AlisonA
-
Posts
133 -
Joined
-
Last visited
Content Type
Profiles
Forums
Store
Help Articles
Posts posted by AlisonA
-
-
Wild Noodles has taken a bashing from a lot of people here and elsewhere, but I like it. I thought the food was good and the portions were generous. They closed the one in Ridgewood near where I live (no parking, and really not high fallutin' enough for Ridgewood's Restaurant Row), but they're building some others around the state. I hope to get there again.
I did a search and nothing came up for wild noodles. I'd be curious what people are saying, just to hear another view point. Me, I like it, and it definitely works with the kids.
-
Occasionally the request comes up for a 'kid' friendly place that has food you'll like and something the kids will like too.
Since I'm not as active on the boards as I would like, and may miss the next request that comes through, thought I'd start this thread, and help add to the list for anyone who searches (and encourage others to do the same!):
Wild Noodles on rte 10 - very casual, counter service with someone bringing the food out to you. Noodles rule here: Asian, Italian and "American"/other noodles dishes (mac n cheese, stroganoff). Everything (except the mac n cheese?) is made fresh to order. This is a 'slow food' chain with a couple of dozen scattered throughout the US. (ps they also have some rice dishes and brown rice if that works better for you!)
Pronto on Millburn Ave in Millburn. My kids LOVE their pizzas (mini or smalls). I love the food - seared salmon wrap with spinach, goat cheese and walnuts current fav, YUM!. Very small seating area (we go for lunch) so you may want to call before heading over to see if seating is available.
Anyone else have new favorite kid friendly places? (where they not only welcome kids, but have food most picky eater kids will eat
as well as food that you like too ) -
They do have several sandwiches, my only caveat is, given the size of the portions, they may be too big and sloppy to eat on the go.
Whiting Sandwich
Catfish Sandwich
BBQ pork or Beef Sandwich
"rib" sandwich
Come to mind, there are more that I don't recall.
-
I stopped by today.
Yum, yum, yum.
For those of you who would like more detail
:Ordered the 8 piece chicken dinner. Chose coleslaw and fries as my sides. I also ordered a qt of Mac n Cheese and a slice of sweet potato pie.
The chicken is fantastic. I haven't had better since I moved out of Chicago and could no longer get Harold's. The coleslaw came in a pint container, plenty for everyone. Finely chopped and a tad creamier than I like, it was a wonderful compliment for the chicken. The fries were over flowing out of a 7x5x2 box. Crinkle cut that were actually crisp and not soggy as crinkle cut seem to be, my kids enjoyed them.
I can see why kids gobble down the mac and cheese. I think they use cream in the recipe, it is a touch sweet. Not offputting, but took a couple of bites to get used to. Which, of course, was followed by a couple of dozen more, to enjoy the creamy texture.
The pie was a square piece, good 'solid' example of a sweet potato pie, not dense in the least but not remarkable IMO.
Mrs. Church talked me into trying the catfish sandwich next time I stop by. She told me, yes it's $8, but you get THREE big pieces of catfish on there, plenty to share. And it's fried up in the same light coating they use on the chicken - but with different seasoning she assured me. (Incredibly NICE lady.)
And, I've yet to try the ribs, so I'll be heading back.
-
Yummm, beef ribs....
This is located down the street from Mannys and Home Depot? Going AWAY from 78?
Gotta look this up.
Thanks!
-
A few weeks ago, the director of the Jewish Federation of Vineland came to us with an offer. Apparently, there are no kosher bakeries in the area, so the Jewish community goes to NYC for baked goods, or gets stuff mailed from Toronto of all places. We sat down with her for a meeting, and she said that her group would be willing to help us open a Kosher bakery, by providing support in terms of a lawyer, real estate agent, rabbi, financial assistance, and advertising within the Jewish community.
