Christie's Steakhouse and Grill

Name: Christie's Steakhouse and Grill
Location: 560 Harry L Drive #2, Johnson City, NY 13790
Phone: (607) 729-3100
Cuisine: American
Attire: Casual
Price: $40+ for two for dinner

Review:
Christie's is a Johnson City establishment located right in the center of all the action. Its location diagonally opposite the Oakdale Mall makes it a pretty popular spot for lunch and dinner, particularly during the holiday season when the mall gets busy. Megan and I have stopped in for dinner quite a bit over the years, given that we pretty much have to pass right by the place to go anywhere. Overall, I am not thrilled with the food at Christie's, nor the value it provides, but there are certain aspects of the place that I really like.

If you're going to go to Christie's, I recommend going for lunch. They make a really nice sandwich and they offer a variety of soups that come with unlimited refills. Of particular note is the Cheddar Beer soup, which has become the stuff of legend among my friends and me. We have been known to call the restaurant just to find out if it's a Cheddar Beer day before making a decision to head over. It's a delicious creamy cheese soup served with oyster crackers. Doesn't sound like anything special but it is truly good. I've had the New England Clam Chowder many times over the years and have enjoyed it, ditto the Chicken and Rice; in fact, I can't recall a soup I've had there and didn't like. Actually, that's a lie: I did not care for the Cream of Asparagus that was brought to me in error (mistakes such as this have occurred on multiple visits). For sandwiches, I think their turkey sandwiches are the way to go. I recommend the turkey club, or the Rachel. Nothing to get too excited about, but good.

Dinner, on the other hand, I cannot recommend, for a variety of reasons. For starters, I find their menu to be a little limited if you are not in the mood for steak. They offer a rotisserie chicken entree that's pretty decent if you get it on a day that it's not all dried out. I've also gone with a seafood pasta dish (clams, mussels, scallops, shrimp over pasta) that sounded good in theory, but I didn't care for it at all. The best dinner I've had there was probably the rib dinner, which comes with a spicy barbecue sauce I enjoyed. As for the steaks, I have not been impressed. The times I've ordered steak it's always been too grisly or fatty and lacking in flavor. Maybe I've just been unlucky, as I have heard good thing from other folks about the steaks, but this hasn't just been a one-time thing. Additionally, I find dinner at Christie's to be way overpriced. The steak entrees jump well into the $20 range and there are only a handful of entrees on the menu that are less than $15. If I'm going to spend that kind of cash, I'd rather go someplace where I know I'm going to enjoy the food more.

One last thing I don't care for about Christie's is the ambiance. It feels too much like a chain restaurant to me. They've got the waiters who come to the table and write their name upside-down in crayon on the paper tablecloth and stuff. For whatever reason, I hate kitschy stuff like that. I don't know. I like local places that feel local, you know? This just isn't one of those places. And their outside seating is kind of a joke too. Who really wants to overlook a McDonald's parking lot while eating?

Christie's is one of those places that's tough to assign a grade to. It's a good lunch spot and I highly recommend checking out their soups (Cheddar Beer FTW!). For dinner, I am not a fan. It's overpriced and a little too chain-like for my tastes. To each his own, I suppose...

Grade: C+

Apple Dumpling Cafe

Name: Apple Dumpling Cafe
Location: 131 Brooks Road, Binghamton, NY 13905
Phone: (607) 729-2683
Cuisine: Breakfast/Lunch
Attire: Casual
Price: Less than $20 for two

Review:
If you think you know of every place there is to know about in the Binghamton area, think again. You probably haven't been to Apple Hills, a farm out in the middle of nowhere up by the Greater Binghamton Airport and home to the Apple Dumpling Cafe, a quaint little gem of a place that specializes in homemade, farm-fresh breakfasts and lunches. To find the Apple Dumpling Cafe, head north out of Binghamton/JC on Airport Road. Keep going...keep going....keep going until you're almost at the airport, make a right on Commercial Road (there's a convenience store and gas station on the opposite side as a landmark) and stay on Commercial for about a mile until you reach Brooks Road. Turn left and it's up a quarter mile on the left.

We arrived at 10:00 on a Sunday morning and the place was packed. I thought to myself..."hmmm, I just drove through the middle of nowhere and there's nary a parking spot and now I have to wait in line to get a table? This place must be good!" One thing you'll want to realize is that there are two distinct lines for seating. If you want to sit outside on their long veranda, stand in the outside line and wait for a table to open up. If you want to sit inside, get your name on the list with the host/hostess and wait there. This information could be more effectively communicated to first-time patrons. We were rather confused by the whole setup and kind of annoyed, as were some other patrons who were told by the host inside that there was a table for them outside, only to lose their spot in line by going out to the porch and realizing that their designated table had already been taken. They should probably devise a better seating system especially since I sense the place is pretty popular.

We ended up with a table outside after waiting for about 20 minutes and hanging out with a friendly old farm dog out on the porch. The outside seating is nice and shaded and you have a nice view of the rolling hills hovering over Binghamton. I started with a cup of coffee, which I thought was pretty good by restaurant standards. Megan ordered the Belgian waffles which came with her choice of bacon or sausage. She elected the bacon. I opted for the short stack of pancakes with a side of sausage. The meals came out quickly; in fact, once we were seated, I was impressed with the service overall. The sausage had great flavor and tasted fresh, and the pancakes followed suit. More significantly, they were huge, 10 inches wide and probably a half-inch thick. I had been tipped off that the pancakes were tasty here, and they certainly lived up to the hype. Nice and fluffy, golden-brown, not overcooked, not underdone. Great flavor and locally-produced maple syrup to top it off. They have a challenge listed on their menu available to any patron who orders the full stack of four pancakes. If you eat the entire meal you get your next full stack free. At first I thought that challenge would be easy to pull off, but about halfway through my short stack I came to realize how difficult it would be.

In the end, I really liked the Apple Dumpling Cafe. The food, service, and rural charm made up for the logistical headache of getting seated. This is exactly the kind of place I started this blog to highlight, a place that is somewhat unknown, yet delivers a quality meal with local flavor at a great price ($10 for the two of us). Next time you're considering a trip to Cracker Barrel for breakfast, think about supporting your local farmers and giving the Apple Dumpling Cafe a chance instead.

Grade: B+