy's Lounge & Grill

We were driving home from Albion one weekend when Hwy 128 was closed because of flooding. We had to drive all the way down Hwy 1 to Jenner and take Hwy 116. We found Lucy's Lounge & Grill at 20391 Hwy 116 in Monte Rio.

Biscuits & Gravy--$6.95. This was a huge portion. The biscuits were good but I would have liked more sausage in the gravy.

Large Stack of Pancakes--$5.25. These buttermilk pancakes were light and fluffy.

Lucy's Favorite--$10.95. Ribeye steak, two eggs, hash brown and toast. This was a Sunday special and I couldn't believe the portion size, especially given the price. The steak wasn't bad either.

2015 12 20

Thursday Night Dinner

Here's this week's Thursday Night Dinner at Flavor Bistro in downtown Santa Rosa. Four courses with four wine pairings for $24.99.

Bruschetta Con Mousse D'Anatra--Topped with Duck Mousse, Grilled Endive & Balsamic Glaze, paired with Donelli Lambrusco 1915 Reggiano D.O.C., Italy. This was a new dish. It worked well with the Lambrusco.

Quaglia Arrosto--Pan Roasted Quail Served with Lentils, Sausage, Escarole & Homemade Petite Gnocchi in Sugo D'Erbe, paired with 2013 Seghesio Family Vineyards Zinfandel, Sonoma

Bistecca Ai Ferri--Grilled Marinated Flat Iron Steak Garnished with Organic Fingerling Potatoes, Ragoût of Winter Green Garlic, Mushrooms, Sweet Peas & Carrots Served in Barolo Wine Sauce, paired with 2012 St. Francis Winery & Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon, Sonoma

Tiramisù E Tartufi Di Cioccolato--Espresso Lady Fingers Layered with Rum Flavored Mascarpone Cream Garnished with Homemade Chocolate Truffles, paired with 2012 Bonterra Vineyards Late Harvest Muscat, Bartolucci Vineyard (Organic), Lake County

2016 02 04

The Noodle Man

We found another Chinese place for lunch--The Noodle Man, located at 6870 S Rainbow Blvd #101.

Stir-fried black fungus--$3. This was a special for the day. The fungus was a little overcooked. It shouldn't be soft.

Mongolian Beef Pancake--$5. This was delicious. Nice and juicy inside with crispy skin.

Fried Dumpling--$6. We tried both the pork with leek and chicken with mushroom. I liked the chicken with mushroom but my sister liked the pork with leek.

The boys wanted plain stir-fried noodles, which we had to special order. This was actually pretty flavorful and cost $8.

Lan Zhou Beef Noodle Soup--$8. I was not impressed. 

Homemade Zha Jiang Noodle--$8. This is black bean ground pork sauce with noodles, bamboo shoot, dry tofu, cucumber, carrot and bean sprouts. This was okay.

2015 10 19

Beatles Love

We had kids with us so we had to choose a show that was kid-friendly. We thought the Cirque du Soleil "Love" show would work and we were right. The kids loved it.

Love is playing at the Mirage.

The Beatles music, of course, is great and the show is 90 minutes of very energetic acrobatics and rollerskating. Show time is 7 pm and 9:30 pm. I don't think there'a a bad seat in the house. The audience surrounds the stage. We sat in Section 207, Row N and had a great view. 

2015 10 18

Bacchanal Buffet

We heard that Bacchanal was supposed to be the best buffet in Vegas. We also heard it was a long wait to get in.

Lunch is served from 11 am to 3 pm and we thought we would get there at 2 pm on a Sunday so that we could see both the lunch and dinner menus. When we got there at 2 pm, we registered in the computer which indicated that it would be over an hour before we could get in. We gave our contact information and actually within 30 minutes, we were notified that we could return.

There was a whole section of raw oysters. Unfortunately, they had been shucked in advance and were a little dried out.

There was a sushi section, which included some nigiri (fish on rice) and some sushi rolls.

Asian section with a variety of fried noodles, fried rice, sautéed shrimp, stir-fry clams and a very delicious tofu in a seaweed sauce.

Street taco bar--you could get pollo, carnitas or carne asada. This was actually one of my favorites.

Juice bar--pineapple, mango, cranberry, horchata in adorable little jars.

Grilled meat section. My favorite was the grilled lamb chops.

Seafood bar with peel-your-own shrimp (small size), stone crabs, Alaskan crab legs (there was also hot Alaskan crab legs in the Italian section--ask for it). Nearby was the cooked seafood with lobster bisque, fish filets and mussels.

Dessert section with tarts and creme brûlée.

There was a crepe section.

Cookies and chocolate-covered strawberries.

Macarons and cake pops.

Cupcakes.

Gelato.

I was disappointed that the quality wasn't very impressive. You would have to eat a lot to justify the $52.96 (tax included but tip is extra) price tag for lunch.

2015 10 18

Snowflake Shavery

In the same strip mall as Raku is Snowflake Shavery, located at 5020 Spring Mountain Road. As if we hadn't had enough after Big Wong's and Raku, we stopped to have dessert.

Medium shaved snow--$5.33 + $0.50 for each topping. I like mochi and red bean toppings.

2015 10 17