Blue Island Sushi is an interesting place for lunch, especially if you like to watch your food glide around the room on a little conveyor belt onto which Sushi chefs expertly chop, roll and plop new selections.

They shout "Gozaimas" or something else akin to hello in Japanese to everyone who walks in the door.

Open since last summer, eating at Blue Island takes a few minutes to acclimate yourself to, as this is a new trend eating style that has been popular in Japan since the 1950s.

The "sushi-go-round" or "kaiten" runs circuitously around the room, and you grab whatever looks good.

The plates are color coded with a chart on a post in the middle of the prep area to tell you how much each serving costs. When you're done, the waitstaff just tallies up your plate total.

If nothing catches your fancy or if want something unusual, you can still order separately from the menu.

Spirits are available, though I never saw a beer on the sushi train when I was there.

I sat next to a couple of ladies, and we ooohed and awed at the fancier dishes as they inched past. One item in particular, a triple-stacked California roll with colorful sauces drizzled all over was so attractive that I had to tussle with one lady.

She won, however and I had to wait for a new one to be made.

Mrs. Anthony and I have eaten at Thai Bistro twice now.

We used a five-dollar off coupon we got in the mail.

We like thai food, and Indochine is the old standby, and Bangkok Garden across the street is OK too.

We get cravings for veggie Phad Thai and iced coffee, and the new restaurant is nice. The thing that seems to stand out here (as at all Thai restaurants) is that the staff is so attentive and friendly.

The girl that handled our orders and brought our food has such a nice smile that we wanted to hug her when we left. Also, the furnishings are comfortable and elegant and the food came very quickly.

It may be, however, that all the nice aspects could wear off in a while, like my friend Crazy Jack says: New broom sweeps clean. Time will tell.

McGrath's Fish House is up and serving. My brother had dinner there and enjoyed it.

But he'll eat anything as long as it's warm and comes with a napkin and a fork, so I'll have to go check it out myself. We needed a good fish house in town.

Salty's is nice, but you're paying extra for a view that you can't really see much of if you eat dinner at night, like most people.

Red Lobster was getting too crowded for me and McDonald's fishwich has really lost it's appeal. (I'm kidding- I haven't eaten one of those horrible, mushy things for years.)

Looks like there is a new Italian restaurant next to Discount Tire.

I love Italian cuisine...I miss Papa Luigi's (he's been gone for over ten years I think). He used to greet us by name, hugging Mrs. Anthony ("that's enough, Luigi...she has to breathe you know.") and recommending certain dishes.

Personal attention...made us feel important. You can go to Verrazano's, and we do, but it's getting pricey.

Or go to Vince's and have the Pasta Puttanesca, or you can brave the Olive Garden crowds, but I didn't think the food was worth it.

The new restaurant? La Casa Bella. If you get there first, let me know what you think.

Lastly, there is the Original Roadhouse Grill on 20th Ave, near Top Foods. It's been running since last April. We haven't tried it either but from the road, it looks like a Billy McHale's knockoff. I'll take my pal Crazy Jack there for lunch.

He hates nearly everything, so if he likes it...it should be fine for anybody else.