AustinSLin ..'s Profile

The rest of my fellow Yelpers have rated Mystic Pizza ranging from amazing to horrific and are thoroughly justified in each of their reasonings for voting one way or another.  

Consistency is usually a challenge in local restaurants who are well established and then vaulted into further fame by a Hollywood tie-in.  I attribute the lack of consistency indicated in all these reviews to that fine line of whether the establishment feels as if the movie should be promoted over the pizza or vice versa.  After all, their mantra is that theirs is "...the pizza that made the movie famous."

If it's any sign of the over Hollywoodization of Mystic Pizza just look to the following:

1) The availability of Mystic Pizza in the frozen food aisles of New England supermarkets now.

2) The reckless posting of Hollywood celebrities (some autographed, others less authentic)  throughout the restaurant.  (Marylin Monroe---really?  You mean, the Marylin Monroe that died a decade before Mystic Pizza first opened its doors?)

3) The large glass display case in the main dining room selling Mystic Pizza branded items.  (If there's a flat surface that we can fit our name and logo onto, consider it done!  I need only cite the Mystic Pizza Yo-Yo---which can be yours for $3.00 according to the product list, also on the menu).

4)  Multiple scenes from the Mystic Pizza film (many of them the *same* scene) framed and hung throughout the entire restaurant.  In case you missed the one by the stairs.  In case you missed the one hanging over your booth. In case you missed the one in the restroom.  In case you missed the one on the way to the rest room.

Shameless, toxic over-promotion of the film notwithstanding, this is, after all, a pizza restaurant in the heart of a town that can attribute a significant slice of its revenues to the tourism industry.   In such regards, the decor and atmosphere of Mystic Pizza are no more guilty than mouse-themed cafes in Disney World.

But let's get back to the sauce and dough of the situation.  If you really cared about Julia Roberts or Hollywood, you'd be down the street in New York and not in Mystic, right?  So pardon the decor and focus on the food for a second.

We had the House Special pizza, sans mushrooms (purposely due to the dietary preference of my fellow dining partner).   To quench our thirst, we tried the Mystic Seaport pale ale.   The pizza is standard crust (i.e., not Napoletana thin, not New York style large n' floppy, not Chicago style thick and git-er-done with knife and fork) and was generously topped with all the ingredients promised by the menu.

We received the pizza piping hot, the toppings just at the point of doing a slinky off the side of the crust onto your plate.   Each bite was wholesome and the crunch of the crust was also freshly toasted.  On this visit, the staff was friendly and attentive to refills and timely check-ins.  Even being relatively full on a Saturday night, the wait for our pie didn't feel prolonged.

The pale ale tasted like pale ale and worked well with our feast that, Julia or not, overall was a dinner suited for the tasty evening which we sought.  Fortunately, the owners have left the flair to the restaurant's interior and have allowed the pie to speak for itself.   No celluloid on the pan, just pizza.

A large 14" pizza, whether from the build-your-own list or from the Specialty Pizzas, are all under $20.00.   Aside from the Mystic Seaport pale ale, the usual suspects are on tap and run right around $10.00 a pitcher.   Parking is on the street and can get annoying (especially if it's, say, 26 degrees outside) and you may have to resort to parking in residential Mystic up the hill from the restaurant.

Whether the food quality and service will remain as consistent as this visit when we come again in the tourist-packed warmer months is anyone's guess (including these and future Yelpers), but this snapshot of time at least, is worth a nod and a satisfied pass of the napkin over satiated lips.

Cafe Deluxe is located on a quaint shopping street in Bethesda, next to other brunch-savvy establishments and right around the corner from a smashlingly stocked Barnes & Noble.

I came for Saturday brunch, which seems to be quite popular with the Parents With Young Children set(s).   Just about every third table (including the one I was at) had a high chair or booster seat, making for a festive, albeit crowded, environment.  

We had the ham and gruyere omelette and french toast.   The food is filling and flavorful, but know that portions are modest and you'll have to a la carte some eggs or other sides to stay on top of your brunch cravings.  For example, the "side of fruit" that was listed with the French toast on the menu was literally seven (7) berries and a square of fruit.

