Fish Fry

[frankcor]

A big ol' pot of pinto beans would be just what the doctor ordered. I'd pour olive oil over them instead of the syrup. And throw some fresh crushed garlic in with the white onion. Now that's soul food.

[Clipper]

;D Garlic Frank? Ah, yes, mouthwash for lovers! A little Sicilian Soul! Sound good to me. I am a hybrid. I have actually made northern style baked beans with both Italian sausage and Keilbasa at different times. I was never a great holder of the belief that recipes were cast in stone, haha!

Actually, pintos are a new years tradition in the south. They are supposed to bring good luck and prosperity in the coming year. All I could anticipate if I ate pintos on New Years Eve, is a lot of gas on New Years Day. Probably wouldn't need a noise maker, just a funny hat and some air freshener!

[stilljugglin]

Countrygal,
Try Club Monarch in Yorkville-great beer batter fish!(eat-in or take-out), Soldatos (River Rd/Mohawk St) and Deerfield Fire Dept.

[dgriffin]

Jean's Beans. Used to walk by the one in uptown on my way home from OLO Lourdes school as a kid. I think it was right on the turn on Hampden Place, just off Genesee past Cuda and Stemmer's Mobil station, up from the theatre. That smell on Friday afternoon would make me so hungry, I'd dig down in my pocket for the nickel it cost for a small bag of potato chips. And later, with wife and young children, after the long drive to Grandma's house from (wherever we happened to be living that year) to Watertown for Easter weekend, we would "get a Jeans' Beans" from out on Eastern Blvd, Route 3. Ah, memories. In fact, the fish was the greasiest, heaviest, overcooked stuff I ever ate. But it was the tradition that washed it down with relish. Tradition and copious amounts of other stuff.
My favorite fish fry places in the 70's and 80's were the Uptown Grill on Auburn Ave. and LBJ's (lunch box, junior) on Oriskany Blvd in Whitesboro. I have had good ones recently at the place in Forrestport (why can't I remember the name, I've been going there for years.) But my fish fry careeer began as a young child at The Villa on Taylor and Leah, then a nice neighborhood family restaurant.

[Clipper]

You reminded me of two places that I hadn't thought of in years. LBJ's and the Uptown Grill. The uptown grill had a wonderful fish fry, but you would stand in the bar for hours waiting for a table, haha.

The place you might be thinking about in Forestport might be either the Buffalo Head or Garramone's. Both have good fish fry dinners. The only other places I can think of up that way is the restaurant on the left, just north of Alder Creek, or the diner just down the road from it on the right hand side of route 28.

[Clipper]

I can't for the life of me remember the name of the diner. I used to have a crew strip and wax the floors there when I operatied my carpet cleaning and floor maintenance business. The girl that owned it was a sister to the girl that operated "TAM'S" diner in Remsen. Somebody on here will remember the name of the diner. They also were famous for the homemade pies.

[dgriffin]

Buffalo Head was the name I couldn't remember. I can't think of the diner you mentioned.

[Clipper]

Yep, the Buffalo Head. It has had it's ups and downs over the years but I would be willing to wager that any poll would list them as the #1 eating establishment in the whole area.

[frankcor]

I never heard someone say the food at Buffalo Head is terrific. Rather, everyone always says "You get a lot!"

[dgriffin]

That was the key to their reputation in the early days. I'm not so sure it's that way now. I have eaten there in the last year ..... last fall, as a matter of fact.... and the food was really good. We spent the weekend with friends nearby. The highlight of the visit, restaurant wise, was Slim's in Boonville for breakfast.

By the way, 2 weeks ago when I was in Utica, I got dragged into Sophie's on outer Oriskany Blvd. Might as well have been outer space. What a hole.

[frankcor]

I ate there last fall as part of a murder train excursion. The food was decent but because it was banquet style, it was nothing special. There were a couple of wonderful looking specials marked on the board but those weren't available for the excursion guests.

[Clipper]

:)Slims for breakfast. Do they still give you three pancakes the size of the plate for a very reasonable price? I never could eat the whole three of them. Huge pancakes!

[thelma]

admin said:

Yep, the Buffalo Head. It has had it's ups and downs over the years but I would be willing to wager that any poll would list them as the #1 eating establishment in the whole area.

.................................................................

Not as far as I am concerned! A few years ago, my daughter made reservations for her and I, and the 3 GDs, for Mother's Day. When we got there, we were told we would have to wait as our "table wasn't ready".

After 1/2 hour wait, when we inquired to how much longer it would be before we could have a table as the GDs were getting restless, we were told it all depended on how soon someone would leave their table.

To come to find out - Reservations meant nothing to them. They were assigning table on a "come as you go" basis. To make a very long story short, we had to wait almost 2 hours for a table and the food AND service was horrible.

I wrote them a letter telling them how disgusted I was with their service AND food and would never come back as a customer - and I haven't.

[Clipper]

;D Mother's day at the Buffalo head is like trying to reserve front row space on Times Square on New Years Eve. They have so many reservations, and only so much space and waitstaff. Also the kitchen is probably chaos when the place is full.

On a normal Sunday or any evening, the place is great. The quantity had gone down, and the quality had gone up the last time I was there. I had an excellent fillet mignon. They have gone away from the monster rib steak for two concept and concentrated their efforts on more refined dishes. They have a dish with pork chops, apples and cheddar cheese that is out of this world.

If the place is too crowded, bear right at the intersection, and go down the road about 1/4 mile on the left to Garramone's. You will get comparable food and prices and a menu that is a combo of Italian and American, with outstanding steaks and seafood, also.

[thelma]

Clipper - My point about the Buffalo Head is that they should NOT have accepted Reservations if they were over-booked. I'm not the only one that Mother's Day that vowed never to return to such a poorly organized and managed restaurant. By over-booking, they ended up loosing customers - not gaining them.

There are plenty of good restaurants much closer to home than driving for 1/2 hour only to get aggravated.