tommy

yeah, that was a bit harsh. sorry. i just realized that i really don't know how to pronounce "boulud" either. les halles was tricky for a while. then i saw a pronunciation, which made it very easy. then again, i couldn't pronounce massachussetts until i was about 20. still can't spell it.

well thank you stefany. :) wilfrid, go to hell. :D

you know, can't a guy ask an honest simple question around here without getting a truck load of nonsense? so now i'm really confused...is it Dan yell', or, dan' yul.

it depends on how much i *want* to like the restaurant. price-point (and with that, who's buyin'), of course, is also a consideration. my first and only visit to daniel was enough to never go back. well, at least not until i've been to all of the other restaurants of its calibre that NYC has to offer, which could be a while. generally speaking, i do not return to a restaurant if i find the food is horrible. however, i would probably return if the service was substandard, unless the price-point dictates that i should be expecting next-to-flawless or at the very least polite service. *cough*daniel*cough* as some have suggested, it comes down to options as well. knowing there are 20 other restaurants just as good as the last in NYC makes it very easy to forget the one that fell short.

after reading Malawry's intense report, i couldn't help myself. i had to go try this thing. briefly, i thought it was pretty good, and i don't think i've ever had a veggie burger. i ordered it with pickles and onions, which i figured it didn't come with after reading Malawry's review (although, i can't imagine why they *wouldn't* put pickles and onions on a veggie burger). in addition to insuring that i got a "fresh" specimen, i also like pickles and onions. i took a nibble of the patty itself. i found it nicely spiced, and did detect the "flame broiled" aspect, which added flavor. the rest was simply the basic lettuce, tomato (which i took off), onion, pickle, and according to the above article, "low-fat" mayo. overall, it was a good sandwich, and one that didn't leave me feeling gross. although, my usual order is a double whopper with cheese. yuck! they obviously aren't pushing this thing in manhattan, as i wasn't even sure that they served it until i saw it on the menu above the registers. i'd probably try it again, if i was feeling health-conscious. that being said, if i'm in BK, i'm probably not feeling health-conscious, but rather too-many-drinks-the-night-before conscious. while we're on the topic, i've found that the "kitchen" is rarely the culprit when it comes to the long lines at these places. it's the people between the food and the customer that are the problem. food is often piled up, and the customers are piled up, but the near brain-dead people in the middle just can't seem to complete the transaction. i sometimes think that they should open a mcdonald's automat, like the old days, to cut out the completely unnecessary middlemen. /end rant

i disagree to a point here. most chains introduce new items occasionally to spice up their otherwise static menu. some do it routinely in smaller markets, basically testing the waters for a possible national release, while others, like taco hell, rotate special items on a regular basis, knowing that they will disappear in a few months. at least, that's the way it seems to me. wilfrid, there is a thread somewhere on popeye's chicken. i think the consensus was that it is better than most. i like it. i can't speak for NYC outlets, however, as all of my fried chicken is consumed in NJ.

yeah, like i got time to surf the net all day? right. as if.

i'm not sure that i buy that. and if so, i'm guessing that the research isn't something that they repeat on a regular basis. one would imagine that the data is outdated. of course, when you grow up having mustard on mcdonald's hamburgers, your preference for having mustard on mcdonald's hamburgers will probably not change as long as you live in that area. but i don't think that's the issue i'm questioning.

LOL! you f'er. :)

not in the NYC area, as mustard is rarely found on BK's or McD's burgers!!! i always wondered about this point. why would mustard be standard in one region of the country while in another it's nowhere to be found? can one actually argue that virginians are overall big fans of mustard on burgers while NJians aren't?

if you want to compromise speed for freshness (although most BKs and its ilke are by no means "speedy"), you can order something like "extra pickles". this pretty much insures that you get fresh product.

ummm, how do you pronounce this restaurant? i'm guessing "west", but i ain't so smart.

ok. this sounds a bit more reasonable than "over cooked across the board" and overcooking being de riguer at luger's. i feel much better now. :D

this whole overcooked issue baffles me. am i the only one to whom this seems unacceptable, especially considering this is "the best of the best"?

i love the crunchy taco supreme at taco hell. and i order them every time. however, i am *always* sucked into whatever they are promoting, and generally order it along with my 3 tacos supreme. i am always disappointed. you'd think i'd learn, no?

i agree with your Legal assessment. i think it's pretty darned good. however, i thought the crab house in edgewater was ridiculously overpriced and horrible. i went at lunch. thanks for the thoughts!

is "over-cooked" standard at luger's? more importantly, who made it to lunch?

someone asked me for a recommendation of good seafood in northern jersey. something that's not crazy expensive. the only thing i could come up with was Legal Seafood. recommending a chain seemed pretty lame, but i got to thinking that maybe there really are no decent seafood restaurants in northern jersey. i even tried to think of restaurants that do seafood well and could only come up with a few of the better restaurants in the area. any other suggestions?

blue because back in the 1600's when they were first framed, they were printed on blue paper. or something like that. Click here for an example.

i am truly shocked. and i'm not just saying that to be nice, as i rarely do such foolish things. edited for typos.

stefany, you weren't even born in 1952. my friend was the "my-t-fine" boy on the commercial back in the 70's. however, i'm too young to remember it. oh well. (really, he was!) wilfrid, if you're reading this, it's jamie, whom you've met a few times.

adults have more experience driving (not to mention drinking). not to defend or even debate the very valid point that you bring up, but i'm pretty sure that i can have a six pack of beer and drive home with next to no impairment. however, a 17 year old 150 lb kid buying a six pack one night to celebrate getting his driver's license would most likely have different results. prorate this behavior over 3 years and i'd think the risk for the 17 year increases exponentially, whereas my risk remains minimal.

fyi, i picked up the same 2000 dr. loosen at my local liquor store...the same that i picked up in MA last week. it was 8 bucks in Mass and 11 or 12 bucks in the NYC area. sigh.

even the libertarian side of me agrees with this 100%. although the laws are probably inconvenient for most of us, we can certainly get our juice whenever we need it for the most part. i suppose this could be another thread. albeit one filled with political, religious, and moral views, but an interesting on nonetheless.

mao, isn't in true that in PA you can't buy more than 12 bottles of beer at once? at least i recall this being the case in college park when visiting penn state friends in the early 90's. you had to buy 2 sixpacks, bring them outside, and then go buy 2 more. ahhh, what a pleasure that was. i often wonder where people who live in NYC buy beer. surely you don't by them at the corner bodegas (sp?) at 12 dollars a six pack. in NJ, all liquor is sold at one kind of store (ummm, a liquor store). these stores are generally open from noon (or earlier) and close at 10, 'cept for sunday , when they open at noon and close at 8. not too bad overall.