Review: Risotteria, Manhattan

Fellow NomNomNomNYC reader, Eddie (hi Eddie!) invited Evan and I out for grub on Friday night. The only catch is, Eddie is allergic to everything. She's probably even allergic to you. But anyhow, she's got a favorite place that she goes to that serves up a gluten-free menu and since Evan and I are much more flexible in our dining habits, we went where she wanted. And this ended up being a good thing!

We went to Risotteria in the West Village, and man, it was pretty awesome. I had no clue was risotta was (soupy rice with stuff in it, like a savory rice pudding), and was honestly a bit skeptical as I eyed our neighbor's oatmeal-looking plate of it. But then the delicious breadsticks arrived and I was a-ok. We decided to go family-style and get three dishes and then just share them all, which I recommend. I got some sort of risotto with calmari in it, Evan's had green beans in it, and Eddie got a pizza with ham on it.

Readers, we couldn't finish our food. It was so good and so filling that there was enough of it left for Eddie to pack it up as leftovers and take home. There was tons of flavor in the food without being overwhelming, and it was easy to share. I imagine that this place is comfort food to the gluten-afflicted. The place has a fabulous selection of gluten-free wines and beers, and the Coca Cola comes in a little vintage glass bottle. We didn't try the desserts, but I'm sure that they're great as well.

The place was priced reasonably enough that you could come back as often as you'd like, and the staff working at the time was very sweet and helpful. They even pull the table out for you to sit down, which is nice because then you don't have to do that whole awkward squeezing-yourself-through-the-crack-in-the-tables things.

So Risotteria, you get 4 out of 4 stars, just because you were yummy. Good job!

Risotteria
270 Bleecker St
between Cornelia St & Morton St)
New York, NY 10014
212.924.6664

www.risotteria.com

Review: DuMont Burger, Brooklyn

Last Thursday (I KNOW, I KNOW, I'm so behind on this), Evan and I jointly came to the opinion that it would be a good night to eat out. Evan had to move his car anyhow, due to the lovely alternate-side parking in the neighborhood, so we decided to pick a locale elsewhere. Not really feeling like investigating a band spankin new restaurant, we went to an old fave, DuMont Burger in Williamsburg.

DuMont is this fancy French bistro sort of place right off the L Lorimer stop who apparently had these awesome burgers on their menu next to the duck confit. People kept coming in just for the burgers, so the fine people at DuMont opened a location just for them on Bedford Avenue. It's a teeny-tiny little place that they somehow manage to pack the people in by eliminating tables and chairs, and instead using small bartops and stools. The place is very warm and cozy and dimly lit. Sometimes you have to wait a long time for a table, but this time it was only about five minutes.

Everytime we go, we get the same thing. The mini burger (not so mini!), fries or a salad, and a beer. I was on that same train this time around, but Evan got the skirt steak sandwich. This place is like a fancier, more refined Shake Shack. The burgers and fries are equally delicious, but they have a more gourmet taste to them. The pickles are especially nice, with a very sweet yet tangy taste. I seem to remember the bartender telling us one time that they make the pickles themselves. I could be imagining that conversation, or I'm just super gullible, but there you have it.

So anyhow, the burger: Great. Evan's skirt steak: Pretty good as well. Whatever house dressing that comes on the salad: Light and very yummy. The beers: Always nice.

Short and sweet, the DuMont Burger is a consistently great place to go eat. 4 out of 4 stars, just because.

DuMont Burger
314 Bedford Ave
(Cross Street: Between S 1st Street and S 2nd Street)
Brooklyn, NY 11211
718.384.6128

http://dumontrestaurant.com/dburger.html

Top 5 Chain Places You Can't Find in NYC

All of this reviewing of NYC food makes me miss all those wonderfully crappy chain places down south that haven't quite made it north yet. Here's my Top 5.

