That cart's gone, but there's a new one, run by a couple speaking better english. They don't seem to make the extra stuff (e.g. fish balls, soup, tripe), though.

I've attached the menu in case anyone's got a minute to translate:

I remember how on the evening of September 11, 2001, most people weren't that interesting in discussing food, but many hounds checked in to make sure we hadn't lost any NYC-based regulars (a few, we knew, worked at WTC).

It was an unusual exception to accommodate such talk, and I allowed it only with trepidation. Chowhound's useful insofar as it's food-focused, so I fretted about setting a precedent. We didn't want to do sprawling group hugs each time something went wrong in the world or in our lives. We'd lose the all-essential focus that makes Chowhound such a rich resource.

I no longer run this site, but seeing this thread doesn't even twitch my site-management instincts. Losing Chino Wayne is a big, big deal. This needs to be here.

Will this open a road to threads announcing the personal tragedies and triumph of site users? No. This is different. An exception must be made, and I feel like everyone knows it and feels it. On 9/11, I was hesitant. Here, I'm not. This is the first interruption on Chowhound in 17 years that makes me think, yes, we unquestionably need to mark this moment.

Everyone who knew Wayne (much less knew him as long as I did - he was one of our earliest users, and most generous supporters and volunteers) knows that he deserves exceptions to be made for him.

Chino Wayne was one of a kind. All dead people are the nicest people in the world - paean's the great upside of death. But, trust me, in this case it's no exaggeration: Wayne actually was the nicest guy in the world.

Sorrowfully,

JIM

PS - This would be a good time to have a look at Wayne's web site. It's bursting with the talent, wit, and engagingly skewed sensibility that made many of us love him: http://www.waynefrost.com

Great; looking forward to your report

Honduran....and great. Sundays they make chicharrones.....

I'm not surprised about the patties. These guys are still in hesitant, "stealth" mode, not totally confident that their Jamaican stuff is ready for prime time in this neighborhood. They're not going to lavish care on a commodity like beef patties...yet.

This is why there's only a grudging few Jamaican dishes on offer, while they're more explicitly selling themselves as a coffee shop.

If enough hounds go there, support the serious Jamaican stuff, and beg for more, I'm pretty sure we can encourage them to become what they clearly dream of becoming, anyway.

This is the sort of mission this website once was good for. Can we muster that sort of action these days (or will everyone just keep complaining about the pound cake and iced chai lattes)? Let's see!

Was there tonight. Fleets of waiters all over the place, but we were seated on the happy hour benches outdoors, so we were told we had to order from the harried (but nice) bartender inside. Total service nightmare, and so needless.

Oysters were super weird. They seriously tasted like they'd been soaked in non-salt water after shucking. Zero salt or sea flavor....or for that matter oyster flavor.

Lobster roll was insulting. Just the worst part of the lobster.

Headed over to Wing Bar, a joyous experience as always.

Great find, as usual, Barry.

The food's sort of hard to explain. It's not oilcan barbecued jerk, it's done in the oven. But it's the best oven jerk I've had. The chicken meat is moist, but the skin is positively crackling, and tons of flavor is extracted. Rice and peas is plump, moist and great. The sauce is fruity and incendiary and contains some really interesting, aromatic herbs.

This is the real deal, and the workers and managers are deep, kind, and soulful.

Anyone judging it via the coffee shop constituting it's "front" operation is missing the point.

Great! Please keep posting!

Thanks for giving it a try and reporting back, but a few things:

1. I'm not sure turkey leg is an apt litmus test of a bbq place. Ribs or brisket is more the thing.

2. I don't expect great potato salad at a bbq place. In fact, quite the contrary. Really awful potato salad bodes well.

3. re: your rule of thumb "if it doesn't open when the hours are posted its unprofessional", that's strange, I have the exact converse rule of thumb! I don't fully trust any BBQ restaurant with super regular hours. The sort of BBQ I like is ready when it's ready, runs out when it runs out, and the owners sometimes go fishing for a while...maybe a long while. BBQ places run like Walmart are not attractive for me.

Can anyone take a ride down and try some ribs so we can know if this place is any good?

No. I only have worse things to do. As long as I don't need to dress up in some outfit, count me in!

Nice, thanks! My only concern is freshness. This is kind of obscure stuff, so it may have sat for a while...

God damn it. When we were selling Chowhound branded products, circa 2002, we were trying to come up with super chowhoundish aphorisms to incorporate into products.

And, now, "Thank you for salivating" comes eleven years too late!

Oh, also, I need to quickly dispel one thing: There is no grandma. The chef is the youngish woman. There's an older women with an apron running around, who I mistakenly assumed to be the chef because it was such a chefly apron, but it turns out she's not the main character here.

So this is extremely grandmotherly cooking, but it's not cooked by an actual grandmother. Got it? :)

Crap. I was too over-full from lunch (a full plate of ribs with samples of three other things, plus I always eat a double order of tortillas to counter the stereotype that gringos never eat - ie waste - the tortillas you bring them) to have at the taquitos, which had just come out and looked fantastic.

So now I grieve.

Just a sprinkling of antojitos (chiles rellenos and, a little later, fried taquitos). And if they do tacos, et al, they're not advertising it (I bet if you asked for a burrito they'd stare in confusion).

Again, one thing: steam table motherly dishes.

And a big jar of horchata.

I love Los Gemelos! Was one of the first to write about them here, back in 1990's. but that's not very grandmotherly. It's bachelor taco shop cooking....sizzly/grilly. This is, as I described, steam table greatest hit dishes, made with love and flair. Best place for THAT.

Not a bad comparison, sbp. Different touch, and way different ambiance and ambition (both barely subsistence-level), but it's in that league.

