Not So Crazy 4 Falafel

Crazy 4 FalafelI was disappointed when Mike Isabella restaurant G Grab and Go went out of business. However, my sadness turned to joy when the Crazy 4 Falafel sign went up.

I used to work by a falafel restaurant that I really enjoyed eating at. It combined my love of hummus, vegetables and my new found liking of falafel.

I was so excited to eat there when it opened up. It took a while, but I finally made my way there.

It did not live up to the hype. Upon entering, I looked at the menu and chose the Jerusalem. This was a platter comprised of hummus, tabuli, baba ganush and falafel balls. Let me start off by saying I never tried baba ganush and I did not like it, so I can’t judge that part in comparison.

The other three dishes I definitely can. The hummus and tabuli were bland, even when you mix them together. The falafel balls were also pretty bland and felt lukewarm at best, even when put together with the hummus and tabuli. The place by my old job, Uncle Jack’s Good 2 Go, does it a lot better, with more variety and for less money.

Too bad that’s not near my apartment. The location of Crazy 4 Falafel and the culture (mostly Indian) might make it survive longer than G Grab and Go.

Let me know about your experience at this restaurant here or on Twitter @ChrisKeuling!

Business Card Redesign: Men’s Wearhouse

Mens WarehouseMen’s Wearhouse is one of the most well-known suit stores around. And I hate them. Between their pushy salespeople, their overpriced inventory and lack of selection, they’re only good for getting clip-on bow ties and white gloves for my wrestling hobby. The Clothing Center is much better.

But I digress since this blog is about a business card redesign.

Men's WarehouseThe top business card represents what the company’s symbol has been for years: their logo with a big M on top and a smaller W on the bottom with the company name between them.

Recently, as I was suit shopping, I saw a new business card design emerge: a vertical one with the Men’s Wearhouse name on the bottom with a black background to distinguish it from the rest of the card.

I’m not sure if it’s just for this one store, but I assume that it’s going to be done throughout the whole chain. I still see the logo on their website, but this recently popped up.

It’s all the same information, but the website is different and comments are not reserved for George. It’s just a more modern look for the business card.

Which Men’s Wearhouse business card design do you like better? Let me know in the comments below or on Twitter @ChrisKeuling!

The Clothing Center Suited Me Just Fine

Clothing Center East Brunswick NJI needed to get a black suit for my good friend Jerry’s wedding. Yes, the same friend whose bachelor party was at the East Windsor NJ Quality Inn. I’m a tall guy who is big, but not obese like who big & tall stores cater to.

Suit shopping for me typically isn’t about what store has the best deals, but what store has my size. After going to Men’s Wearhouse & Jos A Bank (who doesn’t carry three-piece suits like I need), I went to Casual Male XL where the salesperson turned me onto The Clothing Center.

Once I got there, Richard Morton was the one to help find me the right suit for a good price. I told him what I needed the suit for and the quick turnaround time to get it (3 weeks). He was quite helpful in suggesting the right look of a suit to match the tuxedos my friends & his dad were wearing.

He told me about how he’s been in the suit selling game since he was younger and his time working at Jos A Bank & how they mark up suits to mark them back down. I wound up getting a good-quality suit for a fair price.

I think I’ll even go as far as to say that Richard Morton at The Clothing Center is my suit guy.

Let me know if you have a “suit guy” and your suit buying experiences in the comments or on Twitter @ChrisKeuling!

Why I Enjoyed the Quality of This Inn

Quality Inn East Windsor NJLast weekend, I threw the bachelor party for Jerry, one of my good friends. It was an all-day thing at Six Flags Great Adventure, where we rode on 11 rides since it rained right before we arrived.

This blog is about the hotel we stayed at after running around: the Quality Inn in East Windsor NJ. As soon as we arrived, it was a bit scary since it shares the same land as a sketchy motel, the Town House Motor Inn.

The type where you find a used heroin needle in the nightstand drawer next to the Bible.

But I digress. My first impression of walking in the room was great. It was much bigger than I imagined it to be and felt like we didn’t need the cot we couldn’t get with four of us staying there. Everything was clean and the bed was quite comfortable to pass out in. Yeah, I said it. Don’t judge.

The customer service was also great. I asked where the nearest bar was (since I did research and forgot the name). Not only did he tell me where it was, but gave us a 15% off coupon. Awesome.

