Sharis Restaurant & Pies - Livermore, CA

Sharis Restaurant & Pies
1116 E. Stanley Blvd.
Livermore, CA 94550
(925) 449-4245
sharis.com



Sharis Restaurant & Pies is a restaurant chain from Sherwood, Oregon known simply as "Sharis" with most locations in Oregon and Washington. They have a new location in Livermore, which was the previous location for Bakers Square Restaurant on East Stanley Boulevard in the Trader Joe's shopping center next to Burger King.



We came here to Sharis for the first time tonight and decided to order breakfast for dinner. He had the Cinnama-sation Platter with eggs, bacon, sausage and hash browns ($9.49) and I had the Eggs Benedict ($9.49) which came with hash browns. Both of us thought that our breakfasts were pretty good...definitely better than Denny's or IHOP!

The nice thing we learned about Sharis is that they are open 24/7, so in Livermore they will give the Donut Wheel some competition as an all-night joint. They also offer free wi-fi, so that's a plus for a lot of people as it's not a common thing at Livermore restaurants. We had good service tonight as well, so Sharis is a place we would come back to again!

Update 10/15/09 - We came back for dinner...and for their "Free Pie Wednesday" special! He ordered the Chicken 'N Dumplings Skillet ($9.99) which was pretty good...but my Savory Lemon & Dill Salmon ($10.49) was overcooked & dry, the red skinned mashed potatoes were cold and the veggies were an inedible mush. On a better note, his S'mores Pie and my Peanut Butter & Chocolate Silk Pie were both delicious!

Update 10/17/09 - Back at Sharis in Livermore for a Charbroiled Burger with Cheddar Cheese ($8.29) and another Cinnama-sation Breakfast ($8.49). The burger was cooked very well overdone (even though I ordered it "medium") and after I told our server it wasn't cooked right, he told me that they only cook burgers that way. I wish he would have said something when I ordered it because I would have just ordered something else...

Safeway (4495 First Street) - Livermore, CA

Safeway
4495 First St.
Livermore, CA 94551
(925) 455-2520
safeway.com



One thing I learned about Safeway's wine pricing today was that this bottle of wine on the right (with the wolf head) sells for $10.00 at the winery (Kenwood Vineyard) because I bought a couple of bottles just last weekend. So think about that next time you think about buying wine at Safeway! :)



Another "interesting" thing I learned is that I was told by a Caucasian female employee/supervisor of the Safeway Deli (in a very rude manner) that taking photographs of the deli is illegal! Huh??? Apparently, I must have missed the sign out front next to "No Pets Allowed" that said "No Cameras Allowed" - NOT!

Anyway, this rude female employee actually went and got the Hispanic male manager to come out of his office in the front of the store and tell me that I was not allowed to take photographs in the store. Well, if he was going to try to take away my camera, I had already thought of holding it up high above my head...he'd never be able to reach it then!

So...here are my "illegally obtained" photos of the Safeway Deli in this top-security grocery store that I managed to escape from without personal injury or confiscation of personal property:



Anyway, after sharing a sandwich from Tommie's Deli earlier today, we compared the Safeway sandwich we shared (chicken, provolone, olive tapenade, artichoke hearts and roasted red peppers). Tommie's wasn't really hard to beat at all and Safeway did have the better sandwich of the two...but they still get one star for the overpriced wine and camera fiasco...plus all the tables in Safeway's "cafe seating" area were filthy, so we didn't even eat there. So much for this Livermore Safeway being Safeway's "flagship" store...

Tommie's Deli & Sandwiches - Livermore, CA

Tommie's Deli & Sandwiches
2152 Second St.
Livermore, CA 94550
(925) 456-3354
tommiesdeli.com



Tommie's Deli & Sandwiches is located in an old brick building on Second Street behind the Livermore Chamber of Commerce. They have a nicely designed website, a very cool exterior facade and a welcoming interior. However, Tommie's popular "Choke & Chicken Sandwich" was one of the worst chicken sandwiches I've ever had! I would have called it "Choke On The Chicken Sandwich" instead. Seriously.



It's really too bad because Tommie's Deli in Livermore has great-tasting meat; we even sampled a little of their deli-sliced chicken and it was delicious. However, their sourdough bread was simply awful...it was super dry and crumbly and very thickly sliced, so the sandwich really didn't stand a chance with it. I basically had a mouthful of dry bread and a little taste of chicken, a couple of sundried tomatoes, but almost no artichoke flavor at all. I ditched the bread and just ate the meat, but that was the last $7.00 I would spend on a Tommie's Deli sandwich.

Baskin-Robbins - Livermore, CA

Baskin-Robbins
4323 First St.
Livermore, CA 94550
(925) 371-7031
baskinrobbins.com



I received a coupon in my e-mail for one free scoop of ice cream at Baskin-Robbins (since I enrolled in their Birthday Club a few days ago) so I decided to visit my local Baskin-Robbins for the first time this afternoon. It's located on First Street in Livermore, in the Safeway Shopping Center next door to Togo's.



My all-time favorite ice cream flavor is Peanut Butter 'N Chocolate, so that's the free scoop I ordered at Baskin-Robbins in Livermore. I also found out it's a "Kid's Scoop" not a regular-size scoop, which is a perfect size, anyway. :)

Eddie Papa's American Hangout - Livermore, CA

Eddie Papa's American Hangout
2417 First St.
Livermore, CA 94550
(925) 373-6650
eddiepapas.com



I rarely give out 1-star reviews, but I also rarely am told something on the menu is fresh and it isn't AND have very slow food and bill service AND get served awful food all in the same restaurant. Today, we stopped to eat at the new Eddie Papa's American Hangout in Livermore, across the street from the movie theaters and in the location previously known as Movida (Lounge)...and I predict that one day, Eddie Papa's in Livermore will follow their footsteps and close down, too.

