scooter's Profile
After the Ball Fields
Well, that location is a tad remote, but you've got two basic options. You can go deeper into Red Hook and explore Van Brunt St. etc, or you can trek over to Carroll Gardens and do Court St..
RED HOOK
Some people are enthusiastic about snacking at Ikea, which is a few blocks from the ballfields. I think that's pretty boring.
Further afield there is bakery and coffee at Baked, lobster rolls at Red Hook Lobster Pound, a fantastic bar called Fort Defiance which specializes in lovingly crafted cocktails, and Defonte's sandwich shop for delicious deli sandwiches.
The Southern tip of Carroll Gardens includes Buttermilk Channel (good for bloody marys and comfort food) and Prime Meats (another great bar), probably some people can think of something snacky you could find over there.
Real Sichuan food in Bay Ridge
Yeah, the ma po tofu has definitely changed over time. We started ordering it "not too spicy" because it was hurting us in ways I wouldn't care to discuss in detail...but now we don't bother - it's just not spicy. :(
Googa Mooga Food Festival in Prospect Park
Giving away free tickets two months in advance seems like a bad plan. At least half of those tickets will go unused and you'll shut out people who really do want to go.
OK!!!! Who has the BEST Hot Dogs in Coney Island...... and Knishes?????
whoops, thanks for correcting. I always confuse Atlantic and Flatbush.
OK!!!! Who has the BEST Hot Dogs in Coney Island...... and Knishes?????
A few seasons back I seem to remember that a few of the boardwalk vendors were selling dogs with natural casings, which IMO are superior to what Nathan's serves. (I like a dog with a little snap to it.) I was kind of loyal to the stand on the same block as the Cyclone.
But with all the real-estate turmoil the place is evolving rapidly and who knows if it is the same, even, as it was in '09 or '10. Really once the warm weather comes back someone will have to do a systematic survey.
My favorite recent arrival on the boardwalk is actually the Peruvian chicken joint.
If I were really on a hot dog pilgrimage I'd head elsewhere - Bark Dogs in the Slope (Bergen St., just south of Altantic), Crif Dogs in the East Village & Williamsburg, the italian dog stand in Elizabeth, NJ, even Shake Shack.
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Bark Hot Dogs
474 Bergen St, Brooklyn, NY 11217
Crif Dogs
555 Driggs Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11211
Shake Shack
409 Fulton St, Brooklyn, NY 11201
HELP ASAP! PIZZA IN BAY RIDGE TODAY!
Tanoreen is indeed very good family-style middle-eastern.
I forgot Pizza Wagon, which is kind of a cult favorite. It's thin, a little greasy, stick-to-your-ribs pizza. The space is pretty divey, which is probably why I didn't think to mention.
If you really want destination pizza I'd drive up to the south slope for Giuseppina's -- it's just like the much-hyped Lucali but a delightfully low key -- no wait, easy to park. Some of the best pizza in the city.
In general the slope is a much more interesting neighborhood to eat in than most of bay ridge.
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Tanoreen
7523 3rd Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11209
Pizza Wagon
8610 5th Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11209
Giuseppina's
691 6th Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11215
HELP ASAP! PIZZA IN BAY RIDGE TODAY!
Rocco's is a solid neighborhood pizza purveyor. Kinda like Famiglia, maybe? (Thicker slices, lots of cheese.) Nothing from there that has blown my mind, but I haven't tried the calzones. I do like their pie with sliced-up meatballs on it.
HELP ASAP! PIZZA IN BAY RIDGE TODAY!
Heh, people debate whether L & B is the same as it used to be (some insist yes, others no), but it is true that it is usually soft, a little gooey, and heavy on the sauce. I like it but some apparently find it unacceptable.
HELP ASAP! PIZZA IN BAY RIDGE TODAY!
Peppino's would be adequate - some vaguely upscale toppings (I really like the vodka pie with prosciutto & mushrooms), a little pricey. Atmosphere to sit down is pleasant.
http://ilovepeppinos.com
Gino's is a family restaurant that does inexpensive italian favorites well. Their pizza is pretty standard issue. It's a "real restaurant" though which seems to be what you want.
http://ginosbayridge.com/
johnk makes a valid point about traveling to bensonhurst for L&B which is always fun, for "sicilian" squares. It has a pizza side and a restaurant side -- in winter the indoor seating on the pizza side is pretty crummy but I believe you can get pizza in the restaurant.