5) Cracker Barrel. This one is really for Evan, who really really loves the place. These Southern cooking/general store hybrids can be found along major highways and interstates, ready to serve you up some fresh chicken fried steak, grits, and baked cinammon apples. While you wait for your food, you can play with the little pegboard games. After you're done eating, stop in the general store and buy yourself some religious paraphernalia and 10 cent candy sticks. The closest one we've found is in New Jersey, which we once went out of our way to visit on a road trip to Baltimore.

www.crackerbarrel.com

4) Chick-Fil-A. The creator of the chicken sandwich. I think that the pieces of chicken at this place are actually fried in crack, which is why they are so addictive. It's kind of cheating to put it on this list as a NYC location actually DOES exisit....but it's in an NYU dorm. To get to it, you must breeze in past the security guard and walk with a purpose into the dining hall, but only after you've glued a look of moneyed contempt on your place that says "My parents might pay for my tuition, apartment, and cocaine habit, but I can buy my own Chick-Fil-A, thankyouverymuch." The NYU place does in a pinch, but nothing beats a real brick and mortar freestanding location. Oh, and they're all closed on Sundays for religious reasons, so plan accordingly.

www.chick-fil-a.com

3) Whataburger. When Evan and I took an impromptu trip down to Texas last fall, I forced my vegetarian sister to drive us to the nearest Whataburger on the way home from the airport. Upon getting his burger and unwrapping it from the pleasant goldenrod colored paper, Evan exclaimed "THIS is a REGULAR SIZED burger?!" You see, the regular sized burger at Whataburger (which is pronounced "waterburger", by the way) is the size of a newborn child's head. It's the best fastfood hamburger known to man. Whataburger is also the home of the world's best breakfast food, the so-hot-you'll-blister-your-lip fried apple pie. This heavenly chain with the distinctive triangle-shaped building began in Corpus Christi and is open 24-hours, a fact that I frequently abused in college.

www.whataburger.com

2) Casa Ole. Say what you want, but the tex-mex at this delightfully crappy chain is better than ANY tex-mex that i've had in NYC. So what if it all tastes a bit microwaved? The mysterious green sauce that you get with the chips and salsa for free is the one thing that I MUST eat whenever I'm home, and where else can you get 99 cent margaritas every Tuesday? You could plausibly get a full dinner with two margaritas and still leave a nice tip for $10 at this place. It's also always either attached to a mall, or kind of hovering in the parking lot, so it's a nice break from shopping. I ate many a meal at Casa Ole in college and can still sing the theme song when prompted. In high school, my hooligan friends and I went at least once a month and lied and said it was someone's birthday, so that we could hear the birthday song about chimichangas and get the free trans fat cinammon and sugar chimichanga creation. I'm pretty sure they were on to us, but we never got turned down.

www.casaole.com

1) Sonic. Oh Sonic. You continue to tease me by running your advertisements nationally, despite the fact that you are nowhere near NYC. The burgers and fries at this drive-up establishment are quite tasty, but here are the three real reasons that people go to Sonic: Cheese-tots, Ched-R-Peppers, and the drinks. You could probably come up with a million different drink combos at this place, but I always order a cherry limeade slush. When we went on that trip to Texas, we were there for about three days, and visited Sonic twice. My small hometown had THREE Sonics, but the one by the mall was the best because the waitresses wore rollerskates to take your order, and then deliver it to your car. I really love this place.

www.sonicdrivein.com

Runner Ups:

Taco Bueno. Kind of like Taco Bell, but a bit fresher. The Mexi-Dips, oh my god.

Taco Cabana. Mexican fastfood, really only noteworthy because they sold booze and were open 24-hours.

Wienerschnitzel. Really cheap fantastic hot dog place. My dad and I like to go and get kraut dogs here.

Review: Junior's, Brooklyn

Today Evan declared, "Tonight is Date Night!" The place, Junior's in Brooklyn. Since I work in the armpit of NYC (Times Square), I'd been to the Manhattan location, but never the original. Evan, and his parents, and his grandparents, all spent lots of time at Junior's through the years, so we hopped on the Q, and away we went.

