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Well, I've got some news on El Gran Mexicano. I'm not positive if it's good or bad yet, but I'm hopeful. I drove by this morning and they've finally removed the coverings from the windows. Looking inside, it's very different though. They have a few small tables now (2 seaters) and the grill area is now enclosed by new walls (with serving windows). It looks like that wall came at the expense of the counter (a big minus in my book). If anything, I think this renovation ends up with LESS seating, but it's obviously not complete yet. Everything looks VERY different. It's brighter and neater, but the question remains... is it still El Gran Mexicano? I think so. I definitely want it to be so. Fink said that their rent is actually quite low, so here's to wishing that the next report is a confirmation of their re-opening!

Shouldn't "The Beau" get a new identity too? Maybe "The Squeeze" or (keeping with the weather theme) "The Wind Beneath My Wings"?

More info please! Order away! Having eaten these things both in the US and in Vienna (original and non-original on both sides of the Atlantic), I don't think the cost of shipping one here is quite worth it. Of course, I leave it to everyone else to make their own judgement!

It's just called the Hotel Sacher Wien (Vienna Sacher Hotel). The funny thing is that they actually ship those things out to places in the States and people STILL think they're not as authentic!

Do you have a name/location for the store in Hackensack? All this talk about bagels has hypnotized me into wanting one!

I dream of a day when all of these threads will be merged together, but until then... I'll just have to be content with providing links to the other "Rebecca's in Edgewater" threads! Count 'em folks... One Two Three And if you're still counting along, this thread would be number four! edit: just changed a couple words for clarification

You were either very lucky or you were there pretty early. I was driving down 17 around 1pm and it looked horrible enough that I had to get off and take the side roads. In any case, I'm glad you enjoyed the store and had a good experience.

Add the French toast to my recommendations of dishes at Fink's. Excellent flavor brought out by lengthy soaking. And should you ever ask for whipped cream on anything there, you'll be pleased to know that they make it on the spot.

I bought a KitchenAid at Chef Central in Paramus a few weeks ago for $150. I saw the same model at BestBuy (also in Paramus) for the same price. Take that information for whatever it's worth (probably not quite $150). I'm a pretty pathetic cook, so I really have to defer to others as to the usefulness of their selection at Chef Central. However, right next to Chef Central are Circuit City, Borders, and Linens & Things. Also, JR Cigars (just BEFORE the shopping center with all those stores) might be a place worth checking out if you've got cigar smokers on your Christmas shopping list. Trust me, once you have to deal with the Route 17 traffic you'll understand why I'm urging you to get everything you might need from the area in one sweep!! As for Ho-Ho-Kus, it's name is of "American Indian" origin. It's a contraction of Mehokhokus (alternatively, Mahakhokus) which means "the red cedar". There were a lot of previous names for the town: Hochaos, Choghaxes, Hoppertown, New Prospect, Undercliff, and Borough of Orvil. Personally, I like the name Ho-Ho-Kus because it's got more character than Hoppertown, but it's not atrocious like Choghaxes!

I just found this link which might be useful (if for no other reason than to list some of what's available). Personally, I'm still searching for a "favorite" salsa, but I think the above link will help me in that quest!

I think I speak for everyone on this board when I say... I would LOVE to see that email!! Seriously, you are our hot dog guru around here. I just bought yet another package of Black Bear beef franks today because I've got some killer pickled-habanero/habaneroed-pickle relish* that needs to go on some quality dogs. I hope this story has a happy ending for you! *That relish was given to me courtesy of the mad scientist known as Fink... hopefully he'll add it to his menu soon!

Ditto! Let's not start this again! As Tommy pointed out last time, you've got to log in with your other name FIRST and THEN agree with yourself. Yeah, I second what 201 said!

Ditto! Let's not start this again! As Tommy pointed out last time, you've got to log in with your other name FIRST and THEN agree with yourself.

Damn... Ivan just made me really, REALLY hungry for a nice danish! (Don't mind me, please continue...)

