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Tim Dolan

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Everything posted by Tim Dolan

  1. Anybody ever leave a bottle of wine open overnight? I did last night. There is about a glass of merlot left in the bottle. Think it will be good by the time I get home from work? The bottle was left in a relatively cool/dark room. I'm a rookie in the wine realm.
  2. I live close to the Manayunk location, and I'd say that they're pretty streaky quality-wise. Every few weeks they'll turn out a batch of broken, nasty, bottom of the bag wings or some Sahara desert dry spare ribs. I thought that this would've been cured a few months after they opened but I was on the receiving end of some shoddy BBQ about two weeks ago. I'm gonna keep going though, cause when they're good (most of the time), they're good .
  3. I had the chance try a few burger places this weekend. The place I wanted to try the most, Good Dog, didn't open until 4, and I stopped by on Sunday around 2. Bad Dog! Anyway, on to my first review, Hamburger Mary's... I spent Sat afternoon at the Franklin Institute (which is awesome, by the way) and was craving a burger by 5 pm, so me and my girlfriend walked to Hamburger Mary's. We weren't going there as a destination, I was just in the mood for a burger, and when you see a place called Hamburger Mary's, well, you get the picture. Mary's is a very colorful place, and it had a small crowd on this afternoon. We were seated almost as soon as we walked in, and things only got worse from there. Since I didn't get a good look at the bar, I asked our waitress what kind of bottled beer they had to offer. My response was "well we have so many do you kind of know what you want?" My initial response was going to be "well, no, since I don't know what you have" but I'm a nice guy, so I went with a Yuengling. Maybe our waitress was just tired after a long day, but it didn't look very crowded so who knows. When it came time to order, I asked for a burger with swiss and bacon, medium, no lettuce tomato and pickle. The waitress asked me if I wanted a BBQ bacon burger. Again, my intial reaction should've been "well if I wanted a BBQ bacon burger I would've asked for it" but I was in a good mood, and I like BBQ sauce, so I said sure I'll have that. My girlfriend also got the BBQ bacon burger, but ordered hers well done. We split chicken fingers. The chicken fingers were fine, hard to mess up chicken fingers. The burgers however... First off, they came out wrong. Since I didn't see any lettuce, tomato, or pickle, I dove in first being I was pretty damn hungry. Something tasted funny. My girlfriend bit hers about 3 seconds later, and was grossed out because hers wasn't cooked all the way. Obviously she got the medium, and I had her well done. We switched, I took off the veggies, looked at the burger, and it was a shade past rare. And there was RUSSIAN DRESSING on it. I think russian dressing is just gross. Apparently all their burgers come with russian dressing (what's up with that?) unless you order it without. I should've stuck to my guns. I got through half of my burger then threw in the towel, I just couldn't deal with the russian. It might (or might not) be worth mentioning that the host (a guy) winked at me as we were seated. Also while we ate there were little flat screen tv's throughout the place that played Cher's greatest hits on repeat. If this is your cup of tea then by all means go and knock your socks off. I got quite a chuckle out of it. If Hamburger Mary's had good food, I would certainly go back for it. This wasn't the case, so Hamburger Mary's will be a one and done for me. My second trip of the weekend was going to be Good Dog, but like I said, they were closed so we walked around the corner to the Black Sheep. This place was much more my speed. When we walked in I think there were maybe 7 other people in there so we ate right at the bar. I ordered a burger with bacon and swiss, medium, and was delighted that I was not second guessed by the bartender. My gf got chicken fingers. Like I said chicken fingers are hard to mess up, and Black Sheep didn't. The burger was great. Nice and big, cooked perfect, good fries. I also had a Guiness or two, and it must be the pressure from the Sheep's tap, but it was one of the best I've had in recent memory. It took about 3 to 4 minutes to settle, not 45 seconds like most bars. I will most definitely be back at the Sheep. A very no nonsense place with both a mean burger and a mean pint of Guiness. If you like flair and bells and whistles to go with your average burger, head to Hamburger Mary's. If you want really good food in a modest, laid back bar, the Black Sheep is hard to beat.
