Date Night: Studio Square Beer Garden - Astoria, Queens, New York - Saturday, 7/19/2014

Her Take: It seems like we celebrated all week for Nicky's birthday, but he deserved it! Saturday night Nicky wanted to go out and celebrate with his friends and he wanted to "be outside" he said. It was a beautiful night so it seemed fitting. Out of a bunch of places we had gone through, rooftop bars/clubs, Nicky decided on going to the beer garden at Studio Square. I had never been here before and I wanted to check it out so I was excited! A bunch of us went that night: his sister Teresa, his brother AJ with his girlfriend, his uncle and his girlfriend, his cousin Frankie, his friends Sal, Martyna, Chris, and Vinny with his girlfriend Stef. We got there around 10:30 ish and went straight to the bar to order a pitcher of Vodka Lemonade and a pitcher of Sangria, oh and a round of fireball shots! Surprisingly we found an empty table and we took it over.
The beer garden is really nice, its HUGE with at least 30 super long picnic tables and a gigantic screen showing sports. I heard for the World Cup, it was PACKED. This night there was a lot of people too, but since it's so spacious, it doesn't feel jam-packed. As I mentioned before, the night was beautiful, not too hot, so it felt good sitting outside, we were comfortable!
To my surprise, the vodka lemonade was delicious! I don't know why I expected it to just taste either like pure vodka or just really sweet; it was so good, tasted like freshly squeezed lemonade and the right amount of vodka. The dangerous part is that they go down sooooo easy! Literally tastes like the lemonade from the Lemonade Stand that was in front of your house when you were 6 years old. (THAT GOOD)
The Sangria was good too! This I expected to be really sweet as well, but it wasn't, HOLLA!
As you can see, I don't really like "sweet" drinks. :)
Anyway, we all got pitchers which are $25 each and give you about 4 big solo cups each, which is pretty good if you ask me. That comes out to like $6.25 a drink, which is a nonexistent price for drinks in NY, sooo thumbs up to deliciously cheap drinks!
Studio Square also serves food, I didn't get anything, but I did mooch off other people's fries which were crispy and yummy! The cool thing is that they have a variety of different foods such as hot dogs, fries, burgers, kielbasa, pretzels, sushi (yes sushi) and etc... So whatever you're craving, you can find here!
We stayed there all night and I had a blast! Hanging out with his friends is always a good time! Everyone's funny and likes having a good time, how could you go wrong??

I'm glad we all went out! And I'm looking forward to going back!! GREAT hangout spot! :))


His Take: Happy Birthday to ME!  I'm not one who makes a big deal about their own birthday, but what the heck, I turned 27 and wanted to enjoy a night out with Ariana and some friends.  Studio Square, me and you have a had a great relationship for many many many years now.  I have been coming here for quite some time!  I like to sit outside during the summer, have a few drinks, chat and laugh, and be with friends.  Studio Square is perfect for this, it literally is the perfect hang out spot!

Ariana, my uncle, his girlfriend, and I arrived before every one else so we made our way straight to the bar.  Mind you Studio Square has 2 inside bars, and a rather large outdoor bar.  The night was perfect so we never stood inside, except to use the bathroom!  We ordered 2 $25 pitchers, 1 vodka lemonade and 1 red sangria.  The vodka lemonade's went down so smooth and take this as a warning they sneak up on you.  I had about 5 or 6 before realizing that I was drunk.  That and the shots of Fireball and Jameson probably added to it!  Plus you're sitting around, drinking and chatting, before you know it the drinks have hit you.  Each pitcher gives you about 4-5 drinks which is great for $25.  Besides the vodka lemonade or the sangria, you can order from a great selection of draft beers.  Personally I'd go with the Blue Moon (which I have before) which is great, nice Blue Moon from the tap with a few slices of oranges in it, great on a summer day.  That's another thing that's great about Studio Square, its great during the day AND night.

