the old Hamilton Park Ale House
Ox
Gabagool
Melt

... loved Melt.

Will be supporting Porta over Two Boots for sure. Jersey business vs (bad) NY "Chain", good pizza vs. corn meal crust. Easy choice.

Service in Two Boots is pure comedy, would not be surprised to see this drive them out of business... even now I would go to the Bistro walk-up for slice every time over 2B.

Downtown:
White Star - Pat Lafrieda beef, damn good. have not tried the more expensive dry aged. excellent think cut bacon, good bun if you are OK with brioche. Extra points for excellent delivery.
Park & 6th - solid burger. no frills, just consistent quality (IMO).

Disqualified:
Park & 6th Gastropub - pretzel bun, yikes. They really need to let that go.
Skinners - Love this burger at the bar, but they are batting about .250 for hitting temp in the past year+... and not by small degrees, I'm talking well done on a rare order.

I have no doubt that starting this evening you will no longer see cig buts on the street outside Luck-7.

Another case solved...

The first time I went there I did not notice that you only picked one taco for the plate of 3. I pointed to the menu item and asked for 3 different tacos. Instead of pointing out that you only get one selection, I got three entrees plates set in front of me. Was with 5 other people, all of whom had ordered their entrees already so it's not like I was ordering for the table... we had had a bunch of apps already too, so obviously I didn't need all that food.

Not holding a grudge, but it is one of the more absurd things I have experienced at any restaurant.

One other note, and this might have changed: you chose rice OR beans with the plate. If you wanted both one had to be ordered as a side at 4 or 6 bucks, can't remember. ridiculous...

Glad too hear Buon Appetito crew is still alive and kicking. Always good to me with the takeout and delivery.

Please never mention M&P in the same sentance as 30 Acres. Ever.

Regarding price... I don't love some of the entree prices at 30, but considering the current JC landscape and the success rate of most new business (even popular ones), I would rather pay a little extra for what is clearly the best food in town.

Gramercy is in competition with a hundred comparable restaurants in the boroughs... and the corporate tie allows them to price down since their food cost is lower due to volume (sorry Nori).

Love our growing scene here, but if you live in Manhattan or BK is anything besides 30 Acres really worth traveling from those locations for? Taqueria is in Manhattan now, there are plenty of neapolitan/wood oven spots comparable to Razza... PArk & Sixth Gastro? There are hundreds of comparable spots in the boroughs. Love that new burger, but there are 20+ burgers in Manhattan alone I measure equally. Not that it matters, but I just don't see it... and if NY chefs start rehashing their same concepts out with new spots, that will not change things.

Burger is damn good. Don't love going or $10-$12 for a bar burger, but will be back for this one.

That said, the bun does not work. too hard, the burger is all over the place when you bite.

Chilltown 4 Eva

2nd Street - tried the "small" sausage egg/cheese. New fav. Perfect sandwich...

Wonder Bagel - best bagels around, sandwich innards good enough.
30 Acres - for sit-down, the grilled pork shoulder/cheese with egg on top is pretty bomb. they serve the best brunch for my taste.
2nd St - I thought they only did ham for meat, will try the sausage. It's a damn good sandwich on the shorter (better for sandwiches, imo) roll/loaf.
La Conguita - not on the menu, but they'll do a bacon/egg/cheese which I get on weekends sometimes. it's big, scrambled w/ american and deep fried bacon.

-SK

First time back last night...

pork/lamb/(sloppy)beef head tacos+steak quesadia+beans&rice+chips/guac/salsa+Pacificos

=

same as it ever was (awesome)

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'uge friggin' space. looks nice, will be interesting to see what they serve up. That location should clean up, so they could easily focus on volume ahead of quality.

yeah, the comments about class and clientele are clearly directed to the jackass-factor online and in person that can not deal with how they run their business. Like most people here, if you like the food adjust to the condition and deal with it. Personally, I do not see any issues. I go in, order my food and then I eat it. Not a single problem from the day they opened (except when they stopped taking phone orders, which sucked but was totally understandable.)

People just need attention and need to be babied... and god forbid they do not get what they want the way that they want it.

Clumps - try the Grove Cart carnitas for a fix. no substitute, but it's not bad. Pretty good roast pork flavor. The rest are 'meh'...

Unless the clean-up/refurb just isn't worth it, I do not see how they walk away from JC. It's a cash cow (presumably).

Per previous posts, I wonder if any of JC's annoying internet warriors are going to harass them in NYC

TacoTruck: have a heart... let us know if you are ever coming back?

Seeing your NYC spot referenced on Serious Eats recently is salt in the wound.

Still have not hit the small plates, but I do love the "new" sandwich lineup. Updated meatloaf and short rib are awesome as is the Chix Parm (a bit inconsistent, but whatevs). RIP roast beef though, will be missed.

Wings are also my go-to in town these days. Different, but I do dig it.

Anyways, keep it up! Has been fun watching your food evolve.

Park & 6th and Skinner get my vote. There was a day when Marco was my spot, but the inconsistency got to an unacceptable point for me. At least at Skinners and PArk I know what I'm getting, and they hit my temp majority of the time.

White Star, the last 2 times I tried was a joke. Assuming it started with the latest owners, but the food there is not what it used to be. substandard, even for bar food. Same could be said for LightHorse, inconsistent and the service is insanely bad. Long time ago, but I was once called an "as#$ole" by the bartender for turning back a well done burger when I ordered rare.

Park tavern is great, but out of the way for Grove residents. o'connell's is pretty good as well.

So what are the best Grove gym options? Will be looking around, Brick is the closest I think.

a search for any 30 acre articles/reviews online will give you the back-story.

Tried the new beef dish last week. it's awesome.

"talkin' 'bout bee flap, 30 acres got em..." -ST

Ibby's is standard store bought style pita. Nothing wrong with that.

Gypsy is more substantial, really holds together well.

"Make that FOUR new Mexican places (just saw the post about Blue Moon Cafe). Crazy."


yeah it's nuts. i figured 30A would be the tipping point, where some of the younger chefs would start looking out here. Such untapped potential in this town.

How are other restaurants in Paulus Hook doing?

Satis and Lighthorse, for instance?

stopped in for a to-go pie last night. looking forward to eating there, food looked legit and people seemed pleased.

The pizza is good, perfectly serviceable. I will certainly consider it along with Rustique, Paulus Hook and the new Majestic when in the mood for za. Each is unique, and worth having from time to time.

That said, nothing in town is close to Keste, or any of the other top shelf Neapolitan spots in NYC (Mottorino, Pauly G, Robertas, etc). Roman Nose isn't even the same style, not worth comparing at all (IMO)

totally, Taqueria is so confusing! argh!

a huge step below Taqueria and Taco Truck

last time I hit it, there was no line or apparent wait so i ordered. tuns out everyone else who ordered got bored and was wandering around until it was done. Anyway, no mention of a wait and i stood there for 20 minutes for my cart tacos. unreal...

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maybe you just do not know where to find it? For instance, right under your nose in JC is 2nd Street bakery. So there's that, and a thousand other italian bakeries.

Then again I could be wrong. If you can't find good bread at a state fair or a supermarket, where CAN you find it?!?

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... while the space fills with smoke because the exhaust fan isn't on and the laptop on the counter is blasting an action movie at max volume.