Best homestyle, grandmotherly Mexican I currently know in the Tristate area:

Cholula's Deli
257 Battle Ave
White Plains, NY
(914) 686-1731

It's next door to Ruth's Jamaican (which is known and very good), and about 1/2 mile up the hill from Central Avenue circa the new H Mart. You can be there in 5 minutes off of Rt. 287 (take exit 5, and hang a right at City Limits Diner, which has been slipping).

It's just another humble Mexican deli with steam table. But it's not marginally better, it's off the scale. Not in a "fabulous" way. No clever regional cooking, no impressive ingredient sourcing. Just staunchly authentic (not an iota of gringo pandering) and exceptionally delicious. this is how your Mexican grandma cooks you lunch...if she's a particularly talented Mexican grandma.

I've had a bunch of things. Even the tortillas - crummy store bought, but heated to order on a hot seasoned grill and brought to your table with radiant delight - have tons of je ne sais quoi.

Today I had ribs in a brown sauce that was bewitchingly complex and soulful. Rib meat was awesomely tender, and every bit of possible flavor was extracted. Chicharrones with calabasa (pig skin stewed with squash) was every bit as homey/soulful as it sounds. Carnitas are exactly like Mexico. Everywhere else, it's just cooked meat, spiced up hastily. Here, it's knuckles of pork, good-chewy, and so loaded with flavor you can't keep your eyes open.

Rice is moist and you can't get enough of it (that alone stands this place out; I can count on one hand the Mexican places with truly great rice). Homemade horchata is just perfect. Just like Mexico, but better than that - it's just like a GOOD place in Mexico, much more grandmotherly than the usual.

Staff is guarded but open up with effort (they like compliments on their cooking).

Customers are a step up in eating intensity from the usual blase Hispanic worker dudes. I get the feeling they travel an extra few miles to come here. Not crowded yet, though.

I spoke with the next door neighbor, who says they keep irregular hours, but they're definitely in business. And, peering under the gate, it's definitely set up as a BBQ counter inside.

They may be waiting for warmer weather to open consistently. I'd bet on a nice Saturday afternoon in April you may get lucky....and make me more jealous than grateful!

Has anyone spotted TOHUM Sesame Tahini in any local stores?

I know it's available from South River Miso's web site, but they require a $25 minimum order, and I'm already fully stocked on miso!

I'm a very long-time fan of Goya extra virgin olive oil. It's cheap, ubiquitous, assertive, and works really well for hardcore use like sauteeing (I'd never use it to drizzle). I know serious expat Spanish cooks who use a ton of it. It tastes like the good everyday olive oils you get in Andalusia.

I see Goya's now now selling a fancy "special edition" EVOO. Not sure what its purpose would be in my life. Anyone tried it?

Phew.

OMG!! Royce has a store in Manhattan now!

http://www.yelp.com/biz/royce-chocola...

Wayne's been an absolutely vital part of the Chowhound community for as long as I can remember. In fact, I can't imagine a Chowhound.com without him.

And that means there's only one alternative: Wayne's got to recover speedily and come back to us. Because it's not really Chowhound.com without Chino Wayne.

Second-hand is the way to go, yup. I inherited a couple from relatives, and unless I do something dumb, they should work for decades.

Still there. And I suppose there's a chance Mario may have gone back here. I'll be checking.

He's out of business. I'm heart-broken. Should have gone more often. Should have mentioned him here earlier. Argh.

I certainly didn't dismiss your suggestions! In fact, I specifically said I was excited about trying them! Did you miss that?

As for my loss in missing good places: I vehemently agree! Even though many people think I've eaten as widely and deliciously as just about anyone out there, and have ferreted out and brought to light countless previously unknown places that went on to become hoary conventional wisdom favorites, I can't avoid the sinking feeling that there's still so much great stuff I don't know and haven't tried!

That's why I never use my knowledge as a battering ram to deflect new suggestions and leads, or to lock into dogmatic defensiveness about my favorite spots. I know I miss so very much, so I'm absolutely jubilant at the prospect of Even Better.

I'm so extreme in this, in fact, that I spent a decade building a clubhouse so that kindred spirits could swap discoveries from their intrepid food adventures. Here, FWIW, is how I summed it up a few years ago: http://web.archive.org/web/2000051006...

I don't doubt that Bogart's and Pappy's are real good. And I hope to try them one day!

But I'm announcing discovery of a new, good-looking place people don't know about. And, in my skewed food perspective, that's exciting news. I have a deep conviction that there's unheralded treasure virtually everywhere, and I'm always ready - eager, even! - to cast off my old faves if better can be found. Leads for places I've never heard of make me feel excited, not dismissive. Bring 'em on!

I'm not saying Taylor's is necessarily better. But it's a lead, and reaction in this thread (questioning its existence, and flatly re-avowing the superiority of old faves without having tried it) is puzzling to me. It's really at odds with how I view food.

Even if Taylor's does turn out to be so-so, I'm certain there are other unknown genius barbecue places there, completely below radar, deserving discovery and love. There's always "better" to be found, if one scrubs carefully enough (not by going online or reading reviews, but by getting in your car and canvassing back streets - i.e. doing the work to go off the beaten track).

That's just how I see it, fwiw. In fact, I once built a web site to host kindred spirits who shared this zest for discovery - who maintained an open, zealous attitude toward new finds. To me, the hoary places anointed by conventional wisdom as the "best spots in town" for a given kind of food are never, ever 'nuff said.

As I said, it's sometimes open on Sundays. You can call ahead to check. And the menu is extremely limited. No alternative shwarmas. But Mario's open to special orders (if you ask ahead, he might make potato kugel or latkes).