Reviews

(Mix Zone Images.)

Back in 2007, while in Las Vegas for a pulmonologist appointment, I stopped in at a local Thai restaurant called Miz Zone Cafe.  I picked it at random, loved the food, struck up a friendship with the owner, and have been going back ever since.  (Reviewed November 2007.)

Now Mix Zone is getting noticed.  The Las Vegas Business Review says,

“[I]t’s tiny, but a bright and colorful place (tucked away in an old-school shopping center), with gentle world music and a soothing fountain near the front door. It attracts a fairly colorful and very diverse clientele that appears to include a lot of college students. And our waitress was a little iconclastic — the blue hair and multiple piercings were testament to that — but provided the best service we’d encountered in a while. Which just goes to show: Sometimes funky and businesslike are quite compatible.”

UrbanSpoon says,

“Understand this: Mix Zone Café is a treasure.”

City Voter says,

“Mix Zone Café was created by three of the smartest food lovers, a Thai/Irish chef, a Filipino business man and his wife, a black/white extreme promoter… Not only does this small but never frowzy place have some of the best music starting with House maybe, then ending with Jazz, it also has this mom and pop sort of feel to it but more up to date. Free Wi-Fi makes it worthy of a try. Last but not least, it is the Thai food.”

The Las Vegas Review Journal says,

“[H]ere’s what a lot of Thai restaurants do wrong: They don’t cook the chunks of meat (or tofu, in this case) in the sauce, but add it when you order, which means the chunks end up tasting like their plain old selves instead of taking on the complex flavors of the sauce, causing a rather odd dichotomy of flavor. That wasn’t the case here. The tofu in this dish was flavored through and through.”

If you visit, be sure to try the “Cindy Special.” Invented by their Thai cook, it’s a serving of flat noodles in sauce next to an omlette stuffed with fresh greens, with a spicy Thai sauce on the side.  Delicious!

And tell them D.J. sent you.

I love food from around the world: Italian, Greek, Lebanese, Indian, Thai, Japanese, Jamaican– you name it.  Unfortunately, the Utah palette is not known for its adventurousness.   But the population is shifting as more and more transplants, especially from California, settle in formerly Mormon communities.   Last year’s opening of a Thai restaurant in St. George, an hour and 15 moinutes from my home, indicated that things are slowly changing.

For my taste, however, Ah’sya offered a rare treat.  Despite the price ($10 for lunch), I will return.

Address: 2654 E. Redcliff Dr. #103C, St. George, UT  84790
Phone: (435) 627-1272

Rating: B+.

Consumer Reports (April 2008, p. 17) answers the question, “Who Makes the Best Cars?”  Honda, Toyota, and Subaru took the three top slots, scoring 78, 75, and 72 respectively. Nissan, VW/Audi, BMW, and Mazda tied for 4th place with 71.

As for the American automakers, Ford scored highest with 61, GM 2nd to last with 54, and Chrysler tied with Suzuki for last place with 49.

Incidentally, Mercedes Benz ranked in the middle of the pack with 67, despite being the only manufacturer ranked “worst” for reliability.  Maybe a comfortable car that doesn’t run is better than an uncomfortable car that does– especially with residential foreclosures at record highs.

For owner satisfaction, the magazine says (p. 12) says owners are most satisfied with the Toyota Prius (scoring 92) and least satisfied with the Chevy Uplander (scoring only 34).

I didn’t want to like Buffalo Bill’s.  With its stained and threadbare carpets and small, poorly lit rooms, it didn’t seem to rate the three stars as compared with Whiskey Pete’s two stars.  The room furniture was identical with what they have across the street at Whiskey Pete’s.  The carpeting in the room, like that in the hallways, was in poor condition, and three 60 watt lightbulbs didn’t provide enough light to read by.  The bathroom was of better quality than Whiskey Pete’s– and besides, they don’t want their patrons in their rooms reading books– they want them downstairs in the casino spending money.

The fact is, Buffalo Bill’s is fun– and it’s hard not to like the place.  The usually-dreaded casino rambles on seemingly forever in the guise of a wild west town, with shops and restaurants well disguised.  Its amusement rides were not operating on a winter Tuesday, but how can you dislike a hotel that has a roller coaster and a wild west theme ride?  And the pool is shaped like a buffalo.

The staff was perennially friendly.  I asked for a quiet room, and they put me at the end of the hall on the 11th floor– from my room, I didn’t hear another guest during my entire stay.

The on-site Tony Roma’s was closed Tuesdays and Wednesdays, but the casino also boasted a buffet, coffee shop, BBQ counter, Panda Express, and McDonalds– as well as a number of shops.  I opted for the buffet, which was adequate: $9.95 weekdays for an unlimited amount of average food.  The salads and noodle dishes were reasonably good, while the variety of meat tended to be tough and dry.  (The desserts looked good, but I opted for more chicken-noodle casserole instead.)  Breakfast and lunch at the coffee shop were reasonably priced and reasonably good.

I have to admit: for me, the room is just a place to sleep and work, and I’ve stayed happily in rooms far worse.  For $31 (from Vegas.com), I can’t complain much about worn carpets.  And the rest of the rambling facility more than makes up for it.  If they’d only add free internet, they’d have a winner.

Rating: B-