the food at the Palo Alto location is always good but the service is AWFUL. Male service only and as painfully slow as possible. While waiting thirty minutes for food no one filled our drinks but seemed to be hiding until ready. Tiday we tried again and couldnt even order. We left. We will go elsewhere until they get adult supervision. Pathetic! read more

Haven't been back here since before pandemic. And this was a a great place to have a reunion with two dear friends. We had the great luck of having Rocky as our service person. He is outstanding! So not only was our food yummy, having the great service was the cherry on top. I'll definitely will be back. They still have the popovers and chicken broth. Highly recommended and great place to have a meal if you're shopping at Stanford Palo Alto. It's a nice quiet place to get a great meal, wonderful service and converse with friends. read more

We love this place - especially for a special lunch after an appt at Stanford Medical Center. The popovers and strawberry butter are incredible as were the lobster club sandwich and truffle fries!!! Robert our server could not have been more accommodating!! read more

Loved the whole experience! After seating you they give you a really unique bread, that looks big but is mostly air haha, but tastes great! It comes with a strawberry butter that was very unique as well, I loved the mix of sweet and savory there. You also get a tasty chicken broth to open up your apetite. I had the baby clams & linguine (see picture) and it had a good balance to it. The scallops were great. Price is not the cheapest, but I think it was expected given the whole experience and quality of the food. read more

NM Cafe - Baby Clams & Linguine - New American Near Me - Palo Alto, California

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Yes, of course, you're going to pay a pretty penny or three to dine here, but the ambiance is always quite nice, the waitstaff are attentive and soft spoken, and there is always a nice special of the day. And you get their famous popover and strawberry butter, along with the most delectable chicken broth shot included at the beginning of your meal so DO IT. Grab your mom's and/or grandmother's hand, and jet to this joint. They have a full bar too if you need to lean on that a little. There are many options from swank (fish and steak entrees) to more casual (veggie wrap, turkey club) to something in between (lobster sandwich). Regardless, ingredients are consistently fresh, prepared well, and plated beautifully. As of November, 2017, they have this phenomenal appetizer: crispy artichokes. These aren't your average carnival fried 'chokes that you dip in ranch, instead, these are lightly breaded and flash fried for a perfect bite-sized starter. Comes with some great dipping aioli as well. Happy fancy nomming! read more

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I've always enjoyed the truly exceptional popovers with strawberry butter and tiny cup of chicken broth served at NM. Soups at the cafe are very good also, but the hamburger on a brioche bun was fabulous! I ordered the hamburger 'medium rare' and it came exactly as requested. The fries were piping hot. Our server was simply excellent- service has really improved! NM cafe is now our go- to burger place! read more

Service was SO slow here! We really had to track down the waiters to get more water, to order additional items or to even get our check - and it wasn't even that busy. The food wasn't amazing, I think the best part was the bread (sad face). It's a convenient location though because it's right inside the mall so you can easily shop and stop by here to eat. read more

NM Cafe - New American Near Me - Palo Alto, California

Out of the many Neiman Marcus cafes I've been to, I think this is one of the least representative in terms of the presentation and layout. Unfortunately, there are no windows and the lighting is slightly dim. Still, the color scheme of olive green and space grey are elegant. There is a neat, modern small bar area at the entrance of the cafe. I must say it's a little odd that there is also a high table dining area in front of the hostess/host. Usually, he/she would be stationed at the very entrance, with all the seating behind him/her. The layout may be not be the most appealing, but NM cafe has great consistency in service and food quality! As a hallmark of the cafe, they started out with savory soup and soft puffed bread with strawberry butter. I love the spongy texture of the bread and when you tear the bread puff, steam comes out! The fruit butter is a very nice touch to the bread!! I ordered a light vegetable pasta, with tomatoes, mushrooms, and broccoli. They marinated it well with olive oil and other flavors! The chicken that I added was quite tender. Overall, the pasta was light, healthy, and comfortable to eat! I did not feel stuffed after eating it. read more