Any who, we made our way to 1 of the plethora of long picnic tables, and by long I mean you can fit 10-12 people on each side of the table!  My sister, brother and his girlfriend, cousin, and some friends showed up to join in the celebration!  We drank, and drank, and drank, and laughed and talked and just had a good chill time.  Besides the drinks, you can order food.  I've had the cheeseburger and fries before, but nothing but alcohol this time!  The food is good, and we picked at some fries!  There is a huge screen that's great for sports games, and tonight there was a baseball game playing.  I've sat here for the NBA playoffs and that gets fun as well!

All in all I can guarantee that I will be back at Studio Square before the summer ends!  Great Summer spot, obviously not as good in the winter.  Food, drinks, friends, and great weather, cannot really beat that!  Grab a pitcher of something, look for us at a table, tell us how you read our blog, and join us for a drink!  Hope to see ya there!

Martyna and I pretending to be Step Brothers?

Nicky and Frankie 

drunk.

Mini Getaway: Atlantic City, New Jersey - Tuesday 7/15-Thursday 7/17/2014

His Take: Man do I love Atlantic City! We are back baby!  So Ariana and I decided, along with some cousins of mine, to head down to Atlantic City for a quick mini vacation.  What the heck we're young and want to have some fun, and most most importantly enjoy our summer!  Quick side note, Ariana and I always stay at the Taj Mahal, just out of habit and familiarity, plus FREE ROOMS!  So yes I suggest you guys, if you plan on staying, the Taj Mahal is great!  Nice rooms, views of the beach/boardwalk, and great service! Off we went to Atlantic City, via the Greyhound bus service (well worth it also for those considering it, but I will not bore you with those details).

Naturally the first day there we hit the tables!  Ariana loves her Sex & the City machine, which now she got me hooked on too! Fun game if you never played, and it keeps you occupied while ordering your free drinks while gambling!  It is an interactive slot machine which is way more fun than the old school boring ones!  Me personally, I stick to roulette and black jack, and I know what you want to ask, unfortunately NO neither of us won, or even came close to winning! Damn you Atlantic City, but we will be back for what's ours!!!! That night we decided to go to dinner, because one we like to eat (duh!!) and two, we know our loyal readers are counting on us to let them know what and where is good or not good!  So yes we keep you guys in mind!

We headed to Cuba Libre, which is located in the Tropicana!  Tropicana is the other end of the boardwalk from Taj Mahal, but only a $12 cab ride!  We walked right in with no reservation, which was great because we were deciding between here or PF Changs which was right next door, but looked like it had a longer line. Cuba Libre looks like it was straight out of Cuba, well if I had to assume I was in Cuba.  It felt authentic to me I guess is what I'm trying to say, and it only added more to the atmosphere of the place!  We sat down and took our time looking over the menu and had trouble deciding what to order because Ariana wanted everything. No seriously, she wanted to eat everything, I think including the menu because that looked nice too!  First we ordered a caipirinhas each, hers made with guava, mine made with wild berry!  We of course traded and tried both, and I have to say Ariana's guava capirinha was better than mine, but mine was very very good!  We settled on a bowl of guacamole and empanadas for appetizers.  The guacamole came with about five or six plaintains to dip and eat with!  They were good, the guacamole was good too, but personally I prefered Rosa Mexicano's guacamole (different place, different style, see that blog!)  The empanadas we got were chicken, which was stuffed with chicken cheese and corn, very very tastey, and cheese, which was cheese and onions (Ariana's two favorite things)! After we ate the bread, the appetizers, Ariana might have eaten a table or a chair as well, we drank and waited for our entrees.  While waiting for our entrees, an older couple next to us asked us what we went with and made friendly conversation!  The older woman order the same dish Ariana had, the shredded flank steak in a citrus garlic sauce, and the lady claimed she could not finish hers!  I think Ariana took this personally because she finished her dish and probably could have eaten the other lady's left overs!  Im glad she did though because her flank steak was great and was a healthy size portion!  I ordered the Ropa Vieja (I know again, but no thanks to Cubana Social, my craving was not satisfied!).  The Ropa Vieja here was amazing, the flavor, the meat, the sauce, everything was so tasty and so good! MMMMMMMMMMM thinking about it typing this I want more!  I highly suggest you try it here!

