Behold! The Sweetgreen coming to where the Boston Market used to be at the corner of Austin and 71st/Continental Ave.!
Now just someone build me a cozy little bookshop and all my dreams will have been answered.
Showing posts with label salads. Show all posts
Showing posts with label salads. Show all posts
Monday, December 16, 2024
Wednesday, July 18, 2018
Two Things We Could Use in Forest Hills
A Make Your Own Salad place. Yes, I'm still hoping one of these opens in Forest Hills. We've come close - I know a major chain was interested in Forest Hills several years back. But still no takers. With Shake Shack, Bareburger and other chains now open on Austin Street, it's obvious there's certainly enough of a demand for a different kind of fast-casual lunch or dinner option in Forest Hills. Why it hasn't happened yet? Who knows. For now, anyone craving the healthy ease and convenience of something like a Chopt or a Just Salad can swing by Natural, where they have a make-your-own salad station, albeit quite awkwardly set up amidst the checkout line.
An indie bookshop: My calls for an indie coffee place resulted in not one but two opening in FoHi, and right across from each other on Austin Street no less. Surely, we can do the same with an indie bookshop? Now that indie bookstores are experiencing a resurgence as consumers realize e-books just don't always cut it, the thousands of readers here in Forest Hills are left with either going to the library, ordering on Amazon, visiting the newly-opened Kew & Willow bookshop in Kew Gardens or venturing over to one of the remaining Barnes & Nobles in Manhattan or somewhere else. But there is simply nothing like having your own local bookshop in your community. It can become a haven for book lovers, hosting author readings and other related events. And how delightful is it to escape a hot summer day by wandering into your local bookstore, and feeling that refreshing AC cool you down as you meander through the aisles, stopping here and there to pick up a book and just escape from the daily grind?
Tuesday, August 19, 2014
On the Cusp of Salad
My quest for an easy, effortless way to obtain a salad in Forest Hills is almost over, but not quite. Yes, this simple desire, so easily fulfilled in countless other neighborhoods in New York City, remains stubbornly out of reach of us Forest Hillers—unless, that is, you are willing to play by the rules.
For example, the wonderful new make-your-own salad bar at Natural is oh so inviting and a fantastic idea. But then there are its sketchy hours of operation—apparently they only make the salads during the day-time. And since no hours of operation are posted on the salad bar, when you are going to be delighted with a crisp, freshly customized salad of your own choosing, and when you'll be greeted by a sad empty metal salad space remains uncertain. Not the best way to plan your salad days.
The new wonderful cafe OvoSodo on Queens Blvd. near Ascan has a customized salad option. But it's not a salad bar. You have to order what you want off the menu. Not a salad option for us harried New Yorkers who want to see salad, point, mutter, and leave.
BareBurger has some incredibly complex, inventive and healthy salads. But, once again, sans bar. You have to order it off the menu like you would one of their scrumptious Bison Burgers.
In this age of Just Salad and Chop't, where freshly-built, custom-made salads are just a short line wait away for millions of other New Yorkers, I long for the day of a no-drama, streamlined salad operation that will bring Forest Hills truly into the 21st Century and help all of our waistlines. There are a lot of chubby Forest Hillers who are only getting chubbier.
Behold! Natural's new semi-open salad bar:
For example, the wonderful new make-your-own salad bar at Natural is oh so inviting and a fantastic idea. But then there are its sketchy hours of operation—apparently they only make the salads during the day-time. And since no hours of operation are posted on the salad bar, when you are going to be delighted with a crisp, freshly customized salad of your own choosing, and when you'll be greeted by a sad empty metal salad space remains uncertain. Not the best way to plan your salad days.
The new wonderful cafe OvoSodo on Queens Blvd. near Ascan has a customized salad option. But it's not a salad bar. You have to order what you want off the menu. Not a salad option for us harried New Yorkers who want to see salad, point, mutter, and leave.
BareBurger has some incredibly complex, inventive and healthy salads. But, once again, sans bar. You have to order it off the menu like you would one of their scrumptious Bison Burgers.
In this age of Just Salad and Chop't, where freshly-built, custom-made salads are just a short line wait away for millions of other New Yorkers, I long for the day of a no-drama, streamlined salad operation that will bring Forest Hills truly into the 21st Century and help all of our waistlines. There are a lot of chubby Forest Hillers who are only getting chubbier.
Behold! Natural's new semi-open salad bar:
Sunday, December 1, 2013
Twist And Smash'd Review
I tried our newest burger place, Twist And Smash'd, located at 72-06 Austin St. in Forest Hills.
Overall, I was really happy with the food. The burger I had, a double Original Smash'd Angus beef burger ($9.25) was delicious as well as perfectly cooked. I really, really liked it. My only complaint, for the price the burger should be bigger. The same goes for the chicken burger I ordered ($5.50 for a single burger.) It was excellent but should have been bigger,
The place prides itself on its unique "Twisted Potatoes"—a stack of thin fried potato slices on a stick. Again, these were delicious. Each one (for $2.50) was nice and salty and somehow didn't leave you with that stuffed feeling you get from regular french fries.
