Ben "the food king of the UES" C.'s Profile

This is the rundown, smelly, crappy locker room location of Mendez. It seems the other locations are more modern / better well run.

It all depends on the trainer. I've been here for around 8 classes. My first few trainers were awesome. Friendly, willing to help and informative.

But my last 5 classes or so were taught by trainers who clearly didnt care. And it shows. And it's really not fun to try to get motivated for a class that a trainer simply isn't in to. Why spend money?

Same experience with a friend who was going there as well. It starts off great, but slowly becomes unbearable. There are plenty of other places to go to

Wait.... what's with the hate?

I just came back from my first visit here. Reading some of the earlier posts, I didn't encounter any of the grand opening issues. I also went in the early afternoon (around 6pm on a Saturday) and the people serving beer seemed friendly and talkative. The place was also pretty crowded, but I didn't have to wait to get service.

I got a growler and that alone give this place 5 stars - why? Because I don't know of any places in the immediate vicinity, let alone the UES, that you can buy growlers of beer at. If you do know of any, please send me a pm.

Sure, prices seemed a bit high, but the growler was cheap (5 bucks). And the selection was great. They had $2.49 cans of craft beer and individual six pack holders to do a mix and match of craft beer. For this area, these are reasonable prices for this type of beer.

The bottle selection is outstanding.

The area needed a place like this, especially with fairway right down the street.

I will be back!

They took over for another deli in the same location.

What a difference.

They did a total renovation and the place looks/feels brand new. The staff is super friendly and the food is very good/ better than the standard deli fare. They'll make almost any type of sandwich you want for $6.95 and you get a free soda.

Breakfast is great there. Lots of bagels, fresh bacon and great iced coffee. Never a giant line (which is nice when you want to avoid the zoo that H&H bagels becomes on weekend mornings) and usually quick/great service.

It's also 24 hours. Nice to have a 24 hour spot with a great food selection. I'm definitely a big fan. Percet for this area

Just a great, fun, casual, neighborhood bar with strong drinks and good prices.

There's always a crowd. 4pm on a Saturday? People there. 3am on a Sunday morning? Great last call crowd. 1pm on a Sunday? Excellent football crowd. 5pm on a Tuesday? Great after work crowd.

There's a pool table, darts, enough tables and a great vibe.

Not sure if it's worth traveling that far to go to, but if you find yourself in the neighborhood, you can never go wrong with Bradys being one of your stops

This is the best turkish reastaurant around!

Chicken shish kebab... a staple. And delicious. I took my folks there for lunch and they all RAVED about it.

Chicken yogurt kebab... my personal favorite. I cant even describe it... but just try it.

Lunch specials are where it's at... 10-11 dollar entrees with a salad, rice and bread. Considering their dinner entrees are 16-18 for the same food (and portions?), you really can't go wrong.

I ordered an amazing bloody mary there during brunch once.. the owner (well, it appeared to be the owner) took real pride in making it. He described how this isn't a place where they hire people who "take a 2 week bartending course"... and it showed. Definitely awesome and definitely one of my staples in the UES

This is EXACTLY what the neighborhood needed!

I currently train in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and have been looking for a school to help augment my training, as well as add additional martial arts programs to my workout regiment.

Issue is - I didn't want to travel far, because there's nothing fun about taking the subway back after a long day of fight training. That's why when I heard about this place, I had to go and check it out

I went during the Grand Opening Week... so they were still busy putting all the final touches on the place.. But - you can see that a LOT of work and money was put into the place. Brand new equipment everywhere. Great mats and brand new heavy bags. They were still working out all the kinks with the front desk/scheduling, but after my second visit, it seemed they took care of that.

So the equipment is good.. that's always a plus. But for me, someone who has studied martial arts for over 8 years, it's all about the quality of the instruction.

And that's why I'll be sticking around here. They have professional MMA fighters teaching classes. You aren't getting someone who was trained to "teach MMA"... you have people who teach you the techniques they use in real fights. The Muy Thai instructors all have done professional kickboxing matches... the Jiu Jitsu instructors are nationally ranked and train with guys from the UFC.

