no activity at Highland Place
ml1 said:
I was disappointed there was no subway system out here. And the buildings are so short.
People are taller. And there are subway systems. They are kept clean by not having entrances
Zeus2112 said:
weirdbeard said:
ml1 said:
on a percentage basis, I'm not sure it's any worse in Maplewood village than even in NYC. In the village we have Arturo's, Abril Cocina and Lorena's, which are each very good at what they do. That's three out of about 10 places in the village that are really good. Are any more than a third of NYC restaurants that good? Just like the village, the city has more than its share of pizza joints, take out Chinese, etc.
It's just that with about 1% as many restaurants as Manhattan, you run through the gamut of our good restaurants pretty quickly.
===============================================
This. I think if you took a random sampling area of NYC containing a population of around 20,000 and/or a 4-block commercial area, you would generally find that the food options there would not be significantly better than those in the Village. Hell, even if you limited that test to Manhattan, I still think it would largely hold true.
That said, I also empathize with Zeus2112. Moving out here from the City has been an overall benefit for the family and me, by a long shot, but the biggest personal sacrifice I felt was the extremely diminished universe of convenient restaurant/delivery/take-out options. That was probably the biggest adjustment for me -- even more so than NJ Transit....
Yeah, the take-out delivery options are just terrible...Im shocked and every time we say we're going to order in, the dilemma of "Ok, from where?" sets in...
I've found Pita on Essex, in Millburn, to actually be pretty good. Beyond that, there isn't much, sadly. Really hoping that'll change with this new place and hopefully others. Wish there wasn't a Starbuck's and a bank going into the new development.
Try takeout from Arturo's It is better than most Italian takeout I enjoyed in Manhattan
Woot said:
Zeus2112 said:
weirdbeard said:
ml1 said:
on a percentage basis, I'm not sure it's any worse in Maplewood village than even in NYC. In the village we have Arturo's, Abril Cocina and Lorena's, which are each very good at what they do. That's three out of about 10 places in the village that are really good. Are any more than a third of NYC restaurants that good? Just like the village, the city has more than its share of pizza joints, take out Chinese, etc.
It's just that with about 1% as many restaurants as Manhattan, you run through the gamut of our good restaurants pretty quickly.
===============================================
This. I think if you took a random sampling area of NYC containing a population of around 20,000 and/or a 4-block commercial area, you would generally find that the food options there would not be significantly better than those in the Village. Hell, even if you limited that test to Manhattan, I still think it would largely hold true.
That said, I also empathize with Zeus2112. Moving out here from the City has been an overall benefit for the family and me, by a long shot, but the biggest personal sacrifice I felt was the extremely diminished universe of convenient restaurant/delivery/take-out options. That was probably the biggest adjustment for me -- even more so than NJ Transit....
Yeah, the take-out delivery options are just terrible...Im shocked and every time we say we're going to order in, the dilemma of "Ok, from where?" sets in...
I've found Pita on Essex, in Millburn, to actually be pretty good. Beyond that, there isn't much, sadly. Really hoping that'll change with this new place and hopefully others. Wish there wasn't a Starbuck's and a bank going into the new development.
Try takeout from Arturo's It is better than most Italian takeout I enjoyed in Manhattan
Yes i've tried that, it's good. thanks 
ridski said:
So anyway I heard that the buyer for HP has pulled out.
Doesn't surprise me. Restaurant chain bankruptcies have spiked pretty dramatically to multi- year highs. These are companies with typically deeper resources in terms of access to capital than privately owned establishments.
http://www.wsj.com/articles/restaurant-chains-get-burned-by-overexpansion-new-rivals-1476649241
I think the industry is trying to figure out what the long term trends are for millenials. Indications are they don't go out to eat at the level boomers and gen-x did. They're more into delivery and "assisted cooking" from blue apron type services, or simply going to Whole Foods and getting pretty decent prepared food and a bottle of wine.
Even less high end grocery stores have better prepared food today than the best stores did 15 years ago. It's a shift. No more dinner and a movie- delivery & Netflix.
ridski said:
So anyway I heard that the buyer for HP has pulled out.
I suppose anything is possible..............but how were they allowed to do weeks worth of work for renovations
if they were not the new owner or at least a tenant?
Zeus2112 said:
With all the transplants from NYC, I would have thought the choices would have been much better.
Thank god for all the NYC transplants, left to our own devices us native New Jerseyians are just uncultured rubes who think that Olive Garden is authentic Italian cuisine.
spontaneous said:
Zeus2112 said:
With all the transplants from NYC, I would have thought the choices would have been much better.
Thank god for all the NYC transplants, left to our own devices us native New Jerseyians are just uncultured rubes who think that Olive Garden is authentic Italian cuisine.
