all-u-care-2

Grape Kool-Aid® FunFizz". Package lists minimal amounts of natural and artificial flavours, not detailed as to origin. Sweetening: sorbitol and aspartame. They make punch and lemonade as well, but the grape is far superior. I'm old enough to remember, but for unexplained reasons was not exposed to, Fizzies and its ilk.

Reading this thread made me want to mention that the 154th Great Allentown (Lehigh County, PA) Fair starts this afternoon and runs until Labour Day Monday. Go to their site for info. Most of the foods are either things you recognize from any fair, or (particularly if you're from here) things you recognize from local businesses -- although due to a badly weather-damaged tent roof, Yocco's, that Allentown tradition won't be serving their usual lineup of chili dogs, steaks et al. The local paper reported on this.

(ah, there it is...) I was wondering when you cats were going to discover this place. The ads used to say when they had all-you-can-eat something or other, but I imagine the costs thereof got out of hand. Their location is too far out of the way for me, Mr. I Gotta Take the ____ing Bus; Warren County runs them out there, but they go from P-burg proper to the Mall, to the Walmart, to 57 and 519, around but not to it.

This is absolutely true, and the urge to get a "plate" correlates very directly with alcohol consumption. Sadly I don't think Corbin John's is open very late... my apologies, I forgot to verify this very important aspect of the phenomenon. ← Aye-aye on not real late: 11 on weekends, 9 the rest of the week. Not gonna work with most of the local public houses.

philadining, the dawg in that picture is DEE-PLORABLE! Looks like they ruined the sauce terribly. Supposedly there are better chili dogs over in Bethlehem, specifically South Side, at Pete's at the corner of Broadway and Carlton. I'd have to make time to go check on that, tho... Aye-aye on 625 Liberty as the original Yocco's location... And no offence to the guy who mentioned Nathan's, but don't they put red beans in their chili? Dawg chili don't need no beans...

You folks've mentioned Primo multiple-y in this thread, and I went rather messily out of my way in Bethlehem PA the other day to pop in on one of their newest locations, practically on top of the US22 expressway at Schoenersville Road (same exit as Westgate Mall) (explanation: I do not drive, and the recent snowing + thawing made for an icky, gooey hike from the nearest bus stop...happily I have the right kind of shoes) I wanted a Sicilian (sorry, no pix) - dry-cured capicola, Genoa salami, sharp provolone - but caught them at a time when the rolls hadn't been replenished, and had to take it as a wrap. Still, it was magnificent...the most solid sandwich I've seen in years! Hopefully the weather will stay dry until I get back there again...

The foundation is some combination of homefries (hash browns?), baked beans, and/or macaroni salad (some places use french fries instead of the hashers, incl. this one); then whatever meat you can think of -- anything from franks or burgers (no buns) to grilled chicken or sandwich-steak -- goes on top. Condiments and garnishes could also be involved, e.g. the hot chili-ish stuff spread on Texas Hots, which they also serve. It all goes in the same place, grandma would say... I've seen webpages about them, here's one: Geocities

Anyone familiar with the "garbage" or "trash" plates popularized in Rochester, NY, who might be passing through eastern PA along US 22 would be encouraged to check out Corbin John's, in the Palmer Town Center just off the 25th St. (rt 248) exit of 22 in the Easton area. Place looks kinda chain-y, but according to staff this is their only location, at least in the Valley. Besides the plates they do burgers, "Texas hots" red and white, steaks (Philly-style), chicken and seafood items, and salads. I tried the grilled chicken on roll, with mozzarella...nice and juicy; a woman that came in after me got one of the plates, with burgers IIRC. I told the one clerk, folks in Allentown would freak out when they heard about this...

UPDATE...UPDATE...UPDATE... The company supplying the shop in PA...IS FROM NEW JERSEY!! A Panza & Sons Ltd ("America's largest full-service distributor to the ice-cream industry") 50 to 60 Parkway Place Edison NJ 08837 Ph 1.732.225.1314 Web www.icecreamproducts.com So, given that billing, there could potentially be lots of places that could do it...

A local ice-cream shop back here in PA reopened for the season offering a fat-free, no-sugar-added soft-serve, as well as sundaes, shakes et al made with it. Their choc. syrup is also apparently sugar-free; the sweetener in both cases, ah believe, is Splenda. Are any places in NJ doing this?