First of all, Eddie Papa's didn't change the decor or furniture when they took over Movida. It doesn't fit the Eddie Papa's image at all...in fact, it's a funky, tasteless combination of upscale, hip, swanky lounge decor and a casual, All-American menu. Secondly, the food at Eddie Papa's in Livermore doesn't live up to the prices they are charging. Instead of paying $10+ dollars for a mediocre burger here, why wouldn't anyone walk down the street to the Riata Diner or First Street Ale House? You get a MUCH better quality burger and WAY better french fries for a few dollars less. As far as the $15-$20 entrees on Eddie Papa's menu, I wouldn't dare try those if they can't even make a decent turkey sandwich. You're better off getting one at Quiznos or Togo's...even Subway makes a better one...jeez!



Our server at Eddie Papa's in Livermore was a tall female with reddish hair and she was friendly when taking our orders and answering a question I had about their New England Turkey sandwich: "Do you use fresh cranberries in the cranberry citrus compote?" However, when she responded with an enthusiastic, "Yes, of COURSE they're fresh cranberries!" I later found out that she lied. They were absolutely NOT fresh cranberries.

It was irritating to sit there at Eddie Papa's in Livermore and wait...and wait...and wait to get our food, especially as we saw that most of the people in the restaurant were also sitting there and waiting...and waiting...and waiting. We saw one table get their food before ours arrived, but there were several tables filled with hungry onlookers.

My New England Turkey sandwich was a complete fail...with its shredded lettuce, canned cranberry sauce that had been pureed and even a sloppy cranberry sauce thumbprint on the top of the bread! Did Eddie Papa's have a 5-year old back in the kitchen making my sandwich? The sweet potato fries, btw...are actually soft-fried yam strips. They weren't very good, either, but even they tasted better than the sandwich.



According to my husband, the only thing good about his New Mexico burger was the meat. The bun was hard, the bacon was soggy, the cheese was barely melted and there were only a couple of jalapenos in the entire burger! Oh, and his comment about the shredded lettuce was, "WTF, I didn't order a Big Mac!"



As if things couldn't get any worse during our first dining experience at Eddie Papa's in Livermore...we also sat there and waited for a long time to get our bill. Our server never came back, so we asked the gentleman who had refilled our drinks previously to please get our bill. He cleared our plates and 5 minutes later, after no one showed up to deliver us the bill, we just left cash on the table and took off...never to return to Eddie Papa's in Livermore again!

1st Treat Yogurt - Livermore, CA

1st Treat Yogurt
2127 First St.
Livermore, CA 94550
(925) 292-4244
1sttreatyogurt.com

1st Treat has pretty good yogurt for $0.40/oz. with a fair selection of dry toppings, but only 5 fruit toppings...and kiwi is the only fresh fruit they have. The strawberries and mixed berries are frozen and peaches and pears looked like they came out of a can. Not good.



The fro-yo flavors they had the times I've been there were: chocolate, vanilla, irish mint, cheesecake, banana, plain tart, mango tart, peach and strawberry. I tried the plain and mango tart, topped with frozen strawberries, frozen mixed berries and whipped cream. It was okay, but I wouldn't have gotten it had I known the fruit wasn't fresh. I do like the banana with just a touch of chocolate (alone, it's too sweet for me) and topped with Reese's peanut butter cups and peanut butter chips.



They also have whipped cream (it weighs nothing so it's easy on the pocketbook, too) in the door of the stainless fridge where the fruit toppings are. They're the only fro-yo in Livermore besides TCBY...and, um...Costco's food court.



Too bad they didn't stay open a little later...they close at 9pm (10pm on Fridays and Saturdays.) Another thing...I just discovered on their website that they offer a "punch card" where you buy 9 and get the 10th one free. We've been there numerous times and no one ever offered us one. Boo.

Me & Cha's Flavor of Vietnam - Livermore, CA

Me & Cha's Flavor of Vietnam
1548 N. Vasco Rd.
Livermore, CA 94551
(925) 606-8889

We stopped in this afternoon for a drink...I had a taro milk tea with pearls and he had a Vietnamese coffee with evaporated milk. If you haven't tried either of these drinks, I highly recommend you do! Service was good and I guess the only negative I have to report is that the place gets very, very hot in the afternoon. You'll practically burn your hand opening the front door and they don't have good ventilation inside...but at least if you're sipping a cold drink, it helps!

Alekos Greek & Mediterranean Cuisine - Livermore, CA

Alekos Greek & Mediterranean Cuisine
1536 N. Vasco Rd.
Livermore, CA 94551
(925) 245-9769

I was disappointed with our first visit here for dinner this evening...average service, but below average food. I barely ate half of my gyros, as I found it to be too salty and the "tzatziki sauce" was really just plain yogurt. Ugh. This experience was bad enough for me not to want to return here ever again.

First Street Ale House - Livermore, CA

First Street Ale House
2086 First St.
Livermore, CA 94550
(925) 371-6588
firststreetalehouse.com

The small outdoor patio at First Street Ale House is almost always packed during dinner hours and with good reason - a large selection of ales, great service and reasonably priced good food. I'm not a beer drinker, but my husband enjoyed the Pyramid Apricot. We shared a mushroom-swiss burger, garden salad, crumbled bleu cheese burger and garlic fries...and the garlic fries were awesome!



Here's the scoop on their specials:

- Happy Hour is M-F from 4-6 (Tuesday all day) and it's $1 off all pints
- Pint Night Thursday is $5.25/first pint, $3.25/refills and you keep the glass (the sign said "Gordon Biersch Marzen or Hefeweizen")