Charchaels Closes, License 2 Opens in Thornwood

I liked the wings,dogs and family vibe at Charchaels in Thornwood. We stopped by this weekend only to find a new restaurant in its place. License 2 is offering much the same menu (wings, dogs, burgers), maybe at a slightly higher price point (but still inexpensive). The restaurants itself is a storefront with a counter looking out the window and 4-5 tables.

My son and I split an order of fries and hot Buffalo wings, extra crispy. The fries came first, nice and hot, perfectly fried but they used coated fries. It would be great if someone in the area would serve twice fried fries but that notwithstanding, we'd have preferred fresh cut fries.

The wings ($8 for 12) were perfectly cooked, generously sized and the sauce was assertively hot if not overly complex. I'd guess they're using a bottled blue cheese, in any case, it was very good. No carrots but they did give us some fresh cut celery. They also have a sandwich menu and I was intrigued that their meat comes from a specific deli in the bronx. I see a cheese steak sandwich in my future.

The new owner seems nice, a good staff of kids, still a good place to take a family if you're in the area.

vinouspleasure in New York State (exc. New York City)

Gleason's in Peekskill to open August 2012- from Birdsall House folks

thanks for the heads up. I disagree on ossining though, imo this is going to be faux funky while ossining is full of funky restaurants.

I've been thinking we really need to try some of these places. For example, my son ordered latin takeout from l&m pizzeria (now that's funky!) and came back with delicious chicken over rice and beans. He said the pernil looked good too. How about the mexican restaurant on 9a south of lucys? or the Ecuadorian restaurant across the street from l&m? I had a very good meal at Elitas.

How about if you pick one, I'll pick one and we report back here?

vinouspleasure in New York State (exc. New York City)

anyone tried Taste in Buchanan yet?

we were there again on sat, terrific again, really nice southern rhone rose by the glass. It seems to me prices are creeping up though...may use coupon on restaurant.com next time.

vinouspleasure in New York State (exc. New York City)

brooklyn heights, carrol gardens, cobble hill area pizza crawl

if you ask nicely and it's not too crowded, court pastry will do this for you too.

vinouspleasure in Outer Boroughs

brooklyn heights, carrol gardens, cobble hill area pizza crawl

towards the end of may. I'm going to try to structure some sort of score card for the group with a background on each restaurant and style of pizza.

vinouspleasure in Outer Boroughs

Augie's Mohegan Lake

I don't think two apps at the bar qualifies as a restaurant review. I was hoping for a more complete review as he states he is returning.

vinouspleasure in New York State (exc. New York City)

CSA in Westchester

my opinion of Stoneledge is up-thread. for us, the quality of the ossining market = stoneledge csa, you can just buy what you need and the price is about the same or lower. We like to shop at the market and then head across the street to cidade for coffee and Uruguay pastry. There is also a market in croton mid-week, I haven't been yet.

welcome to ossining!

vinouspleasure in New York State (exc. New York City)

Augie's Mohegan Lake

mixed reviews here:
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/605392

let us how you make out, would love to read an updated review.

vinouspleasure in New York State (exc. New York City)

brooklyn heights, carrol gardens, cobble hill area pizza crawl

we like monteleone too but it's really canoli and sfogi we're after. I accidentally backed into the car of one of the guys at espositos and haven't been in since, but that's a story for another day.

vinouspleasure in Outer Boroughs

brooklyn heights, carrol gardens, cobble hill area pizza crawl

nah, maybe I conflated a pizza shop on smith with Joe's Superette. back in the day, smith st. wasn't a great place to hang out so I wasn't there much.

I do want to have at least one rice ball on our crawl, any suggestions from our list? Also, it would take a crazy great suggestion to not finish the day at court st. pastry but if something comes to mind...

vinouspleasure in Outer Boroughs

brooklyn heights, carrol gardens, cobble hill area pizza crawl

thanks, actually I ended up at enoteca after making that mistake at lucalis. walked all the way from borough hall with son and niece only to arrive 3 hours before they opened.

There's been so many hit or miss restaurants in the Cantania space, nice to see there's something great there and looking forward to trying it.

btw, assuming a lot of you are in the area, we saw a show at st. anne's warehouse 3 weeks ago and had the "drunch" at luluc on smith st. What a ridiculously great deal, the hanger steak was very good, great fries, decent wine for $3/glass, everything we tried was great...and we still have to get back to try the pancakes. I think it was $20 for three very generous, well-prepared courses.

vinouspleasure in Outer Boroughs

brooklyn heights, carrol gardens, cobble hill area pizza crawl

yes, I was thinking about fatoush, the kids have eaten there and like it. As for the kids, we're not talking about toddlers, everyone is 14-17, so it shouldn't be too bad but maybe we'll throw out one of the sit downs for My Little Pizzeria. That will give us three NY pizza, two Neapolitan and whatever Catania is.

thanks for the clarification on smith, I'll stop thinking about it.