Jill and I researched the kosher deal and asked a lot of questions, and it turns out that having a kosher bakery is not as difficult as we were expecting. We can do almost everything that we're doing now, with the addition of having a few kosher options to sell. We don't need to market ourselves as a kosher bakery, but we are for the people that care. For instance, the bakery Bread Alone in upstate New York is Kosher, which I never knew until I started researching online. And of course, this means a market on the Jewish market in South Jersey.
They have a few items that they specifically want, such as challah, rye bread, and some pastries, but we don't have to do only kosher items or Jewish pastry. Since they want bread though, the concept of The Sweet Life is going to change dramatically. If we're going to introduce a little bread into the mix, we need to offer a substantial amount of bread to cover the costs of getting a bread-ready bakery. And we keep hearing a lot of requests for bread in the area. There are no good bread bakeries anywhere in the area, and we keep hearing the steady hum of 'a need for bread' from our customers and restaurant alike.
If you know anything about Jewish baking, what to eat on certain holidays, or any special recipes you have... please let us know! You all rock!
Cait and Abbey's has Kosher certification and is open on Saturdays, has parve and dairy items, and serves veggie and fish salads/sandwiches at the Millburn Ave location (if you have eons of time to wait for them to be made). Not sure if there is someone there who can talk to you or if you are 'competition'.
I think there may be confusion as to which agency is going to certify you. My guess is that you are NOT going to be certified by the ultra orthodox/kosher agency. You are going to be certified by the conservative agency. The difference is material more to the ultra orthodox (clearly as they have their own agency), but does lead to confusion as *those* are the bakeries that are closed for holidays and sabbath. The vast majority of your patrons who keep kosher will most likely be fine with the conservative agency's monitoring.
Just to clarify any confusion. I hope.
Good luck!
-
dock's oyster house has decent food, a very good wine list (priced fairly, think about 1.5 times retail), a smallish but comfortable bar. i would go there and eat at the bar have decent wine and oysters. the website is www.docksoysterhouse.com
I'd second Dock's but the bar is the same as the waiting area, and if they are busy it can be very crowded and not condusive to a leasurely/relaxed meal.
If not room service is there a 'food taxi' service that might bring in outside food for you? Don't know....
-
-
From another thread -- I haven't been yet but will be going ASAP.
Eric
I spoke to the owner of Syd's yesterday. Their last day at the current location will be this coming Saturday. Their lease is up and they were unable to negotiate a deal. Their rent would have been raised considerably. They will be moving to nearby Springfield. The address is 234 Morris Ave. Springfield. Syd's will be moving into an existing business. It's a luncheonette called Tony's. Both businessess will be serving their food under a kind of profit sharing agreement. It will take a few days to a week to make the transition.Syd's originally opened in Newark in 1941. There were many owners in it's history, but the same great dogs, considered by many, myself included, to be the finest in Jersey. They moved to their current location in the Millburn Mall (still considered Union despite the name) in 1967. You may want to head down there one more time before they close.
Thanks.
I did do a search for "Syd's" but couldn't get anything to come up.
Maybe we should make sure hot dog is in this thread for anyone else trying to search??
-
There is a sign on the door of Syd's:
Moving Oct 31 to
Tony's Place
234 Morris
Springfield
Anyone know/been to the new locale?
-
....not because I have a family that needs to be fed quickly and with minimal fuss.
As a parent of a VERY fussy eater:
One of the appeals of chains finding ones that have food you know your fussy eater will eat. When we travel often go to Applebee on the road because it has the blue box macaroni and it has non burger items for the adults. I have one fussy eater and the other two are more willing to try things, but it's not usually worth it to buy some thing for him to try, throw it out when he does not like it, and then pay for a second lunch.
An example:
I took the kids to AHD and one hated it (he only had fries and didn't like them), one was okay - ate the bacon off the dog and about half the dog, left the fries and the bun, and the other loved everything (she's been before). So I ended up throwing out almost ten dollars of food. And then buying a second lunch someplace else for the two who were not full.