I can confirm other Yelpers' comments regarding this location's service.   While the wait to get seated, even on a busy Saturday, wasn't very long at all, the service was inconsistent.   Given the close quarters of the dining area, the servers simply weren't attentive to their sections.  Getting something as simple as a refill was physically akin to hailing a cab during shift change.

Brunch entrees fluctuate below the $10 mark.  The Ham and gruyere omelette was $8.95 and the French toast $7.95.  

Parking is competitive on the street, but there's a spacious parking deck just behind the Elm Street strip where Cafe Deluxe is located.

Overall, the food is standard brunch fare of standard quality.  If you have young kids, they will make friends and, despite the crowded chaos, will likely have a good time in this family oriented brunch environment.  

And if you want to be a Good Samaritan, just look around at one of the many sleep deprived young parents around you who are too busy keeping crayons out of their childrens' mouths or chopping up scrambled eggs into bite-sized bits.  

Buy them a cup of the $2.65 coffee and you'll make their day, just as they have made their childrens'.

The Daily Grill in Tyson's Corner is a reinvention of the "Great American grills of the 1920s" that it refers to in its menu description.  And were you to see the menu (without the prices and without the ambiance of the restaurant), you would think you'd be skimming through a Diner menu fortified more with "American classics" than anything else (minus the 15+ laminated pages and plastic spiral binding in modern diner offerings, of course).  Savory pot pies, meatloaf, burgers...the only thing missing are chocolate malts. The decor delivers the "old era" restaurant stylings and the prices certainly aren't the same as they were in the 1920s.  In fact, they're a little inflated for the 2007s. But, as Mike Judge says in Office Space, "..people can get a cheeseburger anywhere.  They come to Chotchkey's for the atmosphere..."

The food is straightforward and have a home-cooked feel.  We had the chicken pot pie, the vegetable plate, the penne pesto.  The lobster pot pie was one of the specials on the menu for the night.   As could be expected for the majority of non-seafood based establishments that offer lobster anything (ravioli, alfredo, and now, pot pie), the dishes are prepared to suggest the flavor and presence of lobster without actually having a claw's worth of juicy, meaty goodness actually awaiting you in each bite.  The *chicken* pot pie, on the otherhand, was well populated with tender chicken chunks, not so large that they would conflict with the other ingredients of the pot pie universe.  And, contrary to belief, while it is possible to put too much chicken into chicken pot pie, Daily Grill manages to  keep a steady balance of taste participants.  However, Daily Grill seems to realize their margins on selling pasta and the penne pesto dish portion size will feel bottomless even to the heartiest of hungry mall-goers.

If you're here for a day of wintertime shopping, you'll find the warm woody interior of Daily Grill to be inviting.  It's almost the candle and tablecloth version of a speakeasy with regards to look and feel.  The service is attentive, commensurate to other dining establishments located in malls with a  Neiman Marcus within stroller-pushing distance.

The places tends to fill up quick, especially in the evenings when a combined dinnertime and post-shopping crowd looking for a diverse homestyle menu will start to congregate among Daily Grill's table and booths.

The chicken pot pie weighs in at $14.95, which is on par with the rest of the menu entrees.  Additional sides and veggies will run you between $4.00 and $5.00 on average.

Thankfully among this in-the-midst-of-continuous-development Main Street of Beacon, NY, a terrific Thai restaurant has been one of the more senior residents.

According to their website, the existing building has been here since 1818---and if you look at the condemned factory across the street alongside the river, it's not hard to believe that once-upon-a-Beacon, a thriving manufacturing or textile mill once churned out made in the USA goods.

But fast forwarding to present day, Sudkhothai presents made-in-Thailand tastes which are, thankfully for us gourmandziers, made in Beacon.

To really get at the "Thai-ness" of any restaurant, one need only apply the pad thai test.  The pad thai here (less than $12)is a conservative creation whose textures aren't buried under sugar-packed sauces or other similarly deceiving culinary acrobatics.   It's the real deal, subtle on the taste as a good pad thai should be.    I paired this experience with a Thai iced coffee, which comes in jumbo size.