I can't say that I'm not surprised. I was at Stanford Shopping Mall and needed to make a quick stop at Nordstrom. I was hungry and figured I'd give their NM Cafe a try just because there was no line and it was convenient. I was fully expecting a overly pricy burger that doesn't live up to any expectations, but boy was I surprisingly wrong. Despite NM Cafe's 3 star overall rating, I must say my experience was a good one. My server was attentive and instantly came over to see if I had any questions about the menu. I knew off the bat I wanted a burger, so I ordered a medium well. The meat to bin ratio was on point, the sauce was tasty, and they totally nailed my medium well order, which I give props to since many times that I order medium well I still end up getting a well done burger. All in all, my expectations were exceeded considering this is your typical department store branded cafe. Not bad. read more

NM Cafe - Delicious medium well burger. - New American Near Me - Palo Alto, California

Popovers and consommé? Say no more! Service is first rate and the quality of food is right up there. Lobster sandos, salmon tacos, and salads! All tasty and satisfying in portion size. You are never rushed when dining there for lunch. Do make a reservation as this place is very popular. What a welcomed break/getaway from shopping where you can relax, unwind, and converse with your loved ones or friends. read more

Wow what a delicious experience. I called and put my name on the list and we were cordially greeted and seated immediately. Service was very attentive but at times got slow. But it didn't ruin the experience. We started w a cup of chicken broth. I was under the weather so it was nice and smooth. Then our warm popover came w fresh strawberry butter. Delicious, flakey and buttery. There were 4 of us. We had the vegetable with linguini pasta, the chef Loui salad, the lobster club and lobster bisque with the avocado shrimp toast. Everything was decadent and satisfying portions. It's NM so the prices match its local but if you are in Stanford and want fresh food and indulge yourself this is the place to go. Oh and the pomegranate lemonade is the perfect combo of sweet and tart! read more

NM Cafe - Lobster Club - New American Near Me - Palo Alto, California

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I had lunch with my family at the cafe today and enjoyed the food. Our server, Rocky, made the experience even better. He was very attentive and made great suggestions. My sister switched the crab to lobster in her seafood salad based on Rocky's suggestion. Be sure to ask for him if you get a chance to lunch there. read more

We had lunch there today, and ordered lobster club, tuna mango salad, and truffle fries. The food was delicious and presented in beautiful form. We enjoyed them all. We also loved the bread and chicken broth served before the meal. Waiter Rocky is outstanding, he introduced the menu in details, and treated us with exceptional warmth. His service made the entire lunch so enjoyable and we really appreciated. read more

We've come to this location for high tea several times. I love their selection of tea, but my favorite is the Jardin Bleu. As for the food, I wouldn't say it's phenomenal, but they've always had a pretty decent selection of sandwiches, pastries, desserts and crostini all for $17 a person, which wasn't bad. However, on this last visit, the selection was by far the most scarce we've ever seen. I also had to ask about the cookies, which they brought out, but were stale. Then to top it all off, when we got the bill, they raised the price to $35 a person. Even with the delicious popover and strawberry butter (heaven), and the consume, what we got was NOT worth $35 a person. I complained about what we were served and how I felt it was not worth what they were charging, and they were kind enough to comp one of the charges. It was a nice gesture, but I will not be coming back for high tea. For that price, I would rather pay a little more and get a phenomenal spread. read more

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Okay, who knew NM had a cafe on the second floor in this location?? Not me!!! Just like the NM brand, the cafe offers a wide range of options for a late lunch or something to snack on. After you're seated, they give you a complimentary cup of chicken broth, which blew me away!! I didn't even feel bad for asking for seconds, it was definitely on point. The mussels are cooked with a kick of spice, or if you order a sandwich which I recommend, they are extremely generous with the fries. I definitely recommend coming here and spoiling yourself before or after a day of shopping! read more

Took my Mom to lunch there today. It was extremely nice, the food was wonderful and the service was great! My Mom had the soup and sandwich and I had the Walnut Creek salad. They would have received 5 starts except for the following: 1. I ordered a cup of soup with my salad. It never came. However, the salad was so large I did not say anything to our server (who was VERY nice) and it was not on the bill. 2. At the beginning, they bring out these fantastic popovers with this strawberry butter - OMG Yummy! They also brought out a small serving of a chicken broth which was very nice but it was basically warm chicken schmaltz. Now here is the kicker, we did not order the chicken broth and would have been just fine without it. They charged us $3.00 for this and that annoyed me. The cafe is a bit pricey but it's a nice treat - but guys, don't bring things out that the customer did not order and then charge them for it - that is just wrong. Everything else was delicious and as I said the service was lovely. Note: recommend reservations. We did not have any and had to wait about 25 minutes (even though they had plenty of tables...a little snob appeal here I think). Will we be back? Yes, my Mom loved it and I think we will. But next time, you can bet I'm not paying for the warm schmaltz! :) read more

