Where to go for Pitt, Cuse road trips

[Orangeyes]

http://espn.go.com/blog/acc/post/_/id/57318/where-to-go-for-pitt-cuse-road-trips

 

[oldpinepoint]

Joey's?, Rosie's? Tully's? Who made this list?

 

[Trueblue25]

I'll tell you where to go.

Coleman's for beer.
Middle Ages for beer.
Burgers? Who the hell needs burgers when you have the incredible ethnic food and other Syracuse staples like BBQ.

You go to DBBQ, Limp Lizard, Stellas, Heids, Kitty Hoynes, The Mission, Ichiban, and 1 or more of the great Italian places (I don't ever go out for Italian because I always end up ordering the steak, and my steaks are better).

If I'm missing anything let me know.

 

[SUFaninNJ]

I'll tell you where to go.

Coleman's for beer.
Middle Ages for beer.
Burgers? Who the hell needs burgers when you have the incredible ethnic food and other Syracuse staples like BBQ.

You go to DBBQ, Limp Lizard, Stellas, Heids, Kitty Hoynes, The Mission, Ichiban, and 1 or more of the great Italian places (I don't ever go out for Italian because I always end up ordering the steak, and my steaks are better).

If I'm missing anything let me know.

You covered my favorite places. Maybe stop at Stella's, Mother's Cupboard, or Funk and Waffles. I'm also nostalgic for The All Night Eggplant for a Honeybun Spilt around 1am.

 

[OttoMets]

I couldn't send someone from ACC country out for barbeque in Syracuse in good conscience. Dino's inconsistent; even when it's on, most of these people can get comparable BBQ within a 15-minute drive of their homes.

Tully's fits a need, but it wouldn't be one of the first 30 places I'd send an out-of-towner.

Same deal for the Pittsburgh options. I have a hunch that the people who offer tips to visitors are pretty much visitors themselves.

 

[DownTheField]

I'll tell you where to go.

Coleman's for beer.
Middle Ages for beer.
Burgers? Who the hell needs burgers when you have the incredible ethnic food and other Syracuse staples like BBQ.

You go to DBBQ, Limp Lizard, Stellas, Heids, Kitty Hoynes, The Mission, Ichiban, and 1 or more of the great Italian places (I don't ever go out for Italian because I always end up ordering the steak, and my steaks are better).

If I'm missing anything let me know.

Blarney for burgers, wings and $2.25 PBR pounders.

I would say Alto Cinco or Boom Boom Mex Mex over The Mission. I love the building that The Mission is in but not their food.

I would also add Funk n Waffles, Pastabilities and Lemon Grass.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

 

[OrangeChris]

I couldn't send someone from ACC country out for barbeque in Syracuse in good conscience. Dino's inconsistent; even when it's on, most of these people can get comparable BBQ within a 15-minute drive of their homes.

This is (sadly) pretty on the money. Dino is woefully inconsistent of late, especially when it comes to their sides, and Southern diners judge their BBQ experiences as much on the sides as they do on the main course. It's an "entire" dining experience that tends to get lost in Northeastern BBQ (which I think CAN deliver "the goods" on the feature when we're on our game). Honestly, Limp Lizard has pulled even with Dino in recent years, and in truth there's very little separation between the two, except in the all important "ambiance." A Southern BBQ joint can have GREAT pork, but lose customers with a sub-standard hush puppy though, so expectations will be high! Dino BBQ sauce is at least readily available in some Southern grocery stores, so there will be name recognition if nothing else.

Last time I was in CNY, the best BBQ by far was actually a road side joint named Hammi's. Not fancy, and I'd recommend it "to go" if visitors are staying in the nearby hotels. It's a superior product and saves you the wait of Dino, but not really recommended for "eat in" (counter service with limited seating, and your eyes will burn from all the wood they burn). In my experience, their "pulled" pork was often (but not always) actually "chopped" pork, which may curry favor with visitors from Southern locales where that's the standard. Curious if it's still open for business.

