The Good, The Bad & The Yelpy Elite Event @ The Ranch House

This was my first Unilocal Elite event, and it was pretty freakin’ great!
It was really nice actually meeting (in person) other fellow Unilocalers that I know and love in my own non-​creepy Unilocaly way. The only bad thing was that the food was so plentiful and tasty… that I ate so freakin’ much and food coma’d.
My faves (in no particular order):
–Meatloaf sliders
–French dip sandwich
–Kim chee fried rice
–Pulled Pork Quesadilla
–Mac & cheese
–Bread pudding!!!
And for drinks! Blue Moon beer, yum :)
What an awesome night. Thank you Emi (especially for the mustache fun), Tiffany, the Ranch House, Doc, kelly k., and all you other Unilocalers for making the night a lot of fun.
I’m über excited for the next event!
See ya’ll soon!

Yeee-​haw!
When Chris O. decided to take me as his +1, I was ecstatic!!! When he told me it was western themed, I was overly ecstatic! Girls love nothing more than to dress up! Those in the know for Unilocal parties know that there’s usually little and few food to go around so I was super surprised at the amount of food available at the party. The Ranch House really hooked us up and made me feel like they cared about their community. Everything was right on from the food to the décor. My favorite were the meatloaf sliders! So delicious, I went for seconds… and thirds… They had pulled pork quesadillas, french dip sandwiches, tofu steak, mac and cheese, local fried rice and the hottest kim chee fried rice I ever had! And alcohol! Beer, wine and jalapeño margaritas!
The best part was all the free stuff they were giving out! I was a kid in a candy shop with sweat bands, bandannas, bottle openers and chapsticks! They even had picture taking just like Disneyland minus the $ 15 picture charge.
Thank you so much to Chris O., Emi, and The Ranch House for a wonderful party! I can’t wait for the next party to hang out with fellow Unilocalers to do what we do best — eat!

One of the best thing about these Unilocal events I love, is the participation of theme! I love theme parties! and appreciate all who dress up! Thank you all for showing your yee-​haw cowboy/​cowgirl-​ness! Everyone there (as usual) was so nice and wonderful to meet!
I met some new Unilocalers (always fun times) and the food was great. Fried Rice Yummy! That tofu thing… Yummy! That… if I continue on, *drool*.
Thanks to Emi, The Ranch House, the cute schwag filled table in the front, the photographers, the awesome lady in the back who did the wine (and shots) thing.
PS: Whom ever knows that guy walking around with the «+1» as his name on his name tag… ha ha! Too cute… made me laugh.

An Elite event with this much FOOD and with Cazadores TEQUILA? The Unilocal Goddess has heard my prayer. And by Unilocal Goddess, of course, I mean Emi.
Like the last event, I know where all the fun is, and it ain’t the food. It’s the booze. Actually, I overloaded at last month’s Elite Event and have remained sober up until now. Who can resist free tequila? Should I consider changing my nickname from Timpura to Timmy Tequila?
After getting a little tipsy, I grabbed myself a pink sequin cowboy hat and gun and took pictures with my boys. All good fun, can’t wait to see what I look like drunk off tequila wearing a pink cowboy hat.
Btw, How dare Emi for insinuating my outfit wasn’t cowboy enough. I’ll show you when we have a Lady Gaga night. Trust mary.

[better late than never]
Refreshing jalapeño margarita
Wine by the glass.
A beautiful and unexpected offering of all you can eat mac n’ cheese, bread pudding, fried tofu, and kim chi fried rice.
Tray passed hors d’oeuvres including tastey sliders, poke, and quesadilla
A deserving round of applause goes to the Ranch House, Emi & Unilocal Crew for orchestrating one of the best (and only) Elite events I’ve been to.
The Ranch House is a fun spot off of Kapahulu with semi-​western looking decorations. They reserved a portion of the restaurant for this event. Highlights include a really cool photo stage. The staff kept the food and drinks coming. I was really impressed and they were really nice. The Ranch House really wanted to treat the Elites well and they succeeded at that.
Thanks for my $ 50 gift certificate. whoot whoot! I will be making another visit to the Ranch House in the near future. Who’s with me, free food on me! heehee

Better late than never! Awesome event with plenty of food and drinks to go around! Emi, the guys from iFixPro, and the Ranch House did a fantastic job! Thank you so much for the wonderful night :)
The food was delicious with my faves being the meatloaf sliders, bread pudding, and mac and cheese! The props for picture taking was awesome. I had a blast dressing up.
Can’t wait for the next event!

Howdy Elites and their +1!
I didn’t know cowboy and cowgirl Unilocalers could party Western Style!
This was another five star event that our awesome CM Miss Emi hosted. The Ranch House (Buddy) did not skimp on the fixings. I chowed down on the delicious meatloaf sliders, pulled pork quesadillas (the salsa was tasty!), fried rice (s) and the bread pudding with the cream sauce. At the same time I was sipping on the Cazadores Tequila which was a plus because it was icy cold.
The staff was very attentive and were very accommodating in their drink services. We were placed in the back room which is perfect for private parties.
Seeing all my old friends and finding new ones always makes the night pass by too quickly. My fave moment was the awkward silence!
Now get on your saddle and give this place a try. As for the event, it’s history but never forgotten!