Been to this restaurant for years but skipped the recent 3yrs due to the pandemic.... revisited finally and probably our last. Our favorite chicken consomme was so salty that it felt like burning our throats!!! 10x worst than those canned chicken consomme you get from supermarket. Zero flavor except SUPER UNHEALTHY LEVEL OF SALT and probably a light coconut taste... never had such bad chicken consomme. Done with this restaurant - BYE read more

Overall, meh. I came here for lunch with my mom and sister. I ordered the avocado ahi tuna wrap, which came with salad and fruit on the side. The wrap itself was huge and definitely filling, but I thought the flavor was a bit lacking. For $18, I definitely expected more. My mom ordered the burger, which was pretty tasty. That being said, it was still a $16 burger, so still on the pricey side. Funny thing is that the highlight of the meal was actually the free croissant like bread that they serve with strawberry butter. It was delicious, especially when served warm. We asked for seconds and our server was nice enough to bring us more. Overall I wouldn't come back. The food is decent but the prices are definitely not worth it. read more

Great place to take a break from shopping in Neiman Marcus! Started off with the popover, strawberry butter, and the chicken broth. The popover seemed a little cold although the strawberry butter still spread fine. The chicken broth comes in a tiny cup bursting with flavor. The first sip is amazing and the last sip is still amazing. I ordered the half pound burger that came with a small side of fries and their own special secret sauce. The burger comes with lots of pickles, so make sure to order it without pickles or else you end up hand picking them out like me! The fries have some crusting, creating this texture that you can't get enough of. The burger's secret sauce definitely made the burger taste better since my girlfriend ordered the steak sandwich and that had absolutely no flavor. The service speed ruined it for me since it took almost 30 minutes for my food to arrive. They were also slow on refilling my water. 4 stars for my dish, but I have to give them 3 stars because of the service. read more

I've been here twice and there was always a wait during lunch time on the weekends. It's a nice little cafe to have lunch. I love the complimentary little cup of chicken broth and fluffy warm bread that comes along with it. The strawberry butter would be better if it wasn't so hard so it can easily melt on the bread. My favorite dishes are the rib eye steak sandwich that comes with seasoned fries. I get my rib eye medium rare. Yummy! I also had their club sandwich (turkey, bacon, avocado) which is pretty good as well. My only complaint is their service is SLOW, so your lunch can be at least 1.5 - 2 hrs long. The server does not come around enough to a) check on how your food is, b) see if you need a refill on your drinks, or c) ask if there is anything you need. Both times when I dined here, our waiter never refilled our table's beverages and we had to wave him down to ask him again. He didn't even apologize for forgetting to get us our refills. He was terrible! Not to mention we sat next to some snobby unhappy lady with lots of bling who talked to herself and commented that we were talking too much. If I sat by myself I wouldn't be talking either.. well not to myself that is. This cafe takes reservations so to avoid the lines, it might be a good idea to make reservations. Hopefully, your service will be better than ours and you don't sit next to the unhappy snobby lady! :p read more

It's not as pretty as the Rotunda in the city with views of Union Square and the large beautiful ceiling glass right above the dining area. But this is our go-to spots for coworkers birthdays or when we're bored of the usual University Avenue lunch places. I absolutely love their popovers and the strawberry butter and if anything I come here for these bc I wouldn't say their food is fantastic. If I don't control myself I think I can have an entire basket of these things to myself. They've been pretty consistant except for my last visit the batch was overbaked and it ended up tasting slightly burnt which they tried to cover up the taste by brushing somewhat of a sweet glaze over. Service is usually fast and quick which works for our short lunch period we're alotted and the waiters have always been great. They accept reservations so definately pick up the phone and call it in b/c most of the time their tables are filled up. Environment is casual and most of the time you see an older "ladies-who-lunch" type crowd here grabbing a bite to drink while doing some shopping. read more

