Steve R.

Well, there's the 2nd Ave Deli and then there's the Indian restaurants on Lex in the 20s (I like Dhaba the most). There's also Blue Smoke.

Even though I live in Brooklyn and get to the Sheepshead Bay area reasonably often, I cant say that I've been inside Randazzo's during the past several years. It does look like they've renovated to keep up with the new neighbors (several Turkish places) & this might indicate that they've upp'ed the kitchen as well (unlikely, but possible); however, the visits I've paid before that over the last, say, 20 years have not gotten me anything more than mediocre food. Not that mediocre red sauce seafood is a bad thing in my book of tastebud pleasers, but giving this a star is, in my opinion, absurd. There's been some speculation on another food board that this may be related to his interest in places affected by Hurricane Sandy & other speculation that its a precursor to a review of Carbone, the high end red sauce place that's just opened in NYC (although Randazzo's is a seafood red sauce place and there would have been other lower end red sauce joints Wells could have focused on for comparison if that was his goal). At any rate, if you want breaded, fried reasonably fresh shellfish made old skool with different spice levels of red sauce, you could do worse than going to Randazzo's. But, if you want good red sauce food (some would argue that there is no such thing... I would disagree) at the same basic price point, there are better places all around Brooklyn and Queens.

It's in South St. Louis, almost by the river (across from Illinois). Here's their website: http://www.ironbarley.com

As a life long New Yawker (Brooklyn to be exact), I've long lived with the adage that to argue "best pizza slice" is a losing proposition. However, my own favorite is DiFara, in the heart of Brooklyn (Ave J/E.15th St). Are you aware that there are pages upon pages of this debate throughout every food board that's ever existed and that there are entire blogs (i.e.: Slice) devoted to pizza in NYC?

Since we're talking about this place we both haven't visited yet (although my local food board friends who have visited are impressed), I figure a somewhat off the main topic question is in order here. The wine list does look impressive. However, the mark up from retail seems to be more uneven than most of the places I'm used to & I'd like some opinions on whether this is unusual these days. For example, the Red Hook Cab Franc seems to be only a 33% mark up from our local stores in Bklyn and a great buy here (for those of you who dont realize it, Robt Foley is a very active part of Red Hook's production). Other wines, like the 1999 Mayacamas Cab. Sauv., come in at the more usual 250% over retail (albeit more than some other restaurants in my area). And (unless I'm missing something here), the Italian 2009 Castello di Bossi Chianti Classico, which I think sells for about $16 retail, is listed at $49. What gives? Do I really need to do this level of research before going to a good restaurant these days? Was I wrong to believe that places were at least internally consistent in their mark up from retail (whether it was the old 2x, then the 2.5x, and lately the acceptable 3x mark up)?

I agree with Waitman about the dumplings & pizza but understand that these are generally low ambience type places and not for sitting and/or hanging out (except for Arturo's, which is a restaurant... however, avoid anything other than pizza or salads there). A place to get good affordable wines by the glass & food (especially the terrines of veggies and seafood or the salumi or cheese) is Otto at 1 Fifth Ave. It's the low end of the Batali chain and also has good pasta and ok grilled (not traditional NY style) pizzas. Although its the same menu whether you sit in the restaurant or at the bar, the bar is much better to hang out, eat/drink and meet others, including the great bartenders. If you're in Midtown West, you can go downtown to the West Village (below 14th St from 6th Ave west) or to 9th Ave mid 40s-59th St for wall to wall choices. Lots of everything. At lunchtime, or if you're willing to do some waiting later on, Mission Chinese Food on the Lower E.Side is worth a shot. You can walk around the area while waiting.

Yeah, that's pretty much my neighborhood. That place is joined by a slew of others, mere blocks apart (like Starbucks, only independent of one another). All nice, fresh bagels with lots of cream cheese choices.

In my opinion, there are several better Eyetalian-American places in NY than Gargiuolo's. Parkside (Corona, Queens) is high on my list but there are others as well. I'd go to Piccolo Angelo in Manhattan (Hudson and Jane), Queen in Bklyn and one of the famous Arthur Ave (Bronx) places before Gargiuolo's. It's been a very long time since I visited St Louis (where I lived for 6 years in the '70s) but I remember Dominic's fondly and a place on the North Side called Kemoll's even more fondly. Kemoll's moved downtown many years ago and I've eaten in that location as well -- it remained my favorite. There was also Anthony's and Tony's (2 separate places, both downtown) but that goes back a long time as well. The Hill had lots of mid-range places & great toasted ravioli. And hero sandwiches.