I'm not big on bagels myself, but I seem to recall that Hot Bagels gets a lot of business (think lines outside the door in the morning). The problem is, I can't remember WHICH Hot Bagels that is! I'm thinking that it's possibly the one on Maple Ave in Glen Rock/Fairlawn? Fairlawn also has a large Jewish population, but I'm not sure how Orthodox they are. I do know that Fairlawn's got at least a few bagel stores in town, but I'm not convinced that "Jewish clientelle = good bagels"! edit: Come to think of it, I'm not entirely convinced that "lines outside the door = good bagels" either! I really don't know very much about bagels, I'm afraid.

John, I can't believe that some people from Texas found this hot dog and those of us living IN the state of New Jersey cannot. My advice is to find out when the manager and/or owner is there and ask him/her directly rather than dealing with the grunts. That's your simplest way to find out the contact info for Andrako's (or whatever the company name is).

I tried searching for this company on Google and came up with nothing. Have you checked to be sure of the spelling? Did you get the name directly from the manager/owner? Closest lead I can give you: Florence, NJ (Burlington Co.) list of businesses. There's an email address that you might be able to contact for more info.

My advice would be to go with a group of at least four. That way you can sample more of the menu, but I'm not kidding when I say that everything I've sampled there has been delicious. As Jason stated, it's really branching out from traditional Vietnamese, but in very good and creative ways. I believe the lemongrass dish to which you referred is the lemongrass chicken... it's terrific! Very moist with a subtle, yet distinct flavoring to it. You should certainly try the pho (it is the standard by which many [myself included] judge a Vietnamese restaurant), but you'll likely still have room to sample other entrees as well. Enjoy! edit: More of a postscript really... in case you haven't seen them yet, some pictures of the food might help you decide. Just order whatever looks good!! Chances are it will taste even better.

You're probably right. Homogenized television across the states has probably cut down on quite a bit of regional dialects. Quite a bit of them still persist though. People from Hawthorne, NJ generally pronounce their town's name as "HawRthorne", despite all my efforts to persuade them otherwise.

I've never heard any of my friends from Brooklyn say it that way. They're all from Bensonhurst and Sheep's Head Bay. Maybe it's an ultra-regional thing?

Hast thou never heardest of yon publication "Weird New Jersey"? Side note: Hadn't been to the site in a while and I notice they now have a little Flash intro with a theme song (of sorts). However, the pronunciation of Jersey in the song sounds more like "Jerzay" than "Jerzee". Any ideas where that pronunciation comes from? Also... who the HELL says "Joisey"?!? Has anyone ever heard someone from Jersey actually use that pronunciation? To make this food-related, I like to discuss these topics while dining at Wondee's in Hackensack.

A friend of mine always orders something I like to call a "Reuben, hold the Reuben". It goes something like this.... Him: "Can I get a Reuben?" Waitress: "Sure." Him: "But with pastrami... not corned beef." Waitress: "OK." Him: "And without the Sauerkraut?" Waitress: "Alriiiiiiight." Him: "Can I get that on white bread without the mustard?" Waitress: (puzzled look on her face as she nods, writes it down, and walks off) Me (to him): "Another 'Reuben, hold the Reuben'? Why don't you just order 'pastrami and swiss on white' and save everyone some time?" Him: "Because I love Reubens!!"

Just did a little search and found this link to restaurants in the NYC metropolitan area with gluten-free diet awareness. Janice is the third restaurant listed. The plot thickens... (without using flour, of course) edit: the last line was brilliantly awkward... now it's just plain brilliant

Tommy - Sounds like you know what you're talking about. I was just trying to explain what I thought Jdetal was talking about (since I've never been to Janice and never heard of celiac... I obviously have NO idea what I'm talking about). Jdetal - Were you perhaps misinformed? Have you spoken to Janice? (Trying to reprise my role as mediator... )

Tommy - I believe what Jdetal was saying was: Janice doesn't "cater" to the gluten-intolerant, but they CAN identify whether gluten is used in a particular dish. It's the difference between saying "Let me make you a special meal without gluten" and "I'm sorry, but you can't eat that because it has gluten in it." Jdetal says this from personal experience, but apparently was somewhat misled in this regard by a write-up. I can't confirm the correctness of these statements since I still haven't been to Janice (though I expect to be there next week)... I'm just trying out my English-to-English translation skills.