The tom kha gai soup ($4) is really terrific---as with the pad thai, the "coconut" of the coconut soup isn't overpowering.  It has the spice kick that's expected but again, in just the right amount unlike other Thai spots which will over-spice the soup to hide a weak coconut base.   The soup was also brimming with fresh n' tasty vegetables--the mushrooms, red peppers, and green peppers were so fresh you could still hear the chef's knife hitting the cutting board.

While a mangos and sticky rice are missing (perhaps due to the fruit seasons) from this self-touted traditional style restaurant, the offering of the evening, banana and sticky rice, sounded like a good thing to try for my next visit.

As an added bonus, to walk off your post-dinner satisfaction, Beacon itself has a nice gathering of art galleries and quaint cafes within walking distance of Sukhothai.

Service is friendly, but as previously Yelped, a bit on the slow side (perhaps also a tradition and/or side effect of a home cooked Thai feast).   Even at roughly 15% capacity on a not-so-busy evening, timeliness of the service can be slow.   So don't come if you're in a rush (who rushes through a tasty Thai-feast, anyway?), instead, explore the traditional fare, chew your food, smile broadly

Most importantly, Sukothai holds to the most important tenet of any dining experience, traditional or not: a pleasant and satisfying meal.

Modernite twentythirtysomethings congregate in this restaurant lounge in Beacon Hill.   Whereas most destinations of this sort end up getting caught in the schizophrenia of which customer base to focus on, Harvard Gardens handles both sides of the restaurant.

Literally.

A non-instrusive divider down the center of Harvard Gardens separates the lounge/bar from the dining area for the most part.  On a Saturday night, the lounge/bar was cramming room only, while the dining area was less claustrophobic (though not by much).  While groups of singles seem to predominate, there's still a nice balance in crowd makeup---but you're at a lounge, after all, so stop thinking so much and just, well, go lounge.  But you're hungry, too, right? Problem solved.

The best way to soak up the atmosphere and acclimate to the space is to take advantage of a dinner here.  You'll be seated in a much less cramped space in a solid booth with plenty of personal space.  You can soak up the ambience without worrying about spilling your Ketel Red Bull on your neighbor (leave that for when you squeeze your way to the other side...but more on that later).  

The  lobster gnocchi ($17) was tasty with a balanced texture---not rubbery like when it's overcooked, nor like bits of mashed potatoes when it's not quite done.  Of course with most pasta dishes that have the word "lobster" in them, one is always skeptical on the amount that's actually used in the preparation, but in Harvard Gardens' case, fresh breaks of lobster meat were well integrated throughout the dish (not a half lobster or anything, but more than the typical place, and enough to make you actually have enough to chew on and realize that you're paying for (some) lobster)).  The Harvard Gardens' spin on mac and cheese ($8) is a generous portion that can be taken as a meal of its own, presented in a way that's right on track with the decor. Altogether, the meal for two, with wine, was just south of $50 without tip.

The decor is modern urban and geometric. The soft seemingly fluroescent suggestions of reds, cremes, and orange colors radiating from the crevices add to the hip lounge feel, all the time making you wonder if the ghost of Dan Flavin is there for a drink himself.   As the crowd increases, even basic conversation in the dining area becomes a shouting match, so the only resolution is to experience the other half of the room.  Pay your dinner bill, then slide over to the lounge and start a tab. The lounge area gets extremely crowded, but isnt' that the point? It will be difficult to not overlap conversations and literally rub elbows (at a minimum) with the rest of your Constant Harvard Gardeners.

When you find yourself trapsing through Chinatown, you're offered a host of different options of great food at inexpensive prices.  

One of my favorites in New York Chinatown is the Big Wong King Restaurant (all jokes aside, please). While many inexpensive options exist on their menu, my personal favorite is the Peking/Roasted duck won ton soup, under the Noodle Soups section on the menu (which is already waiting for you on the table once you sit down).  This dish, or bowl, rather, has just enough Peking duck slices, filling portion of wontons and Cantonese style noodles, all in a delicious broth.

And you can get it for $5.50, tax included (as of this writing).

Paired with bottomless hot (really hot) tea served Euro style in tiny juice glasses, if you have a spot to hit, this dish will hit it.  The majority of the menu is $10 or less per entree otherwise.

