I think this was the first time I had ever tried French cuisine, at La Provence Restaurant & Terrace in Roseville on 4/15/2010 (for all you Americans like me…the dreaded TAX DAY!!!…ugh). Anyway, I’m off track (surprise surprise eh?…nope, not Canadian, still American). I had a kobe beef burger (yeah, I know that’s kinda weak for a French restaurant, but I got overwhelmed and couldn’t decide)…the rest of my group ordered swordfish, filet flambeed with cognac, and an open-faced lamb sandwich (tartine for those in the know). The hamburger was still pretty darn good…I don’t think it was imported kobe beef, because it wasn’t hundreds of dollars. But really, who cares…the food was excellent, the service on top of making sure we had bread, water, drinks, etc. We also had their lemon-drop martini (btw, I am single and looking for cute women that are into potty humor and bathroom reviews…ping me if you wanna join us on one of these excursions!). No wine with this meal, mostly because I’m really the only one who enjoys it, and well…I’m not so single I need an entire bottle of wine to myself!

The restaurant itself is pretty cool, with high vaulted ceilings and a warm cozy feel. If you’d never been in a French restaurant before, and your whole idea of the French is based on stereotypes (sorry people, stereotypes are still alive and well), you wouldn’t expect the restaurant to be at all like it is. Should you go, don’t feel that you have to dress to the nines, there were people in there dressed in football jerseys and flip flops (mostly us—but in all seriousness, it’s laid-back enough that no one stresses it much…and  the staff is welcoming either way).

Onto the bathroom…it’s dark and very relaxing. It’s nicely appointed, with dark tiles, dark wood around the mirrors, and a very cool wave sink. I think between Mercedes-Benz of Rocklin and La Provence, I’m gonna have to redo the sinks in my house. When I get the cajonés to do it, I’ll take pictures and put em up. Aw come on, who am I kidding…I couldn’t put in sinks to save my life! So I have to give this one four out of five rolls…it would get three-and-a-half for being an above-average bathroom and being clean, but I have to give half a roll for just that sink.

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Well, that’s an odd place to have a bathroom review…and it would be, if it weren’t for over $3k in damages to the car. Ugh…oh well, that’s life, right? Kniesel’s (pronounced Kuh-nee-zuhls) does consistently fantastic work, and the car comes back tomorrow (this review took place Friday 10/02/09…three days’ worth of work seems reasonable). Anyway…onto the review!

You’ll see in the entrance shot (picture one) and the fourth picture they have a divider/partition in the bathroom. I’m not really sure why, this is a one-user bathroom with a lock on the door…I suppose if someone manages to get the lock undone it gives the poor sap on the toilet a chance to scream out “Wait! Someone’s in here!” without being too embarassed. Of course, you’d think the other guy wouldn’t have any issues with embarassment if it comes to picking a bathroom lock…

The car magazines in picture five and the painting in pictures one and six are a nice touch and keep in-sync with the fact that this is, after all, a body shop. I love to read while in the bathroom as much as the next guy, but I’m not really sure about public bathroom magazines (frankly, that’s what my Instinct is for…catching up on news—and of course taking pictures—while in the bathroom). Shared public bathroom magazines…that’s just wrong. Three stars for an average clean bathroom that’s got a few nice touches. I’ll add half a roll as a bonus for the partition; it makes me smile.

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I was here on 10/01/09, apparently that was an all-Mexican meal day (I skipped lunch…not purposely, but ya know how things can go). Don Quixote’s layout shares some similarity with Chipotle (so if you’re familiar with how you order at Chipotle, you understand how you order here). I really wish Mexican restaurants would stock some hotter hot sauces though (if there are any proprietors of Mexican restaurants out there reading this right now, please click that link and order some insane sauces!!!).

This is a really crazy bathroom. I was all ready to give it four rolls from the get-go, but doing all these bathroom reviews has really lead me to be far more detailed in my reviews. I get way behind pretty consistently, as you can see if you read through the reviews…every five or six days I drop a content nuke and put that last 6 days’ worth of content in one or two days. I’m really working on improving my timing…but it hasn’t seemed to have an effect yet. Way to get off-topic…

Like I mentioned, this bathroom is pretty cool (I think I said “crazy”…but when you’re me, there’s no difference—how would you know that though? you’re not me…I’m pretty sure anyway…) The walls are covered in a brown textured wallpaper that looks like leather grain. They put clear yellowish stones in designs, and even put a clock in (really helpful when you forget your cell and have people waiting for you). Seriously, more bathrooms should have clocks in them. Some of the stones broke off (came unglued?) and haven’t been repaired yet (I’m not sure how long, maybe someone stole some of the stones?). Overall, the intelligent and cool design and overall cleanliness give this bathroom four rolls. However, I have to deduct half a roll for the unrepaired missing stones (it just looks bad).

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This was hands-down the best Mexican breakfast I’ve ever had. The huevos con jamon burrito contains beans, rice, eggs, ham, and I had them add jalapeños. Mmmm. It’s filling, though, and I could only eat about half of it. Still…good stuff, and highly recommended, especially paired with Sangría Señorial. They feature art by Diego Rivera…all-in-all a great place to grab a bite to eat…breakfast, lunch, or dinner.

The bathroom is clean, cool (temperature-wise), and smells great (often overlooked and so very important when it comes to bathrooms…). You can see, in the first (entrance) picture, the air freshener near the mirror. If you’re wondering what’s the deal with picture number four, I found it interesting that 1) there had previously been at least one other soap dispenser, and 2) the soap dispenser is closer to the toilet than the sink (not that it takes a ton more energy or effort to wash your hands with the soap dispenser being further from the sink, it’s just odd). Anyway, bathroom is clean and smells good, it gets three rolls.

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