Best fine dining you're going to get is at Gentile's. Not a fan of their new location (the Geddes "death spot" for restaurants), but they're still dishing out the best food in CNY. Visitors should be fine for weekends since Chef Kevin should be in attendance, but slow days/mid-week dining sometimes dropped from an A+ to an A-. I only assume it's because Chef Kevin wasn't there on quality control because I've never had less than an A+ experience on weekends, but for all I know he never misses a day. Still exceptional any day of the week though.

You go to DBBQ, Limp Lizard, Stellas, Heids, Kitty Hoynes, The Mission, Ichiban.

Mission, yes. I'll echo another poster that you go there for the ambiance. Great location, good to very good service. Pleasant bar experience w/ very good sangria to kill time if there's a wait for a table. The food itself isn't GREAT, but still very good. Alto Cinco actually has better food, but you're trading better food & a cramped location for a prime downtown spot with a beautiful structure. Truly FIRST CLASS Mexican (or "Pan-American" in the case of the Mission) is still largely absent in CNY, although Ponchito's will at least offer you a very good road-side burrito that's as big as your head.

Ichiban... great service. It was a real hot spot years ago, but now there's been an influx of hibachi joints (multiple Koto locations). Ichiban needs a makeover to once again cement their status as the "go to" place for this type of food in CNY. The bar has been raised. They were ahead of the curve once, but now there are competitors. Tokyo Seoul is another, which (while offering slightly better food than Koto), probably loses a few points in "performance," which is honestly how most patrons probably judge these places.

Heid's is a landmark, and should be on any "to go" list for a visitor. I've exposed people all over the country to coneys and it consistently receives rave reviews from the newly indoctrinated. I'd trust Heid's (of all people) to deliver the goods here.

Blarney for burgers, wings and $2.25 PBR pounders.

Blarney burger is a must. Despite being an (Upstate) chain, I'd also throw Zebb's in there. They grind their own meat and make their own fries. I admit to being partial to places that will ACTUALLY give me a RARE burger instead of a "wink, wink, nudge, nudge" then hand me a medium rare fiasco. A Hullar's burger might actually be THE BEST in CNY though. Hullar's in general is recommended actually. Does anyone still make a "Tarbe Burger" though? That used to be a CNY staple.

You can also tell a lot about CNY cuisine from what the transplants crave. One example is the haddock fish fry. That's a particular fish not held in high regard by most outside the area, but adored by those of us from CNY. You'll find haddock fish fry outposts throughout the Southeast catering to transplants though. Doug's always seems to get the mention here (and they're fine), although I find the Fish Cove locations offer a superior product, quicker service, and have the benefit of closer proximity to the heart of the city.

Maybe stop at Stella's, Mother's Cupboard, or Funk and Waffles. I'm also nostalgic for The All Night Eggplant for a Honeybun Spilt around 1am.

Mother's Cupboard is still my all-time favorite breakfast joint. Great, friendly service and a location with a special place in my heart. Fond memories of their Friday lunch fish fries too.

There are some places that also for whatever reason (i.e. they spend advertising dollars) get a lot of play locally despite NOT BEING VERY GOOD (cough, cough... Dominick's). And there are also glorified dives w/ abysmal service that inexplicably have very good food and music (like Shifty's, especially their wings). I probably wouldn't ascribe the "dive" moniker to a place with the charm of Shifty's, but their service can at times be truly awful. Amazing wings though!

On "The Hill," I actually thought Chuck's food was quite good (for a bar) when they weren't busy and had time to work, but that's almost certainly not going to be the case for a visitor there for a game. I also thought Cosmo's had better pizza than Varsity (HERESY! according to some of my fellow alums). (Off the Hill) Gianni's has the best pizza in Syracuse... and it's not even close.

There's some great food in CNY, although I'll admit to the "Golden Age" of food there being over. Many of us experienced Aunt Josie's quality falling off a cliff before closing, for example. Even before then, a line literally wrapped around the Erie Blvd Olive Garden (while AJ's sat empty) was a common sight. Dino is no longer a BBQ joint I'd stack up against any in the country (although still good). There also seems to be a proliferation of inexperienced dudes w/ no discernible management skills that thought, "I've always wanted to open a bar/restaurant so I can be the coolest guy in town... every night will be like high school!" (which is almost always the single worst rationale for opening such a business you can have). The local restaurant industry certainly hasn't been unaffected by the mass exodus of CNY's "best & brightest" to other locales. Still, there's a few of the old guard and some newer culinary warriors proudly declaring CNY to be a fine gastronomical oasis in Upstate NY. Visitors will have plenty of food options to keep them busy for a weekend if they (wisely) forgo the chain options all around them.