Service is brisk and down to business and, like many of its other neighborhood establishments, you can expect to get seated at a four-top with strangers if the restaurant is busy, but it's more out of necessity rather than by owner's decree like its neighbors.  

Open until 10pm on weekends.

Instead of ordering a drink here, save your thirst-quenching for Tearen's bubble tea afterwards, a few stores over.

Located near Lincoln Center, between 66th 65th Streets, EuroPan's location combined with its food makes it a convenient spot to feed your night of shows, shopping, or just a general hearty bite.

The first decision is which one of the multitude of deli items to partake in.  For a more formal dinner selection, a range of pasta and Chicken saute dishes (marsalas, piccatas, et. al) are also available.

There's a range of bakery items, while sandwiches and wraps range from $5 - $7.00 on average.   I had the risotto with Italian Sausage ($10.95), which just one dish out of an entire risotto section.  The risotto itself was delicious---voluptuous would be a fitting word to describe its texture.  A hint of olive oil mixed with the sausage played down its taste so the sausage's flavors complement and don't overpower the dish.

As a bonus, during my visit, Honest Tea was available in their drink case, which is self serve, provided you can squeeze between tables and kitchen staff to reach it in the corner.

Even on a modestly uncrowded evening, the space still feels cramped.  Tables are arranged in the restaurant equivalent of double-parking, literally back to back in some cases (and that's considered generous).  

Sandwiches range from $5.00 - $7.00 with the main entrees and pasta dishes hovering around $11.00.  If you're there for breakfast/brunch fare, the usual suspects of bagels and pastries are available.  According to their menu, they also offer a wide variety of crepes, around $8.00 - $9.00 each.

Ultimately, the best advantage is its proximity to Lincoln Center, the Lincoln Square AMC/Loews theater, and the multi-story gigantic Barnes and Noble.   Nice place to grab a pre-popcorn meal before a movie or show, and certainly, if you need a study break from book browsing, or need a place to recoup after your spoils from the Tower Records Going Out of Business liquidation (as of this writing---it may just be an empty shell of a space by now).

Even the Yul Brynner himself would at least nod some semblance of approval with this Thai spot in Beacon Hill. The seemingly cramped window-display dining room is actually deceptive--an entire back dining area exists in the back of the square footage.  So come one, come all--even the claustrophobes out there.

Decor is no nonsense, not that you would want paintings of schools of koi fish distracting you from your meal (although a couple modern takes on the  subject are present).  But this eventually turns into one of those business-cost models you studied in college---go back on the fancy ambience so they can pass the savings onto you in the form of their menu.  Along those lines, King and I is very loyal.

As with any Thai restaurant, we had the standard unit of measure for all Thai restaurants, the pad thai.  King and I's version is lighter in texture and is reminiscent in taste of more rice-noodle based dishes, but not at the sacrifice of flavor. If you're used to a more saucier version, you'll be visually thrown a bit, but the taste is commensurate to any good plate of pad thai anywhere. Portions are plentiful and whether you opt for the vegetarian tofu only version or the traditional chicken/shrimp included, you'll enjoy your time and taste from very un-King-like prices.  

Pad thai prices are a stellar deal from the foodie's point of view, weighing in at $7.50 --- which is peasant's change for the king's ransom (-ish) portions. Majority of all the entrees are in the same price range--although if you're really feeling like going crazy, you can splurge for one of the Chef's Suggestions...for $7.75.. with names like Naked Chicken and Tamarind Duck.   The Vegetable Rolls (off the entirely separately sectioned Vegetarian Menu) were $4.00 for two rolls cut into bite sized chomps.  Vegetarian or not, all appetizers are between $4.00 and $5.50.  

Definitely a nice Thai spot if you happen to be in the area.

For you multitaskers out there who want to spread your skillsets to the culinary world, Parish Cafe in Boston will help you, well, eat two birds with one stone.  

But not literally.  

The lunch menu is a veritable culinary United Nations with representatives from some of Boston's more well known and established full service restaurants.

