So when we were craving Chinese food the other night, we were presented with a problem. Our favorite Chinese spot doesn’t deliver, and nobody wanted to go out to pick up for take out! What to do? Google for take-out Chinese places who deliver to our address. One result thanks to the internet was Wang’s Kitchen, located on Lynn Road  and Creedmoor Road. They have their complete menu posted online (oh so nice – a note to those of you restaurants who do NOT have menus online!) along with prices, and they seemed to be right on the money with their competitor’s prices.

I called in and placed my order quickly and easily with a friendly employee. He said it would take about 45 minutes for my order to arrive which seemed a little bit on the long side for a Chinese restaurant, but hey – if they’re hoppin’ busy that must mean good food right? After all, it was already 6:00 and I was sure my fellow Raleigh-ites were also jonesin’ for some Chinese grub.

Our order showed up a few minutes early and we tore open the brown bag for our dinner. At first I thought we had been shorted on some of our food because the bag was so light and there didn’t seem to be anywhere near enough packages to contain all of the food I’d ordered. (If you guessed we ordered a dinner portion of Sesame Chicken with white rice, some Crab Rangoon and Egg Drop soup, you’d be right. We really need to explore a little bit more of the menu don’t you think!?)

I spread the food out on the table and was surprised at what my $17ish dollars had purchased. I had one rectangular plastic container that was half meat and half rice. Not the usual full-plastic container of just meat with the traditional take-out fold-up box with rice. This looked more like a lunch portion than a dinner portion.

The Crab Rangoon was overcooked without much filling. The sauce that it came with was alright, but nothing to note. Egg Drop soup, well that got an “ok” rating from the kids.

In all, this was a disappointing meal. I probably won’t be spending my money on Wang’s Kitchen any time in the near future.

Guys, you need to figure out what goes on at your Atlantic/Millbrook Raleigh location. Seriously.

Last Sunday night we all packed into the car, ready for some cold yummy treats after a great warm weather day. We drove all the way to Sonic because we figured they’d have the best selection for the four of us.

After debating over the menu, we buzzed to place our order. I really REALLY wanted a hot fudge banana sundae. I could almost taste the fresh banana under the ice cold vanilla ice cream and the warm, gooey fudge melting on top. MMM!

But what’s this? You are out of bananas??? Okay, that’s pretty irritating and annoying, especially since I drove all the way over here – out of my way – and past several of your competitors to get exactly what I wanted. I found it in myself to have grace for the situation. After all, I’m sure lots of other Raleigh families had done the same thing earlier in the day. I settled for a plain old hot fudge sundae. Everyone else got their desserts with no problem and we enjoyed the large servings.

Last night, after another very warm day, we decided ice cream was again on the menu. Still craving a banana split from Sonic, we headed on over. We drove around the building only to have to wait while an incredibly S L O W employee took her sweet time to cross the street (after parking her car helter-skelter) while texting on her phone. Hello? Could you hurry up a little? Maybe look UP to see you are holding up some very dessert-hungry people!?

We parked and jumped out of the car and walked up to the menu/ordering station.

What’s that you say? You are out of FUDGE??? Seriously? What kind of restaurant/drive-thru that serves lots of ice cream products runs out of HOT FUDGE!?!?!?  Grr. Well pooh. We were all so annoyed we told the people never mind and left.

We went to another ice-cream serving chain but they must have been Sonic-rejects too because there were probably 15 families ahead of us and there was no way we were waiting upwards of 30 minutes for our cold treat. We finally ended up enjoying ourselves at another chain restaurant, a good old hot-fudge sundae just off the dollar menu.

Tonight we wanted to give Sonic one last go. What can I say? I figured third time would be the charm.

No.

First of all, whoever took our order had marbles, cotton or marshmallows stuffed in his mouth.  He informed me that they “nowh longwrh shelld hot fugdgh.” Huh? You don’t sell hot fudge anymore? As in, these 4 or 5 menu items – WITH HOT FUDGE ON THEM – are obsolete? But they are still on the menu? And it was just LAST NIGHT that you were “out” of fudge?