 

[sutomcat]

This is (sadly) pretty on the money. Dino is woefully inconsistent of late, especially when it comes to their sides, and Southern diners judge their BBQ experiences as much on the sides as they do on the main course. It's an "entire" dining experience that tends to get lost in Northeastern BBQ (which I think CAN deliver "the goods" on the feature when we're on our game). Honestly, Limp Lizard has pulled even with Dino in recent years, and in truth there's very little separation between the two, except in the all important "ambiance." A Southern BBQ joint can have GREAT pork, but lose customers with a sub-standard hush puppy though, so expectations will be high! Dino BBQ sauce is at least readily available in some Southern grocery stores, so there will be name recognition if nothing else.

Last time I was in CNY, the best BBQ by far was actually a road side joint named Hammi's. Not fancy, and I'd recommend it "to go" if visitors are staying in the nearby hotels. It's a superior product and saves you the wait of Dino, but not really recommended for "eat in" (counter service with limited seating, and your eyes will burn from all the wood they burn). In my experience, their "pulled" pork was often (but not always) actually "chopped" pork, which may curry favor with visitors from Southern locales where that's the standard. Curious if it's still open for business.

Best fine dining you're going to get is at Gentile's. Not a fan of their new location (the Geddes "death spot" for restaurants), but they're still dishing out the best food in CNY. Visitors should be fine for weekends since Chef Kevin should be in attendance, but slow days/mid-week dining sometimes dropped from an A+ to an A-. I only assume it's because Chef Kevin wasn't there on quality control because I've never had less than an A+ experience on weekends, but for all I know he never misses a day. Still exceptional any day of the week though.



Mission, yes. I'll echo another poster that you go there for the ambiance. Great location, good to very good service. Pleasant bar experience w/ very good sangria to kill time if there's a wait for a table. The food itself isn't GREAT, but still very good. Alto Cinco actually has better food, but you're trading better food & a cramped location for a prime downtown spot with a beautiful structure. Truly FIRST CLASS Mexican (or "Pan-American" in the case of the Mission) is still largely absent in CNY, although Ponchito's will at least offer you a very good road-side burrito that's as big as your head.

Ichiban... great service. It was a real hot spot years ago, but now there's been an influx of hibachi joints (multiple Koto locations). Ichiban needs a makeover to once again cement their status as the "go to" place for this type of food in CNY. The bar has been raised. They were ahead of the curve once, but now there are competitors. Tokyo Seoul is another, which (while offering slightly better food than Koto), probably loses a few points in "performance," which is honestly how most patrons probably judge these places.

Heid's is a landmark, and should be on any "to go" list for a visitor. I've exposed people all over the country to coneys and it consistently receives rave reviews from the newly indoctrinated. I'd trust Heid's (of all people) to deliver the goods here.



Blarney burger is a must. Despite being an (Upstate) chain, I'd also throw Zebb's in there. They grind their own meat and make their own fries. I admit to being partial to places that will ACTUALLY give me a RARE burger instead of a "wink, wink, nudge, nudge" then hand me a medium rare fiasco. A Hullar's burger might actually be THE BEST in CNY though. Hullar's in general is recommended actually. Does anyone still make a "Tarbe Burger" though? That used to be a CNY staple.

You can also tell a lot about CNY cuisine from what the transplants crave. One example is the haddock fish fry. That's a particular fish not held in high regard by most outside the area, but adored by those of us from CNY. You'll find haddock fish fry outposts throughout the Southeast catering to transplants though. Doug's always seems to get the mention here (and they're fine), although I find the Fish Cove locations offer a superior product, quicker service, and have the benefit of closer proximity to the heart of the city.