Oh! EM! GEE!!! The Mac and Cheese and Chopped Salad were AWESOME! and those Meatloaf Sliders and French Dip Sammies were so YUMMO! I left with a very full belly.
Thanks Emi and Ranch House and Better Beverages for putting on such an awesome party! I’ll come back and check out the regular menu, but wow! good times! Got to meet some awesome people and talk to some great friends!
YEEEE-​HAAAW!!!

As always, Emi did a super job organizing this shindig! The food & drinks were abundant. My favs were the prime rib sammies (au jus was warm & not too salty), green salad & bread pudding (warm & moist with yummy fruit).

WOW — this Elite party was amazing, and I had so much fun (despite being slightly sedated with antibiotics)!! I couldn’t believe how much food there was. My favorites were the tofu and Uncle Kimo’s fried rice. The meatloaf sliders and the fresh island ahi poke were solid too. I’d definitely go back to get more!
I wasn’t able to get too crazy with the drinks, as I’m currently on antibiotics (Ala Wai infections — EW). But… I sneaked a couple of drinks. Cazadores Tequila Jalapeño Cocktail tasted just like a margarita, and only super mildly spicy. 4 starts for the Merlot wine — nice and smooth. ;)

Cora and I were really hungry, so we stopped by Ryan’s before the Ranch House. I was too full to have any of the French dip sandwich, but I did have the island poke, pulled pork quesadilla, and some bites of the fried rice and mac n cheese.
After three shots of that Cazadores Tequila and two glasses of the Guenoc Chardonnay, I was sitting outside by the plants, figuring out when it would be a good time to drive home. I think an hour went by?
I couldn’t find my watch this morning. I did find in the fridge, my leftover blueberry bread pudding sandwiched between the black plastic plates and my red Unilocal bandanna tied around it, like a furoshiki. I moved the dessert into a plastic disposable Tupperware to eat at work.
There sure were a lot of DOE teachers there last night, and they all seemed to be from my work district!
I don’t feel so good right now.
Congratulations Emi!

YEEEEE HAWWWWWWW and stuff!!! My second Unilocal party was funking awesome! It’s good to be an male Asian elite! Not only did I get to dress up brokeback mountain style, I got to carry around some shiny guns!
Food was awesome! French dip sandwich, mac and cheese, and bread pudding were fantastic!
I finally got to meet some Unilocalers in real life too, so it was high fives all around!
Too bad, I couldn’t make the after party. lady gaga would have been a perfect dessert!

Ride um Cowgirl!!!
Another GREAT event put on by the hostess with the mostest, our beloved, EMI!!! The suds by Blue Moon and the Cazadores Tequila was a winner for sure.
Always a pleasure to hang out with the classy elites and their plus ones for sure… you all got my six shooter bangin’
Holla goes out to Santi T, Steel, Shirley Y, Kelly K, Kim M, Grant S, Michelle L, Annie, and all their plus ones for making it such a rootin tootin night indeed… I hope I didn’t miss anyone… if I did, holla at me! hahaha!
This cowboy needs a nap now for sure!

Great event and great food. You know you’re going to have a good time when your +1 knows more people there than you do. Also, I finally got to meet a few Unilocalers for the first time.
Thank you Emi, The Ranch House, and our sponsors for putting on yet another excellent event.

You did it again! Ranch House was great. Man, those meatloaf sliders were awesome! Seems like a good combination of local style food and steakhouse. Ill have to come back and try the prime rib for sure.
Was great seeing all my fellow leets once again and meeting a few more for the 1^st time face to face. Shouts out to Murray, Selenna, Min K., Dean H, Santi T, Kelly K, Shirley Y, and of course, the world’s greatest Unilocal community manager, Ms. Emi. Great party once again! «S»

