📍 Address: 303 Red River St, Austin

⭐ Stars:⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (4.5)

I don't give out five stars often but this place deserves it. I came here for Sunday brunch and I have to say it was the best brunch I have ever had. I came here with two other people on Sunday around 10:45. I am glad we got there as early as we did. They don't take reservations and call aheads. They said the wait would be about an hour but we only waited 35 minutes. There are places to sit and water to drink while you wait which is nice. (My other friend went the same day and only waited 40 min out of the expected hour as well.) The service was great for as many people that were there. Our waited never let our waters and coffee get less than half full. It's buffet style so other than the check, which came quickly after we were done, we didn't see our waiter often. The brunch butter was incredible, especially for the price we paid. It was $17.50 a person I believe. As compared to say the Omni Hotel brunch on Sunday, which is $30 a person, this place was so much better, especially for what you pay. They had a huge variety of both breakfast, lunch and dessert items. My favorites were the Migas, cornflake crusted chicken tenders, and the broccoli rice casserole. And then there was the French toast, which I had to go back for seconds for. The atmosphere was an A+. There are so many rooms to Moonshine, each having a different vibe but all so fun. We sat in the outside area with the plastic curtains down to keep us warm. It was nice to feel outside and see the sunshine without having to deal with the wind. The place might be packed but totally worth the wait for brunch!

📍 Address: 5177-A Buford Hwy NE, Doraville

⭐ Stars:⭐⭐⭐⭐ (4)

So I ordered pretty much everything I was interested in on the menu. The item I was looking forward to the MOST was the mixed fruit with basil seeds (choice of coconut milk or mango juice). I was hoping for it to be similar to the basil seed dessert I eat in Hong Kong, where it's 60% basil seed, 25% choice of fruit, and 15% choice of mango juice or coconut milk. Well.....what I got here was 60% coconut milk slush, 39% fruit, and 1% basil seed. And the basil seeds froze when I mixed it all together. I was extremely disappointed. Everything else we go was not bad, the durian pancake, mango crepe cake, mango pomelo, and grass jelly and red bean. Enviroment was nice and clean. Service was great. The two girls who served us were very attentive and nice.

📍 Address: 423 Main St, Malden

⭐ Stars:⭐⭐⭐⭐ (3.5)

My wife purchased the Taro Red Bean shaved ice and she loved it! Great atmosphere, decor, and free wifi!

📍 Address: 1129 NW Johnson St, Portland

⭐ Stars:⭐⭐⭐⭐ (4)

I knew of Piazza Italia but had never been. I had heard it was good.I heard it was good here on Yelp. I also heard it was good from my mom, who ended up being taken here by a hoyty-toyty neighbor of hers for some now forgotten reason. If my mom didn't like Italian food somewhere, she would definitely mutter something under her breath or sort of make a face. If she liked it, she would remain silent. She remained silent about Piazza Italia.I finally ended up at Piazza Italia because some college friends from "down under" (by one state, that is) had come up to see their relatives and made some time to get together with me. They were treating and wanted to know of a place. I looked at the prices for A Cena and thought that would be pushing it. The prices at Piazza Italia looked more appropriate for them picking up the tab for a party of 3.The food was very good. The bread was just right. The pastas were excellent - there were 2 orders of lasagna and 1 order of "Gino's favorite," a linguini with egg and meat. I had one of the lasagnas. The flavor landed at a great midpoint between rich and subtle, and the consistency was among the best I've had upon ordering lasagna. (Surprisingly, a friend from Las Vegas stumbled upon a diner in Sin City which had a lasagna for a pittance, which I then dreamed about, and is now closed). I was a little underwhelmed by the dessert. We didn't order tiramisu or the typical staples at Italian restaurants, but instead ordered goblets of gelato. Two were lemon flavored and one was a flavor called Bounty. We tasted each others' gelatos. It was 3.5-ish in the dessert category.Being the Pearl and resembling an Italian restaurant in downtown Seattle at the base of a condo tower where I did not like the service, I was expecting it to be two peas in a pod. In short, I expected the service to be a little on the cavalier side. It was not like that. The service was informal, affable, and expedient. The only complaint I might have is that, as is the case with many restaurants, they all rattle off their specials so quickly that you need to ask again.Then, it must pass the litmus test with real Italians, as opposed to fake ones. The tables on both sides of our table were occupied by natives of Italy. That's a good sign.As far as the logistics go, you should not attempt to go to Piazza Italia without a reservation. The other thing is that it is so far up in the Pearl, and almost at the Fremont Bridge, that street parking might be found. Such was the case with us. Also, I was trying to figure out how the name Piazza Italia came to be. While not exactly a piazza in an Italianate sense, there is a park-like public space about one block to the east. I wonder if THAT is the piazza.Piazza Italia fell a tad short of Tre Marie in Montreal, and I mean just a tad, so it gets a strong 4 stars from me.