Mother's Cupboard is still my all-time favorite breakfast joint. Great, friendly service and a location with a special place in my heart. Fond memories of their Friday lunch fish fries too.

There are some places that also for whatever reason (i.e. they spend advertising dollars) get a lot of play locally despite NOT BEING VERY GOOD (cough, cough... Dominick's). And there are also glorified dives w/ abysmal service that inexplicably have very good food and music (like Shifty's, especially their wings). I probably wouldn't ascribe the "dive" moniker to a place with the charm of Shifty's, but their service can at times be truly awful. Amazing wings though!

On "The Hill," I actually thought Chuck's food was quite good (for a bar) when they weren't busy and had time to work, but that's almost certainly not going to be the case for a visitor there for a game. I also thought Cosmo's had better pizza than Varsity (HERESY! according to some of my fellow alums). (Off the Hill) Gianni's has the best pizza in Syracuse... and it's not even close.

There's some great food in CNY, although I'll admit to the "Golden Age" of food there being over. Many of us experienced Aunt Josie's quality falling off a cliff before closing, for example. Even before then, a line literally wrapped around the Erie Blvd Olive Garden (while AJ's sat empty) was a common sight. Dino is no longer a BBQ joint I'd stack up against any in the country (although still good). There also seems to be a proliferation of inexperienced dudes w/ no discernible management skills that thought, "I've always wanted to open a bar/restaurant so I can be the coolest guy in town... every night will be like high school!" (which is almost always the single worst rationale for opening such a business you can have). The local restaurant industry certainly hasn't been unaffected by the mass exodus of CNY's "best & brightest" to other locales. Still, there's a few of the old guard and some newer culinary warriors proudly declaring CNY to be a fine gastronomical oasis in Upstate NY. Visitors will have plenty of food options to keep them busy for a weekend if they (wisely) forgo the chain options all around them.

The people that ran the Hammi's BBQ place also took over the No Name Diner a block or two down the road. They ran both places into the ground in a couple of months.

Everyone I have ever talked to about Hammi's has disliked them. I tried them twice. They had the highest prices I have ever seen for BBQ and the worst product. Not a good combination. I am really surprised you had a good experience there. Glad to see someone liked them.

No Name Diner has since re-opened. One of the former waitresses (the 3 or 4 I talked to all hated the Hammi people for destroying their restaurant) took it over and I am happy to report things are both to normal and the food is good again.

The building the Hammi family used for their BBQ restaurant had been used by Bob Barker, the hot dog king of Syracuse, and after the inevitable happened and it closed, Bob took it over again, restored his old design for the place and it is back selling Hoffman hot dogs and coneys there.

 

[orange79]

On "The Hill," I actually thought Chuck's food was quite good (for a bar) when they weren't busy and had time to work, but that's almost certainly not going to be the case for a visitor there for a game. I also thought Cosmo's had better pizza than Varsity (HERESY! according to some of my fellow alums). (Off the Hill) Gianni's has the best pizza in Syracuse... and it's not even close.

Great write-up. And I will totally agree with you regarding Cosmo's vs. The V. Much better pizza at Cosmo's. However, the 'ambiance' at the Varsity beats Cosmo's hands down.

 

[A Clockwork Orange]

I'm surprised that the Dinosaur has fallen off. I haven't been in probably five years, so I just assume it's still great. Down here in Virginia there are surprisingly few great BBQ joints. The BBQ Exchange north of Charlottesville has great sides, but the meat is often dry. Talked to the owner of the place last time I was there, and when I told him I was from CNY he lit up and said "you live close to the best BBQ place in the country." Apparently the head chef for the Dino was down in his neck of the woods cooking at some fancy hotel for a weekend. Like a visiting chef I guess. Not sure about the details, but that guy definitely held them in high regard.

 

[AirForceOrange]

Next Saturday, Mrs. AFO, AFO Jr. and I will be in the Cuse! It has been a while (at least 7+ years) since I/we have been in Orange Country. Read the posts above, great reviews/writeups!! Being that AFO Jr (7 year old) will be with us most of the time, what are some of the places mentioned above (or not mentioned) that are more family oriented? Also, which ones are not?

Thank you!

