Jeff "Veal Armstrong" O.'s Profile

This review is for fan #84

Big portions. the wings are great - at about a dollar each... fair enough.
Good ribs. What I had was mostly well above average but not other worldly. Not prehistoric good as the name would intend. I liked my collared greens (called something else mysteriously, like vegetable greens). The cornbread was throw away, barely potent to soak up goodness. And not surprisingly, the fried rice is a punishment for whoever would order fried rice from a BBQ joint.

I like the flooring and the tables. Deep wood stuff. Nearly Outback-like, but more authentic. As authentic as a southern BBQ Syracuse offshoot under Riverside Drive can be.

It's not the end all for me. Too corporate. Rustic wood in NYC makes me feel this way. Why aren't there more locations around the country? It seems formulaic. We can do it! Expand baby, expand! We need shareholders!

This review is for fan #83

It's the ultimate working man's deli. With long and huge subs, the prices are great and the meat is quality.

Prior to that day, I'd never been there before. I had a face off:

Introducing first...
hailing from parts unknown
One sandwich for all mankind,
The hero that knows no equal,
The gut-busting pile-on of meat,
the grease wielding, Mouth watering, double fisting,  
The Uniter! The Fighter! The explosion deep inside-her!
weighing in a 1 and a half pounds!
1 of only TWO Named heroes on the Sal, Kris and Charlie wall

The Boooooooommmmmmmmmb !!!
!!!!!!!!!!

http://www.youtube.com...
and coming to the mouth now with hidden olives untapped,
containing no less than 5 types of meat,
From the southern tip of Little Italy,
The salivary inducer,
The Ciabatta rocka,
The sopressatta wrecka,
The salami mommy,
The Godfather,
The screen door submarine,
The Antonio of sandwich!
The King of All Heroes...
the Italiaaannnnnnnnnn!!!!!!!!

Ding ding ding
http://www.youtube.com...

And the bomb has a crowbar and knocks out the Italian. Here's the pin. 1! 2! 3! And it's over!!!!!

It wasn't that quick, but the results were conclusive early.

The bomb has everything and I love everything. It is awesome. The Italian is very respectable with at least 5 types of meat on there.
Nice sesame seed heroes on both contenders, but the bomb goes beyond thunderdome.

The place is busy with most people as regulars. Reminds me of going to the deli with my dad at 8-years old when I held the screwdriver and threw rocks in the water while he worked on the boat.

I give it an additional star because of the drink selection. I only knew Manhattan Specials to exist in the Espresso and Diet Espresso realm.  But no, they have the entire line of Manhattan Specials with Vanilla Cream, Sarsaparilla, Orange, Cherry and Gassosa. "Baby, I'm amazed," Paul McCartney said.

This review is for Fan #82

It's the pinnacle of pizzerias. And as far as an Italian restaurant, also above most others. The all-encompassing coal taste is unmatched by anything I've had. Salvatore Ganci uses what he thinks are the best ingredients available; this man has the utmost integrity. The staff is always friendly and like an Italian family (not Olive Garden), they'll keep feeding you and feeding you. It's obvious their generosity and passion. I could not ask for more.

Sal described the lore of the so-called grandfathered-in coal ovens, which he is has no family lineage. The part which makes it illegal is what comes out the flume. So if there is no coal spewing out, then it won't be shut down. His half-coal half-gas oven, made with parts from NASA, keeps coal fumes inside the oven burning efficiently. No excess, no waste.

Themed from the turn of the century, when pizza was real. Everything feels clean, not hackneyed; a time capsule from 100 years ago. It's not hackneyed though. Many of the little items around the restaurant are antique: fans from 1920, an old record player, Coca-Cola signs, pull-handle flushes for the toilet, tiled flooring and tin ceilings. The music is 50's through 70's and is appreciated.

The white pizza is ridiculous. It uses a cannoli-like ricotta cheese. -1 for their drink selection. I'm a fountain guy and the entire selection is bottled and run of the mill. But this place already has a record breaking 7 stars, so the yelpometer is more than spilling out stars off the side already.

yo, this place sucks. didn't this place win awards or something? fucking bullshit. not even white people food, this is waste people food. somebody tricked me.

This review is for Fan #81

A slab of meat never has been taken so seriously. The skirt steak was more than a foot long and you have 2 in an order. Short ribs were probably around 10 inches by an inch and a half - with 3 in an order. Make these measurements with your hands right now, imagine those hunks in front of you. That's a ton of meat.

It feels like a cafeteria. Open air, open din of the room. Servers loving their job, patrons loving their food,drinking from pitchers and hammering at each other.

