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Julia T.
Hometown:
Washington, DC, 20002
InsiderRank: 8,914
First Reviews: 12
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Commander Salamander
This store is a marked contrast to those lower down on M St, all bottled fashion and snooty attitudes. Staff is really friendly and unpretentious at Commander Salamander. Their clothes selection is pretty good, prices not outrageous. and always unique.
PROS: Selection, friendly staff
CONS:
Fragers Hardware
I enjoy going to Frager's. Their prices are fairly reasonable, though they have fewer sales that huge hardware chain stores. Aisles are appropriately narrow, floors are hardwood, at closing time, someone with a friendly voice alerts you of the time and welcomes you back tomorrow. Their selection is surprisingly large. They are a full-service hardware business with equipment rental, garden plants, paint dept, etc.
PROS: Selection, friendliness
CONS: They forgot to mix my paint once
Music Tree
The Music Tree has been around forever. It's a large store with a great selection of music. If they don't have what you're looking for, they'll order it for you. They even have music lessons on-site or can otherwise help you to find local music teachers. I believe they could also recommend piano tuners. Great place, fun to wander around.
PROS: Large music store, friendly atmosphere
CONS: Perhaps not the best place to buy instruments.
Saigon's Bakery
My mom has been getting birthday cakes for us here since 1987 or so. Their cake is very lightly flavored and puffy, their frostings aren't too sweet. The place is clean and cake selection is large. So if you like the lighter French style cakes, this is a great bakery. They do wedding cakes also, very prettily decorated. The bakery is clean and airy. (I actually prefer the sweeter and heavier American type cakes.)
PROS: Lightly flavored cakes, not too sweet
CONS: Perhaps a tiny bit more expensive than other Vietnamese bakeries
Pink November
The staff is friendly and totally unpretentious. A lot of the clothes looked really fun, colorful, not so weird that it couldn't be worn. But the prices were so intimidating I didn't try anything on. Even the most basic pieces were really expensive, at least for a college grad, entry level budget.
PROS: Fun clothes
CONS: Price
Nana Incorporated
I found the selection not that attractive. Prices weren't extremely high as at some other boutiques, but too high for those clothes. Lots of cheap materials, e.g., jersey. Bland designs. Maybe I went on an off-day for them.
PROS: Moderate boutique prices
CONS: Clothes not that pretty
California History Ctr
De Anza has one of the highest transfer rates of any community college in CA. Not surprising since the school has overall great faculty and counselors (accessible, intelligent, passionate), a huge selection of courses, and close ties with many UCs and CSUs. I really enjoyed taking classes there and wouldn't mind taking night classes for fun if I ever go back.
PROS: Huge class selection, campus amenities (pool, gym, etc.), great faculty
CONS: Overcrowded classes, parking
Goodies Deli
Their sandwiches are usually fair. Not extremely good, but fairly priced and includes fruit or chips. Sometimes they have fun things in their salad/hot bars, like Korean chap chae noodles. Their brownies are some of the best I've ever had, surprising for a run-of-the-mill lunch deli. Cookies are also very good and inexpensive.
PROS: Desserts, value
CONS: More or less a standard lunch deli
Optical Images
I sat for about two hours in the middle of the shop. The owner brought me pair after pair of glasses to try on, listened to every single concern I had, without ever exerting the slightest bit of sales pressure. He was just as courteous and polite to every other customer who came in. They're also very willing to offer insurance discounts, even if they don't accept your insurance. Best customer service I've had at an eyeglass store. They have a very "European" selection of frames, lots of Scandinavian designs, fresh and sleek.
PROS: Customer service, selection, price, convenient location
CONS: None
Zipcar
I've been using zipcar for three months. It's definitely cheaper than having my own car since the cost of zipcar per month for me is about the same as the cost of just insurance per month, not even taking gas, depreciation, maintenance, registration, and parking into consideration. But there are several things I don't like about zipcar. 1) Unless you reserve a day in advance, often you can't get a car when you need one. No last-minute or even day-of trips. 2) Late fine of $25, understandable because someone else might be waiting. But this means you must leave a wide margin for traffic, filling gas, and getting lost, which is hard to do and might cut into your own reservation time substantially. 3) For Zipcar to be economical, you can't take that many trips every month. It's best for local errands during times without much traffic. 4) Locations aren't that close sometimes. If the car nearest to me is taken, I have to bike or walk to another location. This is ok during the summer, but I'm not sure what I'll do in the winter. Also, I have to drop off groceries before dropping off the car--takes more time if the car's "home" isn't nearby.
PROS: Somewhat convenient. somewhat economical.
CONS: Lots of constraints. only sometimes "wheels when i want 'em"