 

[SUFaninNJ]

Next Saturday, Mrs. AFO, AFO Jr. and I will be in the Cuse! It has been a while (at least 7+ years) since I/we have been in Orange Country. Read the posts above, great reviews/writeups!! Being that AFO Jr (7 year old) will be with us most of the time, what are some of the places mentioned above (or not mentioned) that are more family oriented? Also, which ones are not?

Thank you!

I'll be there too, AFO. Personally, I love Kitty Hoynes. I love it both with and without my kids. My boys (10, 6, &4) like the food, and I like the fact that it's a fairly authentic Irish pub/restaurant, only with better food. Plus David and Cindy, the owners, are wonderful extremely hardworking people.

Heids, of course, is great with a kid. Depending on what part of town you'll be in, my boys love Sno Top in Manlius!

 

[AirForceOrange]

I'll be there too, AFO. Personally, I love Kitty Hoynes. I love it both with and without my kids. My boys (10, 6, &4) like the food, and I like the fact that it's a fairly authentic Irish pub/restaurant, only with better food. Plus David and Cindy, the owners, are wonderful extremely hardworking people.

Heids, of course, is great with a kid. Depending on what part of town you'll be in, my boys love Sno Top in Manlius!

Heids is a definite. Also was going to go to Coleman's. Graduated from high school with Pat Coleman. I will be staying on the west side, Westvale/Onondaga Hill area...

 

[OttoMets]

...

Last time I was in CNY, the best BBQ by far was actually a road side joint named Hammi's. Not fancy, and I'd recommend it "to go" if visitors are staying in the nearby hotels. It's a superior product and saves you the wait of Dino, but not really recommended for "eat in" (counter service with limited seating, and your eyes will burn from all the wood they burn). In my experience, their "pulled" pork was often (but not always) actually "chopped" pork, which may curry favor with visitors from Southern locales where that's the standard. Curious if it's still open for business.

Best fine dining you're going to get is at Gentile's. Not a fan of their new location (the Geddes "death spot" for restaurants), but they're still dishing out the best food in CNY. Visitors should be fine for weekends since Chef Kevin should be in attendance, but slow days/mid-week dining sometimes dropped from an A+ to an A-. I only assume it's because Chef Kevin wasn't there on quality control because I've never had less than an A+ experience on weekends, but for all I know he never misses a day. Still exceptional any day of the week though.



...

You'll be sad to learn that Hammi's closed after a mid-winter move down the block. Their new location was in a real dump of a diner, business was down, they cut their hours, so business declined further. Nasty cycle. And they were my favorite in Central New York - worse ribs than Dino, but better pork and much better brisket. Bummer. I guess they still cater, though.

My one experience at the new Gentile's was way less than stellar; kind of doubted that Kevin was in the kitchen that weekday. This is a shame, because the Hawley-Green location offered A+ meals every time. I hope he's doing good business, but I'm not anxious to return.

 

[OttoMets]

The people that ran the Hammi's BBQ place also took over the No Name Diner a block or two down the road. They ran both places into the ground in a couple of months.

Everyone I have ever talked to about Hammi's has disliked them. I tried them twice. They had the highest prices I have ever seen for BBQ and the worst product. Not a good combination. I am really surprised you had a good experience there. Glad to see someone liked them.

No Name Diner has since re-opened. One of the former waitresses (the 3 or 4 I talked to all hated the Hammi people for destroying their restaurant) took it over and I am happy to report things are both to normal and the food is good again.

The building the Hammi family used for their BBQ restaurant had been used by Bob Barker, the hot dog king of Syracuse, and after the inevitable happened and it closed, Bob took it over again, restored his old design for the place and it is back selling Hoffman hot dogs and coneys there.

Wow; I'm surprised. What'd you have, Tom? (The ribs were overpriced and mediocre.)

I had a nice talk with Bob Barker one day shortly after Hammi's opened. He seemed enthusiastic about taking a break from the brick and mortar operation and focusing on his food truck. Glad to see he's giving it another go.

 

[SUFaninNJ]

Heids is a definite. Also was going to go to Coleman's. Graduated from high school with Pat Coleman. I will be staying on the west side, Westvale/Onondaga Hill area...