  4. I was at the park for the home opener and I'll be attending two more (at least) in the next month. I went to a bunch of games last year and didn't manage to hit any of the stands. Last year the lines were always just about a half hour wait, and I'm way too busy watching the game and drinking to take a break and stand in line. I can comment on the dogs though, since there's usually a guy walking around with them. Let me say that the only time I buy dogs at the stadium is on dollar dog day, and it's usually after about 5 or 6 beers, and they still suck. Me and my friends try to get at least one D.D.D. a year, and everybody has one just for the hell of it. Some of my friends actually like them. One of my brave friends actually tries to accomplish the three 9's on D.D.D., which is 9 dogs and 9 beers in 9 innings. He's been trying for about 6 years now and hasn't done it yet. As you can probably imagine, the 9 beers aren't the problem. On a Geno's note, some of my friends have braved the line. They said there was no difference between the steaks at the park and the original location. They're even priced the same, which was absolutely shocking to me. I thought that they'd try and get $8 or $9 at the park, but they're $6.25.
  5. Phungi, not even top 5? Man I guess I really am a homer. I've heard some people make an arguement that Chubby's across the street is better. These people are not to be trusted...
  6. Yeah good point the probably were closed due to the holiday. I keep forgetting tomorrow is Easter. I had American cheese with my steak, which is what I get 99% of the time. I'll never forget the first time I went to Geno's and saw that they used Cheez Whiz as their default cheese. Kinda freaked me out. I'll switch things up every once in a about a year and go for a steak with Whiz, but not much more often than that. It's ok, but I was raised on American cheese with my steak. I should also note that while TL's cheesesteak was good, it's not good enough to crack my rotation of roast pork/ chicken cutlet sandwiches from there.
  7. Deprofundis! I drove down to South Philly to try and sample a steak from John's and they were closed! I got there around 2pm and they were all closed up. Oh well that's what I get for not calling ahead. I had to "settle" for a steak from Tony Luke's. They make a pretty mean steak. They can't knock Deli's from #1, but they're certainly better than average. I will say that I probably had the freshest, softest roll I ever had with a chessesteak. 4 out of 5 on the grease stain system. So, the best steaks I've had in the past two weeks are... 1. Dalessandro's 2. Tony Luke's 3. Geno's 4. Pat's ? John's Looks like I'm gonna have to wait until the Phils' home opener to see where John's fits into this equation...
  8. I'm not sure how Pic's did it cause I never had it, but Alex's pizza in my 'hood, Roxborough/Manayunk, also goes with the "sauce swirled above the cheese" style. Alex's is for real. I've always been extremely nervous about places who go with that style but Alex's pulls it off better than any that I've ever had. It the best pizza in my neighborhood and has been for years.
  9. I had the good fortune of being able to hit 3 cheesesteakeries since Thursday. Thurs night I hit Geno's. American pizza wit out. Very good. I was kind of getting down on Geno's because the past few times I've been there I've gotten a dead average steak. I can't exactly say why it was as good as it was (no, it wasn't 3am and I wasn't drunk) but it was. It made me remember that Geno's is supposed to be one of the better cheesesteak makers in the area. Using Holly's grease stain system, I'll give it a 4 out of 5. Friday night I was with a different group of friends who wanted to do the Pat's/Geno's thing, so naturally I hit Pat's. This was by far the biggest disappointment out of the three. Again I ordered an American pizza wit out. On this night it did happen to be about 4 in the AM and I was slightly drunk, all the which should've made me not care as much about the cheesesteak that I was about to inhale, but this steak was bad. First off the steak was much smaller than they usually give out. There wasn't really a line so maybe the guy behind the counter was tired and didn't care, but I definitely got the short end of the roll. Next, the meat tasted like it had been sitting on the grill for maybe a day or two. You would think that this would be impossible given the turnover rate down there and that the meat couldn't possibly be on the grill that long, but it is. I'll give it a 2 out of 5. I would give it a 1 but I did eat the entire thing and it wasn't the worst I've ever had. Very dissappointing though. On a side note, I