That was night one, on to day two!  Day two we shopped at the Tanger outlets a bit, then headed over to the Landshark Bar and Grill, which is on the boardwalk, a little ways walk from the Taj Mahal.  Am I glad we came here!  We wanted to stop and have a drink and sit outside on the beach!  We sat down with no intentions on getting food, and shockingly we did not order any.  This is because we knew we would be heading back to Il Mulino for another amazing dinner.  Ariana ordered a Banana Strawberry Mango frozen daiquiri and i ordered a Mixed Berry frozen daiquiri.  Both of these drinks hit the spot.  It was a warm day out so we sat outside had our drinks and just talked and laughed with my cousins.  Heck we could not win gambling, might as well enjoy drinking!  Landshark is really nice, they even have a section on the beach closed off with umbrellas and chairs and a bar, so next time, yes NEXT TIME since Ariana and I promised we would go back, we are sitting on the beach!

Finally, night time in Atlantic City, Ariana and I headed to dinner at our favorite place, Il Mulino in the Taj Mahal. We had to come back, and see when we say we have to come back, we do!  Il Mulino was just as perfect this time as it was the first time.  Ariana and I ordered different things this time so Ill tell ya about those!  Firstly and most imporatnly we decided on wine with dinner, a nice bottle of Barbera D'alba, which was incredibly delicious and had a nice little hint of spice!  Of course we finished the whole bottle.  We started with an order of tomatoes and mozzarella, something light since again we were filling up on the complimentary appetizers!  I ordered the spaghetti in a white clam sauce, and polished my dish clean!  Ariana got cappellini (really really thin spaghetti) in a vodka sauce with peas, pancetta, and wild mushrooms.  They must have given her like a pound of pasta because she could not finish her dish.  Both dishes were great!  Ariana had told Il Mulino it was my birthday (technically it was the upcoming Friday) and they brought out three slices of a rich chocolate cake for us and they sang to me!  Thanks guys!  Also our waiter from our first trip came over and sang, and he remembered us from last time and thanked us for coming again!  You can never go wrong at Il Mulino, so take this as another attempt to get you to go there!


Ariana and I love going to Atlantic City, and going with other people only makes it better!  Grab some friends or family, and head over even if you do not like to gamble!  Ariana and I are already trying to figure out when we can return, and this time may be with her family!  If you make your way down there, don't forget the places we mentioned and I promise you won't be disappointed!  Atlantic City see you soon!!


