Della Voce

Although it is not that sketchy of a restaurant, Jacey and Sid took a venture to the lovely restaurant of Della Voce this past Sunday night on Poyntz. From 6:00 to 8:00 PM (every Sunday night!), there is live jazz music. Our friend, Scott, that we had met at a previous place when he was playing jazz music, (should there be a comma there?) plays there! Please go if you have a chance.

We didn't really want to order anything because it is not the cheapest of restaurants, but we did want to get something as to be kind. We got tea (peppermint) and an Italian soda (elder...something). It was so cute because the tea came in its own little teapot and the soda was almost a foot tall! IT WAS INCREDIBLE. 

Both were delicious. It was a peaceful experience, also because neither of us felt obligated to buy anything. That's a real blessing in itself. #thankful #letsusehashtags #queoso

We sat and listened to the music, and Scott even asked for requests. He played a Beatles song at Sidney's request. What a kind man! 

Jacey and Sid proceeded to have lovely conversation about life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness (also known as Jesus). Interesting questions were asked, such as, "Who do you see being president in two years?" or "If you had to own a baby koala as a pet or a baby fox, what would you choose and why?" What interesting questions indeed!

All in all, it was a good experience. If we are being honest, there was some not-so-kind gentlemen sitting behind us, but Mr. Scott said he would have protected us if anything had happened that was not good. More than that, we know God would protect us. What a blessing that is!

Here are our ratings (drum roll, please...):

Food - n/a, since we didn't get food, we did not feel like this could be justified to rate. We hope that is okay!
Atmosphere - 8 (the music was pleasant and brought joy to our ears)
Service -  9
Pricing - 5

Total: 22/30 --> 73%

For more information, here is their website!

Also, here's a picture for joy's sake. It's is from two years ago around this time, so why not show it again? No reason. Enjoy!

The Little Grill

The Little Grill is a wonderful, fantastic, little Jamaican restaurant just outside of Manhattan. We decided to go after much debate over restaurants, because it would seem that Sid always chooses the Asian restaurants (that is, Chinese and Thai) and Jacey always chooses Mexican restaurants. Funny how that works, huh? 

Anyways, we went to The Little Grill around 6:30 in the night. That is, the evening. The parking was quite spectacular and we even got a spot in the front - we parked like we owned the place! But we don't own the place, because we're not that cool. We can only dream of being that cool. 

A dream is a wish your heart makes when you're fast asleep.

We walked inside and immediately were seated. Looking around, we saw lots of yellow, red, and green (what wonderful Jamaican colors!), pictures of Bob Marley, quotes (don't worry, be happy!), and more. OH. And musical instruments.

Speaking of musical instruments, we came on a night where they were having a live performance! I'm not sure who the man was, but he was a country singing man who liked to sing about love. Lots of love. And kissing people on their foreheads. How cute, huh? 

Jacey and Sid looked at the menu for a good ten minutes and made decisions. We were quite thankful that there was a limited amount of items on the menu so we didn't get too overwhelmed. Our waiter's name was Colin. We figured this out because he introduced himself, asked what we wanted to drink, and then told us the specials. Sid forgot his name so she asked again. Then he told us his name was Colin and that he had forgotten to put on his name tag...and when he came back it was on!

Jacey order the Jamaican Gumbo and Sid got the Veggie Rasta (with chicken!). Both of these dishes came with red beans and rice. What wonderful foods!

Jacey and I waited for our food, while having intentional conversation. The man playing the music sure could sing loudly into that microphone! There was a good number of people in the restaurant, families, college students, people on dates, and more. I bet even some of the people on dates were college students. 

We got our food and it was a wonderful portion size! Just enough - Sid and Jacey had to take some home. But now? We're getting hungry. But I think that's just because we're hungry, hungry hippos.

The Veggie Rasta was full of veggies (carrots, onions, green peppers, mushrooms, red peppers, and chicken). The gumbo had chicken, crab, beef, potatoes, red beans and rice underneath, and carrots. Jacey states, "It was really good. And I don't know how the bread and the honey taste because I haven't eaten it yet. But it smells good!" Sid says, "What wonderful, filling, tasteful food!" 