Fair Warning -- Long Winded Post Ahead. Bottom line: I liked it. I'm from Brooklyn. I grew up blocks from DiFara's and it was my pizza place from the time I was 14 years old (I'm 60 now... do the math). I was gone for awhile during the 70s and moved back to Brooklyn in 1981. I used to go to Grimaldi's when Patsy owned it, since I live in the neighborhood. I liked it. Very different style from DiFara but similar in that both places use very good ingredients and care about the product. Eleven years ago Patsy Grimaldi sold the name and the place and, in that 11 year span, I've gone exactly 3 times and havent liked it once. The ingredients were sub-par, it was greasy in a bad way and the crust had no chew or taste. Better pizza can be found in local slice places and there's one only 2 blocks away on Henry St (Fascati's) that does slices better even though they are not upscale. Of course, they are great p.r. people and managed to get tour buses lined up and lots of people are convinced their pizza is the best in the world. I have lived with that and chuckle when I walk past their cash cow with lines down the block. Best wishes to them. Well, these owners got into a major rent battle with their landlord and moved their Grimaldi's several doors down to the corner. And their landlord, pissed off at them, called Patsy and asked him if he'd like his old place back. Cant call it Grimaldi's since he sold the name, so Juliana's it is. Four of us went tonite and had 2 large pies. Both were classic "Margherita" pizzas (which means tomato, mozz & basil). To one we added sausage and garlic, to the other meatballs and ricotta. Both were excellent and I realized that I hadnt just imagined the downturn in quality when the ownership of the original place changed. All these ingredients were, again, high quality and the pies had chew, taste and only enough oil to keep things from being too dry. A winner. A couple of disclaimers to consider: first, I havent been to Grimaldi's in years and not at all since their move so I cant really compare Juliana's to Grimaldi's current product. But I have heard nothing to make me believe that Grimaldi's has changed anything. And, secondly, there are many very good pizzas in NYC right now (within 10 min. drive from here are Lucali's, Table 87, Sotto Casa, Krescendo and even Franny's) and I cant really say that this would be a destination place for me if it wasnt under a 10 minute walk from home. But, that being said, Juliana's is certainly putting out good coal oven NYC pizza again and, if you have a choice of where to go in that immediate neighborhood, it's a no brainer. A good dessert as well: Carol Grimaldi's home-made "brookies" (chic. cookies that are more like brownies) sandwiching a scoop of raspberry choc. chip ice cream from the Brooklyn Ice Cream factory down the block (currently closed but producing wholesale from somewhere else).

Actually, we had planned to go with some friends tomorrow night but it may have to wait a week.

Yep. They were closing down (already announced) and I think most everything (if not everything) was moved out. Then Sandy hit and it would have been wiped out anyway. They actually might have caught a break in the timing, although I'm not sure of this and probably shouldn't just put it out that way. At any rate, the Dumbo space was huge and they were paying a lot for it. Although it was busy with brunch business, I never saw a crowd there for dinner (actually looked kind of empty most times) & the good reviews were basically all brunch. Cant make a living on only brunch I guess. Not to mention the fact that several very good new restaurants opened up within blocks of them this year (Almar & Governor come to mind), taking business & that parking ain't easy around there in the evening.

Hopefully you're talking about the one in Tribeca, since the Dumbo branch in Bklyn is now gone.

Even my wife (who'll humor me about my involvement with food boards, chefs, out of the way restaurants & weird eating habits, but wont read this stuff) was on the floor laughing at Wells' review. In my opinion, it was very well written and funny as hell. As to the unfortunate subject matter of his creative writing, I bear no ill will to Guy F. and have watched his shows, which can sometimes be pretty good. But when a Food Channel celebrity lends his name to a 500 seat disaster of a place, it's not the same as a Cheesecake Factory or a Chevy's and he becomes a legit. target for critics. No one thinks he's in the kitchen, but folks have reason to believe that his cred will get them (at least) the kind of food expected from someone who talks about it night and day. Instead, it appears that the whole thing is run by Heartland Brewery (his "operations" controlling partner) and the food is worse than theirs. Of course, as stated by others, in our world of "all publicity is good", the place will probably draw even more attention and business.... but that's life in the big city.

It hasnt stopped me from eating dumplings there, but I find this place has significantly thicker dough, making them much heavier than some of the other places.

Yes...absolutely. But mainly because he took it too upscale for me and decided to sell dim sum at 10x the price to folks in the Village. But the food was undeniably very good and not gimmicky & the place was commensurate with the price point. This, to me, is a step down and not in the right direction given his talents. But, he's a nice guy, it's his decision and that's life. Oh well. Good to hear about Nom Wah TP.