📍 Address: 5513 SE 72nd Ave, Portland

⭐ Stars:⭐⭐⭐⭐ (4)

This tiny brunch spot is everything you think and more. Be prepared to wait at least 30 minutes on the weekend, especially if you have more than four people. Our group was sat within 40 minutes for a table of five. We got a lovely window seat and were greeted quickly. Our mimosas were ordered and delivers swiftly! It was the perfect way to start our celebratory brunch with friends. The menu is small with a good variety of options. If you get there later in the day some items will be sold out. If you want all of the options, make sure to come earlier. We got the last orders of biscuits and gravy, and that panacotta French toast. I got the Portlander which is a delicious scramble of eggs, bacon, mushrooms, onion, and cheese. Their salsa is spectacular and flavorful! It was spicy how I like it. Their fries were so tasty some soft and some crunchy. Those biscuits and gravy are probably one of the best I've ever had. My only complaint is that there needs to be more of the gravy. However, we did get the last two orders of it. I loved this cute tiny restaurant and hope to experience it again.

📍 Address: 3226 SE Division St, Portland

⭐ Stars:⭐⭐⭐⭐ (4)

So I was visiting Portland with my family and decided to explore the city a little. When I say I want to explore a city, I mean I want to eat my way through it. I had heard about Pok Pok from a youtube video I had seen. I put it on my list of must go to restaurants. Once we arrived they took my cell phone number and said they would text me when a seat opens up. The street that PokPok is on is a charming little street with all kinds of little shops. We took a walk down the street and charted out where were wanted to go for desert after lunch. Finally, we got a text after about 20 minutes. We were quickly seated and enjoyed the outdoor like vibe they had inside the restaurant. I felt like I was in another country. The restaurant was set up in a way that didn't look like the U.S. I loved it! It made me feel like I was somewhere very new and beyond our borders. I asked the waitress what she recommended. She said the ikes fish sauce wings were the most popular. Half dozen fresh whole natural chicken wings marinated in fish sauce and sugar, deep fried, tossed in caramelized Vietnamese fish sauce and garlic and served with Cu Cai (pickled vegetables). They made it in spicy and non spicy. I ordered two orders of the wings, both spicy and unspicy. She also said Khao Soi Neua the muslim style beef curry is good. It was a Mild Muslim style beef curry noodle soup made with complex dry spice mixture and topped with coconut cream. Served with house pickled mustard greens, shallots, crispy yellow noodles and roasted chili paste. We ordered that as well with jasmine rice on the side. One thing we found odd was that they gave us a tiny dish of complimentary peanuts. It was about the size of what a 1 year old would eat. I asked her if she could give us a bigger bowl since there is 5 of us. She said it would cost us $5 to get a bigger bowl. I told her I'd pay for it. I did think it was a little weird they were charging us extra for getting more of a complimentary item. FOOD: I was so excited to to try Ikes fish sauce wings. I am usually disapointed with what I get when Im hyped up about a something. I was not disapointed. I would bite into my chicken wing and also take a bite of jasmine rice and it was the MOST PERFECT bite of food imaginable. A bit sticky, crispy, juicy. It was like all my senses were on high alert. Im not a huge fan of fish sauce but I liked these wings. It is a bit strong on the fish sauce flavor so that is the reason I took a bite of the rice with it but the combination just blew my mind. It was out of this world! I loved every bite. I would give it 5 out of 5 stars for sure! The the muslim style beef curry was good. It wasn't as good as I thought it would be but my husband loved it more than I did which would tell me that it depends on who is eating it. He ate every last bit of it. It was different and had a multitude of flavors orchestrated into one delicious bowl. I would give it a 4 out of 5 if I was rating this alone. Service: Service was wonderful. Our waitress was very informative and was able to answer any questions we had. She would describe the food in such detail and I loved that. She was also very quick to get drinks to our table. That is always something that I pay attention to. I give service a 5/5 stars. All in all this is a great experience. I truly recommend this place. If not for the the amazing food...the amazing atmosphere of this place.