also ordered cheese fries from both places, and Geno's wins that fight every time. Not once have I got cheese fries from Pat's and thought "man, they're really better than Geno's." I have done that with their steaks. Certainly not this weekend however. My third cheesesteak of the weekend came from Dalessandro's. This was far and away the best cheesesteak of the weekend. Now I will admit that I am biased because I have lived in Roxborough for the past 20 and I'm only 24. I should also state that I have a cheesesteak from Deli's (as it's known to us locals) roughly once a week. But the steak I got from there yesterday was killer. It was easily the size of my forearm, packed with meat that was cooked just right. I live close enough to Deli's that I had my steak home and unwrapped before the roll could get soggy. A soggy roll counts for major points off, but that just didn't happen yesterday. The cheese was melted perfectly and was piping hot throughout the steak. I sat down yesterday afternoon and had my steak with a little bit and salt and pepper, a little bit of ketchup, a nice pint of Guiness in a chilled pint glass, and watched some college basketball. Honestly if I would've died right after that I would've died a happy man and like I said I'm only 24. Dalessandro's wins hands down with a 5 out of 5. I haven't been able to try John's yet but I can't wait cause they might be the only place around that can give Deli's a run for their money. The problem is the my day job out in the 'burbs will keep me from getting to John's anytime soon. I think I'll try and hit there when I take a personal day for the Phils' home opener. Anyway, there are the results from my recent cheesesteak weekend binge. Enjoy!
  10. Yes, it was the good old Vet that housed Judge Seamus McCafferty and his holding cells for a short while. See that's the thing though, you may not be looking for trouble, but if you're not rooting for the Eagles, trouble could certainly find you. Especially down in South Philly. To avoid any confrontation, just wear something green and occasionally while walking down the street belt out an "E-A-G-L-E-S, EAGLES!!!" I'll guarentee that no matter where you're at, somebody will have already joined in by the time you get to "A". Besides that, have a great time. And if you're looking for a serious cheesesteak, hit Dalessandro's on Henry Ave in Roxborough. Pat's and Geno's get all the pub and are definitely good steaks, but Dalessandro's is second to none. It's a damn shame that they're closed on Sundays though, they would make a mint.
  11. Ok I need some help. The girlfriend is hinting at wanting to go to the Capital Grille on Valentine's Day, but I'm leaning towards Overtures. Do I take the risk and try and surprise her with the more romantic pick, or do I just suck it up and prepare to drop a week's pay at the Grille? And what are the pros and cons of each, by the way? Thanks in advance for your input!
  12. I'm not sure if it qualifies as Carolina BBQ, but there's a place in my neighborhood (Roxborough/Manayunk) that just open that sells some quality BBQ. It's called Tommy Gunn's. It also doesn't really qualify as a restaurant, it's more of a take out place. They claim that their styles differ from Carolina to St. Louis to Kansas City BBQ, but being that I've never sampled authentic BBQ from any of those places I can't really say how they stack up. What I can say is that they have KILLER spare ribs along with a really good BBQ sauce. The spares are thick and meaty and can even be eaten without BBQ sauce cause the dry rub is that good. The baby backs are pretty good but if you gotta pick between the two I'd go with the spares. And yes they actually smoke these ribs for at least 12 hours, they're not just thrown on the grill like some places. Try the deep fried macaroni too. I will admit that the quality of their food is streaky at times but when they're on, they're ON. Either way they're definitely worth a shot!
  13. Hi, I'm new to eGullet but this site seems incredible. I'm not sure if anyone can help, but being that this is the Pizza Club I was wondering if anyone remembers the old Manayunk Farmer's Market? Unfortunately that space is now occpuied by a tacky upscale hardware store, but while it was still the market there was a pizza stand in there called Mateo's, and they had the most incredible pizza I've ever tasted. Huge slices, good toppings, great crust, however long gone. The Farmer's Market closed a few years back while I was just graduating high school (yeah I"m a youngster) and I fear that Mateo's never relocated. Does anybody have any clue what I'm talking about?
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