Coleman's is always solid. I was down at the Dubliner in DC when I went down for the Georgetown game.

 

[OttoMets]

I'm surprised that the Dinosaur has fallen off. I haven't been in probably five years, so I just assume it's still great. Down here in Virginia there are surprisingly few great BBQ joints. The BBQ Exchange north of Charlottesville has great sides, but the meat is often dry. Talked to the owner of the place last time I was there, and when I told him I was from CNY he lit up and said "you live close to the best BBQ place in the country." Apparently the head chef for the Dino was down in his neck of the woods cooking at some fancy hotel for a weekend. Like a visiting chef I guess. Not sure about the details, but that guy definitely held them in high regard.

Are you in the northern part of the state? Dixie Bones in Woodbridge is very good. (Their owner is also familiar with Dino - funny the weight that name carries in other regions.)

 

[OttoMets]

...

...

There's some great food in CNY, although I'll admit to the "Golden Age" of food there being over. Many of us experienced Aunt Josie's quality falling off a cliff before closing, for example. Even before then, a line literally wrapped around the Erie Blvd Olive Garden (while AJ's sat empty) was a common sight. Dino is no longer a BBQ joint I'd stack up against any in the country (although still good). There also seems to be a proliferation of inexperienced dudes w/ no discernible management skills that thought, "I've always wanted to open a bar/restaurant so I can be the coolest guy in town... every night will be like high school!" (which is almost always the single worst rationale for opening such a business you can have). The local restaurant industry certainly hasn't been unaffected by the mass exodus of CNY's "best & brightest" to other locales. Still, there's a few of the old guard and some newer culinary warriors proudly declaring CNY to be a fine gastronomical oasis in Upstate NY. Visitors will have plenty of food options to keep them busy for a weekend if they (wisely) forgo the chain options all around them.

Great post, especially re: the old guard places. I suppose I'd disagree about the brain drain affecting the restaurant scene negatively - while it can't have been good for your Aunt Josie's -type place to lose locals who may have carried on the tradition, the emptying-out has created something of a void that's been filled pretty well by a) immigrants, and b) outsiders or locals who left the area for a time.

The Vietnamese is excellent, there's good Thai, Little Italy has a new-ish Somalian restaurant that's good; Bosnian, Korean, and Indian are all covered and done well. There's also a Turkish place that ought to be opening any time now (Flame, in midtown); food people I know seem excited about it. Parisa (Persian fusion, off Columbus Circle) is on the short list of best restaurants in the city.

For places in the latter category, Street Eats (lunch-only) and Beer Belly (uneven, but very good when it's on) are doing good things. I'd recommend that any visitor take his pick among those places.

And I can't imagine that anyone would dislike Heid's. Ditto Gianni's - best around, no doubt. Shifty's has fantastic food. I never understand the Dominick's recommendations, either. If people want southern Italian, they should look no farther than Little Italy. I think Attilio's is the best of the bunch (though I find the atmosphere parochial and the service lacking at all of them).

Mission and Alto are both good options (though I recognize I'm in the minority on the Mission - I seem to be the only one of my friends who manages to have a good meal there). And Alto's owner is opening up a more traditional restaurant on South Warren Street later this year. Probably worth a try.

Hullar's has a very good burger, though everything else tastes like it was frozen at some point. Ale n Angus is better still. Village Burger (Liverpool) is also great, but I don't know that I'd send a tourist out of his way to go there. (bc and Beer Belly make the two best burgers I've had in the area.)

Also, Chuck's changed owners last October and the food is average at best (though the menu is virtually unchanged). A little disappointing - doubt there's a place in Central New York that makes French bread pizza these days.

 

[Trueblue25]

Hullars is the .

And Ichiban has the best sushi in Upstate. I've had in buffalo, rochester and syracuse.

Nothing compares.

 

[gocraz4dasu]

If you need places to go when visiting Vt or UVA for a ball-game, I'm your guy. Unfortunately, we play neither in VA this year.

 

[Orangeyes]

I know it's a little out of the way but Tassone's in B' ville is very good.