Besides technique/fundamental classes, they also have a lot of "MMA esque" conditioning classes... kettlebells, cardio kickboxing, mma conditioning, TRX, zumba and other classes. They have a full variety of classes in the mornings and evenings and even kids classes.

I'm really happy this opened up in the neighborhood

Such a good gym! It's a great deal if you are going to be in the area for over a year - really cant beat $29.99/month + join fee + once a year "cost of living" expense. It all averages out to a lot less money than one year at other gyms around here.

I recently left my old gym (Asphalt Green) because of location and I actually like this gym more for a wide variety of reasons...

First, it's 24 hours weekdays (opens at 5am monday and closes at 11pm on friday) and weekend hours are 8-8. Can't beat those hours.

There's enough cardio machines that you generally don't have to wait (I have never waited for a machine, but I've seen people wait for an elliptical... but there were treadmills open). There is a whole area dedicated to machine weights and a whole area dedicated to free weights. And another few small areas. Generally, even at peak evening times (6-7pmish) you can find a machine and start a workout! Later in the evening (8/9ish) there are plenty of machines available.

I don't do classes, but the schedule shows classes every day including yoga, zumba and all that. Studios are located on the top floor.

Locker room is nice, has a steam room and sauna.

Has a juice bar, towel service. Never used the juice bar, but towel service is always appreciated.

There are TVs on most of the cardio machines and a open tv viewing in the front (with bikes).

It might seem a bit more "no frills" than some of the high end Equinoxes and NYSCs in the area, but there's really no reason to complain if you need a place to get an affordable workout in. All people in different athletic situations can find something to do here. Seriously.

You're on Madison and 86th street... all you see are luxury residential buildings that are a block from central park.

And you're walking around in your workout clothes, wondering where this "personal training" gym is. You eventually go to residential building, enter the side door into the basement and arrive at Core Fitness.

And it is what it says it is - a nice, small, intimate gym full of useful equipment. Everything is brand new and the facility is clean. While it's not full of equipment, it has all of the essentials.

I train jiu jitsu there and the MMA area is fantastic. Lots of mats, protection, heavy bags, equipment, etc etc. And its never overly crowded, so you dont have to worry about running into people

When I grew up on Long Island, i developed an affinity for greasy, hole in the wall chinese restaurants that have one table with no chairs inside.

When I went to Boston for college, I appreciated the hole in the wall chinese restaurants as a source for cheap lunches/dinners.

When I moved to the UES, I was shocked to find that the "hole in the wall" chinese restaurant was a relic. There are plenty of great sit down chinese restaurants (Wok 88, Pig Heaven, Wa Jeal), but it just feels weird (in my opinion) to order take out from a sit down chinese restaurant... might be the Long Island upbringing... but you order takeout from a takeout place and sit down at a sit down place.

Fortunately, after three years, I *finally* discovered Great Wall and all of my childhood memories of 5.75 lunch specials and 8.75 dinner specials full of greasy deliciousness came back. This is exactly what you get - no frills, greasy, delicious and cheap chinese food.

Dinner specials include rice (and no extra charge for brown rice - SCORE), soup and an entree.. lunch specials are under 6 bucks. All your favorite americanized takeout choices are here.. general tsos, chicken with broccoli, kung pao, shrimp with string beans, boneless spare ribs are here and included in the specials.

And the food? Delicious - if you're craving americanized, greasy chinese food.

Looking for an authentic experience? Go to chinatown. Or Wok 88.
Looking for an 8 dollar super filling dinner? Here's your place.

What's with the hate?

Their lunch special is the best in the area. $6.99 for Chips, Soda and your choice of two tacos, a burrito or quesadilla.

And they have a LOT of toppings.. i get cilantro, corn, black olives, lettuce, tomatoes, cheese, two types of onions and others on my tacos.

I haven't had anything else other than lunch here, but i'm happy. And they seem to have a great outdoor area