First off, I'm super impressed with the guys who seat you there. They've got one at the front door telling you where to go, another who asks you how many and then hands you off to another guy who walks you part of the way, and then hands you off to another who gets you to your table. It was like a wonderfully choreographed dance just to get you to sit down. Seriously, awesome. And no wait on a Saturday night! Double awesome.

Secondly, the menu at Junior's....awesomely overwhelming. After eating lots of homemade crap at home (and at the Wing Wagon) and feeling like a greasy pig, I'd decided that I need to get a salad or something remotely healthy. HA! That resolve quickly when out the window. Evan ordered the goulash with egg noodles (he'd been talking about this dish from the very moment we decided earlier in the day where we were going to eat) and a salad. I got a roasted half chicken, stuffed with rice, with some collard greens, baked potato, and a salad. We each got a couple of beers, which were fantastically priced at about $4 a pop. We decided right away that after we were done with our meals, we'd order a cheesecake.

Well folks, that slice of cheesecake never happened. We were STUFFED. After the delicious cornbread they give you, plus my meal (which was so giant I could only eat half of), I was not into dessert. Evan finished all of his meal and looked green in the face, but happy. Super fantastic awesome homecooked style food. The collard greens get a special mention because they were just that good. Steamed and fresh looking, not all gross and mashed like faux-southern restaurants usually do. My leftovers got packed up for dinner tomorrow, and it will honestly probably be able to feed both of us.

I really don't feel like I need to go into our experience at Junior's any more. The place is a legend. Everyone knows what it is. It's survived this long for a reason. So just go there! 4 out of 4 stars.

Junior's
386 Flatbush Avenue Extension at Dekalb Avenue
Brooklyn, New York 11201
718.852.5257

www.juniorscheesecake.com

Review: Wing Wagon, Brooklyn

The other night, I decided that I didn't feel like cooking. Evan's cooking knowledge begins and ends with eggs, so the only option for food was to go out. With no particular place in mind, we jumped in the car and headed up Flatbush Avenue. That's when we saw it.....THE WING WAGON.

I have been craving Buffalo wings for a while now, and beyond a failed trip to the massively overcrowded Croxley's in NYC, hadn't gotten to fulfill this craving. The Wing Wagon looks like your ordinary storefront to-go establishment. A variety of fried items are on the menu for you to choose from. We ordered a batch of 20 Buffalo wings (hot variety), a side of grilled veggies, some sweet potato fries, and a drink, all for about $20. We paid, and then went to sit down and wait. And wait. And wait. Maybe I'm just snotty, but I feel like if you're making people pay at a counter, you're a fast food establishment. And this food was definitely not fast. Also, this really obnoxious music was playing. It was like reggae music on speed. Seriously, it had beats and everything. If you were to dance to it, you'd basically have to quickly hop up and down super quickly while flailing your arms about.

When we finally got our food, we dug in for what was undoubtedly the messiest meal ever....but it was GOOD. The wings weren't super spicy, but just right. They were big enough that we weren't able to polish off the 20 between us. The sweet potato fries....perfection. Lightly salted. Great with ketchup. Best I've had in a while. The grilled veggies were also quite tasty...a nice quasi-healthy option for the place. And as a nice bonus, they give you some of those little wet napkin thingies and trust me, you need them. What a messy delicious meal.

A downside: I'm not sure the place is a fabulous eat-in establishment. There's a few sad looking little tables, but 95% of the other customers who came in took their grease and carbs and ran. They deliver, and we might just do that next time. There's really no dignified way to eat wings, so you might as well do it in the comfort of your own home.

Wing Wagon gets 3 out of 4 stars. It serves it's cheap comfort food purpose quite well, including the belly ache a couple of hours later.

Wing Wagon
351 Flatbush Ave
Brooklyn, NY 11238
718.398.0501