I want to go again and again and again. I want french fries next time, they looked great. and potato salad. and blood sausage! and the steaks looked great too. Big ol' T-bone. oh, and the empanadas look like the Argentinian ones, baked not fried - and prettier than any I've ever seen. I want some of that linguini too. Damn, their plateful looked great.

I was surprised by how good our pasta dishes were. Intrigued, I did a little research on their ancestry; I found that  Uruguay apparently has a large Italian influence on their cuisine. Check this out: nearly half the population of Uruguay is of Italian descent - woahh, that's more than my hometown Seaford, Long Island - with about half from the northern regions. This must be why every cream sauce I see pass by my table I nearly melt from. Our own cannelloni in a white mushroom sauce tunnel visioned me. And I don't even like mushrooms.

Chimichurri is great . My god, it's great.  I am now in love with chimichurri. Me eat chimichurri. I need more chimichurri.

Lots of sides to choose from, but unfortunately, you only get one with a meat. Next time I'll skip the tostones, and the yellow rice, and the white rice and beans looked just eh. The mixed salad was crisp, fresh and green, but I want the FF or potato salad. And Sangria. I didn't even see it on the menu, but the later into the night, my eyes fixated on jug after jug coming from  the kitchen.

The parellada para 1 is a mockery of the term "1" - I think they mean 1 table, not 1 person. That and a pasta dish was perfect for 3 people.

My one hang-up is that sodas are just cans. Not even ice. I would hedge towards the house wine ($10) or the sangria ($20). And I would come again. We have tremendous potential here.

This review is for Fan #80.

At the Al-Shamy storefront on Steinway Street, there sits the Al-Shamy cart on the sidewalk out front.  The strong metal box appears brand new, but it's existed for over a year. It's big, accessorised with hot coals, rotating skewers, and followers looming in the space where the meat fumes are the strongest.

No worries about  exposure to elements of cartness, their raw meat is hiding inside the store itself and a refrigerator attached to the front of their building. This, and integrity, is the reason their cart is kept so immaculate.  They do pitas, heroes, platters and kebabs (is that what Egyptians call it?). I don't know tit from tat, but sandwiches are $6/7, and platters are $9/10.

The guy who runs it is like the mayor of Steinway and fun to talk to. He knows everyone and even if he doesn't, he pretends to. Just fifteen minutes standing with him and I witnessed his entire act of ogling at girls, smacking kids in the back of the head and preparing his food with the highest of integrity. That man is a star.

Not sure when they close, if ever, but it's late. I'm becoming a regular here.

This is for Fan #79

Curiously, I am pretty sure ordering by the slice yields larger slices - or it may have just been my luck.

Each slice measures about 16 inches in length. I pick it up and feel like a moron eating this. Or a clown... or Alice.

This slice is pretty good considering what it is... I can't vouch for quality, but who cares? It tastes garlicky and cheesy to the fullest, all properly sauced in between. The coastline can get very big, but considering the size of the thing, proportionally it is fair and balanced.

Here's one of my favorite dining rooms. Just 8 chairs and two tables. You have about 6 feet from the counter to the wall and fears of  the entire building collapsing are not unfounded. Locals are dropping in for a huge slice constantly and everyone loves it. It seems like they gave up on plates a long time ago, so now you get a slice on a sheet of wax paper. Wax paper.

It's so big, if you eat 2 slices, you are an idiot.

Colombian and Spanish cooking. Standard $6 lunch of soup and a plate of meat, rice and a fresh salad with beets, cucumbers, red onions and tomatoes or fries. Great home cooking.

I prefer El Austro across the street for food, but this is more delightful. I like the green theme throughout and the matching shirts of the waitresses. They are fluent in English, so I'm not in the dark while ordering.

Waaayyy different from the other Patsy's. If you are limp from the other locations, don't even think of making comparisons to the original. They really sold out when they started licensing the name...

The historical coal oven keeps them in business all the way in East Harlem. This should be a pilgimage in the same manner a trip to Di Faras is - but with much less frustration (and slightly less payback).

A thin crust, nearly soupy cheese plus tomato sauce and a killer flour caked crust. It's a masterful cheese pizza. This is the reason New York is known as THE City.

I liked it here because the old guy was cool. He seemed smart, estranged due to 20 years of immigration to Corona, and I loved his voice. They once sold a used dream bike of mine that I missed out on, and it's across the street from one of my favorite places to get lunch - Tropifood.

But I realized it's too expensive and the tools are old. The only competition in the area is another Cigi's, so it's basically a monopoly on bikes. For new bikes or service, maybe it's worth it. But I am doing my own stuff, and it's apparent that it's not up to my standards. This used to be my LBS, but I am officially in the market for a new one.