My first Unilocal Elite event! Sorry this review took so long, couldn’t find the 6 Star button.
We went to Savers to pick up our «it-​looks-​like-​we-​put-​some-​effort-​into-​the-​costume-​but-​we-​chang-​so-​we-​just-​say-​yeehaw-​to-​make-​up-​for-​not-​having-​a-​hat» getup. Then I went to Party City to accessorize. Good idea for the most part, they only had the pink rhinestone cowboy hat– decided against it because «it didn’t bring out the color of my eyes». So I got a sheriff’s badge instead. Surprisingly the packaging was more politically correct calling it a Sheriff’s Badge for «Cowboys and NATIVE AMERICANS». Wow.
At Party City I had an epiphany, I should totally dress up like an indian… errr… Native American– go to the event and stand around saying «uhhhhh i think i’m at the wrong party.» Oh well, next time.
Anyway– Tiffany was pretty awesome at the door– as we were completely unfamiliar with the Unilocal procedure. Got my lunchbox! Oh you have no idea how awesome this is. I had this PowerRangers Lunchbox back in the day that used to clang around and everyone was jealous because their Garfield the Cat one was definitively less awesome. Now that I got a job teaching elementary school students I can bring my lunchbox with me to work like the old days.
Knowing pretty much Emi… and thats it, it was kinda awkward walking in and looking around. Luckily Alex saved us from impending embarrassment and we chatted it up. It was pretty warm in there and Alex came prepared– hand towel for the sweat. I’m gonna bring a Shamwow next time to avoid my sweaty beast syndrome. This time I just had to think of the coolness of March of the Emperor Penguins to avoid looking like I swam to the event.
At this point I was tempted to ask «Where’s all the hot asian chicks!!!» but that would just be rude and opening up the Pandora’s Box known as Donny’s talk thread.
The food spread was awesome! A server came around and offered some of the meatloaf slider and ahi poke. Of course– both were graciously accepted and were yummy. The meatloaf slider reminded me of the Friends episode of the meatloaf sandwich and the «moistmaker». At this point I’ve lost you all. Sorry. Anyway– good stuff.
Then good old Buddy strutted in with his Clint Eastwood «make my day» look as we assumed the «Fievel Goes West» pose. He was a blast to talk to– reminiscing of Yum Yum Tree in Mililani and the faux-​library décor of the old Zippy’s Waipahu dining room. Really chill dude. Also we agreed on Budweiser Golden Wheat being the acceptable cheaper alternative to Blue Moon (of course we got the good stuff, thanks Blue Moon!).
Ryan and I were then informed that there was more food on the perimeter of the room. HOW DID WE MISS IT. One word: PULLEDPORKQUESADILLA. awesome, the roasted tomato salsa complimented it well, the close-​to-​pureed texture helped fill the spaces in between all the pulled pork and cheese.
As we were stuffing our faces with quesadilla– we noticed Chris O. Hey I know him from high school. Cool. We started to catch up and eventually we scared him +1 away when we started to nerd out (sorry chris).
Got to chillax with Movie Man David from the talk forums. Enjoy your stay in Hawaii!
Thank you Unilocal,Emi, Tiffany, Buddy, and everyone who made this event awesome.
Now back to Googling how to make your dog peepee on the boring absorbent square rather than the exciting fluffy carpet…

My 2^nd Elite event and what can I say, another great time corraled by Emi! I didn’t get to stay too long and meet more Eliters (my bad but I had mommy duty) but I enjoyed myself nonetheless. The +1 was super impressed with how us Unilocalers get down and was inspired to try to get to Elite status herself! lol! My favorites of the night:
–The people, of course! Elites are classy, sassy, friendly, fun and LOVE to eat! Wooohoo!
–The jalepeno margarita was pretty darned yummy. It wasn’t spicy but you could definitely taste the jalepeno.
–The photo set up on the stage with props. Reminded me of my high school dances. And unfortunately, I still take awkward photos, like at my high school dances! lol! Had a blast with it though.
–The location. Never been there before but I liked the ease of parking, the intimate size of the place and the grub wasn’t bad either!
Thanks again, for super FUN Tuesday evening, Emi and staff! I’m always looking forward to the next event. =)

Yee haw!
The alcohol kept on coming and food was more than plentiful. We had a private section to ourselves and the place was nicely decorated with cowboy, cowgirl getup.
The professional photography is always a fun time. We get to shout at Topher to snap all types of silly pictures of us! Doc and Topher rock, but not more than Emi who threw another awesome-​licious Elite event.
My husband, my +1 still found it necessary to cross the elite line and order himself a full steak dinner to fill his man-​sized hunger.
I roped me in a plate of poke, slice of quesadilla filled with meat and that was my FAV of the night.

Nothing like a good party to stop my recent slacking about reviews. Emi truly rocks with her party throwing abilities!
The Ranch House was a great choice for a venue. There was just the right amount of space in the banquet room to mingle with the cool people attending, to have the nice staff ply us with beverages and to have us effortlessly hop from one food station to the next. The food was solid across the board with the meat loaf sliders and bread pudding scoring especially high with me. I also heard nothing but raves about the french dip sandwiches but inexplicably forgot to try ‘em. Doh!
A couple of us were even briefly held up at gunpoint (OK it was a toy gun) by Tiffany during the fiesta but she declined to steal my tasty poke or my beer. Since she showed me mercy, I reciprocated by not attempting to steal her über cool cowboy hat! Another great evening spent with the Unilocal crowd.

As usual, a great host and fantastic location! To Annie, Seleena, and Emi, and the rest of the Elites and their plus 1’s, I had fun meeting all you guys! It was a blast! I loved the bread pudding and the alcohol! Yummy!