Terri Worst lunch I've had in long time got the lobster club 32 dollars I asked the waiter if it hAd mayo he said no full of mayo nothing but bread and. Tomatoes one big rip off won't be back here. Worst read more

I would give this place zero star if there is that option. We ordered 3 seafood linguine and was told the kitchen ran out of scallops. They offered to replace 2 scallops with 2 prawns?!! What a horrible deal. When we complained, the server said the kitchen will add an additional shrimp for us. When the bill came, I was horrified to see that she charged us additional $5 per shrimp?!!! This is outrageous! Never had such a bad server in my experience of dining at NM!!! Food is mediocre, including the trout dish which is totally bland. When we asked to speak to manager, the server told us that the manager is not in today. The last straw was the automatic 20% tip added to the bill. This server should be fired. Never coming back! Nordstrom Cafe across the street is much much better! read more

NM Cafe - They took off the extra charge of shrimp in the end but they were not even supposed to charge us for those in the first place! - New American Near Me - Palo Alto, California

Food was decent but the service was terrible. We were excited to try out the cafe with a $50 NM perk card. Waiters periodically went around the room to refill water and bread but they never came to our table. We had to ask twice for water and bread during our meal. The worst part was when I use the perk card to pay our bill. NM email showed a 3 digit ID number, instead of 4. Instead of finding out why they were not able to process the card, they made me walk to the customer service just find out that they need to enter a '0' in front of the 3 digits. No apology for the trouble that was a mistake on their part. Food was not worth the wait or the trouble. read more

Came here on Sunday to have lunch with Evie. Since I have not seen her for awhile and I wanted to go somewhere nice for lunch. So we decided to go to Neiman Marcus Cafe. I forgotten about this place but since I was here on Saturday I thought why not. The cafe is located on the 3rd floor. It is a cute and intimate setting for a quiet lunch and a break from the holiday madness. I end up ordering the Butternut Squash soup, Crab Cake Salad, and a Pear Green Tea. We got each a hot sample of Chicken Broth with Popovers. The Chicken Broth was a bit on the salty side. The Butternut Squash soup was smooth and rich. Crab Cake was perfectly cooked and went well with the salad. I picked off sweet potato fries from Eve. Those were great and we got complimentary cookies. Our waitress came by often to check on us and refill out drinks. Overall the food was good and service was excellent. We had a great lunch and got to catch up with each other. Will be back for sure. read more

Decent, very average food at an ridiculously overpriced cost. I'm all for paying a lot for good food but NM Cafe disappoints on many levels. The Rotunda in NM in SF is amazing though. -Food 3/5. They have salads, sandwiches, burgers, steak, fish, & poultry. I've tried their Thai Salmon, the grilled salmon entree, and another one but I forget. They are all MEH. The flavoring is nothing special...vey forgettable but edible. Portions are also small as well. ONLY good thing is the popovers they give out!!! So fluffy and warm and perfect with the strawberry butter. -Service..4 for the waiters, 1.5 for the hostesses. The waiters are always super nice and accomodating..no complaints there. However, the hostesses are always super snobby and pretentious. I always get some sort of attitude when I try to get a table. Not sure if they just hate their jobs or if they just think they're better than me. Last time I tried calling to make a reservation and was apparently confirmed for a certain time. I came at that time and the hostess goes "I didn't put you down because you hung up on me" in a snobby tone. First of all, I did not hang up on you; the reservation was confirmed on the phone. Second, even IF I did hang up prematurely, don't accuse the customer of anything Say "Oh sorry I think we got disconnected so I wasn't able to finish confirming the reservation" or something similar. Not that difficult. And lastly, talk in a nicer tone!! That was 1 hostess experience, but every single time I go, I get a different snobby hostess experience. Overall, I only go here if I have a perk card. Otherwise, nothing is worth it. The food at Nordstrom Cafe across the street is 10 times better. read more

