hitmanoo

WOW. That is QUITE a statement, coming from you, Tommy!! I knew you liked it, but one of the best you've EVER had? That's impressive! ← Does this mean I'll have to seek out Copelands the way I sought out Michael's Roscommon?

I don't usually travel over an hour for food, but in this case, I may have to make an exception!

Clyde's is that in Maywood on Maywood Ave? If it's the place I'm thinking of then it is phenomenal!

i'm not sure how far you are from mo-town, but one of the best burgers ever i've had is at Copeland. ← I get to Morristown every now and then. Copeland is on my list.

I thought the burger at Tierney's was below average.

I also would love to see Sunday hours at AHD. I guess that they can't be open everyday... As for Pals, I agree. The burger is solid, the bun could be better, and the fries are just so-so. For a quick local buger Pal's. If I have an extra hour, Franklin Steakhouse. If my wife isn't involved, Michael's Roscommon House.

AGREED!

well, you have about 2 more weeks to eat as many soft shell crabs as you can, and you have at least 2 meals today to help meet that goal. get to it. ← The soft shell crab season is that short? I thought it lasted longer into the summer.

Just got a bite at AHD and decided to try the hotburger hamdog. I agree that it got a little messy. The problem is that the hotdog kind of breaks apart when you eat it, and the circle just doesn't quite stay intact, leaving a few separated segments of hotdog in the bun. Once the chain is broken, it becomes a little difficult to keep the contents inside. Great concept, just requires a little more care. Since it pretty much tastes the same as a straight up dog (without the bacon wrap) I think I'll go back to some variety of the Amazing on my next visit. edit: oddly enough, they had Iron Chef on one of the TVs, and they were having of all things--a HAMBURGER BATTLE!

I belive I've already summarized Jeff's feelings about the shortcomings of Rita's. What I don't get is why you are getting so upset over some opinions that Rita's Italian ice just isn't top quality. The argument isn't that Rita's is midgrade because it is a franchise. The argument is not that Rita's isn't good because it is successful. The argument is that many of us, Jeff included, have sampled Rita's and don't find their product to be up to the standards of many other places we have tried. Nobody is faulting Rita for being a successful business, nor is anyone saying that Rita doesn't put forth an acceptable product. It's just that there are several places that serve a product which has a more natural and all-around better taste than the product they serve at Rita's. It isn't one thing or specifics, it's a conglomerate of things that lead to this conclusion. To draw some kind of comparison, I think of Cold Stone Creamery. Sure they make a delicious ice cream product, and they are successful. However, I happen to think that their ice cream itself is midgrade, and can rattle off a list of establishments that are serving a far superior ice cream product. It comes down to a matter of taste, not a matter of upsetting you specifically. ← Yeah, what he said. By the way, I am a capitalist in every sense of the word. I've owned 5 businesses over the past 25 years and certainly don't fault Rita's because they are successful. It does seem to me (and hitmanoo) that you are taking our criticism of Rita's product way too seriously. I have tried explaining my reasons for not liking the product as has hitmanoo but you still want to carry this thing on. Bottom line here is Rita's is expanding big time and franchisees seem to be making money so I really don't think anyone besides you really care if a few of us here really don't like Rita's stuff. Now can we all just get along people ← Discourse is what egullet's about, isnt it? The beauty of the whole discussion is the fact that we're focused on basically flavored water. Its amusing to see how far one can go debating the merits of frozen flavored water but my prodding to actually have a discussion about the product itself has only produced generalities and not the specifics I had hoped for. Sure, sure, there's lots of Rita's all over the place with more to come. But my goal was to have a discussion about specifics of the product that was offered... good, bad or otherwise. Looks like that's not gonna happen here. Could have been fun. Too bad. (Yep, waiting for some response about how having a discussion about the actual product is not worth time or effort involved. ) someones time or effort ← Ok, since you insist. Rita's product tastes "chemically" with a flavor of syrup and preservative, rather that that of natural frozen fruit. When biting into a mango Italian ice, I want to feel as if I'm biting into a mango that has somehow been transformed into a cup of Italian ice as if the mango tree sprang forth fruit that was in fact Italian ice. When I bite into Rita's version, I feel as if I'm biting into corn syrup and sugar injected into shaved ices with artificial mango flavoring. However, at several local establishments I get the taste and sensation for which I am searching. At Rita's, I get a close approximation or some facsimile of the real thing. The overall product is too sweet and artificial tasting that comes close to tasting like the fruit it was intended to taste like, but not quite close enough for me to classify it as a top level Italian ice establishment on par with several local establishments I have patronized.

I belive I've already summarized Jeff's feelings about the shortcomings of Rita's. What I don't get is why you are getting so upset over some opinions that Rita's Italian ice just isn't top quality. The argument isn't that Rita's is midgrade because it is a franchise. The argument is not that Rita's isn't good because it is successful. The argument is that many of us, Jeff included, have sampled Rita's and don't find their product to be up to the standards of many other places we have tried. Nobody is faulting Rita for being a successful business, nor is anyone saying that Rita doesn't put forth an acceptable product. It's just that there are several places that serve a product which has a more natural and all-around better taste than the product they serve at Rita's. It isn't one thing or specifics, it's a conglomerate of things that lead to this conclusion. To draw some kind of comparison, I think of Cold Stone Creamery. Sure they make a delicious ice cream product, and they are successful. However, I happen to think that their ice cream itself is midgrade, and can rattle off a list of establishments that are serving a far superior ice cream product. It comes down to a matter of taste, not a matter of upsetting you specifically.