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Gino's Restaurant
7414 5th Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11209
Peppino's
7708 3rd Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11209
Sorry to be lame, but looking for Prime Meats type vibe/quality that is not Prime Meats
You could do a Fort Defiance / Good Fork combo in Red Hook. (They are a few blocks apart.) Fort Defiance definitely has cocktails as delicious as Prime Meats, and Good Fork is solid but a tad more funky and "creative" than Prime.
Another place I can think of with a nice bar and food is Franny's, though the vibe is on the crowded / hectic side.
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Franny's
295 Flatbush Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11217
The Good Fork
391 Van Brunt St, Brooklyn, NY 11231
Fort Defiance
365 Van Brunt St, Brooklyn, NY 11231
Fresh Direct unreliable
Actually, everything has a barcode on it, so I'm sure there's computerized inventory control involved as well. In what is presumably an assembly-line-like format there shouldn't be very much distance between the scan and the box.
It just seems odd that (in this case) I would be invoiced for a specific piece of cheese (that weighed .49 pounds, not .52 or .53) and it wouldn't make it into the box.
And, I've had particularly bad luck lately - two of my last three orders have been short in this way (with an item billed but not there.) 3 of my last 10 have had an error.
I'm not mad, just kind of frustrated and disappointed. It is actually reassuring, in a way, to read that it's a common problem (clearly more than the 1-2% error rate claimed above.) I just gotta lower my expectations in the very least and reassess whether I want to keep using them.
Fresh Direct unreliable
It makes me feel a little better to find this thread, after being shorted on another order. What I don't like is being invoiced for something but it's just not there! You feel guilty emailing in and making the claim. (Did I put it somewhere strange and forget about it? What if they don't believe me?) I'm sure it'll be resolved again, but...I just don't like it.
Motorino $11 lunch special
Ah, I see, that's why the guy was saying "why don't you just have a minimum." The language on the menu implies that two people should get two pies if they want any discount. But what about a pie, two salads, and a clam crostino? The staff probably never even thought of this possibility, hence all the confusion.
The guy may be right - if he ordered more than $12 in extras it should count as "not sharing" and he should get the discount. Judgement for the plaintiff in the amount of $10.
Motorino $11 lunch special
Obviously it means that if you intend to order it for more than one person you cannot have the special, discounted price. Doesn't seem that exotic or unreasonable to me - discounts, coupons etc. often have restrictions. The language is awkward (saying "you can't share" instead of "minimum order one pie per person") but surely anybody can see the point. And it says it right on the website menu:
http://www.motorinopizza.com/ev-lunch.pdf
"Prix fixe menu cannot be shared."
Looking at the lunch menu, it appears the same pie and salad would normally cost $20 to $22 dollars. The couple should have paid the extra ten for their lunch and gotten on with their lives.
uhockey reviews the 3/27/11 Pizza Crawl: Di Fara, L&B, Motorino, Lucali, Paulie Gee's
Paulie Gee's - doesn't hurt to ask for a big group, at least. I was just there with a group of 8, and they gave us a 6:30 reservation.
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Paulie Gee's
60 Greenpoint Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11222
uhockey reviews the 3/27/11 Pizza Crawl: Di Fara, L&B, Motorino, Lucali, Paulie Gee's
Don't think of it as hype. It's a fun junk-food stop with great people-watching atmosphere. Sometimes the squares are gooey bliss and sometimes they taste like crap. There's absolutely nothing refined about it.
If you have expectations of "the best" you will miss the point entirely, but if you take it for what it is you'll see why it is beloved.
Any good waterfront restaurant in Sheepshead Bay?
Jordan's is not so much "on the water" as in a lot next to the water. And this time of year you'd probably have to eat inside, which is pretty fast-foody in atmosphere. Quality is debatable, haven't been for a few years but I know I'm not crazy about their lobster roll. (I used to get a hunk of grilled swordfish, which was probably straight from the freezer but made me happy enough.)
Nick's, OTOH, is a nice location and more "restauranty" atmosphere. Went there once, I liked it fine, spouse did not. Never heard a single good word about it here.
Soooo, for a special occasion, I'm not sure I'd recommend either. For just hanging around, sure.
Lucali or?
Yes, if you can schlep out to Bushwick Roberta's is fantastic. It's our current favorite for "gourmet pies." Price & size seems a little better than Frannys (2 pies could feed 3 people). Young, funky vibe, good music.