This place sucks in service. Awhile back I needed a quick bite to eat and although I don't shop at NM, knew they had a Cafe' upstairs so I headed over there.. The place was about half full so I figured, cool! fast in and out.. NOT! First off, the hostess was slower than molasses, taking off an leaving people waiting at the entrance..I waited almost 10 minutes to get seated and then another 10 minutes before someone even brought me water. The waiters were walking around like time didn't matter to people and by the time I ordered and left it was an hour and 15 minutes. Of course I got seated next to these old rich peeps who reminded me of Thurston Howell III and his wife Lovie, talking all prim and proper about their money and their fancy estate back east... read more

i've had more than my share of mishaps at this supposed classy and upscale cafe. i have a rather long list of complaints, so let me just fire them off and rip the bandaid off quickly: - we were once quoted a waiting time of 2-3 hours. after putting our name down, we decided to go shopping to kill the time. 1 hour later, we just couldn't wait anymore and decided to eat elsewhere. literally 5 minutes after placing our order at another restaurant, our table at neiman marcus cafe was ready. a 1 hour and 15 minute wait does NOT equal a 2-3 hour quote time! the quote time was given by the manager no less! - there is something on their menu called "the mandarin orange souffle". DO NOT BE FOOLED. it is NOT a souffle. it is merely an orange pudding like jello that is unmolded onto a plate with a side of chicken salad and fruit. - being sometimes forgetful, i had wiped it from my memory that i had once ordered the "mandarin orange souffle" above, and made the unforgiveable mistake of ordering it again because it sounded delicious to have a piping hot orange souffle. NOT! when i saw that hideous jello mold placed in front of me, i wanted to stab myself! - it's just awful when you order your food and the waiter doesn't write it down or repeat it to you. then when the entree comes, it's already too late to say "what happened to my lobster bisque?" - when you order filet mignon and lobster mac and cheese, you should be charged the fair price of $22. but when they inform you that they ran out of lobster mac and cheese and the only substitute is mashed potatoes, don't you think that $22 is an unfair price? here's a little math for you: $mashed potatoes is less than $lobster mac and cheese -the "warm molten chocolate cake". when you read these words on the menu, you expect something along the lines of WARM, and MOLTEN. to their credit, they did get the words "chocolate" and "cake" right. SO, why the two stars? 1) fresh hot popovers and strawberry butter. 2) my neiman marcus perk card which allows me to dine here at a $50 allowance. read more

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Yum, yum, yum, yum.... I just love this place! I go here for a boost when shopping is draining me. The popover is so delish! Although I hate to think how many calories are in that little puff of heaven especially when you put that strawberry butter on it. The last time I was here I tried the Tuna Salad and it was huge. I was only able to eat half. It very yummy, loved the Texas toast! Everyone talks of the Orange Soufflé salad - I personally didn't enjoy it at all. On another visit I recall I had the Spring Salad... very good! Well really put Mango in anything and it is officially 10x's better then it was before. Service has always been great here. A bit slow at times but, most of the folks here are the older crowd that is in no hurry to return to work or a busy life. This lunch is the highlight of their day. As long as you have some time to sit back and enjoy you are set for a treat! read more

This was a very disappointing experience. I met a friend who I had not seen in a long time and we decided to grab a late lunch at the cafe since we love the NM restaurant in SF. The service was absolutely awful. Not only did it take a very long time to get our food but when it finally arrived, it was the wrong order. The food was mediocre at best. I had the cod and it was dry. I asked for a lemon instead of the sauce and it took the waiter 15 minutes to bring some. Luckily, I had asked someone else who brought me a few lemon slices right away. I definitely will not eat here again when there are so many other great options. I am giving it 2 stars fo the popover and strawberry butter but I felt so bad for my friend who can't eat wheat and who had to wait such a long time to get the right order. He brought her sandwiches the first time around! read more

I was pretty mad that they didn't honor the price on the menu. I asked the waitress why the drink was 4 and the sandwich/soup is 14 in the menu. But they charged me 5 and 14.5. It's only 1.5 dollars more i dont mind BUT! it's cheating in a fancy department store.... COME ON!!! The curry chicken sandwich was way too much favor and sweet. The berry drink was pretty good. Thats why its 2 stars! read more

Had my birthday lunch here and the waiter brought out cake! Their pasta is insanely good and I love Neiman marcus in general. read more

NM Cafe - New American Near Me - Palo Alto, California

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I do not live nearby. But, once a while, I will have lunch here. To me, it has nice services, food is good, competitive prices, and nice ambiance. After shopping, I get to relax here before doing something else. read more