The restaurant itself, which looked still slightly unfinished when I went this weekend, has a fun vibe with numerous tables spread throughout the space. They also say they will have outdoor seating in the back in the nicer weather.
Also, they will soon be rolling out home delivery.
I was thrilled to see that they got my take-out order exactly right, despite what was a pretty big crowd and the fact that they were obviously in that typical opening phase, where they're still working out the kinks. It took about 20 minutes for me to get the food, not terrible. The place could definitely use a second cashier! But the three different employees I spoke with were very courteous and helpful.
So how would I rate the burger? Against my gold standard for a fast food burger—Shake Shack—I'd give Shake Shack a perfect 10 and the Twist & Smash'd Original Double a 9. It was definitely up there in terms of quality and taste. I just wish it was a little bit bigger to make it fully worth the $9.25 I paid for the double size. Make the burger bigger, and it's easily a 10.
I have to admit I had my doubts about what is in essence a "mom and pop" burger place opening at a time when there are already several really great burger chains in the New York City area. But Twist & Smash'd appears to me to have what it takes to go head to head with the best of them. But they need to overcome that "mom and pop" stinginess and be much more generous with the size of the burgers, especially when asking for upwards of $9 bucks for a double burger. (Just to clarify, the single burgers are $5.50.)
But all in all, I'm thrilled to see central Forest Hills finally get a modern fast burger place. For whatever reason, the other well-known chains, so prevalent in other parts of the City, haven't yet opened on or near Austin. And it's their loss. As I said, the Twist & Smash'd location was extremely busy when I went there after being open a scant 24 hours. There's obviously a huge demand for this type of place here. Why the big guys haven't noticed is beyond me. Now, when they finally do open here, they'll have to play catch-up to Twist.
I'll post the entire Twist and Smash'd menu Sunday. There are plenty of other options that I look forward to trying, including salads, a Short Rib Burger, a Crab burger and even Chicken and Waffles. This is one inventive place and we're lucky to have it! (And I'm already craving another one of their burgers!)
Overall, I was really happy with the food. The burger I had, a double Original Smash'd Angus beef burger ($9.25) was delicious as well as perfectly cooked. I really, really liked it. My only complaint, for the price the burger should be bigger. The same goes for the chicken burger I ordered ($5.50 for a single burger.) It was excellent but should have been bigger,
The place prides itself on its unique "Twisted Potatoes"—a stack of thin fried potato slices on a stick. Again, these were delicious. Each one (for $2.50) was nice and salty and somehow didn't leave you with that stuffed feeling you get from regular french fries.
The restaurant itself, which looked still slightly unfinished when I went this weekend, has a fun vibe with numerous tables spread throughout the space. They also say they will have outdoor seating in the back in the nicer weather.
Also, they will soon be rolling out home delivery.
I was thrilled to see that they got my take-out order exactly right, despite what was a pretty big crowd and the fact that they were obviously in that typical opening phase, where they're still working out the kinks. It took about 20 minutes for me to get the food, not terrible. The place could definitely use a second cashier! But the three different employees I spoke with were very courteous and helpful.
So how would I rate the burger? Against my gold standard for a fast food burger—Shake Shack—I'd give Shake Shack a perfect 10 and the Twist & Smash'd Original Double a 9. It was definitely up there in terms of quality and taste. I just wish it was a little bit bigger to make it fully worth the $9.25 I paid for the double size. Make the burger bigger, and it's easily a 10.
I have to admit I had my doubts about what is in essence a "mom and pop" burger place opening at a time when there are already several really great burger chains in the New York City area. But Twist & Smash'd appears to me to have what it takes to go head to head with the best of them. But they need to overcome that "mom and pop" stinginess and be much more generous with the size of the burgers, especially when asking for upwards of $9 bucks for a double burger. (Just to clarify, the single burgers are $5.50.)
But all in all, I'm thrilled to see central Forest Hills finally get a modern fast burger place. For whatever reason, the other well-known chains, so prevalent in other parts of the City, haven't yet opened on or near Austin. And it's their loss. As I said, the Twist & Smash'd location was extremely busy when I went there after being open a scant 24 hours. There's obviously a huge demand for this type of place here. Why the big guys haven't noticed is beyond me. Now, when they finally do open here, they'll have to play catch-up to Twist.
I'll post the entire Twist and Smash'd menu Sunday. There are plenty of other options that I look forward to trying, including salads, a Short Rib Burger, a Crab burger and even Chicken and Waffles. This is one inventive place and we're lucky to have it! (And I'm already craving another one of their burgers!)
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| They gave me my take out order in this cool tote bag. Nice touch! |
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| Double Original Smash'd beef burger. |
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| Chicken burger (single) had a nice charcoal taste. |
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| Their unique Twisted Potatoes |
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Thursday, July 25, 2013
Make Me a Salad!
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