Okay, give me an orange cream slush please.

What’s that you say??? Your slush machine is broken!?!??!

Sonic people, please. I’m not going back to this location. Ever. Never. And tell your manager to get OFF his cell phone and back into the restaurant to order some bananas. And fudge. And fix your stinkin slush machine!!!

Several of our Twitter followers suggested Fuhgeddaboudit Pizza, located at 7321 Six Forks Road in the Celebration Station Shopping Plaza. We pulled in to the parking lot at about 6:00 and were surprised that the restaurant wasn’t packed at dinner time. We decided to eat in while many other patrons showed up for carry-out.

The decor of the restaurant is a treat in itself. If you’ve ever been to the Big Apple then you’d likely feel at home as pictures of old NYC adorn the walls as well as two subway doors and street signs. Oh, and graffiti.

You walk up to a glass case to select the pizza you’d like. First we opted for plain old cheese pizza and pepperoni pizza. That’s when I noticed the garlic poppers: little dough balls with a buttery garlic topping on them. I’m a huge garlic fan so I ordered that as well.

There were four people in our party, and of the 5 slices ordered, 4 drinks and 4 poppers, my total was a little more than $16 which I thought was pretty reasonable. I was a little worried about how long the pizza had been sitting out on display, but it didn’t look old so I figured I’d be okay.

We sat down at the table and were quickly served our pizza. Sure enough, you could see the grease forming at the top and the crust was super thin. I was excited to give it a shot!!!

What Fuhgeddaboudit boasts in atmosphere, menu selection and great pricing, it lacks in taste. Don’t get me wrong, the pizza was very good; it just didn’t have the flavor that I was looking for. Having said that, it ranks better than the other NY style pizzerias that I’ve tried in the past.

The garlic poppers though. WOW. Served with a robust and chunky marinara sauce, these little treats were a yum-fest in my mouth. I could probably eat a whole pile of them without thinking twice.

My one slice of pizza and 2 poppers ended up not satisfying my hunger, so I decided to try the pesto pizza. I found the herb they used to be overwhelming in little piles on the pizza while the rest was pretty tasteless. I ended up eating only two bites and threw the rest away.

The staff at the restaurant were very friendly but a little slow-to-get-to-it. I think one gal was training her co-worker, so that’s understandable. Our biggest “complaint” would be the soda fountain running out of syrup and we had to wait a good 20 minutes until they refilled it after we let them know.

I’ll probably give Fuhgeddaboudit another chance some other time to try out the rest of their menu, but this customer left feeling a little let-down last night in the flavor department.

So don’t write this place off yet, give it a try for yourself and let us know what you think!!

We decided to go back to Toreros for some fried ice-cream. We hit the restaurant at about 7:30 or so. There were a few people there so we were seated quickly again! We ordered a fried ice-cream covered in chocolate, honey and whipped cream (topped with a cherry of course). I also ordered one of their homemade Sangrias which was delicious! We paid less than $8.00 for a large alcoholic beverage and a dessert big enough for two people.

The fried ice-cream was only okay; I”ve had better, but it was still a yummy treat at the end of the day.

The food is very good and the portions are large. My boyfriend and I shared a chicken fajita meal and there was still a little leftover after we’d ate all we could. The tortillas are delicious, probably my favorite.

There’s a great atmosphere at Toreros too: we sat at the bar and there were about 5 different patrons who walked by the bar, greeting the bartender with hugs and well wishes. One customer ordered an unusual drink, and the staff worked hard to find the right balance of ingredients to make it just right. Their bar was well stocked with many liquors and beers and they have nightly drink specials.

We’re big on special ordering our food too and have never been disappointed with Toreros service when it comes to subbing rice for beans, adding extra cheese or sour cream.

Toreros prices are very affordable for a family to eat out for lunch OR dinner.

Mmm, I think I want some more right now!!!