EXTREMELY SLOW SERVICE!!! Everything was slow, from being seated, receiving menus, getting our orders taken, receiving water/starters, and our freakin' food. It really is a sad example of a Neiman Marcus restaurant. You can definitely tell how old and outdated this "restaurant' is. The cushions on the seats are old, dirty, and saggy. It has a malodorous smell which is probably from old carpet and dirty walls. Worst of all, the food was in dinky little portions and horrible tasting. I should've sent it back to the kitchen but really didn't want to deal with it after sitting there for about an hour. The restaurant was maybe 10% full if even. Doesn't make sense to me. Never returning. read more

Cat L. and I wanted a quick and cheap bite to eat at lunch one day so she suggested Neiman Marcus Cafe.. She ordered us the soup and with the soup came the famous popover with strawberry butter. I enjoyed the popover but for some reason, it wasn't as flavorful as everyone mentioned on Yelp.. I think I would blame that on the hot burning soup that I ate at the same time.. burning my taste buds! The soup itself was healthy and light.. Next time, I would have to actually sit inside the cafe to enjoy all their other selections that would probably have been better!! i am sure it is just as good or even better than the Nordstrom Cafe, that I love so much. read more

I love the broth and popovers with strawberry jam, so my friend and I decided to come here in the middle of the afternoon. I haven't been here since the remodel, and a large part of the actual department store is still under construction. The new cafe area looks more modern and open, and it was really full even around 3pm. I actually just wanted some drinks and was happy to see that they have a full bar in the afternoon, since some places at the mall are closed in the afternoon (like Flemings). The strawberry basil margarita was good for summer. For food, we split a Lobster Cobb. At $28, it wasn't cheap, but it was nice that they split it into two separate plates for us (no extra charge), and it was a good sized portion for each of us. It had lots of lobster meat, bacon, some blue cheese, and the other standard cobb ingredients. We also got fries on the side, and those fries were really good - they were fried just right and salted the right amount. It's a nice place to stop for an afternoon snack, but it's not cheap. You do get the Neiman Marcus broth and popovers tradition, but service wise, it's definitely not as formal as at the Rotunda in SF. read more

Love the popovers with strawberry butter, I could eat a hundred of these. They also serve a small cup of chicken broth as an amuse bouche. The surroundings aren't as posh as The Rotunda in SF but it's a nice place for lunch indoors with nice A/C while shopping at Stanford. Service can be spotty sometimes though. They seemed like they only had 1 server for the entire place around 2:45pm on a Saturday. read more

I have been here a few times. Its ALWAYS been EXTREMELY slow service, but after today I will never return. The portion size on the kids menu shrunk! Even the kids mentioned it ! The chicken strips were about the size of my thumb and not much bigger in width. The pasta portion completely shrunk too. Considering the price , it wasn't worth it. I even ordered a second order of chicken strips , right when they put the plates down. After 45 minutes , when we already finished eating it never came. They said it was coming after 25 minutes, but I never got it , One more thing, the strawberry butter has definitely changed too. Not worth the money anymore. read more

NM is sub par to the Rotunda in SF in most aspects. I only eat here when my mom has those $50 cards that is only allowed for a limited number of things, including eating. The Cafe is on the top floor next to the home goods and what used to be the children's section, which is now being renovated. The space is relatively small to begin with and the construction makes the space seem even smaller. Like at the Rotunda, they start you off with their popover with strawberry butter. However, popover here is dry and not very enticing, not even the strawberry butter could save it. The servers are always very helpful and give recommendations. At my most recent visit, my server gave me a taste of the lobster bisque, which I've already tried, but it was nice of him to do that. Servers are very attentive, but the kitchen is beyond slow and consistently so. Food is not very noteworthy, so I'm not even going to mention any particulars. It's expensive and definitely not worth your buck. If it was not for the $50 card, I would not eat here, really not worth it. read more

I loved this place so much!!! Good food and awesome employees. I always come down at this place whenever I'm craving for delicious food and drinks. This place has an amazing employees very nice, friendly, accommodating and so pleasant to talked too especially Jinto. Such a nice and pleasant guy, he makes me feel welcome and gave me an excellent service. read more