Non chain places we always keep an eye out for is Diners (and we've moved to Diner Haven here in NJ!). The fussiest likes scrambled eggs, so we've found this is a great way to avoid chains when we can.
-
Good Fellas is, I think, in the area. Still getting used to Jersey Geography:
-
It's my mom's birthday tomorrow, and we decided we'd be taking her out. All along I'd pushed for An American Grill, since I enjoyed it but haven't been there in a LONG time, and it's near her house (she lives near Route 10 in Randolph).
So I went to make a reservation today for Sunday ... and ... the man who answered the phone said they're closed on Sundays! The web site and Zagat listing both show Sunday at 1pm as the opening time - they should really update that, since I took it as gospel all week in planning something.
The problem is, my family is a pain in the rear to please (as are most, I guess!)
My grandmother likes only pasta or simple, basic foods (preferably Italian). My aunt is on a diet (sort of) similar to Atkins so she likes meats. My girlfriend prefers something healthy, and my mother and I don't care, although we usually like things a little higher on the scale, but still casual.
An American Grill was perfect.
So now, where do I go? La Strada doesn't impress me - its web site makes it look oppressively "I-talian" (we're italians but come on) and anyone who serves chicken parmagiana or francese can't be serious. My mom would hate it..
I appreciate any help... !
Thanks!!!!
Okay, I'll stick my neck out here:
Goodfellas might be what you want.
Link:
If you type in Goodfellas in the search engine here there are a couple of links too that might help.
Shoulda check that site, closed Sundays. Sorry. -
Oh man, I am dying here!!!!!
Growing up on the south side of Chicago, David Berg would be my first choice of dog, but Vienna will suffice. I do admit I never was a fan of so much stuff on mine. Maybe I was just destined to move to Jersey
But Italian Beef. Combos.
Man.
It's been almost twenty years since I worked (for several years) at a southside 'deli' (Morry's) and man, I STILL get cravings for the sandwhiches. A dipped combo . . .
I better yahoo that address and stick it in the car. I'm not sure I'm going to last long here. . .
-
-
I was here for the first time about 10 years ago, I'm guessing. Some friends who travel all week and live in restaurants were in town so remembering how good it was last time, I suggested it.
It was just as good, a pretty good menu selection, and the service was nothing short of fantastic. They were impressed and complimented my choice over and over again. I was pretty damn pleased considering that I can be satisfied with a good burger or slice of pizza!!
I believe someone already posted the website but since this hasn't been active since 2004, I'll post it again - www.goodfellasnj.com
You can find their menu online, prices included! I had the pollo francese and my fellow diners had seafood dishes, of which they loved.
Give it a try if you are in the area, unless of course they snubbed you - hell, I wouldn't go back either!!
When we came to NJ two years ago to look at houses prior to moving to the state THIS is where my husband took me. Not sure how he found it but it was a great place, the food was good, nice variety of usuals and a couple of regional dishes along with daily specials, all perfectly cooked, and served by extremely excellent staff - the best service I've had in Jersey, although that may be because we dine out on Saturdays and not Thursday nights, which this was!
-
WOOOOHOOOOO!!!!!!!!
I hope to make it back by mid-week!
-
No worries Allie, We are staying in Verona. We are looking at other areas for store #2.
We are now saying 2 1/2 to 3 weeks till we re open. I'll post an actual date when we know for sure.
Eric
REALLY GOOD NEWS!!!!
Hmm, early to mid May. I'll have to see if my nephew can stop by on his way home from college.
-
Just a naive question, but if they didn't scrub the walls, and are open Wed or Thursday night, (Kosher would be closed) why bother with matzo meal? Just go to a nice restaurant and have a good time! Either choice is " trafe" . Might as well have good food.
