After opening with a pinch of public criticism a few months ago, Stocktonians are asking in chorus, “Have you been to Paragary’s?”.


Well, after tons of pressure, Dawn and I finally dined at Paragary’s Bar and Grill in the Hotel Stockton. Ok, to be honest, there was no pressure, but we’ve been wanting to visit downtown Stockton’s newest restaurant.

We walked in right before 8 o’clock last night and were seated immediately by a very friendly hostess. It wasn’t very crowded, probably less than half the tables were occupied but we still waited a few minutes before being greeted by our server. After getting our drink order she disappeared for another few minutes before coming back to get our order.

Dawn ordered the grilled salmon and I ordered the pork chop. Dawn was disappointed when the server returned to break the news that they had run out of salmon. She settled on the sole based on the server’s recommendation. The pork chop, served with a delicious apricot chutney, came with onion rings and french fries and was grilled perfectly. Even though Dawn had her heart set on the salmon, she enjoyed the sole. The food was wonderful, definitely a welcome to Stockton. It’s the service, however, that might keep us from coming back.

Our server was not rude, in fact, she was quite friendly. The level of service just didn’t match the ambiance (or price) of the restaurant as a whole. Our server didn’t ask if we wanted an appitizer, soup or salad. We waited longer for drink refills than you’d have to at Moo Moo’s. We asked for more bread (which was delicious by the way) but never got it. We never saw a manager the entire evening. Call me old fashioned but I think “table touching” is vital in any restaurant, especially at Stockton’s new fine dining establishment.

All in all, Paragary’s is a great new addition to Stockton and a wonderful addition to downtown. We loved the location; we loved the ambiance; we loved the food; we didn’t love the service. It wasn’t the worst service we’ve ever received and we still had a wonderful evening together. Will we go back? Not sure. We probably won’t be bringing any out of town friends - there are other places in town where we can show off Stockton.

Check out other reviews on yelp and The Record.

Stockton, the city that recently topped the rest of the nation with the highest foreclosure rates, is now atop another list.

The Record ran a story today about gas prices. I know, that is not a big deal. What caught my eye was that Stockton has the highest prices in the nationwide survey.

Actually, this did not surprise me. Every morning, on the news, I hear the national, state and Sacramento area averages, which are always lower than what I see in Stockton. Yikes, maybe I should start riding my bike to work more often.

So, what am I doing to save gas? For starters, since I commute over 100 miles per day, I am trying to not drive at all on the weekend, unless I absolutely have to. For normal errands, I will either ride my bike, walk, or wait until I going to or from work. Besides that, I have been driving slower on the freeway. By driving the speed limit (which often requires me to stay in the right lane) I am getting a 10% bump in my MPG.

Wow, a 74 cent increase from 4/9/08 to 6/2/08 (in Tracy and Lathrop, respectively... I try to not buy gas in Stockton).


Check out my other gas price pics on Flickr.

(story also appeared here on MSNBC)

Last night, we went with Mike and Shauna to see The Grape play at this year's kick-off Bowl Jam at Pacific Bowl. After having watched The Grape play at The Blackwater for so long, it was nice to see them play in a place where they had some room to move around. Tom, the founding member and song writer of The Grape, on guitar, Ted on bass, Ralph on drums and Jady on vocals, played for 45 minutes before taking a break. An "administrative error" prevented the headliner from playing so The Grape played a second set before giving the stage up to Lita Hope for a rocking 45 minute set. Lita Hope and The Grape share a drummer and Ted and Tom were kind enough to let Lita and the others play their set on their equipment. This was the first time we'd seen Lita Hope perform and were quite impressed.

Check out the pics from the show.

I am an REI virgin no more. I only heard of REI a couple of years ago but hadn't been inside one until the Stockton one opened. Emily and I went on grand opening weekend and were impressed with all of the bike and camping stuff. Although I had heard of REI I had no idea that they sold bikes and bike accessories.



Tonight, I needed to get a new pair of arm warmers. After a few years, mine dissapeared. I was so happy that they actually had a few different styles, all sizes and plenty of each in stock. After grabbing a pair and a new water bottle, the Store Manager approached me and asked if I needed help. I told him that I thought they might put one of the other bike stores in town out of business. His response was noble. "We don't want to put any bike shop out of business." He added that they just want to encourage more people to ride. Then he said something brilliant. "We want to put BestBuy out of business. Our mission is to get people outside."

Brilliant.

I am now an REI member.

April in Stockton... you know the routine. Asparagus Festival! This, the 23rd one, was held in beautiful downtown Stockton on what felt like the hottest day of the year. Emily and I arrived at 6:45 in the morning to register for the 5k Spear-It Fun Run.

This was the first organized run either of us have ever did and felt good out there, not stopping or walking at all. When we approached the water station Emily even suggested we slow down a little and let the group ahead of us go through and get their water. This way, we would miss the mess of the bunch and get our cups without stopping... what a smart idea.

We completed the 5k in 33:35. I've ran faster but haven't ran at all since December. It sure was a far cry from my first attempt at running a mile in 2006.



So, besides the 5k run, I tried deep fried asparagus for the first time, we saw some amazing frisbee dogs and met Martin Yan from Yan Can Cook!

Check out the pics here.

Check out last year's Asparagus Festival.

Mike and I went to game three of the ECHL playoffs last night to watch the Stockton Thunder square off against the Las Vegas Wranglers. The Thunder took an early lead with the first goal and then even got up to a 0-3 advantage. The cheers were quieted by the end of regulation when the Wranglers scored three unanswered goals of their own. We played a tough OT period but just couldn't score, even with a couple of power plays! The Wrangler finally put us out of our misery with less than a minute left on the clock. The Thunder are now down 3-1 and need another win to stay alive.

Check out the pics here.


I also took a couple of videos. The first one is the of the first goal scored of the game, the second one is one of a flying puck (not sure how well that comes across on YouTube).

That's right, folks... Roller Derby is alive and kicking! We joined the F&F family and went to root on Nicole and the San Joaquin Valley Vixens Roller Derby team in a bout at the Civic Auditorium. This was the first time the kids had ever seen Roller Derby and the first time any of us had seen it live. It took a while for Dawn and I to understand the logistics of the sport but once we did, we had a blast yelling at the players.

These women are tough and took a lot of hard falls!

During one of the intermissions, I was selected to join the corn-on-the-cob eating contest. I took second place but could have won if the judges gave me full credit for that last cob!



Check out the pics here.

Did Stockton really need a new pizza restaurant? We might be a little biased (we love pizza) but I think the answer is a resounding "yes"! Stockton has had the reputation of "restaurant killer" for sometime. Gone are the days of Shannons, the Hatch Cover, Bella Vista, the original (and we would argue, better) Cancun, even Red Robin couldn't last in Stockton.

Through the years, we've seen too many restaurants come and go. Tonight, we ate at one that might just buck the trend.



Cibo di Vino opened recently on the Miracle Mile, right next door to the Empire Theatre. Although there are other items on the menu other than pizza, it was, of course, the pizza that brought us. The service was great. We had reservations and got right in but would have waited under the name, Jessica Alba or Billy Bob Thornton - very funny. After we were seated, our waiter came by to take our drink order. Cibo di Vino had a great selection of wines and Dawn and I each enjoyed a "flight of three" sampler. The pizza was awesome - I would rate it right up there with Michael's and Dante's. Great wine, great service, great atmosphere, and great pizza.

Our first restaurant review earns 5 rolling pins!



Check them out online - cibodivino.com.

Read the recent article in the Record.

Visit them for yourself:
1825 Pacific Ave, Stockton, California 95204