vinouspleasure in Outer Boroughs

brooklyn heights, carrol gardens, cobble hill area pizza crawl

thanks for all the suggestions. Maybe pizza crawl is the wrong phrase as we won't just be eating pizza. We'll walk over to the promenade, up montague, through some of the nicer streets, grab some middle eastern baked goods on atlantic and generally introduce them to the neighborhood. along the way, we'll eat six or so slices of pizza :)

ok, I;ll try to take out grimaldi but that the only place they've heard about. So now we've got:

- sams
- luna rossa
- Fascati
- Catania
- lucali
-Sottocasa

thinking about taking fascati out in favor of middle eastern pizza. Also, last summer I had a pretty good pie from enoteca. Little too upscale for our purposes but it was pretty good.

still have a nagging thought that there's an old style place on smith close to atlantic that was good. maybe I'm thinking the arancini was good.

vinouspleasure in Outer Boroughs

brooklyn heights, carrol gardens, cobble hill area pizza crawl

hi,

lived in the heights for 15 years, visit with our kids 3-4 times a year, we invited another family to a brooklyn pizza crawl. Thinking about six pizzerias, a slice at each one. Here's what I've got:

- grimaldis - not willing to wait more than 10-15 mins,haven't been to the new location, stopped going when we lived there when the lines got silly.
- sams - maybe not the best pizza but an unforgettable venue for the kids
- luna rossa
- Fascati
- Savoia
- lucali - will wait on line as I haven't been

and, if we can manage it, end up at court st pastry. this leaves out:

- my little pizzeria
- ninos, now francescos (across from where Cammareri's was) - haven't been as much since it changed hands.
- montes on montague

any other suggestions? I think there's an old-style pizza on smith st. that's supposed to be pretty good?

vinouspleasure in Outer Boroughs

big w [Wingdale]

it's worth noting that since I wrote the OP, the imperative to drive to Big W has lessened as there are now very good bbq restaurants closer to home, specifically in NYC. I'd still trek to Big W if I was within 20 miles but from northern westchester, I'd rather hop a train to Hill Country for their monday night ayce

vinouspleasure in New York State (exc. New York City)

ny chounder visits midwood smokehouse and thai house university area (Charlotte)

exactly, it was on the edge of being inedible and, as HD suggests, I thought about and probably should have sent it back to the kitchen. How do you like the wings there?

vinouspleasure in Southeast

ny chounder visits midwood smokehouse and thai house university area (Charlotte)

Had read good reviews about midwood in charlotte, drove over after around 9 on a sunday, ordered a large fatty brisket, hush puppies and smoked poppers. The brisket was very good, with good smoke flavor and rub but fall apart overdone. Still, had a nice taste. The hush puppies were hot, light but a little lacking the corn flavor I associate with great hush puppies. The poppers were double smoked jalpenos, Monterrey jack and bacon, crisped under a broiler before serving. They were very good, would have liked a little more crispness in the bacon but I would definitely order them again.

Second visit I tried the pulled pork and beans. The pork was pulled (as opposed to chopped), really nicely smoked with nice pieces of bark. Unfortunately, the whole portion was terribly over salted. Not sure why anyone would put that much (or any) salt on pulled pork, it must have been added after it was pulled and smoked. The beans were delicious.

On the whole, this place could be great as they're cooking on hickory and they are pretty close to great on the pork and brisket. I may have just hit them on a bad night for the pork, perhaps a mistake in the kitchen and I got there late in the day for the brisket. Also, I've had very different brisket at other restaurants, day to day, even flat to flat. The service was friendly, efficient and I liked sitting outside on the side street.

Also went to thai house in the university area. Really good satays, huge, creamy fried tofu appetizer and good curries (red and panang). I didn't love the stir fried dish I tried but I think if you stick to curry here, you're going to be happy.

Finally, had prices chicken and lex #1 bbq but don't have much to add that hasn't already been said. I've been to both places many times, I learned that you can get extra hush puppies instead of a roll for the prices chicken dinner. Also, the area around prices feels a little less deserted than when I first started going there, there's definitely more restaurants and shops now.

vinouspleasure in Southeast

birthday lunch at esca, lupa or manzo...which one and why?

it was very good, I think if you stick to one shared appetizer, pasta, share the mini-carafe of wine and split the tartfuo you can come in at very attractive price point (saw your post on value for quality). I'm not a big fan of Mozzarella di Bufala, but their version, a generous portion served on grilled rustic italian bread, drizzled with a little evo, maybe a hint of lemon, paired with the grilled leeks, was something special.

vinouspleasure in Manhattan

birthday lunch at esca, lupa or manzo...which one and why?

we had our lunch, it was very good and exactly in line with what we expected.
Mozzarella di Bufala, DOP with Grilled Leeks - great
Escarole, Walnut, Red Onion & Pecorino - interesting, well-prepared, would not order again
Bucatini All' Amatriciana - great
House special ravioli - great
tartufo - very great
dark chocolate gelato - very good, would not order again

wine by the mini-carafe - well chosen, interesting and well-priced

yeah, it wasn't emp, but it's not meant to be emp, I think it's meant to be a neighborhood osteria and it functions very nicely in that regard. I saw a number of people sitting at the bar eating pasta with a glass of water. $14-$17 for a pasta at the bar is a steal.