All in all, the food was spectaculate (apparently, that is the new way of spelling spectacular). Colin checked in on us to make sure the food was good and we had enough water. What a kind gent! 

We got our ticket and didn't feel rushed to leave. That's always a good feeling to have. Colin made sure we were done with our food before he brought the ticket (and he gave us a box!).

So, to rate this wonderful place of business, food, joy, and love -->

Food - 9.25 
Atmosphere - 7 (overall, it was a very friendly atmosphere - the music was a tad loud for conversation)
Service - 9.5 
Pricing - 6.5 

Total: 32.25/40 - 80.6% (that's our highest rating yet!)

For more information, here is their website! 

Also, here are our beautiful faces so you can find joy in our teeth. And smiles. 

The Thai Noodle

After nearly a year of no sketchy restaurant dates, today was the day! We're back in business.

Today, for lunch, it was decided to go to the new (at least we think) Thai restaurant in Manhattan - THE THAI NOODLE. Specifically, just one noodle. However, we ordered many because we were hungry. 

Walking into the restaurant, we looked around to see green walls, tables where people were sitting, and a couple happy people working the register and walking around helping the customers of the noodles.  Immediately, we were told to sit down wherever we wanted, which was quite wonderful because FREEDOM. 

Side note - why are there no knock knock jokes about America? Because freedom rings. 

 We were given menus and time to decide what to eat. Looking at the menu, it's a lot of noodles, soup, and wonderful Asian inspired dishes. One of those that Jacey wanted to try was Duck Noodle Soup. We did not get that. INSTEAD. Bubble Thai Milk Iced Tea was found on the menu, excited Sidney, and she ordered that. #justlikeThailand

We asked for a bit more time to think about what to get, then it was decided to get the Drunken Noodles, with chicken. It was said that it was going to have rice noodles, garlic, chili, and carrots. We sat for a bit (like a minute) after they took our order and the waitress came out with an extra plate and utensils. We asked for chopsticks (Sidney did), and they were given! WE SUCCESSFULLY ATE OUR WHOLE MEAL WITH CHOPSTICKS. 

Be proud. Not too proud. Pride cometh before the fall.

We got our meal maybe five minutes after we ordered it. AND WE BOTH WERE IMPRESSED. The food was beyond yummy, with a bit of a kick in the end. Not too much of a kick, we are both still standing. Actually, we're sitting. Writing this post. Anyways.

The noodles were about an inch wide and there was a wonderful amount of chicken to provide ample protein for stamina throughout the day. As well as carrots, which we all know Jacey would eat by the pound if she could. But then, she would be orange. Magic School Bus taught us that. #carotene

Back to the food, it was wonderful. Sidney has a new favorite restaurant. It was great. ALSO. The Bubble Thai Milk Iced Tea was beyond fantastic. Since Bluestem has ceased giving out bubble tea as an option, sadness has started in the town of Manhattan. THE THAI NOODLE HAS COME TO THE RESCUE. If you are craving bubble tea, go get yourself some. Now. How now brown cow?

We were given our tickets promptly, after our food was all gone from our plates. It was reasonably priced, a little more on the expensive side, but definitely priced correctly. This was well worth the experience and we will definitely be going back! 

Food - 9.25
Atmosphere - 7.5
Service - 8 (she was a quick cookie)
Pricing - 6.75

Total: 31.5/40 - 79%

For more information, here is their website!

Also, here are two pictures from today. This was the first and last time we would be able to get together for the rest of the summer, so this was a really sweet time. 

 Aren't we so attractive? You know why? We're fearfully and wonderfully made!

El Tapatio

Tonight, it was decided after being shut down because Taco Casa shuts down at 7:00, we went on an adventure, trying to figure out where to go. We proceeded to take all the backroads, slowly making it back to the main road, wasting lots of gas. But that's not important - it's a simple side note to add to the adventure of the night!

We finally made the decision (and what a good decision it was!) to go to El Tapatio. This is located at 2605 Stagg Hill Rd, Manhattan, KS 66502, their phone number is (785) 539-7272. It's kind of hard to get there, but once you've been once, you'll never forget it. 

