Susi R.'s Profile

Thank you Yelp, for showing me Mann's.  I cannot stress enough how delicious this place is.  DELICIOUS, I TELL YOU.  Mann's is a perfect blend of Texas BBQ and the Southern-style BBQ I grew up with.  The pulled pork was so tender.  Plus, they have BRUNSWICK STEW.  I didn't see it the first time I went, but I am SO trying it the next time I go.  I really miss good Brunswick stew.

They gave us free (!) homemade (!!!) chocolate ice cream for dessert.  Seriously, these are nice people.  GO GIVE THEM YOUR MONEY.

When I first moved here (and before I found Yelp) I picked this vet because it was down the street from me.  Luckily, I think I made a pretty good choice.  I've been taking my cats here for about a year and they always do a great job.  Everyone is very friendly and gentle with the animals.  Bonus: they're open every other Saturday, so those of us with 9-5 jobs during the week can get more convenient appointments.

: Look

You are in a strip mall parking lot.  There is a door to the west.  The shrieking of traffic on Lamar is at your back.

: Open door

You open the door and walk inside.  There are brand new comics directly in front of you.  To the north, there are high shelves covered in independent offerings.  To the northwest you can see mainstream comics.

: Northwest

You walk between the indie offerings to the back.  There is a large empty space where backstock may have once been, and will likely return in the future.  In front of your there is a wall covered in t-shirts.  To the south you can see a cove filled with wondrous action figures and collectibles.  

: Buy comics

You don't have any comics.

: Take comics

You compile an assortment of comics and graphic novels.  This amount of reading materials will last you for days!

: Take shirt

You select a thin garment made of cotton to cover your nakedness.  It is emblazoned with a familiar logo.

: Exit

You should really pay for that before you leave.

: Buy

You trundle up to the cash register with your bounty and pay the friendly shopkeeper.  You exit the store.

: Get in car

You enter your vehicle and put it in reverse.

: Look

There are several cars traveling at high velocity down either side of the road.

: Wait

You wait for an opening in traffic.  

: Wait

You wait for an opening in traffic.

: Wait

You wait for an opening in traffic.

: Look

There appears to be an opening in traffic.

: Back up onto Lamar

It is very dangerous.  You are likely to be eaten by a grue.

: Look

Once again you check your rear view mirror.  There does appear to be an opening in traffic.

: Back up onto Lamar

You have been eaten by a grue.

(S)tart, (R)etry, (Q)uit?
:

If you like sweet stuff, GET THE SACRED HEART COFFEE.  You won't be disappointed.

First off, I will admit that I am not a PC gamer.  Yeah, I know that's sort of the point of this place, but I wanted to try it out anyway.  I came here mainly to check out the old DDR machines and see if there was anyone to play Rock Band with.  

There is a cluster of fighting games in a corner right when you walk in, but I didn't spot any DDR machines.  Eventually I spotted one of them: unplugged, turned around, and shoved into a corner behind an active machine.  Okaaay.  Don't you have a storage room or something to put machines you aren't using?  As it turns out, they do, but they couldn't put the unused DDR machine in it...since there was already a DDR machine in there.  Oddly enough, that one was the one that was plugged in, so I gave it a whirl.  It ranks among the worst arcade experiences I've ever had.  The machine itself was fine, but the room was about as hot as the SURFACE OF THE SUN, and the rest of the room is crammed full of junk (since, yanno, it's a STORAGE room).  Are they embarrassed to have people playing DDR in plain sight?  Is there some gang war between DDR players and PC gamers that I'm unaware of?  Really, whatever the reason, they should just unplug the damn machines and put them in storage if they don't want to give them the room and air circulation they need.

The rest of the arcade machines get a bit more attention, but not much.  They all occupy the same tiny corner.  The machines are too close together so there's a big overlap of players and the people in line.  The arcade area would definitely benefit if they spread the machines out more, especially since they have a good collection of fighters.

The console setups looked pretty nice.  There was one separate room with a big screen (or was it a projector?) and comfy seating that was being used by some kids playing Rock Band.  Looks like it would be a good setup for a group who might want to get a bit louder and not have to worry about disturbing the rest of the store.  There were also two medium-sized TVs in the main area for consoles.

Since it's billed as a PC gaming center, the computers take up most of the space.  One wall is lined with 'em.  I can't say anything about the quality of the machines, but I liked that the boxes were up above each station so they were out of the way.  The whole setup looks really good.

I have no frame of reference for prices, but they seemed reasonable to me.  $3.50 for an hour, $2 on Tuesdays.  Much cheaper than spending an hour in an arcade, at the very least.  

Overall, I would recommend it if you want a place to go with a group.  The guys who were already there were kinda doing their own things, so it's not really a place to go if you want to FIND a group.

I'm an arcade connoisseur, but unfortunately I don't often get to go to a good arcade.  Most of the arcades I see are filled with redemption games, skeeball, and a couple of beat up Cruisn' cabinets.  So I was really excited to find Gameworks.  This arcade is HUGE, and has an awesome selection of games.

One of the things I liked was the layout.  The games were grouped by type: shooters, fighters, racers, simulators, and pinball.  Highlights include:

- separate room with every House of the Dead game, complete with blood-splattered walls and zombies  
- brand new Pump It Up NX machine
- section of old school cabinets (Moon Patrol, baby!)
- Mario Kart Arcade
- Air Trix (I miss this game)
- MvC2
- Tekken 5 (with card dispenser, if you dig that sort of thing)
- Star Wars arcade game
- House of the Dead 4 Special (a sight to behold)

The only place where they lose points is the card system.  While I've started to warm up a bit to card systems because they simplify things, the prices here are pretty exorbitant.  $35 for a day pass?  Damn.  You best believe I played the crap out of everything for that price.

I'm pretty sure you can't be considered a real Austin Yelper until you review the original Alamo.  It's in the Terms of Service, go look it up.

The new location has two screens instead of just one, so there's twice the madness to choose from.  I do miss the old location a little, but I have to admit, the Ritz is so glitzy with all those blinkenlights.

Some of the stuff they do here...it's like they have a window into my head and they know exactly what I want to see.

.....

GET OUT OF MY HEAD!

I like drinking, but I hate bars.  

B.D. Riley's fixes this issue for me.  

It's laid back, you can actually sit down, and the food is good.  Great alternative to some of the other crap on 6th.

This is my favorite Starbucks and it's mostly due to the fantastic patio.  It wraps around half of the building and they actually took the time to build it around the huge existing shade trees.  It can be noisy because it overlooks Parmer, but it's amusing to watch people drive stupid.  

The baristas here are all really nice.  Is that an Austin thing?

Note: the parking lot here is narrow and one-way, but that doesn't stop a lot of people from going the wrong way.  Be careful.

I've never been to such a nice and helpful doctor before.  Most of the other doctors I've had just wrote me a prescription and sent me out the door.  Dr. Carter really listened to me and gave me several options I could consider, and didn't even make me choose right away.  She gave me a pile of literature and told me to come back after I'd had some time to consider.

The best part is that she's not one of those doctors that looks down their nose at you.  You can ask any question and you'll get a helpful and informative answer, instead of a "because I said so".

Oh, and like Shanna said, bring something to do while you wait, unless you want to read baby magazines.