Her Take: Nicky and I love to get away sometimes, and our spot of choice is always Atlantic City. We love going there because 1. gambling 2. beach 3. amazing food 4. gambling 5. It's ALWAYS A FUN TIME!!
This time we went for Nicky's birthday with a few of his cousins and of course we stayed at the Taj Mahal; we always, always stay at the Taj! We went for 3 days, 2 nights and we had an incredible time. The Tuesday that we got there we walked in and saw that the Taj was packed because some dance competition was being held there. We checked in went to the room and got settled in. We relaxed a bit and then went back down to play some slots and roulette. Nicky LOVES roulette and I love watching him play, it's exciting. We played for maybe an hour or so and then went out to the boardwalk because the sun was finally coming out! We walked and walked and laughed and took some sun. We stopped to get soft serve ice cream because I wanted some for lunch and Nicky got a Philly Cheese steak. we walked some more and I almost had a heart attack because there were too many seagulls. It was fun, the boardwalk is really nice because there's a lot to do! They have an arcade, there's a mall, there's little shops and everything and you walk for miles and it doesn't feel so far because its so nice out! We stopped into a candy shop that has an old school vibe to it and bought Nicky's mom some Salt Water Taffy! We walked some more and finally went back inside to gamble a little bit more and have a drink and just hang out. We were thinking about what to do for dinner and what time we should all be ready. The Taj Mahal has sooo many good restaurants and among them there is this great Chinese restaurant called Dynasty that we went to for my birthday last year, but now they only open on weekends and we were there Tuesday-Thursday!! New plan.. I suggested PF Changs or Cuba Libre, which are both in the Tropicana. So we said, lets just take a ride to the Tropicana and see what catches our eye! By the time we all showered and got ready, around 7:30 we made our way to the Trop by taxi because now it was raining! Inside, PF Changs and Cuba Libre are right next to eachother, we looked at the menu for Cuba Libre and decided that everything sounded delicious and we went right in! It wasn't too busy in there but there were a few tables and more people at the bar. I had been to Cuba Libre a couple of times before with my family and I'm going to be honest, the first time I liked it a lot but the second time it was just ok, luckily this time was AMAZING. The decor in there is really cute, the lighting is dim and it feels like you're in a cozy house. Our waiter came right away and explained the menu to us. They all said it wasn't necessary because they've got me to explain ;) haha!
We started off with drinks, we all got caipirinhas! I got the guava one, which was delicious, not too sweet but just right and just the perfect amount of liquor. Nicky got the wildberry caiphirinha which was also really yummy!! For appetizers, I wanted literally the entire menu, but we settled on a couple of Cheese empanadas and Chicken with sweet corn empanadas which were good and the guacamole with plantain chips that I really really wanted because I had been craving guacamole, and I basically finished it all myself. They also brought us cuban bread with mango butter. YUM i want some right now, the bread was a toasty and a bit sweet and the butter was perfect!
For entree I ordered the Vaca Frita which is crisped-shredded flank steak, roasted onions and citrus-garlic sauce that comes with white rice and cuban black beans! It was so flavorful and delicious; the citrus gave it all such a great pop and everything together along with the rice and beans, was incredible!!! Nicky ordered the Ropa Vieja, which is a Cuban classic: shredded beef brisket, stewed with tomatoes, bell peppers, onions and red wine with maduros and steamed white rice. I was torn between the two but decided on the Vaca Frita and I'm so glad I did! Nicky really really really wanted the Ropa Vieja and he loved it!! I tried it as well and it was so yummy!!