They offered breakfast, but we didn’t partake. It looked like a typical hotel breakfast with juice, coffee, yogurt, cereal and maybe a hot item or two. I’d definitely stay here again if I had to, although I really don’t see why I would since it’s only 40 minutes from home.

Tell me about any experience you had at the Quality Inn East Windsor or the neighboring Town House Motor Inn in the comments below or on Twitter @ChrisKeuling!

So Lucky to Find This Saloon & Grille

Lucky Dog Saloon & GrilleI was driving home from an event I was doing out in the middle of nowhere in Pennsylvania when I got hungry and needed a bite to eat. It was 10:45 when I was looking up restaurants & saw that there were a couple of chains open.

Unfortunately, I didn’t see either of them since I probably got confused about the direction I was going in. However, I just so happened to run into a local place in Lafayette Hill PA. I couldn’t guess the name of the town if I tried.

Anyway, I went to the Lucky Dog Saloon and Grille and was grateful they were open. When I asked if they were cooking, they said “anything that’s easy.” Easy worked since I wanted to eat and drive.

I saw their burger choices and I must say I was quite shocked by the customization options available for the beef or chicken burgers they offered. I chose a chicken burger with guacamole, salsa and pepper jack and it was a wise decision. The burger was great, as were the french fries.

The service was also very good, as the food was made quickly and the bartender/waitress was quite nice & helpful. The dog on this business card looks quite cool.

I’d definitely recommend this restaurant to anyone passing through. Tell me about your experience at The Lucky Dog Saloon and Grille in the comments below or on Twitter @ChrisKeuling!

Just Opened: Corner Bakery Cafe in South Plainfield NJ

Corner Bakery Cafe NJThis business card blog post was supposed to be published a while ago, but it got delayed between a death in the family & life getting busy with work and wedding stuffed.

Two chains in my area that were connected to the same piece of property closed over the period of a year: Baja Fresh and Quiznos. It took a bit of time, but a new place just opened up in South Plainfield NJ: the Corner Bakery Cafe.

My fiancée was excited that this place was opening up since she wanted an alternative to Panera Bread because she loves it there. So, we went there with anticipation once it opened.

Upon entering the restaurant, we were waiting on line to order and got approached by one of the employees (maybe a manager). She congratulated us on finding the line. Yes, I’m serious. We were congratulated on finding the line, as if we were 5 years old.

Business Card BlogOnce we saw the menu, there were some key differences between Panera and Corner Bakery Cafe. Firstly, the sides are different. Panera has bread (they’re trying to promote dinner rolls over the French bread now to be cheap), chips or an apple. Corner Bakery also offers chips, but the alternative are baby carrots (that look sad on my plate). They also serve a pickle with every sandwich.

The soups are also different (and worse IMO since they don’t have black bean or New England clam chowder), but the panini I got was of better quality. I chose the chicken pomodori (chicken, basil, spinach, tomatoes & provolone w/ a pesto mayo I opted out of).

Instead of getting called up or being handed a buzzer like a fast food joint, we sat down & got served. That was a more pleasant experience, especially since we didn’t have to tip them.

I didn’t try anything from the bakery and the salads were different. Overall, the Corner Bakery Cafe is a better choice than Panera.

Let me know in the comments or on Twitter about your experience at Corner Bakery Cafe and/or Panera Bread!

A Nice Funeral Goes a Long Way

My apologies for the lack of an update. I was actually in the middle of writing a blog post about a new restaurant (well, cafe) that opened up recently in my area & my first experience there.

However, I’ve been (in addition to the things I already do in my life) been dealing and reeling over the process of my grandmother Vivian Steers passing away over the past couple of weeks. Long story short: she had a stroke in August, they found cancer in her brain, she was doing better until the tumor grew and things got worse until she passed away on Monday 9/22.

I visited her twice post stroke, once in an assisted living facility that she enjoyed but didn’t have the medical team to help once things got worse and on the day before her death when she seemed to be in a deep sleep and comfortable. It was quick and thankfully, the suffering was minimal.

Thomas P Walsh Funeral HomeThen, came the wake on Wednesday and the funeral mass & burial on Thursday. Upon arriving at Thomas P. Walsh Funeral Home in Central Islip, I saw that it was a nice size and looked immaculate. The size was especially good for the number of people who came to both viewings and sat down.

They actually used two different rooms that are usually divided by a movable wall, but made it into one room. The setup was also really nice, with one feature that I’ve never seen before. There was a candle next to the casket (which was closed) and it had a picture of my grandmother’s face on the glass as a part of the candle.