For me, and this is a very personal interpritation so other may disagree
, the difference is between being absolutely sure that there is no chametz (foods you cannot eat during passover) - which going to a kosher restaurant would ensure; reasonably sure there is no chametz - which going to a restaurant which has gone to the effort to have 'passover freindly meals' should ensure, and taking a chance, which going to a restaurant that is not making 'passover friendly' meals clearly entails.Many people only choose the first option, if they eat out at all. I am comfortable with the second choice, but again, it is a personal decison.
And then, back on topic, I'm pretty sure Ritz Diner, which makes some great passover cakes, has a couple of things on their menu.
-
The Kosher Deli inside the Livingston Shop Rite will be open, you can pick up stuff from them too. Not sure how late they will be open today, and if you don't get it today you're out of luck until Sunday. But they are not really a 'dine in restaurant'.
If it doesn't have to be Glatt Kosher, Cafe Serene, will have some items. They actually have a whole passover catering list, but I am not sure how much they have in the storefront. They do have a small dine in seating area.
When I eat out during Passover I stick to salads, being even less strict than you I will go to non-kosher restaurants, so I can get by with that.
AlisonA
-
Do any of you have any thoughts on Morris Plains/Parsippany/Denville on Rt 53? Seems to be a well traveled road and has easy access from Rt 10, Rt 46, and Rt 80. There is a Subway and a Dunkin Donuts in the area. These guys usually strategically place themselves. If they think its a good area, then maybe it is a good area for an AHD. What do you think?
NO! NO! NO!
STAY ON TARGET!!!!!!!
We want the original AHD
back first, THEN you can look to expand. Well, okay, it can't hurt to look. After all you are going to be too busy once you re-open to spend time doing it then.
-
Here I was, with time to kill around lunch time (the house is on the market and I needed to be out for a couple of showings) and I thought "this is a perfect time to head over to AHD . . . oh right, I can't head over they're not open
"Any word yet on a reopening date?
Allison and all,
They broke the mold after this contractor signed up; He is really GREAT!! He has only been on the job for a week and I am amazed at how much work is done. The new drop cieling is in, the electrical work is complete, the walls are well on their way to completion (looks like by the end of next week for sure) and he is going to begin the floor next week as well. I'm going to say about a month till we open. Matt and I are pretty much at AHD everyday, so please feel free to stop by for the "grand tour"
Eric
YEAH!!!!!!
Sounds like a Memorial Day event to me
Hope everything continues to go smoothly!! -
I have had the occasion recently to order several items from Cafe Serene (Mt. Pleasant Avenue in Livingston). They do have a delivery service, I am not sure the range and exact cost, but you could call them.
Everything was good but the things I had that really stood out - some of these are off the 'daily specials' list - which seems pretty constant - so I don't have a written description in front of me for them:
The Fettuccini Special with smoked bacon, asparagus, tomatoes and other yummy stuff
The Salmon Croquette, you've got to try the sauce!
The Daily Special Salad with pecans, and fruit (and other things I can't recall!)
A make your own pasta dish we had with their Caper/Anchovy/Roasted Garlic sauce, really, really yummy!!
The Tilapia fish and chips were pretty good too even though they were a bit soggy from the transport, a much better choice for dining in I'd guess.
Their info:
55 E. Mt. Pleasant Ave, Livingston
973-994-2300
-
Here I was, with time to kill around lunch time (the house is on the market and I needed to be out for a couple of showings) and I thought "this is a perfect time to head over to AHD . . . oh right, I can't head over they're not open
"Any word yet on a reopening date?
Kid Dining out Restaurant
in New Jersey: Dining
Posted
My kids are well behaved, and I have just ONE incredibly picky eater out of the three. Sure, most places will make 'plain' pasta ~ providing they have pasta, however if you have one who doesn't like it then that is not going to work. (hence the niceness of having rice at Wild Noodles).
And while being well behaved is very good, don't get me wrong, I like to know of places my kids can be more relaxed and 'kids' (and I feel they are enjoying the experience a little more. )