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Lupa
170 Thompson Street, New York, NY 10012

vinouspleasure in Manhattan

birthday lunch at esca, lupa or manzo...which one and why?

thanks for all the help. We have a reservation at lupa, I'll report back in this thread.

vinouspleasure in Manhattan

birthday lunch at esca, lupa or manzo...which one and why?

wow, tough to get a recommendation. Del Posto would be fine as would another Italian restaurant.

Looking for food that favors soul over precision, flavor over presentation, comfort over cool decor. Looking for food where if we closed our eyes, it would be easy to imagine we're in rome rather nyc. The only batali restaurant we've been to was Po (when he owned it) and I thought it this kind of restaurant.

tia,

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Po
31 Cornelia St, New York, NY 10014

vinouspleasure in Manhattan

birthday lunch at esca, lupa or manzo...which one and why?

we'll be in the city during the day for my wife's bday, which is the best and why? I guess babbo is closed for lunch so that leaves esca, lupa and manzo.

tia

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Lupa
170 Thompson Street, New York, NY 10012

Esca
402 West 43rd Street, New York, NY 10036

Manzo
200 5th Ave, New York, NY 10010

vinouspleasure in Manhattan

anyone tried Taste in Buchanan yet?

great, great review. When one of my kids ordered the chicken I cringed a little, feeling as you do about chicken, but he loved it and when I tried it, I loved it too. We've never had to wait more than 10 minutes for a reserved table, even on a sat night but maybe we've been lucky.

vinouspleasure in New York State (exc. New York City)

upper westchester near Peekskill

I would never recommend those places to someone looking for a brunch near peekskill,. My family (including my 13 year old son) are entitled to their own opinions, as of course are you. I think you meant to say the op "didn't" specify upscale decor. that being said, grouchy gabes does serve pretty good food but, as I said, I think there are better choices, closer to peekskill and, given no other information, I think grouchy's could be a disaster recommendation for someone expecting even diner-level decor in a restaurant.

we've gone towards the end of brunch at the tavern and it's been less crowded. The brunch there is "from scratch", my favorite is the egg nachos but everything has been good...and be sure to try the freshly made doughnuts.

vinouspleasure in New York State (exc. New York City)

upper westchester near Peekskill

yes, I've been to all these places multiple times for lunch or brunch. I find justin thyme overpriced for what's on the plate and I get an upset stomach every time I go. The rest of my family likes it more than me and no one else has stomach problems. However, my wife has come to the same conclusion, overpriced for what's on the plate.

I think you and I may have had some back and forth in the past on memphis maes. fwiw, I'm a certified kcbs bbq judge, have eaten bbq all over the country (was in lexington nc last week!) and don't think they are serving good (or even mediocre) bbq there.

my son loves grouchy gabes too (he had a number 1 for lunch today :), the food is pretty good but I'd hesitate to send someone there for brunch based on the lack of decor, distance from peekskill and some of the other choices available.

grandmas is (or was) a chain, very good pie, the rest is pretty plain.

I think tavern has the best brunch but wouldn't quibble if someone said the birdsall house or wobble cafe was better. I just saw the bean runner cafe this week and it looks like it's worth a try.

vinouspleasure in New York State (exc. New York City)

upper westchester near Peekskill

it's interesting how many of these I'd never recommend. In no particular order:
- justin thyme
- grandmas
- memphis maes
- grouchy gabes

vinouspleasure in New York State (exc. New York City)

Marco's - Lake Mahopac

sounds pretty good and we're probably a little closer. The website indicates they take pride in their meat and game, what was the method of preparation for the steak? Given the prices, it seems like a bargain compared to places like flames and the wallet house...

vinouspleasure in New York State (exc. New York City)

Your current NYC favorites

instead of a hot dog, why don't you hit a great food cart? check out the vendy awards for suggestions. Also, it would be a shame to leave NY without trying a great bagel. The russ&daughter suggestion is good, you might try ess-a-bagel for a lox and cream cheese bagel.

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Russ & Daughters
179 E Houston St, New York, NY 10002

Ess-a-Bagel
359 1st Ave, New York, NY 10010

vinouspleasure in Manhattan

CSA in Westchester

we're dropping out this year, disenchanted with this csa. We loved that we were supporting a farm, the shares were very large and the produce was top notch. We were told that the share size could decrease if the harvest was not as strong but every year they've decreased the share size. I've come to the conclusion that it's based on the number of shares sold versus harvest size. The person running the share out of buchanan did send a nice note to the farmer on our behalf asking about the continually decreased share size, the farmer didn't reply. The produce is still top notch.

vinouspleasure in New York State (exc. New York City)