We were all left so completely satisfied and content with our meal! We were all happy that we decided to go to Cuba Libre that night! After an amazing dinner, we went into the Trop's casino and of course played a bit, but we were having absolutely no luck that day and lost so we said "let's just go back to the Taj." We continued gambling there and we were STILL unlucky!! What the heck! At least we get free drinks on the casino floor, so we drank a couple and ended up going to bed early that night!
Wednesday: We wanted to go to the beach but when we woke up and drew the curtains we saw that it was cloudy and blah outside. :( We decided to go to the outlets this time so Nicky could pick out his Raybans that he wanted and I could give them to him as a birthday gift!:)) (yes, i hadn't bought him a gift woops)
We got there and went our separate ways, we walked into the Sunglass Gallery so we could check out what they had and Nicky tried a few styles on, we liked the black aviators the best but we told the guy we'd be back incase we found another store with more variety. We walked and went into J.Crew, Nicky's favorite store, and he bought a nice pair of dark mustard yellow shorts! Yay! we strolled around and walked into various stores and finally went back to the sunglass store, Nicky said he definitely wanted the black aviators! There was his gift! He was so happy and he wore them right away!! He looks so handsome in them :) We walked back from the outlets and stopped to get a $3.50 hot dog each!! (and we thought NYC hotdogs were expensive) Then we got on the boardwalk and walked back. Now it was beautiful out, the sun was shining and it was hot! So we said when we get back to the hotel, we'd change and go to the beach! But something slowed us down, that something was Landshark! Landshark is a bar/grill, part of Margaritaville, that's on the beach and you can either sit inside or outside and they have a small section of the beach for themselves. We had been wanting to try it so we walked right in and asked if we could sit outside and have a drink! They were all very nice and accommodated us. We order a frozen drink each, Nicky ordered a mixed berry daiquiri and i order a mango/banana/strawberry one! They were amazing. Like honestly so good I could have had 4902 of them, but we only had one so we could run and change to walk on the beach. Nicky put on his new shorts that i gave him and I put on a sundress and we walked the beach for a while. It was romantic and fun, we always have a lot of fun together. The water was FREEZING so we dipped our toes in for a second and then we walked and stopped and took pictures. Time went by too fast and we realized that we had to get back to get ready for our dinner tonight. I had made reservations at Il Mulino for Nicky's birthday because we loved it so much when we went for our anniversary (see Il Mulino post)!!! Dinner this time was just us two. We had reservations for 7:30 but we went a bit earlier because we were ready and hungry! They sat us right away at a beautiful table against the wall. I won't get into all the details again because you can just look at our past blog, but this time it was great because I my nose wasn't stuffy and I could taste!! We had a caprese salad, a bottle of beautiful red wine Barbera D'alba, Nicky the Spaghettini alle Vongole and I the Capellini Il Mulino. For dessert I told them it was Nicky's birthday and we ordered the chocolate cake which was sooo rich!! And once again they offered us Limoncello on the house. Everything was absolutely wonderful!!! Just like our entire AC trip :)
After dinner, we wanted to get drunk tonight and gamble!! So we went to the casino and of course started playing and ordering drinks! I've got to admit we got pretty drunk and feeling good!! Although we did not win, :(, we had an amazing, amazing, incredible, wonderful, marvelous, exciting, much needed time!!
I cannot wait to go back already!! Writing this post made me miss it and realize how much fun we really did have together! We always have a great time! But, next time Taj, AC, LET US WIN SOME MONEY!!!