I agree with Zeus: I'm also surprised that the quality of restaurant food in MSO isn't better. I've always thought a good french bistro would do gangbuster business -- or an upscale diner like Raymond's in Montclair. I hate to say it: but there's not one restaurant I actually want to go to for dinner. Maybe it has something to do with the scarcity of liquor licenses.
mbaldwin said:
spontaneous said:
Zeus2112 said:
With all the transplants from NYC, I would have thought the choices would have been much better.
Thank god for all the NYC transplants, left to our own devices us native New Jerseyians are just uncultured rubes who think that Olive Garden is authentic Italian cuisine.
I agree with Zeus: I'm also surprised that the quality of restaurant food in MSO isn't better. I've always thought a good french bistro would do gangbuster business -- or an upscale diner like Raymond's in Montclair. I hate to say it: but there's not one restaurant I actually want to go to for dinner. Maybe it has something to do with the scarcity of liquor licenses.
So you agree that it should be better because of NYC transplants? How many threads over the years have I seen where people, many of them New Jersey natives, lamented the dearth of good dining choices? To say that it should be better "with all the transplants of NYC" implies that we don't know any better and happily eat Taco Bell thinking it is authentic Mexican. But with the NYC transplants we will now know what real food is like. ********, we've been complaining for years for better choices. We have had some open and do well, we've had some open and for whatever reason close down.
mbaldwin said:
spontaneous said:
Zeus2112 said:
With all the transplants from NYC, I would have thought the choices would have been much better.
Thank god for all the NYC transplants, left to our own devices us native New Jerseyians are just uncultured rubes who think that Olive Garden is authentic Italian cuisine.
I agree with Zeus: I'm also surprised that the quality of restaurant food in MSO isn't better. I've always thought a good french bistro would do gangbuster business -- or an upscale diner like Raymond's in Montclair. I hate to say it: but there's not one restaurant I actually want to go to for dinner. Maybe it has something to do with the scarcity of liquor licenses.
We have 2 pending licenses going to spaces downtown. I think it has more to do with the fact that downtown MW while lovely is not a destination. If we pulled addresses from credit cards I'd bet MW gets less regional traffic as opposed to local vs a Montclair.
There are strong, deep-pocketed regional dining professionals (think the folks who own Stone House or Roots) who I am sure are aware of for example the new, customizable space coming available in the post office space, but thus far they've taken a pass. There is a reason for that.
We'll likely end up with a couple "upscale American contemporary" type places for a few years. I wish them the best of luck but the environment both in terms of dining trends and in terms of the specific market drawn to Maplewood is likely to be challenging.
This is not necessarily a bad thing. Our downtown is wonderful for locals. I don't think most folks want it to be TOO much of a destination.... Even from a tax standpoint it would be unlikely to make much of a difference.
And the reason we don't have a TON of dining options is we don't have the population density to sustain a large number of restaurants. As pointed out above by another poster, NYC also had mid range and crappy food places. The percentage of good places is likely similar, just higher in straight numbers because they have the population to sustain it. Not because NYC folks are more discerning and know better. They have McDonalds there too.
Maplewood is a dining destination for many neighboring towns. We have friends who live in Summit who we see all of the time in town during dinner! I love the concentration of higher-than-average-quality-for-nj-suburbs establishments here.
Maplewood restaurants absolutely draw lots of people from around the region. And in my experience, former New Yorkers generally are much more knowledgeable and sophisticated about food. Those two things should, in theory, combine to bring better restaurants to the village, but it hasn't so far really worked out that way. It is SO much better than is was 15 years ago, however.
What do you Greeks think of Stamna in Bloomfield? I've been there a few times and like it but this Jew from Long Island doesn't have a great frame of reference for Greek food.
mbaldwin said:
spontaneous said:
Zeus2112 said:
With all the transplants from NYC, I would have thought the choices would have been much better.
Thank god for all the NYC transplants, left to our own devices us native New Jerseyians are just uncultured rubes who think that Olive Garden is authentic Italian cuisine.
I agree with Zeus: I'm also surprised that the quality of restaurant food in MSO isn't better. I've always thought a good french bistro would do gangbuster business -- or an upscale diner like Raymond's in Montclair. I hate to say it: but there's not one restaurant I actually want to go to for dinner. Maybe it has something to do with the scarcity of liquor licenses.
I'm so glad i'm not alone in feeling the exact same way. Seriously...Montclair has some gems, this area, not one that i can honestly say is even "good" or that I look forward to going to. Case in point right his minute, as i'm racking my brain to think of a place we can go to tonight without being disappointed, yet again.