Good write up Mitch. They've come a long way since the time, around 8-10 years ago now, that a bunch of us from Chowhound went to their basically Russian speaking only storefront on Coney Island Ave and waded our way thru the menu. It's nice to see that they've recently opened a 2nd place and that its being written up in various places (Edible Brooklyn has a nice feature on them in their recent Fall '12 "Travel" edition). Gotta go back soon. Did you hit up M&I Market down Brighton Beach Ave a ways or any of the street vendors now dotting the avenue? Lots of "fried fried" but some good stuff as well.

Nice review. I think you've captured the essence of this place in your first paragraph. As for the "whimsical touch" with the food, either they stopped serving or you didnt notice the dumplings made to look like Pac-Man heads from the video game. Unfortunately for those of us who eat a lot of less "Americanized" (also nicely put, by the way) Chinese food, we're totally pissed off that Joe Ng (the chef) decided to do this. He was the original dim sum chef at a place in Bklyn (World Tong) that was probably the best in NYC for several years. Excellent, creative, fresh, traditional, wide ranging Chinese dim sum dishes that are sorely missed, even in a city that has many, many other choices in several C'towns. Oh well.

Yep, that's the one. Our friends go there regularly, as would we if we lived there and not here in Brooklyn. Too long a commute, even for wine and cheese. Besides, we have a few local places ourselves. Thanks.

Me too. We visited friends in Baltimore for 4 days recently (went to the 2 Yankee/Orioles games that NY won... go Yankees... but I digress...). At any rate, some of our friends live in Hampden and we managed to go to the street fair that Saturday. Not every street fair has a toilet race. Nice. By the way, I found the wine/cheese store off the main street to be excellent. Really knowledgable, friendly and well stocked in both areas.

We often joke about how the pronunciations (& spellings) of Italian words/phrases got bastardized in Brooklyn and Queens into "Eyetalian". So mozzarella became "mutzerelle" and prosciutto became "proshoot". A lot of it had to do with the regional dialects of those immigrating from Italy as they combined with the street slang habits in early 1900s NYC. In the case of "pasta fazool", although it's pretty much accepted throughout the USA, it's correctly "Pasta e fagioli". That'll teach ya to listen to a skunk. Nice write-up here: http://en.wikipedia....Pasta_e_fagioli

And my last meal at Arturo's was with you (and the folks in from Umbria to visit).

Nope. Lupa is just north of Houston (that's HOWston) St. (2 doors in from the corner where Arturo's has been for many, many years). One block south, on the corner of Prince and Thompson is Milady's Bar.... that could be what you're thinking of, yes?

Maialino would be a good place for meats, pasta & celebration and is very close to you... it'd probably be my first suggestion. Hill Country would be good for meats, meats, chicken (I really love their chicken), meats and beers. I know D.C. now has one but... Blue Smoke would be close to you and have more variety but I like it less. And we ate at Mesa Grill this year, finding it ehh. Others love it so who knows. I only needed one napkin at 5 Napkin the one time I was dragged there by friends... enough said. Little Italy would be good for extracting most of what's in your wallet without getting anything worthwhile. Although I do remember the back outdoor area at Da Nico's fondly enough to not totally warn folks away... just be careful not to get upsold on "specials" where price is not quoted & don't expect Del Posto. You are also far enough in advance to go on OpenTable next week and see what else you can get. And I know you ruled out steakhouses but... have you ever been to Keens? http://www.keens.com/ The "mutton chops" and the prime rib would probably ensure that your boys will willingly take care of you in your old age.

The Wells review has sparked some controversy on another food board I participate on (mouthfulsfood.com) that has a lot of opinionated NYawkers. As I said there, I think Hill Country is one of the best places for BBQ in NYC. Granted, the brisket is not as good as what I had a couple of months ago at Franklin in Austin, but its probably the 2nd best in NYC (I like Fette Sau in Bklyn the best). I think that the chicken, the beef ribs and the sausages are very good as well and that most of the sides work just fine. That being said, 2 stars as a restaurant is absurd.

Here's a place in Flushing's C'town that has it on the menu and looks decent (I've never been, but heard about it years ago thru Chowhound): http://www.sentosausa.com/contact.html And here's the yelp page when I searched for laksa: http://www.yelp.com/search?find_desc=laksa&find_loc=New+York%2C+NY I think that the class of that group might be Laut. I've been there several times over the years and the food is pretty good... however, I haven't had the laksa (I think). And, just to keep you happy, here's an educational NY Times article from 3 years ago, which explains the variations: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/07/dining/07laksa.html?pagewanted=all