Going into their parking lot, it is quite crowded. The parking doesn't necessarily have an order; you kind of just park where you can, trying to stay in the lines. Sid definitely thought about parking on the grass. Fortunately, she found a spot in the sketchy back and parked ever so skillfully. 

Insert: BIG giggle fit here. Don't worry, this actually happened when we were writing the post, not after we parked the car...that's weird. It's not that exciting of an experience, you know, parking a car and all...

We walked into the restaurant and it was crowded as all get out. We awkwardly looked at their signs, trying to figure out what their name means. It means either a hot sauce or a person from a certain place in Mexico or a dance or when you steep tea and then tap it on the side of your mug - tap-a-tea-oh! EH OH! 

We finally got seated, after about 10 minutes, at the table in the back. 

...unfortunately, this got put on hold while we went all over the world for the summer. Therefore, we don't remember what happened. But it WAS good enough that we will go back again and let you know scores (and about the ballin' food). 

We wish you blessings and love. We will let you know more about our summers (and reasoning for not posting) as time goes on. 

Here's just a glimpse of our summer for you:

Bob's Diner

GET READY to get sketched out...

Before spring break, we decided to take a breakfast date to Bob's Diner. This is located at 1103 N 3rd St, Manhattan, KS, 66502 (just in case you wanted to GPS it). Bob's Diner has been open for quite some time, as my father says he ate there when he was in college. Good ol' hometown place, you know?

We arrived at approximately 8:45 and we told to sit anywhere we wanted. As we looked around, we saw old neon signs, a television, plenty of tables and chairs, and a sitting space right up front by the countertop. All of these added to the diner feel of the place.

We were looked over our menus and allowed plenty of time to find out what we wanted. We both ordered coffee (as it was the morning...) and promptly were given it. We as well were given creamer. As we like to add sugar to our coffee, I (Sidney) first tried to the sugar shaker off the table. I felt as if I was Samson when all of his hair was cut off - I could not get it off the table! What was up with that? THEN. Jacey tried.

She tried to yank it off the table, it didn't work for awhile and then it did! Coffee ALMOST was spilled - there was little droplets of coffee on the table. This was confirmation to us that we had most definitely picked a sketchy restaurant. 

We then were asked what we wanted to order. We both ordered a plate with two pieces of toast, two eggs, hash browns, and two pieces of bacon. Talk about a lot of food! This was about $7.50 a piece. 

Soon after we ordered, our food was there! Literally - like five minutes MAYBE. In my personal opinion, the eggs were my favorite part! Over medium - yum, yum, yum! Jacey's favorite was the bacon. It was the best part. My least favorite was the hash browns, but personally I don't enjoy hash browns...so...yeah. Jacey says they were good. Trust her on this one! Jacey's least favorite part was the amount of bread - there was A LOT of it. As I (Sidney) cannot eat bread, she had four slices instead of two. She states she feels the bread was of the quality of bread that you buy at the store and could toast yourself - nothing that special about it. She would know about the bread - she did eat it all. 

HATS OFF TO HER.

When we got our food, we prayed for it. Before we prayed, I (Sid) asked for some ketchup for my hash browns. The waitress came in the middle of our prayer, but she was quite kind and just set it there and left. I quite appreciated this. 

As we continued our venture, we had a table full of men sitting next to us. That is, old men. They were talking about everything under the sun - sports, how wonderful K-State is, politics, and more. This may or may not have been a little uncomfortable for us two fine lookin' ladies sitting right next to them. But hey, you can't win 'em all.

We had to go up to the counter to pay, and as I waited to leave, I was able to read some of the signs behind the counter. These included what employee meals looked like, how it was and/or wasn't okay to do certain things (that I cannot remember...but I do remember them being slightly harsh [in my opinion]). I didn't think it was the best idea for these to be out in the open, or for customers to be able to see them. It really did put a damper on my experience.  

When we left Bob's Diner, there was one door that didn't open. This added to the sketchiness and confirmed we had a successful, and maybe terrifying, sketchy restaurant date.

Ratings:

Food - 6
Atmosphere - 6.5
Service - 7
Pricing - 6.5

Total: 26/40 - 65% 

NOW. Enjoy this picture of our beautiful faces.