The only place I've seen it is in a couple of Asian stores in Manhattan. It was quite expensive too, about $25 for 1/8 of an ounce.

First, I agreed with Jeff as to what I read about Rita's being the "McDonalds" of water ice. Then I thought to myself, what the heck is water ice, isn't it Italian ice? Deciding for my own piece of mind that it is in fact Italian ice, I checked out Jeff's link, only to realize that Capogiro is in fact not Italian ice at all, but in fact gelato and Sorbet. Upon further investigation, I confirmed my suspicions that Rita's form of gelati is not really gelato at all, but rather a mix of their Italian Ice and frozen custard. Trying to compare these two establishments would be like trying to compare your favorite pizza parlor to Dominos. That being said, I agree with what Jeff is trying to convey. There is no particular flavor ingredient or aspect of Rita's that you can put your finger on to elaborate on why it isn't as good. Just as you can get a better cup of coffee outside of a Starbucks, you can get better Italian ice at a multitude of locations other than Rita's--far better. The lemon tastes like eating a frozen lemon, complete with zest. The watermelon tastes like watermelon, the mango tastes like mango, and the snozzberry tastes exactly like snozzberry! I find Rita's to be to artificially sugary and chemically, and not like an authentic flavored frozen iced fruit. I guess when it comes down to I just think that high end Italian ice has more of an authentic flavor to it, and Rita comes up short. Like many successful franchises, Rita's uses successful marketing to drive a familiar tasting mass produced goods to a population that feels comfortable with name brand recognition and is satisfactoraly refreshed by a more or less average product. Does Rita's make a tasty product? Sure! It's just not as good as some of the finer local places that you'll find.

I have heard that they used to have service problems. I go there quite frequently, and it hasn't been an issue. Even when I went with a party of 6, they were quite accomodating and on the ball. Maybe service issues are behind them. Maybe I've been lucky.

Just went to Little Saigon for lunch. I'm still so suprised that it isn't more crowded. Lemongrass chicken over rice with a delicious spicy flavor, and a very tasty and light wonton soup for an apetizer for $6.36. I just don't know where you can get a better lunch deal. The food is consistantly delicious, and the prices are more than reasonable. They seem to do very well on weekends in the evening, but lunch is pretty quiet. Located on Elm St. on the eastern part of town, parking isn't a problem like it is for much of the Montclair restaurants on or near Bloomfield Ave.

I was underwhelmed by Tuptim last time I was there. I did not return. I thought Thai Chef was far superior. I'd like to try Brookside Thai on Broad St, now that I've read a couple of positive reviews.

I'll tell you a couple of the prices I remember, as I didn't pick up the check last night. Mussels- $11 Risotto- $25 I don't want to lead anyone astray by guessing at other prices.

Went to Reggiano tonight. They have had their liquor license for a couple of days now. A few people didn't realize and brought some wine. Personally, I think they should have been informed of the license and allowed to drink their own wine, since the license is brand new. However, it appeared that they were charged a $15 corkage fee for a couple of bottles--I digress. The food was pretty good. I tried the zupa di mussels with a red sauce, and while it was pretty straight up, it was just as it should have been. Quite tasty with a light red sauce for dipping some bread. Had the soft shell crab special which was done with a very lightly sauteed crab in a green salad with sliced mango and shredded onion. Finished with a balsamic dressing. I'm not sure that this dish really worked for me as I hoped it would. I enjoyed the salad and the mangos... the crab didn't really tie well into this one, leaving me a little diappointed with my first soft shell crab of the season. Also tried the seafood risotto. This was quite flavorful, though a little oversalted. Not killed with salt, but a little overdone. Was told that the chicken marsala was excellent. If I return--given how close it is to home, I'm sure I will give it another go--I may have to try it for myself. In all, I'd have to say that in my opinion, it was just another standard local Italian place with a liquor license. Good enough to be a local stand-by, but not worth the trip in from out of town.

Neither did I. Are they distributed on-site to prevent counterfeiting?

That lobster video seems almost cruel. For some reason it reminds me of a scene from Jurassic Park where they talk about the dinasaurs eating prey while they are still alive...

Thanks Jason!

Does this mean that one pass allows 2 people to stand online together? Are you allowed to bring some of the food to a 3rd person? I was hoping to get just 1 fast pass that would allow a group of 3 (possibly 4) of us to eat together. I'm not 100% sure about the rules. Is it just one fast pass for 2 people in line, or do they limit it in some other way?

Well, it doesn't actually cost that much for BBQ, it just costs $125 or $200 if you want to get the fast pass. If you want to pay $7-$8 per order, you are welcome to, but then you have to wait on some ridiculous lines. They limit (supposedly, we'll see ) the number of fast passes that they sell. Basically it's just ordering some BBQ in advance so you don't have to wait on line as long. Since I don't see myself eating $225 in BBQ food in 2 days, I'll bring a few friends along to help me to mange!

Not to argue that it's not a great deal with some top notch BBQ, but a trip to Memphis would cost way more than $128! For the price difference, i'll just have to settle for BBQ in NYC.

I must say, now I'm even more eager to go just so I can witness this for myself!