tommy

newsflash: Landmarc, in NYC, is spelling "hanger" incorrectly all over their menu!!!

he's got a crappy goatee. BK in hackensack is now advertising angus burgers. i'm not sure if that's been mentioned on egullet yet.

the "sit down" places i go to usually have cloth napkins. and many have burgers, although that's not important. there are pubs and whatnot, where you are sitting but might not get a cloth napkin, but generally speaking, i think, when i think of "sit down" places in NYC and NJ, i'm thinking cloth napkins. and one usually does the trick!

are/will these be readily available? that is to say, do i not have to worry about never having proper tongue and tripe again?

no, i expect a cloth napkin. these are much more effective. and if they only have paper, i'll ask for more napkins as needed. i don't know that fast food "brings out the slob" in anyone. by definition, it's finger food. and it's usually greasy, salty, ketchupy, etc. i've been to very few fast food places where they're handing out napkins, much less stacks of them. they're usually a self-serve type of item.

Socks, babe...socks. That way you can at least hide the grease stains. no no. socks are for something else altogether.

i can't help but ask myself this every time i look at a supermarket's meat section. i suppose it's what most people prefer. people generally don't spend a lot of money on food, and don't put much thought into it. compared to us at least. if you gave the average person a 1.5-1.75 inch 22 oz steak they'd think you were freakin crazy or that you were going to feed them for a week. poor souls.

55 and up pp. i suppose there's an upper limit somewhere. it would probably be fun trying to find it. they'll send out dishes according to how much you're spending.

"hiding" them and introducing human interaction is certainly the wrong way to approach the issue. installing dispensers that dispense one at a time is the right way to approach the issue. i wonder which they'll adopt as the standard? i wonder if they'll even adopt a standard? napkin dispensers, the ones that haven't had any sort of re-design in the last 100 years or so, suck. you can't get one out. you can't get 3 out. they're overfilled by people who don't care, and you end up taking a clump of them out even if you only want 2 or 3.

hey i never said they were *good* bands. although it's not the kind of place you go to sip wine, so everything sounds better.

i'm cooking a 1.5 inch thick steak for at least 10 minutes for m/r. i don't think 1-2 minutes on medium low heat would be enough to brown even your finger. thicker steak, more time. give it a shot.

it's not strictly a biker bar. and the bikers who are there are the most pleasant people you'll ever meet. i would definitely say that rosie and lowell, if in a mellow mindset (that is, you have to be pretty chill to even bother going here), would be very well-received, and probably the stars of the night. they have live music (rock, blues) at least once a week. in the summer, there's nothing better than hanging out on the front porch with a cold one talking to random people while taking in the music blaring from the open windows. the owner is usually bartending, and it's all good here. i'm a big dorky "yuppie", by some standards, and i've never been made to feel anything but comfortable here. having a 4x4 helps the parking, as you have to park up on the grass/mulch when it gets crowded. i'm thinking pnaps might have a word or two to share. that said, all of you should stay away, as the place is too small as it is.

i still wouldn't do it. i'm thinking there are other options for a good stock besides leftovers that have been sitting at room temp for however long.

not a chance in hell. if your steak is at least 1.5 inches, which it should be, , it will be *perfect*, with no smoke at all. it's my new favorite thing.

there's little chance of that happening. what's wrong with people? is the entire industry completely freakin incompetent????

cocktail. perfectly cooked. large, but disparate sizes. i think there were 6 of them (which seemed to me to represent a good value). although, that's not so bad when you have 3 people of different sizes. not quite as impressive as Frank's over on 10th, but i use them as the standard, and don't expect anyone to come close. but yeah, great steakhouse shrimp cocktail (sauce was just ok, but a large ramiken of horseradish was served with it).

most of my friends, who aren't into wine for the most part, would have more common sense than this. where are the managers? the trainers? the owners? the people with common sense? at least they were large/proper glasses. however, it sounds as though the restaurant is treating the decent stemware as a luxury, rather than a necessity. shame on them. until restaurant owners catch up with the average diner and realize that proper stemware is expected, we'll be seeing more of this. most restaurant owners are simply not stemaware.

indeed it is. it should be noted that it's a "park and lock" situation, more than any sort of "valet" situation, using "valet" in the way that it's generally used when talking about cars/parking rather than its definition of "attendant" or whatever. i certainly prefer the former when it's just around the corner from a restaurant as it is here. as i mentioned up-thread, where do you go when that small lot is filled?

