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One of the best places in town to get your shoes, handbags and other leather goods repaired. Been using them for years. Good old fashion honest folks that doesn't penny pinch you with surcharges....
One of the best places in town to get your shoes, handbags and other leather goods repaired. Been using them for years. Good old fashion honest folks that doesn't penny pinch you with surcharges. Friendly and very easy to talk to. Many times, I would walk out of there with repairs costing less than $2. That is amazing for day and age. And if he thinks something is not worth fixing, he'd tell you straight up. As he says, he'd love to take my money but if he was in my shoes, the fix ain't worth the cost of fixing. All of our neighbors go to them exclusively as well.
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My wife and I have gone through about 5 different vet offices from West Seattle to Ballard over the past 15 yrs. Ended up at QA Animal Clinic and have been with them for the past 5 yrs. Plan to stay...
My wife and I have gone through about 5 different vet offices from West Seattle to Ballard over the past 15 yrs. Ended up at QA Animal Clinic and have been with them for the past 5 yrs. Plan to stay with them too! Sure we've gone to places that charges less. And places that charged more. In fact with one place that charged less, what started as a routine checkup ended up with us having to put our cat down. We should've known. They were cheaper. They were faster. But faster ended up costing the life of our cat. Just as I'd never take my car into a Jiffy Lube. My pets are too important to me. Never again!
At QA Animal Clinic, as many of the reviews have noted, they are super friendly people and we definitely get the warm and fussy from them. Their waiting area is small but they get us into a room fairly quickly so I have not had to wait with more than 1 other pet owner at a time. No, they are not the cheapest but you know what, they are not pushy like other vets either. e.g. for my older cats, other vets kept warning me about how the kidney disease will shorten the life of my cat and so we need to do all these procedures on a monthly basis and we need to feed them this prescription diet... etc. (we've had older cats died from this before so we know) Sure QA offered the same stuff but they also offered alternatives. We only visit on an annual basis. My cat's kidney was stable. And we made our own kidney food for many years (way cheaper and all organic unlike these chemical foods). When it did come time for our old buddy at the ripe old age of 17 to pass, the whole place was there for us. Our vet (Dr. Westerdahl) let us say goodbye for as long as we need. We had friends come down to say their goodbyes too. The dr told the office staff to go but they all stayed, an hour after closing. They all loved our cat too. When we were done, we signed the cremation papers and they sent us home. Telling us not to worry about the bill til next week. They have been the best and we'll continue to bring them our cats.
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Mandarin Chef is no fancy restaurant. But if you are looking for a small hole in the wall, family run cozy little restaurant, Mandarin Chef more than fit the bill. Lunch prices are especially well...
Mandarin Chef is no fancy restaurant. But if you are looking for a small hole in the wall, family run cozy little restaurant, Mandarin Chef more than fit the bill. Lunch prices are especially well priced ($5-$6) with large portions. This little restaurant has been the regular hangout for my wife since she was attending UW 10 yrs ago. The owner will want to get to know the regulars and always love chatting with us about anything and everything.
We love their homemade noodles and we always order a side of dumpling/potstickers with each visit (sometimes pork, sometimes veggie). We also tend to order the egg corn soup which is one of the best in town ($1.50/cup). We love their chicken with broccoli (medium spicy) to the point that even if they don't have it on their menu, they know to make it for us. They lean towards the more Szechuan dishes (spicy) vs the Cantonese type (Hong Kong hence not spicy). But they offer both options and we often wouldn't know which way we're going to lean til we sit down. Look for their specials on the wall next to the cash register. They always have yummy dish of the day.
There aren't too many non-westernized Chinese restaurants around Seattle, outside of the International District. Mandarin Chef is the only one we visit regularly especially due to its location yet it's still more than a 15 min drive for us. It's a small yet cozy family run restaurant that is well priced with wonderful tasting dishes. Mandarin Chef keeps my wife and I happy between visits to Vancouver, B.C.
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We have been using Madison Carnolia for our dry cleaning needs for a number of years now. They have always been prompt and super friendly. We recently gave them the ultimate test and they came...
We have been using Madison Carnolia for our dry cleaning needs for a number of years now. They have always been prompt and super friendly. We recently gave them the ultimate test and they came through with flying colors. We trusted them enough to have them repair my wife's wedding gown. And spoke with the owner in great length about their archival process including the use of acid free containers to prevent yellowing over time. We were very pleased with the repair and the presentation of the wedding gown container with a giant window for viewing purposes. They have done wonders with our most delicate fabrics and have not encountered a stain they can't remove yet. We will continue to use them for our drycleaning needs.
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I have been going to Firestone on NW Market St for a number of years for auto repairs for multiple cars. Should've written a number of times but admit to being too lazy. But they did it again so I...
I have been going to Firestone on NW Market St for a number of years for auto repairs for multiple cars. Should've written a number of times but admit to being too lazy. But they did it again so I am now compelled to write and share my experience with others. As it is hard enough to find an honest mechanic let alone one that helps you save money.
A number of times, I have gone in for repairs. They quoted me a price which sound quite reasonable. And I actually walking out of the shop paying less than the estimate. This last time, my car died. I had it towed in. They quoted me a price of $100+ for a full engine diagnostic to locate the problem. I agreed. The mechanic had suspicions that it has to do with the electricals so he ran tests against the electricals first and voila, he found the alternator was not supplying enough juice. So they only charged me $26 for locating the problem right away vs charging me the full $100 and not saying a thing.
I've had similar experiences in past visits and I have to say they are the most honest shop I know in town. That and their prices I would say is on the low side. I have been going to them for years and will continue going to them for the foreseeable future.
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We took our cat to Family Pet in Ballard for grooming only to find she was unresponsive by the next morning (I have also posted my review of Family Pet for your reference). The doctor at Family Pet...
We took our cat to Family Pet in Ballard for grooming only to find she was unresponsive by the next morning (I have also posted my review of Family Pet for your reference). The doctor at Family Pet did suggest we take her to ACCES (Animal Critical Care and Emergency Service) and so we did. Long story short, the doctor at ACCES told us a cat our age should not have been sedated and we now have a dying cat situation in our hands. They have brought her back some. But they were honest in telling us what is happening and what options we have. They were willing to try everything in their power to bring her back as much as they are able to, but the doctor suggests that even if we were to spend thousands on her, they may only be able to bring her back 50% as a lot of her organs has started to shut down. And there is no telling how much longer she would be able to live after that. We still weren't able to commit since we initially took her in for grooming only. We were still shocked that this is happening as we were still playing with our cat the day before. The doctor at ACCES took the time and did a bit of counselling with us. Talking us through how long we've had our cat and that she is getting up there in age. the doctor would gladly take our money but it would probably be not in our best interest. That and our cat would be suffering for the remaining days of her life even if they were to bring her back as much as they are able.
The staffs were all very sympathetic. We made the tough call to put her down. They gave us a room to ourselves to compose ourselves for as long as we needed. Then they brought our cat back so that she was responsive so that we could say our last good byes to her. They gave us as much time as we needed with her and to come out and call them at the reception area once we were done. They were very nice about the whole process and kept the paperwork and other unpleasantries to a minimum. We received a very supportive condolence card from them 2 days later from the staff we dealt with at the time, saying our cat was in their prayers. When I went back to pick up her ashes, the receptionist at that time was very supportive and offered many kind words. The next time we have a pet emergency, we will definitely go back to ACCES.
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