 Boardwalk

 left: mixedberry right: guava caipirinhas

cheese empanada

 chicken and sweetcorn empanada

 guacamole

 Ropa Vieja

 Vaca Frita (didn't use flash woops)

Ariana eating everything

 Nicky with his new sunglasses

 Landshark Frozen Concoctions 

 Il Mulino 

 Happy Birthday Nicky!

Chocolate Cake

 <3 :)

On our way home.. (duffel bags NOT full of money)

Date Night: The Chester - Meatpacking District, NY - Saturday 6/28/2014

Her Take: I love the Meatpacking District. I have to say that right from the start. It's beautiful and hip and the new fashion spot and so different from the rest of the city. So I go there a lot and I walk around, and one night I went with two of my friends and we passed this cute corner bar/restaurant while walking. What caught our attention was the outdoor patio they have framing the corner of the block and the cool, funky music they were playing. This spot was The Chester, located in the Gansevoort Hotel.

I thought to myself that I had to go to this place! (to write you guys a blog on it :)) So I kept it in the back of my mind and decided to plan out a Date Night. Lee and Dan wanted to go out before Lee left for Florida so I suggested we all do dinner in Meatpacking .. ;)
I picked a couple of places, one of which being The Chester, and left it up to them to decide where they wanted to go. They picked The Chester!! (obviously) It was meant to be, we had to try that place out.
I made the reservation for 4 at 7:00 on a Saturday night and we were all excited. That's when things started to go awry Lee told me that Dan was fixing up his car and didn't think they would be done in time to come meet us, but she would let me know. Hm..
I had to go visit my newborn baby cousin and everyone knows that when you visit family, you're gonna be there till late! So I decided to change our reservation to 7:30 (just incase) Then while at my cousin's house, Lee told me they wouldn't be able to make it so I went ahead and changed the reservation again to 2 people instead and for 8 o'clock because it was already 6 and we were all still there!!
Anyway, turns out I changed the reservation ONE MORE TIME (3 times!!) to 8:15 because at 7:45 I was still on my way home. I rushed home changed and Nicky and I jumped on the train. Luckily, Meatpacking is only 6 stops away on the L and we get there in max 10 mins! And that we did. We walked to the hostess outside and I told her we were here and if there was no available outdoor seating, it was ok. But she was very nice and said that they had reserved a table for us right outside. We took a corner two-top and the night, the view, the place was all perfect. We looked at the drink menu and they has special cocktails for the World Cup which I thought was very cute! We both order caipirihnas ! I love those, but these weren't the best. They were very strong and not sweet enough.
We ordered right away (which is a first) We started with the cheese plate; the cheese plate came so beautifully decorated with cut up apples and plated to be shaped like flowers, that I didn't wanna eat it! Just kidding, I DEFINITELY did. It came with about 4 different cheeses (brie, parmigiano, and I wasn't sure of the other two..), honey, jam, apples and crackers! It was SO good, great starter!
For entrees we both got steaks; Nicky ordered the NY Strip with a side of Truffle Fries and I the Marinated Skirt Steak in mango sauce and on a bed of chorizo. Now normally I'm not crazy about skirt steak because of the after taste, but this steak was GREAT, I couldn't taste any aftertaste, they cooked it perfectly! And the mango sauce was soo good! Only thing is I couldn't really taste the chorizo. Nicky didn't let me try any of his steak so I assume that meant that it was really good!! He said he liked it!

After slowly finishing our dinner, we hung out outside and watched the sunset; it was amazing. We had great conversations and had a wonderful night. We were there for a few hours and the waitress didn't bother us! We ordered another round of drinks and sat there soaking in the scenery, the people, the music and each other. A man walked by and dropped off two roses on the table and said "for the beautiful lady" and walked away, I was flattered until he walked right back and said "1 for $10 2 for $20 for the homeless! LOL At first Nicky was like I don't want it... ok i'll take one!! :) We left happy and satisfied with our meal and we decided to take a walk because it was such a beautiful night, we walked under the highline (must do a highline post) and walked past the stores and bars until we reached the train station. We figured "lets walk to Union Square" because it was that nice of a night! And we did! we walked and finally took the train home to meet up with Nicky's cousins for a few more drinks.. :)

GO TO MEATPACKING!!!! And try The Chester, I promise you, you will love it, not only for the food, but the scenery as well! The restaurant itself is really nicely set up! Plus, you get to dress up a little bit and look great while eating great food and feeling great!
I'll see ya there!

His Take: So Ariana loves, LOVES, the Meat Packing District in NYC!  She has been suggesting that we find a place here to go because she always has a good time in the Meat Packing District.  After looking over some menus, we settled on The Chester.  The Chester is located right underneath the Gansevoort hotel.  We made a reservation for 8:15, to enjoy a nice late dinner and a drink or two.  We dressed really nice, Ariana looked great by the way, and we hopped on the train and headed over!

The Chester is a really nice place!  Since it was a beautiful summer evening, we decided to sit outside rather than inside.  This was the perfect choice, as the weather was absolutely perfect outside!  We sat at a corner table outside just the two of us and got right into the drink menu!  We started with some caipirinhas.  I did not like mine, it was a little too strong (go on call me a whimp, but this drink was wayyyyyy too strong for a dinner drink) and there was not enough sweetener added to it, so it was too sour!  I have had caipirinhas before, and I really enjoy them, they are a good summery drink!  Ariana and I decided to start off with a cheese plate for appetizers.  We did not want to make the mistake this time of ordered too may appetizers and not enjoying our main course.  The cheese plate was displayed beautifully, and it was excellent.  The plate came with three different cheeses, which were all great, I knew one was parmigiano, I was not sure which the other two were, as the menu says it is the "chef's selection."  Not only did the dish come with cheeses, it had crackers as well as apples, blueberries, and raspberries, plus a like dipping jam!  I ate an entire apple along with my cheeses!  On to the entree, Ariana ordered the skirt steak that was marinated in a mango sauce on top of chorizo hash, and I ordered the strip steak with a side of truffle fries for Ariana and I to split!  Ariana enjoyed her steak, and mine was great as well.  The portion was a nice size and the steak and fries were tastey!  After eating Ariana and I decided to order another drink and just hang out and chat.  This time I went with a red sangria which was much much better!  We sat and drank and talked and as we did the sun began to set.  I know I know it sounds really cliche but this added to the mood as the sky is really nice while the sun sets.  A random street peddler came over and put two roses on our table and walked away.  He goes "for the pretty lady" and then a minute later he came back and said " 1 for $5 2 for $10!"  This man knows how to hustle! But he was right, of course I had to get a rose for the pretty lady, so I took one!

