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Let’s Cook was a Really Fun Date Night

December 22nd, 2011

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I decided to schedule a date night for my wife and I at a new business in town called, “Let’s Cook”.

We had no idea what to expect but ended up having a really fun time. What I liked most about it was the ability to meet new people combined with getting to relate to my wife while cooking food together.

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Everyone I know including myself likes going to the movies but you don’t get to communicate with your wife this way. Let’s Cook gives you many chances to laugh and experience many new things together with the one you love.

Unfortunately for many of us guys a romantic gesture that will please the wife doesn’t always come easy. I am one of these guys but I do get it right sometimes. Don’t fall for those diamond ring radio commercials for your last minute Christmas gift idea but go by Let’s Cook and schedule a date with your wife for their next date night class.

You will learn to cook some delicious recipes and will be surprised how easy it is. They will have some prepared food before the lesson you can eat but don’t eat too much as you will make plenty of food together to fill you up for the night. On our night we made several courses including dessert.

In summary, I was most surprised by the passion and charm added by the Italian chef for that night. His name is Al Ippolito and he is a chef, college professor, business owner, and has an extensive career resume. If you have Al as your chef you will not just learn how to cook but will get a great education on Italian culture and life coming from the son of two Italian immigrants from New York City.

Check out their date night page with photos and reviews

Card 53 Comedy in Tyler Texas

July 30th, 2011

Card 53 Comedy in Tyler TX

Just heard about a comedy troupe in Tyler Texas.

You no longer have to travel to Shreveport or Dallas for that occasional comedy club experience.

We have a local Tyler Texas comedy group right here now.

This group is available for private parties, corporate events, night life, club acts, etc.

Check their website for future performances: http://www.card53.com/

Clicks Live in Tyler TX

June 14th, 2011

Clicks Live
Clicks has been a part of Tyler for years as a local bar with a pool hall and venue for live music. The concentration on live music aspect of the bar has definitely been gradually increasing over the years taking Clicks from an average musky dive bar where the local pool leagues meet to the only place to play a concert in Tyler that isn’t inside a church. Clicks Live has a 30 square foot stage with enough audio equipment to accommodate the volume of nationally recognized bands such as Drowning Pool, and House of Pain as well as local bands.

Clicks Live has become a collective of Tyler’s variety of colorful social groups, since Tyler has such a limited selection of stages to offer bands you end up with the young and the old, or the Nu Metal crowd mingling with dub step fans, all drinking under the same roof. There’s a solidarity that comes with a place you can watch your friends perform and where you can dance to your favorite music.

Clicks Live has the same dark and bustling atmosphere you would expect from a night club, in fact you could consider it a club partially considering that when bands aren’t preforming there’s always a dance floor and bar music to get people moving. But when you don’t feel like moving it on the dance floor Clicks Live has a long bar in which to sit and enjoy a drink with plenty of room for the number of people that show up to Clicks on average.

Clicks Live, as it’s name suggests, began as a pool hall and bar primarily which is still around today and playing a part in keeping the customers at Clicks Live happily entertained with the classic seizure sport no bar is complete without.

Of course a major limitation to Clicks Live is the inherent fact that it is a business first and foremost and while it is known for the music preformed on its stage you can be sure the musical styles will be majorly reflective of what is popular in East Texas and what is appealing to the management, while not every single band is cringe inducing nu-metal and the like, most of the band that preform their definitely are not anything to write the label about.

However, in an appeal to good taste Clicks Live does occasionally venture into the shallow end of alternative styles, booking talented local artists who are hungry for the opportunity to play some surf rock or maybe a little synth rock for an audience that may be smaller in number than most but has also been waiting a long while to see bands like Knifight without having to drive hours to a major city to reach the venue. But “How does Clicks Live provide an adequate location for professional musicians?” you might ask.

Clicks Live is more than prepared for the requirements needed to house serious music, they have a professional sound booth consisting of a 40 Channel Soundcraft Mixing Console, a 32 Band Dual Equalizer, DBX Drive Rack, a Presonus 8 Channel Compressor / Gate, and a Reverb Unit with Tap Delay.