The_Soulful_Mr_T said:
What do you Greeks think of Stamna in Bloomfield? I've been there a few times and like it but this Jew from Long Island doesn't have a great frame of reference for Greek food.
I need to check that place, thanks for the tip. Then i'll report back to you.
Zeus2112 said:
The_Soulful_Mr_T said:
What do you Greeks think of Stamna in Bloomfield? I've been there a few times and like it but this Jew from Long Island doesn't have a great frame of reference for Greek food.
I need to check that place, thanks for the tip. Then i'll report back to you.
If that is the rather large one on Bloomfield Ave.........been there once and really not that impressed. Service was
slow and the fare was nothing to write home about. Will check with the woman in my life who is much more
discerning and keeps tabs of the notable restaurants in the area
In line with my usual plugging of the Motherland. Frequently in areas along the water...........which of course is
quite a bit of Greece............the area where the fisherman go out very early in the morning and bring back their
catch quickly..........you will find large fish markets and near by are a few sea food restaurants
The phrase farm to market comes to mind..........there can be little more tasty and delightful than a meal taken out
of the ocean that morning.. Also all fruits and vegetables are as fresh as you will find anywhere
One morning I was enjoying what they call an English breakfast. I mentioned that the orange juice was the most
delicious I had ever tasted. My friend Demetrius is a pal for many years, he told me the oranges came from the area
of Argos..........near my grandfather's village
So bring your Yankee tourist dollars and come to the place where so much of what we hold near and dear started
And help get the economy back on track so that many of the young ones are not obligated to go to Austria, Germany and even Australia to find work
I should apologize for the thread drift............but I won't
Zeus2112 said:I'm so glad i'm not alone in feeling the exact same way.
Have you tried Lalibela?
Maplewood has two of the restaurants consistently listed in the top restaurants in NJ and still people complain?
author said:
Zeus2112 said:
The_Soulful_Mr_T said:
What do you Greeks think of Stamna in Bloomfield? I've been there a few times and like it but this Jew from Long Island doesn't have a great frame of reference for Greek food.
I need to check that place, thanks for the tip. Then i'll report back to you.
If that is the rather large one on Bloomfield Ave.........been there once and really not that impressed. Service was
slow and the fare was nothing to write home about. Will check with the woman in my life who is much more
discerning and keeps tabs of the notable restaurants in the area
In line with my usual plugging of the Motherland. Frequently in areas along the water...........which of course is
quite a bit of Greece............the area where the fisherman go out very early in the morning and bring back their
catch quickly..........you will find large fish markets and near by are a few sea food restaurants
The phrase farm to market comes to mind..........there can be little more tasty and delightful than a meal taken out
of the ocean that morning.. Also all fruits and vegetables are as fresh as you will find anywhere
One morning I was enjoying what they call an English breakfast. I mentioned that the orange juice was the most
delicious I had ever tasted. My friend Demetrius is a pal for many years, he told me the oranges came from the area
of Argos..........near my grandfather's village
So bring your Yankee tourist dollars and come to the place where so much of what we hold near and dear started
And help get the economy back on track so that many of the young ones are not obligated to go to Austria, Germany and even Australia to find work
I should apologize for the thread drift............but I won't
No, no Stamna is the greek restaurant on Broad street in Bloomfield. The food is excellent. It is owned by the family that owned the Nevada diner in Bloomfield. The one on Bloomfield ave is fair at best. 7 seas or whatever the one in millburn is called is even worse. Went to lithos in Livingston last night. It's an upscale very expensive Greek restaurant on Eisenhower pkwy. The entire evening was comical. Long story short...2 at the table ordered the sea scallops. While the plate looked beautiful the scallops were off...amoniated..I mean like cleaning fluid amonia. Really bad. Of course they took them back and they offered to bring back new ones...um no thanks. Manager comes over and apologizes and says of course we will not charge you for it. Gee thanks, that was kind of our expectation too. Anyway, not a good evening. But we did have a good laugh at the dessert they comped us and the after dinner drink that reminded us of pine sol.
The issue with dining in mapso is there is no one place like a Raymond's where you can go meet a friend for coffee and breakfast/ lunch and then have a reasonably priced upscale (not diner) dinner.
author said:
Zeus2112 said:
The_Soulful_Mr_T said:
What do you Greeks think of Stamna in Bloomfield? I've been there a few times and like it but this Jew from Long Island doesn't have a great frame of reference for Greek food.
I need to check that place, thanks for the tip. Then i'll report back to you.