The Chester was really busy but they were nice enough to let us take our time with our food and drinks and let Ariana and I sit there without feeling rush or pressured to order more!  The set up was really nice and I suggest you check it out! Be warned, the Chester,and the Meat Packing District as a whole is a little more expensive than your average dinner and drinks in the city!  But it was very well worth it, especially if you had a great time like I did.  After dinner we walked around a bit and continued our great date! We plotted our next move and headed back to our neighborhood to meet some friends for drinks!  What more can you ask for? A great night out in the city, then enjoying afterwards with some friends, this is what date night is all about!  Ariana and I will head back to the Meat Packing district again, so if you are at the Chester after reading this, look out for us!

Handsome Nicky

Caipirinha

Cheese Plate beautiful Presentation

 NY Strip and Truffle Fries

Mango Marinated Skirt Steak

Date Night: Tacu Tacu - Williamsburg, Brooklyn - Saturday 6/21/2014

His Take: Ahh Tacu Tacu/LuLu’s Lounge, bringing back the glory days!  I used to come to this place when I was a lot younger to drink and eat literally every weekend, and sometimes during the week.  With that being said, one of our old bartender friends was making a return to behind the bar, Eric.  E contacted all of us via Facebook/text messaging (funny how social media works!) And here we were, Me, Ariana and some friends and their girlfriends as well.  One big happy reunion!  When Ariana and I walked in, E came around the bar gave me a hug, greeted Ariana told us we better be staying for a drink!

Any who, back to this evening,  Ariana and I wanted to walk around and just grab some food somewhere that caught our eye.  We had walked past Tacu Tacu and kept looking, but I mentioned to Ariana I could go for the dish I used to get at Tacu Tacu when I used to go there.  Ariana had never had the place before and she agreed.  Plus I told her that the menu was a mix of Thai and Vietnamese.  Well firstly, I was wrong, the menu has changed since I last was there, now Tacu Tacu is a mix of Asian Cuisines plus Peruvian!  The menu has a wide variety of dishes and things to enjoy.  I was happy to see my favorite dish, the Cube Steak Saigon was still on the menu!!!

Ariana and I sat down after a few minutes of waiting and looked over the menu as well as the drink menu. I wish we had gotten to sit in the booth! It was  Ariana started with a frozen banana margarita, which she said was boring, and I got a frozen lemonade which was absolutely amazing.  Tacu Tacu never used to make frozen drinks, so way to step their game up!  We were given a little bin of fried plantain chips with two different dipping sauces, signature Tacu Tacu, and once you pop one chip in your mouth, you eat the whole bin and some, trust me, use Ariana as an example, she literally ate the WHOLE bin!  We ordered a chicken tamale to share for appetizers.  Ariana insisted I try a tamale and I am glad I did, she said Tacu Tacu’s was a different variation on a tamale, but it was good none the less!  Finally on to the entrees, I ordered, you guessed it, the Cube Steak Saigon!  It is diced up steak cut into cubes cooked with soy sauce, onions, and broccoli and served in a steaming hot skillet with a little bowl of white rice. MMMMMMMMMM just as good as I remember (and maybe a little more expensive)!  Ariana ordered the Pineapple fried rice, which is good, I have had it before as well! She enjoyed some of the food as well.  We skipped dessert and continued to drink! The food presentation was excellent and the restaurant is nice too! It has a loungy feeling.