 

[BlackKnight76]

Someone saying Cosmo's over anything else on Marshall is just a mistake. Cosmo's is the worst.

 

[OrangeChris]

The Vietnamese is excellent, there's good Thai, Little Italy has a new-ish Somalian restaurant that's good; Bosnian, Korean, and Indian are all covered and done well. There's also a Turkish place that ought to be opening any time now (Flame, in midtown); food people I know seem excited about it. Parisa (Persian fusion, off Columbus Circle) is on the short list of best restaurants in the city.

Good call on the Vietnamese. I'm a big fan of New Century. Not much to look at on the inside (or outside for that matter), but food is excellent. Mai Lan is great too, though I prefer the former.

Also, glad to hear Parisa has improved. I went a few times when they first opened and was consistently disappointed. Place was a ghost town and service was probably in my all-time Top 10 worst experiences in CNY (of course, with PJ's now out of business, about half that list is now off the board). They need to be more cognizant of patrons needing to make curtain time on show nights, especially when they've been apprised of it. I strongly suspect my server during one visit was just a friend helping out and not a professional waitress though.

I brought an actual Persian with me to see if I was nuts that the food wasn't great and they concurred. I think they've changed head chefs at least once since then though (wasn't the old head chef from Dark Horse here at one point? Dark Horse is always great), so past negatives are no sure sign that a future meal won't be 4-stars. For awhile they weren't even serving dinner! Hopefully they've now found someone great and can avoid the revolving door at chef that you see at some places like Dolce Vita.

I'll definitely give them another shot when I'm back in town, since A) I love that location and Columbus Circle needs more pre-Opera & pre-Crunch dining options besides Ale 'n' Angus & the Mission. It sat vacant seemingly forever after Brick Alley closed and every time I passed I silently wished SOMEBODY would re-open; and B) the owner is very friendly and seems like a sweet, genuine person (the restaurant being named after his daughter that passed away is also heartbreaking).

 

[orange79]

Great write-up. And I will totally agree with you regarding Cosmo's vs. The V. Much better pizza at Cosmo's. However, the 'ambiance' at the Varsity beats Cosmo's hands down.

Just thought of something. I had this weird tradition at Cosmo's. Every time I went there (which was often - see the above post), I had to play White Rabbit on the table-top juke box (THAT's something the youth on this board will say dates me). They must've hated to see me walking in...

 

[OttoMets]

Good call on the Vietnamese. I'm a big fan of New Century. Not much to look at on the inside (or outside for that matter), but food is excellent. Mai Lan is great too, though I prefer the former.

Also, glad to hear Parisa has improved. I went a few times when they first opened and was consistently disappointed. Place was a ghost town and service was probably in my all-time Top 10 worst experiences in CNY (of course, with PJ's now out of business, about half that list is now off the board). They need to be more cognizant of patrons needing to make curtain time on show nights, especially when they've been apprised of it. I strongly suspect my server during one visit was just a friend helping out and not a professional waitress though.

I brought an actual Persian with me to see if I was nuts that the food wasn't great and they concurred. I think they've changed head chefs at least once since then though (wasn't the old head chef from Dark Horse here at one point? Dark Horse is always great), so past negatives are no sure sign that a future meal won't be 4-stars. For awhile they weren't even serving dinner! Hopefully they've now found someone great and can avoid the revolving door at chef that you see at some places like Dolce Vita.

I'll definitely give them another shot when I'm back in town, since A) I love that location and Columbus Circle needs more pre-Opera & pre-Crunch dining options besides Ale 'n' Angus & the Mission. It sat vacant seemingly forever after Brick Alley closed and every time I passed I silently wished SOMEBODY would re-open; and B) the owner is very friendly and seems like a sweet, genuine person (the restaurant being named after his daughter that passed away is also heartbreaking).

Agree about Dark Horse. And Parisa did move through the chefs quickly until about last fall (Dolce Vita is a great comp; that was my neighborhood spot for about three years, but I eventually gave up on them). The owner is a very nice guy; I'm hoping that service rounds into form as the place matures (it's two years old now) - hopefully improved business leads to hiring of more professional servers.