I saw some people I always see and others that I hadn’t seen in years. It was a nice time of reflection to think about my grandmother and a time to say goodbye.

A great thing that the staff did was that they opened the door for everybody coming in and going out. I also liked that the staff were helpful in knowing all of the different prayers and religious things that needed to be said upon her arrival at the cemetery.

I’ll miss my grandmother a whole lot, but I’m glad that she’s buried with her husband & family and grateful that all that she gave me from gifts & money to love & some personality traits. Even the hard times when being told that I’ll never find a girl who would love me since I didn’t know how to hold a fork the right way.

The World’s Most Efficient Haircut

Great Clips South Plainfield NJThis haircut was not the same Great Clips that I wrote a previous blog about, but is oddly located in the same town. I decided to go here since I had a coupon. I’d never been to this particular Great Clips location before, so I didn’t know what to expect.

Upon arriving, it was not busy at all and there were 2 older ladies doing the hair cutting magic. I really felt like I was being helped by machines when going to this location. I was told to sit in the chair and was asked if I wanted the same haircut I got last time (my information was in their system).

The woman who cut my hair didn’t speak a single word to me. The only sounds I heard were snip, buzz and a faint tune of the radio. The haircut took less than 10 minutes and looked the way I wanted it to. That’s a good thing since I just wanted to get it done fast, so I could get to the gym earlier. She could have spoken to me like other stylists usually do and that would have made it that much better.

What qualities do you look for in a stylist or barber? Let me know in the comments below or on Twitter @ChrisKeuling!

A Slow Day at the Office… Beer Bar and Grill

The Office Beer Bar and GrillAfter looking at a hotel for my upcoming wedding two Saturdays ago, Beth and I decided to get some lunch at one of the restaurants on the hotel’s “nearby attractions” list called The Office Beer Bar & Grill, located in Cranford NJ.

I had somewhere else to be that night, so we wanted a quick lunch. Just walking in at 2 pm, it was pretty empty except for one or two tables and several people at the bar.

That’s when the slowness started. There was no hostess there, so it literally took 3 minutes to get seated by a woman who turned out to be our waitress. It seemed like she was doing two or three different jobs at the same time since the restaurant wasn’t too busy.

After looking at the menu, I decided to get the southern fried chicken, which was pretty good. It came with a side of french fries, also cooked the way I like. Beth got a turkey avocado wrap, which she said was alright.

Then, it came time for get the check. It took 10 minutes for the waitress to get our check, probably because she was running around being hostess and waitress for a couple of tables that arrived after us.

I didn’t try the beer, but the food was good. I wouldn’t recommend going at 2 in the afternoon on a Saturday unless you were going to the bar since it might take you over an hour from walking in to walking out.

If you’ve ever gone to The Office Beer Bar and Grill, tell me about your experience in the comments below or on Twitter @ChrisKeuling!

NJ Diners Have Really Spoiled Me

Americana DinerI am a big fan of diners. It’s for a combination of reasons including them being independently owned and operated, unlike chain restaurants that feel a little more like a factory and the food doesn’t have the uniqueness that a diner’s does.

I also enjoy the large menus that diners offer in my area. Venturing out to PA showed me one thing: NJ diners have really spoiled me.

A couple of months ago, I went to the Americana Diner in Bechtelsville PA. Once I sat down and got my menu, I noticed it was small.

NJ DinersDiners in NJ

That’s the whole menu folks. I’m used to going to diners that have 8-10 page menus and a variety of food choices on it.

Diners in New Jersey

This diner seems to just have the basics, so I ordered a burger (pictured left) that came with a tiny shot of coleslaw (which I didn’t eat) and a bag of chips. When restaurants say potato chips, I would expect them to be laid out on the plate and not in a bag. At least I can see how many calories I consumed.

The food tasted generic and didn’t really stand out either way. It was a cheap meal that fueled me on my drive home, along with a granola bar I picked up from a convenience store.

After reading the Yelp reviews, I know I chose poorly. Womp womp.

New Jersey DinersIt was cool that the car in the photo was also present in the parking lot when I came and ate there. However, a nice car I can look at on the business card won’t make me eat there again.

Have you eaten at this diner & have thoughts? Do you like the variety on the menu of the various diners in NJ? Let me know in the comments below or on Twitter @ChrisKeuling!