The unintimidating lunch menu was filled with sandwich choices, recipes and creations offered by top restauranteurs in the city.   For our Saturday pre-lunch rush visit, we had the Icarus, contributed by, well Boston's Icarus Restaurant, and the Paoli's Peasant sandwich (vegetarian friendly).   The Icarus, a sliced pork sandwich with a pasty topping was delicious bite by bite as I rained stray sesame seeds all over myself.  Tender, fresh, and novel, all in one plate--which is a fair, if not understated representation of Parish's other lunchtime menu offerings.

If you're up for a sandiwich tour at Parish, get there early, as crowds appear with the voracity of a flash flood.  At about a quarter of noon, there were only one or two other tables seated.  By the time we had finished lunch, the narrow confines of the restaurant was packed with people and, thanks to a large two-seater stroller, the restaurant was one person away from having a line literally out the door.   The seating can be cramped just by the nature of the layout, but the service is concentrated courtesy--while your server will be busy hoofing it for several other tables, one you're in their eye-line, you'll receive the same courtesy you'd receive as if you were a friend visiting to get out of the Boylston Street cold.

Prices are gourmet for a solid Saturday morning lunch to power your shopping and on-foot-trekking of the Boylston and Newbury Street shops, ranging $10-$12 on average per sandwich.  Parking? Good luck.  Your best bet is the $10.00 flat rate Boston Commons Garage (like the rest of the four-wheeled commuting civilization in the city there with you).  

After your Parish meal, you'll be ready for a casual stroll back into the commercial war-zone, with the strength to lift multiple shopping bags (using the popular loop over your wrist, anti-circulation method--but you can take it, especially now). The chaos seemingly hushed a bit, the shopping rush will seem to still as instead, you're noticing bewildered pigeons ricochet off the frozen ponds in the Commons.

As Chattanooga's North Shore starts to creep West along the Tennessee River, additional parcels of former industrial sites have been converted to accomodate the new hip lifestyle of the area.  Already across the street, as of this writing, they are breaking ground (audibly so) for a new condo.  Foodworks has been beneficiary to one of the latest factory-to-mixed-use conversions en vogue.  In a large brick building site now called The Knitting Mill, Foodworks shares the brickspace with a spacious (yet paradoxically quite packed) antique store.  One can imagine ,without difficulty , how the the building must have appeared in its heyday; perhaps disgruntled spirits from another time still wander the wooden floors.

Disgruntled spirits such as our server, for example.

From the moment she brought us our water, we felt like we already owed her a tip from her past life.  Now in the food service world in the modern era, of course no one willingly aspires to make a full time career out of waiting tables and oftentimes it is easy to let a bothered personal life spill over into that of your customers' experience. But hey, at least let us first peruse the menu and possibly find a reason for you to be irritable at us.

For an appetizer, the she-crab soup was a tasty attempt, yet the natural low-country Carolinian flavors of the fabled brew that goes into such a soup were almost forced out at gunpoint by excess saltiness.  The chicken pot pie was full and hearty, though.  You could almost imagine yourself as the luckiest factory worker at the canteen, warming your stomach and your morale with Foodworks' hard-working version of this classic.  Whatever product rolled out of the Knitting Mill, I would've wanted mine from the guy who came back from break with a heart and soul full of this chicken pot pie.

If you get a table near the industrial staircase to the restaurant's second floor, watch your head. The corner doesn't seem as big until it's piercing your skull.  As patrons already here, paying to make decisions on which food items to try, is it really neccessary to also have to decide on how one should rise from their chair to hit up the washroom?  Okay, so blame my innate clumsiness, but hey, I was all impassioned with the dinner conversation that I didn't notice my little iron friend upon taking to my feet. It's something that OSHA would have asked for as a safety improvement were this still a manufacturing plant.  Fortunately physical wounds heal.

Bad dining experiences, however, are the stuff of hemophiliacs.

If you're here to sample some local brews at Foodworks' attractive bar area, you may be in better luck.  Also, props to the restaurant for supporting local contemporary artists, whose works are displayed throughout (even in the restrooms).

But sure, I'll play the "Hey, we just opened a few months ago." card this time.   After all, Chattanoogans can't be wrong if they voted this place one of the Best New Restaurants in the annual CityScope food survey. So wait a while, let Foodworks work on itself first.  Perhaps you may be the mystery beneficiary to a tastier menu with friendlier service--in this life or in the next.