The first place was Tyrone in Uptown Waterloo in the "pub district". This place is definitely not a pub. It's a lounge restaurant. I know it just opened but I was not impressed - except for their DJ. But they don't have dancing so what good is that? I'm really not sure who they want their clientele to be. I went with a party of 6 people on a wednesday night around 10pm. The place was nearly empty. The decor was a fusion of Asian and Modern which just didn't look high end. They had these annoying lights that went from red to green to blue, etc and they were like blinding. They have some couches near the DJ booth and a combination of tables and booths and then seating at the bar. Our waitress was new but it took her 30 minutes to get us water and she had to ask what my drink order was 3 times before finally taking the menu to the bar. She was nice though. The drinks were TINY and way overpriced. I ordered a dessert that was good but again TINY. There are nicer places to go it you just want to have a classy drink. I wasn't very impressed as you can tell-oh and the name is horrible.
The second was Sushi Star on King in Kitchener. It's an "all you can eat" Sushi restaurant. The way it works is you pay $20 and can order as much as you want, but if you order food you don't eat you have to pay for it. So you just order a little at a time. It's comparable to Ye's Sushi in Waterloo. I always leave so FULL from these places. My one friend did not enjoy the sushi part but there was teriyaki and tempura on the menu that she could eat. I thought the sushi was good though. For dessert we had the red bean ice cream which was actually good, had a a chalky chocolate taste. The atmosphere wasn't anything to get excited about though, and I didn't check out the bathroom.
The third place was on King as well in Uptown Waterloo, Margarita's. KW doesn't really have any good Tex Mex places so I was excited to try this one which opened about 4 months ago. We went on a SUnday night and it wasn't overly busy but we weren't the only ones there either. The menu was small but I appreciated that because I get overwhelmed by choice. I ordered a Mango Margarita - it was very good, not too sweet. Then I had chicken tacos (the soft ones) that were good and there was lots of meat. Everyone enjoyed their meals (the enchiladas were apparently very good). We even tried cactus in like a vinaigrette salad - let me tell you it's an acquired taste for sure. For dessert we had Churros served with Dulce de Leche - they were AMAZING. The decor was very random and reminded me of other Mexican restaurants in New York and Toronto. Our waiter was great. I would go again...maybe with a sombrero?