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Roberta's
261 Moore St, Brooklyn, NY 11206
Anyone been to The Grocery recently?
recent thread
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/655484
For us, it suffers from the "so crowded, nobody goes there anymore" syndrome. Our life is too chaotic to make the necessary reservations, and it's too much of a schlep to take chances with a drop-in.
Help UES near Gugg tonight (9/11)
Hi all,
I'm attending an event this evening at the Guggenheim (so that's 89th & 5th), and I need a dinner spot for myself and two colleagues afterwards. Criteria:
1) Middlebrow pricing (sub $20 entrees)
2) Not too snug or noisy
Leads from other threads:
Wa Jeal
Fig & Olive
Spigolo
Thoughts? If you can think of anything appropriate, I'd appreciate it!
"The Landing" Hot Dog Cart, Columbia Heights/Dumbo
Has anybody else tried "The Landing," a hot dog cart tucked into a parking lot off of Old Fulton (across the street from Grimaldi's.) The guy is featuring a Chicago dog and a few other creations that sound great. (like Curry Wurst!)
So far, I've only had the Chicago dog, and it's been fantastic. Covered with tomato, pickle, hot peppers, diced onion, mustard, and seasonings, it's the only C-dog I've ever had that made any damn sense. (I particularly like the spice level and the heftier bun it comes on.)
I've been told he's there Thurs-Sat, noon-midnight.
For me personally, this is one of the few places I can go for fun with my pet dog (at the Hillside dog park) and then sit down and enjoy something nice to eat.
DiFara Price Hike
"I think that the image of the great working class pizza joint (actual pizza aside) is an image draw that attracts quite a few pizza tourists. Just scrutinize that line and you will see it."
Amongst the endless prattle about DiFara's / Lugers / whatever, it's comments like these that really get my goat, the idea that people are patronizing the place for superficial reasons of style rather than the food itself. You can say it about anything - if the place is a dive you can say that people are congratulating themselves for patronizing a dive. If the place is slick you can say that that they think they are in Sex and the City. What it's *always* about, though, is that the people one is psychologizing aren't seen as "authentic" - they can't possibly be there to eat good food because they aren't fat middle-aged guys who grew up down the block.
Hot food at Paneantico in Bay Ridge?
Last I knew it was on the breakfast menu. You can get a potato fritatta on a bagel. It's very good.
I find the casual nature of the offerings at Paneantico to be pretty frustrating. You stare at the case, see something you don't recognize, fight to get the counter girl or sandwich boy's attention, and they mumble something vague about it. Why not at least label stuff?
Di Fara - What I've Learned from this Board
Well, I've been waiting at the counter and had Dom indicate that a pie was mine, only to be intercepted by an angry sitter (who was, in fact, there ahead of us.) I don't know what these people ordered!
I had to go back and say "We still need a cheese pie - I had to give that one to somebody else." Dom kind of smiled to himself and said "Oh, they were here before you..." No biggie, really, and it was actually a bit charming that Dom thought it was funny.
Review of chowish weekend - most good, one really (expensive) bad!
The OP hits upon what, for me, is the best part of burger joint's burger - "nice charred flavor." I prefer it to the burger-as-vehicle-for-gooey-toppings paradigm or the big-juicy-gutbomb model. Plus, the experience, while a tad stressful, has never turned out badly - to me that's very new york.
Huy Fong sriracha sauce in Bay Ridge
I took my time checking this out, but the Korean bodega on 94th and 3rd (Green Farm) carries it. In general it's got a decent asian supplies section, better stocked and cheaper than your typical grocery. When I don't want to go up to Sunset Park, I look there.
Keens vs. Peter Luger's
I have to say we've had one trip (out of a handful) at Keens where the steaks were disappointing (both the prime rib and the porterhouse.) But, for location, atmosphere, bar, and service, Keens is fantastic.
Where to Eat: Now Working in Gowanus 3rd Avenue and 8th Street
Slightly further afield, Defonte's lies on the other side of the BQE for gorgeous old-school italian heros.
If you are ever willing to hoof it up a whole subway stop, Zuzu Ramen would be a nice occasional treat.
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Defonte's Sandwich Shop
379 Columbia St, Brooklyn, NY 11231
Zuzu Ramen
173 4th Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11217
Best Vietnamese/Brooklyn
If your favorite spot was Ba Xuyen (used to be on 7th Ave. ca. 60th st.) it just moved, to 8th ave. & 42nd St.
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Ba Xuyen
4222 8th Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11232