If that is the rather large one on Bloomfield Ave.........been there once and really not that impressed. Service was
slow and the fare was nothing to write home about. Will check with the woman in my life who is much more
discerning and keeps tabs of the notable restaurants in the area
In line with my usual plugging of the Motherland. Frequently in areas along the water...........which of course is
quite a bit of Greece............the area where the fisherman go out very early in the morning and bring back their
catch quickly..........you will find large fish markets and near by are a few sea food restaurants
The phrase farm to market comes to mind..........there can be little more tasty and delightful than a meal taken out
of the ocean that morning.. Also all fruits and vegetables are as fresh as you will find anywhere
One morning I was enjoying what they call an English breakfast. I mentioned that the orange juice was the most
delicious I had ever tasted. My friend Demetrius is a pal for many years, he told me the oranges came from the area
of Argos..........near my grandfather's village
So bring your Yankee tourist dollars and come to the place where so much of what we hold near and dear started
And help get the economy back on track so that many of the young ones are not obligated to go to Austria, Germany and even Australia to find work
I should apologize for the thread drift............but I won't
what a way to start the morning! Thanks for that memory...sadly there is nothing that could even begin to come close to capturing that here, and few places even in this country. Nuff on this drift, it was nice though Gia Sou!
judy3x said:
author said:
Zeus2112 said:
The_Soulful_Mr_T said:
What do you Greeks think of Stamna in Bloomfield? I've been there a few times and like it but this Jew from Long Island doesn't have a great frame of reference for Greek food.
I need to check that place, thanks for the tip. Then i'll report back to you.
If that is the rather large one on Bloomfield Ave.........been there once and really not that impressed. Service was
slow and the fare was nothing to write home about. Will check with the woman in my life who is much more
discerning and keeps tabs of the notable restaurants in the area
In line with my usual plugging of the Motherland. Frequently in areas along the water...........which of course is
quite a bit of Greece............the area where the fisherman go out very early in the morning and bring back their
catch quickly..........you will find large fish markets and near by are a few sea food restaurants
The phrase farm to market comes to mind..........there can be little more tasty and delightful than a meal taken out
of the ocean that morning.. Also all fruits and vegetables are as fresh as you will find anywhere
One morning I was enjoying what they call an English breakfast. I mentioned that the orange juice was the most
delicious I had ever tasted. My friend Demetrius is a pal for many years, he told me the oranges came from the area
of Argos..........near my grandfather's village
So bring your Yankee tourist dollars and come to the place where so much of what we hold near and dear started
And help get the economy back on track so that many of the young ones are not obligated to go to Austria, Germany and even Australia to find work
I should apologize for the thread drift............but I won't
No, no Stamna is the greek restaurant on Broad street in Bloomfield. The food is excellent. It is owned by the family that owned the Nevada diner in Bloomfield. The one on Bloomfield ave is fair at best. 7 seas or whatever the one in millburn is called is even worse. Went to lithos in Livingston last night. It's an upscale very expensive Greek restaurant on Eisenhower pkwy. The entire evening was comical. Long story short...2 at the table ordered the sea scallops. While the plate looked beautiful the scallops were off...amoniated..I mean like cleaning fluid amonia. Really bad. Of course they took them back and they offered to bring back new ones...um no thanks. Manager comes over and apologizes and says of course we will not charge you for it. Gee thanks, that was kind of our expectation too. Anyway, not a good evening. But we did have a good laugh at the dessert they comped us and the after dinner drink that reminded us of pine sol.
The issue with dining in mapso is there is no one place like a Raymond's where you can go meet a friend for coffee and breakfast/ lunch and then have a reasonably priced upscale (not diner) dinner.
Been wondering about that place, and have been very weary about trying it for many reasons, one of which being Greek food should not be expensive nor upscale, because that is not what the food is, and its certainly not what makes the food good. Case in point here.
Also, a tip, never order scallops from a Greek restaurant. They're not a typical Greek dish. in fact, I've never ever even seen them on a menu anywhere in Greece, even by the sea.
Thanks for sharing the experience!
ska said:
Maplewood has two of the restaurants consistently listed in the top restaurants in NJ and still people complain?
which ones? Lorenas? I'm sure that place is good. But it's not very inviting, even a little bit. Looks VERY stuffy and old, and no matter how good the food may be, I'm just not into the look or feel of that place, so I don't think i'll be eating there.
Ordered from "Village Tratt" last night, for the second and LAST time. The first time it was flavorless and so too was this time. But, it was packed! It astonishes me how these mediocre places can stay in business. I joked to my wife that all one needs to do is make bad Italian food and you can make a living in the restaurant business around here.
Lorena's and Verjus make most lists of the best restaurants in NJ. Lorena's is hardly "old".
I have been on a major Millburn winning streak recently. The all pretty recently opened Tillies, Pita on Essex, Saigon Cafe and Fiamma have all impressed me on first visits.
I was disappointed there was no subway system out here. And the buildings are so short.