I just looked at my post again and noticed the words "King Plaza" occur twice, which (I thought) might lead to confusion when someone replies... I'm guessing you're referring to the one "on the border", 'cuz the other one (the only one I've gotten close to, given its easy accessibility on transit) tends to keep its blinds shut, which doesn't always imply anything about the food... Those guys at the border one have a better model to work from in Hudson Buffet (the sign above says "Buffet Hudson") farther north in North Bergen on the Kennedy just off 495...well maintained, and staff sharply dressed and attentive.

While we're on this, and since I was just in Jersey City and Bayonne recently, what can any of you tell me about the following: Fun Buffet on 440 near the former Roosevelt Stadium (now the Kevork Hovnanian development Society Hill) Jersey Buffet at the Martin Luther King Plaza (right next to the light rail) King Plaza Buffet on the JC/Union City border and, is or isn't there a storefront buffet in Bayonne somewhere?

Is this what yer talking about? SANDWICHERA EL PUNTO 410 W TILGHMAN ST ALLENTOWN PA 18102 ( 610 ) 435 - 9170

Just so we're on the same page, drop their names, puh-lease...

Anybody crazy enough to do Italian lunch buffet in northeastern NJ? I don't count P---a Hut.

Thanks for all your help. I've never been to Uno's, but at least I know what it's like from the cable show, and there are some in NY/NJ that aren't out of the way. For Kim, I'm just the type that wants to try new and different things, esp. of a food nature. For menton1, Adzzz by Google is like that. Just like its search-engine namesake, it searches for participating businesses whose ad copy matches words in the page.

The other day I saw that well-beaten Travel Channel show about Chicago pizza, and it made me wonder where the best deal on it is in northern NJ. The closest I've ever been to it there was the pizza stand in Penn Station concourse, Newark, back in the mid-to-late-80s when I was commuting to a certain Punjabi homeopath (fun guy, loved a good vodka IIRC)... [GO YANKEES!]

I'd LOVE to know where you can find gyros in Hudson county specifically (I believe they closed the place in the Newport Mall food court that did 'em, it's a Taco Bell now); I've only ever seen them at festivals. The Turkish stuff is great too, but I'm too used to getting that in the Village.

Ouchie. I ate at Karma at my last fest (Fall 02), not thrilled tho the meats were ok. Maybe I should just drop in on a regular day? I'll go check that out, tnx...

(Half-OT because Hoboken has restaurants, and some are involved in this festival; my particular quarry was going to be India on the Hudson, or at least its stand) I had been planning to go to today's (9/19) Hoboken Fall Arts & Music Festival, except that due to flooding in the downtown, the buses to NY are bypassing Easton. I might still come down later in the week once the water recedes, maybe go to San Gennaro or something. Anyone know if the festival went on as scheduled?

That whole organization is a mystery. Why far-more-piddling stuff from this and the other Newhouse papers gets online, while cooler articles like this doesn't, continues to baffle. BOB

How long ago did White Castle decide to get out of Philly? I realize the frozen burgers are still available, but I don't wanna hear it from my family when I come home with a box of cheesy-sliders and end up only having two, 'cause they've SCAMMED the rest...

Well, I'd tend to think given they've been around for upwards of five to six years their English would be pretty good, at least the management and the senior waitstaff. It's hardly the crummiest place in town, and goes to great pains to keep smokers and nonsmokers from clashing; plus there's a National Guard armory across the street, if they're not in the Middle East or wherever they descend on this place in droves. Maybe there's a deeper issue between this tune and somebody working there, something none of us need delve into.

At my favorite Chinese place today (Great Wall, 15th/Allen, Allentown), instead of the usual "lite" radio station, the staff was playing one of their (native-language) CDs. Well, sir, that stereo system were still playing THE SAME SONG when I left as when I came in!! The singer and the pace of the song (to me, anyhow) brought to mind Debby Boone warbling "You Light Up My Life" back in the 70s. But, the CD =skipped= repeatedly, making what was probably only a four-minute song seem like 20 to 30! "Hey Jude" would be a quickie by comparison! The staff seemed not to care, to be honest, managing only modest chuckles when I (among many others!) brought it up. I don't want to give up on this place -- their seafood selection rocks -- but I hope this little problem isn't a sign of a much bigger one. No restaurant is going to succeed if the background music makes for lost appetites.