When it comes to giving the music rumbling depth Clicks Live is ready with four TurboSound TXD218 Dual 18″ Enclosures powered by two Yamaha PS7000 Amplifiers poised to handle the Dubbest of Step and the Hippest of Hop while the high end will be covered with four TurboSound TXD252 Dual 15″ Enclosures amplified by four QSC 2500’s to bring an all around excellent concert experience.

Clicks Live uses four monitors to ensure the musicians can preform to their best capability. The stage at Clicks measures 30 ft. wide by 30 ft. long and 3 ft. high with 16 ft. between the stage and ceiling and an 8’x8′ 18″ high drum riser a band playing at Clicks can be sure of all of the booking info before hand and not have to worry about any incompatibility between their performance and the venue.

Clicks Live also has a fantastic patio area with a fire pit and plenty of seating, although you will mostly find people on their feet huddled into smoking circles and waiting for the next band to start rather than lounging in the lawn furniture. Clicks Live has even brought entertainment in the form of the musical arcade game Rockband to the party and for a few quarters two people can have their own jam session on top of the already raging noise of the bar and over the music already being played in a confusing and redundant form of virtual karaoke that honestly would probably be better off if it was a classic arcade game like street fighter or something.

Clicks is not only a hot spot for the many music scenes of East Texas but also for the pool and poker scenes, as free Texas Hold Em’ games are hosted on mondays and wednesdays with games starting at 8pm and 10pm, while the APA pool leagues meet Sunday afternoon for 8 ball, Monday evening for 9 ball, and Tuesday evening for 8 ball games. Even though Clicks may not always have the cream of crop when it comes to bands, actually it may be pretty rare for a decent international band to play the venue but it’s still definitely worth keeping your eye on their lineup.

If you are lucky one of your favorite bands just might stumble upon this little bar show, perhaps you enjoy the heavily metal styles of The Sword but would never expect them to really play a show in Tyler, well think again chump because The Sword is playing their legendary black metal at Clicks Live on June 13, a night that will most surely be a storm of metal the likes of which Tyler has never seen. Clicks Live has become a mildly eclectic bar and will hopefully continue this trend with an open mind and good sense of music and style.

Rick’s on the Square

January 7th, 2011

Tyler Texas Bars and Music VenuesI have to start by saying that Rick’s on the Square was a second choice, a B plan, for a lunch that went wrong.

As I rolled into the only parking space available in the square I was in no mood to be disappointed and left hungry again.

Upon entering Rick’s on the Square I was overwhelmed by the size of the place and the lunch crowd that had made it to a restaurant I had only heard of in passing.

Being led to a table near the outdoor area I was able to see to some degree the luxury that those who were seated there were given.

With fancy tablecloths and elaborate center pieces coupled with the outdoor beauties that only an outdoor space surrounded by walls can offer, I knew I was on the outside looking in.

The restaurant had a kind of jazz club feel to it, but in an area of town where the lunch crowd is a bunch of snoody lawyers talking about their recent boat purchases and the upcoming company retreats it feels a tad out of place.

The decor was really out of place, it was an attempt to look artsy without knowing what artsy looks like. I only had a few minutes to depict the atmosphere before my waitress arrived.

She handed out menus and took drink orders with fewer words than I thought possible. I was content with drinking my ice water and listening to the lawyers as I waited for her to return which took fewer than ten minutes. She took my order and once again disappeared and returned to fill my drink as I wait.

The order didn’t take nearly as long as I thought and the food was exceptional so I sent my comments to the chef via the waitress and I’m sure she probably just told him ‘good’, so that was the best I would get to him.

The bill came back larger than anticipated from a sandwich but was happy to pay it since the food did its job.

I was at Rick’s on the Square during lunch hours so I can’t speak as to how their later hour dining is, but I’ve been told its a social scene for singles in their twenties, and if that’s the case I’m sure I’ll be back there to socialize with the bright young minds of Tyler’s college crowds.