Yelp Circles the World Without Leaving the Triangle

"This was the best Monday night out I've had in a looooong time," declares Rachel E. Why? Because Yelp "rocked this party! buku provided delicious tapas and bites. And New Belgium, you had me at beer." Triangle Elites packed their bags, never mind the unseasonably cold March: We were gearing up for a tasty world tour courtesy of our friends at buku! With resort chic, tacky Hawaiian, French couture, and ski bunny style all represented, it looked like some of us may have gotten a little lost en route…

But connections in Japan, the Mediterranean, and South America were the talk of the travelers. buku did us way better than a pack of airplane peanuts — with three stations sumptuously spread, we feasted on hummus, cheeses, garnachas, pibil, tamales, sushi, and more. The amazing airline attendants (ie, buku's stellar staff!) answered questions about the food, constantly replinished, and even made the rounds taking guests' drink orders — all while donning festively themed hats in honor of the South American station! Says Melissa E, "The food! It was awesome! In my husband's words, 'This is the best food I've eaten in a while.'  Wait a minute — what about my cooking?!" Guess that calls for a date night at buku, Melissa!

And what about the mile-high hops? "New Belgium kept us buzzing through the clouds with" four different "in-flight beverages, which included a couple of new brews I haven't run across yet (the Trippel was great)," reports Tripp W. And Julia H raves, "The beers were an excellent complement to the foods served and delicious in their own right."

Everyone loves a road-side attraction, and with DJ Triple B mixing it all night, and Shon Digital Photography snapping cheesy photo ops, our trip was full of hot entertainment! Yelpers even sent postcards home to friends and family to share their travel tales… and 5 super-lucky peeps scored with our souvenier door-prizes: a pair of tickets to Shrek the Musical, opening night, or to the All Dolled Up pampering event in Raleigh.

At the end of a vacation, it's always hard to go home, but Kuanyu C surmises "The best part of the evening has got to be meeting all the cool people that I have only met in words, but not in person. I also received my badge of honor: the coveted Yelp lunchbox (and I am totally taking that thing to work tomorrow!)."

Way more snapshots for your scrapbooking available here, thanks to the tremendously talented Shon. Make sure to read up on everyone's travel-log, and start planning your own trip to buku!

Until next time, SYOY!

Christina "Wish You Were Here" G