and i can thank all of you on egullet for making it a stress-free and 100% successful meal. and yes, i'll probably stick with lunch. i can't think of a better way of spending a sunday, and a better way to limit myself to only 1 meal on a single day (something that i don't think i've ever done before this trip...well, unless you count the 1/2 ham sandwich i had at 10 am...edit: and unless you don't count 1.5 stips of bacon, 2 large shrimp, 3/4 of a hamburger, 1/2 of a porterhouse for 2, some spinach and a bunch of fried potatoes as a single meal ). i should add that we were seated about 5 minutes after arriving. we were 1/2 hour early for a 2.45. they were still turning over tables at that point.

i agree 100%.

because sweet is easy, and people, in general, like sweet. and unfortunately it's not just chefs in central jersey thinking that. there's some thread on "dressing on the side", started by a person in the industry. perhaps chefs all think that everyone likes the same thing. in this situation, i'd be asking for the salad dressing on the side, *and* the kangaroo sauce on the side. and i'd probably be eating better for it.

yup. the lot is right there, clearly marked, on the right as you turn off the bridge. it's a small lot, though. i can't imagine how they handle the overflow, but it wasn't a problem when i showed up. i'm sure tipping when you go in is a smart idea, but i tip when i leave a situation like that, as that's when i'm sure that the service met my standards (is my car still there?). he was pleasant on the way in, and appreciative on the way out. getting from NJ across the island is never a pleasure. i drive into the city most days of the week, and it's always a pain in ass, with random issues popping up when you least expect it. today i opted for the holland, as i knew it would be a quick (geographically speaking) jump across to the bridge. after we got through chinatown on canal, and shot up a bit, it wasn't a problem. however, it's always a different battle, and i'd avoid driving any time during the week or anywhere near rush hour, which for all intents and purposes starts at 3 PM. as far as getting from lugers to the Turnpike, i'd be tempted to go through brooklyn to staten island, as has been suggested. but i have no idea what that traffic dynamic is like. i will say that driving in or around manhattan is a major pain in the ass, and don't plan on getting anywhere when you say you will. from experience, i can say that i'm constantly calling NJ restaurants on the way back from NYC telling them i'll be 15 minutes late. and other times i show up 1/2 hour early. as far as the meal at Luger's, i will say that it was one of the better if not the best experiences at a steak house that i've ever had. the steak alone, with that big pool of butter, was quite good. they must be cooking with some high heat, or magic, to get that kind of crust while keeping the interior pink. the bacon was incredible. i don't know what else to say. if you don't start with one piece at $2.25 you're out of your head. it popped and melted in my mouth. that sauce of theirs is the most horrible thing in the world. i suppose it's not too different than cocktail sauce (i've had the bottled version, but the only thing i remembered was that it was horrible). i dipped my shrimp in it at one point (don't worry, i spooned the stuff on my plate). the bread, as reported everywhere, was quite decent. more so than i would have expected. the wine list certainly wasn't up to the standards of other NYC steakhouses, but a simple bottle of chianti did the trick. nothing to complain about there. oh yeah, and the burger was super as well. and there was nothing wrong with dipping the burger meat into that pool of fat/butter/blood/whatever. the service was outstanding. far better than just about any other place i've ever been (well, that's a lie, but it was right where it needed to be). the guy was chill, cool, considerate, and helpful. i'm sure this might not be the norm, but this guy Steve was right on the money. frankly, i don't care if the server is gruff in a place like this. it's just par for the course, as long as the stuff hits the table without a fight. the most gruff-ish people i ran into where the two ladies at the hostess desk. they weren't nasty or anything, just uninterested and busy. and i love the german beer hall feel. and now, after about 17 years after having my first brooklyn ale (or was it lager?), i can say that i actually *like* it. my first pint at the old Knintting Factory on houston back in the late 80's was pretty horrible. it probably wasn't the same beer, though. all in all, if this place was in manhattan (more convenient for me), i'd go before going to S&W, old homestead, keens, mortons, and the few others i've been too. i'm looking forward to wolfgang's place, and MarkJoseph's, though. question: what's the idea behind not having barstools? i guess that's to keep people out who aren't eating? i've not seen that in any NYC restaurant. perhaps it's for the better, as it gives people a place to wait when they're sitting around during those notoriously long waits.

it sounds like you're describing a regular parking lot that caters to Luger diners, rather than a Luger valet service. while i don't mind tipping a valet, i'd consider not paying 20 for parking if a free option is a stone's throw away.

so Turley wines aren't the wines of Helen? i had no idea.

There's lots and lots of parking around the restaurant. You don't need to use their valet system (whatever that is). The neighborhood isn't the scary wasteland it once was. is there a valet in front of the restaurant? if so, i'll do that as it's nice and easy.