The Village Seafood is Rio’s answer to all those seeking more seafood and fish-based dishes, in terms of quantity and variety, from a Vegas buffet; the idea is to offer not only the ‘traditional’ snow crab legs, shrimps, New England clam chowder and fresh oysters (the latter are actually a rarity in ‘regular’ Vegas buffets), but also to add a seafood slant to many popular dishes, thus offering seafood sauce pastas, savoury dishes with seafood fillings, and so on. If you want something else or a ‘break’ from seafood, you will find meat and other ‘regular’ dishes too, so if you desire variety you will not be disappointed here.
You will find the quintessential American, Mexican, Italian and Asian (which includes Sushi) sections, some with a seafood slant wherever possible. In the American station you will enjoy lobster tails, steamed clams, seafood salads, snow-crab legs, oysters, shrimps, broiled swordfish, seafood gumbo and grilled salmon.
If you have an upscale sidewalk cafe, then you are probably looking for new and exciting ways to help drive foot traffic there. While there are a limited number of changes that you would want to make on a regular basis-novelty does drive away regulars. There are some things that you can do to attract folks during off-peak hours. One thing that can be done is investing in a 4G connection that allows folks to take advantage of your delicious fare, while at the same time getting some important work done. This could be just the thing that your bistro needs in order to attract more fans and grow your list of regulars by trying to attract the laptop totters that always seem to pop up wherever wireless internet can be found.
One of the things that owners of bistros might be worried about is the tendency of folks to come and camp. That is, that someone would show up with a computer, order the cheapest thing on the menu, and monopolize a table for the next six or seven hours. While that generally does not happen, there are a few advantages to campers. First of all, the restaurant will never be empty. This means that you do not have to worry about the empty restaurant effect, where nobody wants to be the first to walk in the door. Also, you may be able to develop a good rapport with the folks who end up camping, and maybe even convince them to do some volunteering and help you with a social media presence on the web. In general, most folks are loyal to their favorite places and it never hurts to ask.
Ba Bar is Eric Banh’s latest expansion to his Vietnamese empire. The 50-seat high ceiling space feels much like a gastropub that happens to serve quality Vietnamese street food. The noodle bar hopes to fill in the gaping hole of Seattle’s restaurant landscape by providing late night food until 2 am, and 4 am on the weekends. The menu includes a variety of vermicelli noodle dishes, claypot rice and chicken, duck leg confit, and of course bowls rich and steamy Pho. Nightly specials are also available.
A few days after having dinner at Ba Bar, I just so happened to be their first ever lunch customer. After taking a seat, I soon realized that Eric Banh was running around his new restaurant and I jumped at the opportunity to speak with him.
Having traveled around the world with many trips to Asia, I am partial to excellent Chinese food. Also, I’m quite critical of restaurants that do not measure up for me personally. But, when you come across any of my reviews, they are positive-if I don’t like the establishment, I don’t take the time to write about it.
Since we moved to Gilbert, AZ in April 2006, Norm and I have been searching for an exceptional Chinese restaurant in the East Valley. Several times, we passed Hong Kong Bistro on the corner of N.W. corner of Chandler Heights and Gilbert Road. In early Spring of ’08, we decided to give it a try. Our search resulted in an experience that was right on the mark. Hong Kong Bistro is a terrific value for the quality of its food.