Off to the bar we went were E served us drink after drink and shots as well.  We all had a great time catching up and reminiscing about old times.  Also Tacu Tacu has a downstairs section called LuLu’s lounge which is a more formal karaoke bar.  You walk down and there’s a huge karaoke screen as well as other screens.  We used to hang out down there and drink and sing which is great!  This time we did not head down, but our next time at Tacu Tacu I am sure we will!  Yes there will be a next time back at Tacu Tacu! Go and please enjoy the Saigon Cube Steak!!!!!!

Her Take: This Saturday night started out as "we're just going for drinks" but it ended up turning into and unplanned dinner date.
We had decided to meet up at around 8 pm and just walk around until we found something that caught our eye. We originally wanted to go to Gorbal's Rooftop, a new rooftop bar on the Northside, but Nicky had told his friends about it and they decided to go there but we wanted some alone time first. So we walked, ended up on North 6th and decided to go to Tacu Tacu. Nicky's friends planned to go to tacu tacu that night too, but much later, so we said let's eat first and then meet with them! Tacu Tacu is Thai/Peruvian Restaurant; yes they have both cuisines; i have never been here but Nicky has and he said that they had changed the menu completely. But the menu was appetizing nonetheless. The restaurant has a square bar in the middle and tables all around, downstairs, "Lulu's Lounge" they have karaoke!
We walked in and Nicky knew the bartender from when he used to go there all the time in his "cool youth days" so he said hi and Eric, the bartender, hit him about 482 times (out of love.)
The hostess sat us and we looked through the menu and the first thing Nicky said was "THEY HAVE TAMALES" because he knows I love tamales and he also knows that he's going to be forced to try them... >:-)

So we ordered one chicken tamale, a frozen vodka lemonade for Nicky and a banana margarita for me to start off. I decided for entree I was going to have the Phucket Pineapple Fried Rice and Nicky got the Saigon Cube Steak (his favorite dish from here)
They immediately brought over plantain chips with a red and green dip which I completely forgot to ask the waiter what it was, but it was so good so I gavoned it anyway. My banana margarita was just alright, it could have used some more banana flavor in it, but Nicky loved his frozen lemonade (and proceeded to order those all night.)
The tamale came and it wasn't your traditional tamale. Usually tamales come wrapped in a banana leaf and when you open it up its just the dough and INSIDE the dough is the meat. Their tamale had the chicken and sauce and everything on the outside of in, just laid out on top instead of inside. I assume it is easier for them so they can have a variety of different tamales with different meats so all they have to do is make the dough and then throw the meat of your choice on top.
It was pretty good! the dough needed a little more salt but the chicken and the flavor was pretty good and Nicky liked it! :))) His only complaint was that it was too doughy -_- (he just doesn't like cornmeal)
Then came our entrees and I have to say my Pineapple fried Rice was A+ on the presentation; it was so nice!! The rice was served in a pineapple half with those little drink umbrellas on the pineapple. The dish was decorated very nicely, but unfortunately, the taste was not comparable to the presentation. I wish I would have liked it but the rice lacked taste, it was very very bland and there was TOO much chicken; normally I wouldn't complain about too much chicken, but when it's bland and flimsy and blah, you don't want it! That was disappointing but I ate a bit and I was full. My drinks satisfied me!
Nicky loved his cube steak, he says he gets that every time he goes there! I tried it and it was pretty good.
We ended up spending all night at Tacu Tacu by the bar, drinking and hanging with friends. Tacu Tacu recently changed their menu, so maybe the just need to work on perfecting it a little bit more!
I would go back firstly for their huge selection of frozen drinks, secondly for karaoke and thirdly to snack on the apps and try something new!

 Plantain chips

 Frozen Vodka Lemonade

 Banana Margarita

 Tamale

 Cube Steak

 Pineapple Fried Rice

Us :)