Burger Mondays

Name: Burger Mondays
Location: 23 Henry St., Binghamton, NY 13901
Phone: (607) 722-7777
Cuisine: American
Price: $30+ for two

Review:
Burger Mondays is one of the latest restaurant additions to Downtown Binghamton, joining pizza-pub Amici, the River Bistro located inside the Riverwalk Hotel, and Remlik’s as new places I have been excited to try out. Burger Mondays, taking over the former location of Zazou and D.C. Dunster’s on the corner of Henry and State, specializes in gourmet burgers and milkshakes, both of which come in various interesting-sounding forms.

The restaurant is fairly pleasing aesthetically, with a spacious dining room with about 25-30 tables and booths toward the front, and a large, separate bar in back. Tables are adorned with black linens and fancy centerpieces. On looks alone, Burger Mondays is a little on the stark side, but generally makes a good first impression.

This review’s been a long time in the making. I’ve actually had the pleasure to try Burger Mondays three times, with three different dining companions. The first time, I decided to try it out the weekend right after they opened in March with my friend Tom. What I hadn’t remembered before I got there was that it was Binghamton’s Parade Day. The restaurant was packed and they had limited the menu to only two of their burger options, the Original and the Classic. Hoping to try something a little more exotic, I was disappointed, but given how busy they were in both the restaurant and the bar area, their decision was probably for the best. On the first visit, I tried out the Classic Burger, featuring white cheddar cheese, bacon, lettuce, tomato, onion, and a house-made aioli. The first thing that struck me upon ordering was that I was not asked how I wanted the burger. I’m a medium-rare guy myself, so I was worried that it would come out overcooked. As it turned out, it was more unevenly cooked than overcooked. Part of the burger was pink, the other half was well-done. On top of that, I didn’t think it was anything to get too excited about. It was a fine burger—nothing more, nothing less. Tom echoed the same sentiment. In lieu of writing a review at that time, I decided to pay Burger Mondays another visit during a less-busy time, where I would be able to order from the full menu.


On the second visit, Megan and I came for a late-lunch on a Friday afternoon. This time around, Megan ordered the aforementioned Classic Burger, while I went with Chef Matt Jones’ namesake item, a double-stacked burger called The Jonesy, which features pork and beef patties with a chili pepper salad, pancetta, asiago cheese, and a Worcestershire reduction. I decided to be adventurous and went with the Mondays Original milkshake to complement the burger. This milkshake is made with chocolate, caramel, peanut butter, banana, and pretzel: the waitress assured me it was a good choice and I was excited to give it a try. I also ordered a bowl of the Guinness Chili as a starter.


The Chili and milkshake were the first items to arrive. The chili was pretty excellent, a thick, meaty chili (chunks of beef rather than ground beef) with robust flavor. The milkshake was a little less successful, but not bad. It was perhaps a little too thick, but the flavors came together pretty nicely. The combination of peanut butter and banana was particularly winning.


Next came the burgers. To my surprise, I did not care too much for The Jonesy. I really expected to like this one. All the advertised ingredients were there, but in my opinion, I didn’t think they went together very well; a definite case of too much going on. In particular, I felt the chili pepper flavor dominated the rest of the burger and made it difficult to discern the other flavors. Again, we were not asked how we wanted the burgers, and mine was definitely overcooked. The patties themselves were a little bland and tiny. The toasted bun had a somewhat tough, chewy consistency that I didn’t care for. For a $14 burger, I was expecting much more than this.


Megan thought her burger was pretty good, but HATED the French fries. These fries are the small, thin variety that might be sliced a little too thin for their own good. To quote Megan: “There is no chance I will ever like those fries.” As for me, I don’t find the fries to be quite as offensive as she does (they are well-fried and well-seasoned), but I’ve had better. In the end, my second trip to Burger Mondays was just OK. I believe the phrase "It's better than Tully's" crossed my lips at that juncture, but that isn't exactly high praise.

Onward to visit #3: a long-awaited meeting of blogging minds. I teamed up with local food blogger Big Hungry Shelby, who covers restaurants all around the Southern Tier, the Finger Lakes, “real” upstate (North Country), and wherever her travels lead her. She releases a new blog entry every Wednesday, and it’s always a fun read. It’s clear Shelby has a real passion for great food, and when she suggested we get together to visit Burger Mondays, I was excited to have the chance to meet her. Megan was supposed to come along, but was sidelined with a migraine headache, so it was just Shelby and me on this occasion.

This time burger-wise, I went for a safe pick: the Southern BBQ burger. This burger consists of ground pork, caramelized onions, and cole slaw, all covered in their homemade BBQ sauce. It sounded like something totally up my alley, so I was stoked to give it a try. Shelby went for the Classic on her initial visit. As a starter, I ordered a bowl of the Thai Beef soup, on special that night, while Shelby elected to try another special, mini bacon steak tacos. A root beer float for myself and a chocolate milkshake for my companion, and we were ready to feast.

The soup came first, and was pretty good. Basically, it reminded me of a combination of standard vegetable (sliced potatoes and carrots) soup combined with the crushed chili and herbal flavors of Tom Yum soup like you’d find in a Thai restaurant. It was good, and I would order it again for sure.

Shelby encouraged me to try one of the pork tacos she ordered, and who am I to turn down food? I’m glad I tried one since it was really tasty. The pork was covered with a citrusy, spicy salsa (we thought we detected grilled pineapple, but would later confirm that mango was the key ingredient). Good stuff no doubt, and a great start to the meal.

The Southern BBQ burger turned out to be a solid choice, becoming the first burger at Burger Mondays that I really liked. I was a little skeptical about the combination of grilled onion and slaw, but this time the flavors came together nicely. It was a juicy, well-cooked burger. It didn’t blow my mind, it wasn’t the best burger I’ve ever had or anything like that, but I enjoyed it and had no complaints this time around. Additionally, the fries were better this time than they were on my previous visits, but still not great.

It was great to get together with Shelby. We had a nice time conversing about all sorts of things but mainly the local restaurants in the area and I’m hopeful that she and Megan and I can get together for another meeting sometime soon. Here’s a short recap that Shelby has provided detailing her view of our experience:

“An appetizer special was ‘bacon steak tacos,’and since I'm Big Hungry Shelby, you know I was getting those. These were mini corn tortillas with braised/roasted pork belly and a potent fruit salsa on top. The salsa was the star of this dish – a punch of grilled pineapple, mango and chilies that kind of blew out my taste buds for the rest of the ingredients. There was white cheese on the bottom, but I couldn’t identify it through the explosion of citrusy heat. I loved these, though, with their savory pulled-pork-like flavor complimented by the shock of heat and tartness. For the sake of a baseline, I chose the classic burger; a bacon cheeseburger offered with an aioli, a side of house-made fries and house-made pickle spears. I was all jazzed up about the homemade pickle, but the spear I received didn’t live up to my expectations – it was a barely pickled cucumber, no more. I am not a mayonnaise fan to begin with, and then it always really bothers me when restaurants flavor up jarred mayo and call it aioli – which is actually a homemade, garlicky, mayonnaise-adjacent concoction that is delicious and unlike gloppy jarred mayo entirely – so I opted for that on the side and didn’t end up even trying it. The burger was tasty – definitely juicy, crowned with lots of sharp, white cheddar cheese on a substantial, toasted roll. It was very hearty, with the medium-thickness burger patty, bacon, generous cheese and bun, but that’s not to say it was particularly beefy, nor did the bacon pack its own punch. The whole shebang was pretty balanced, with none of the players taking the lead. This is not a bad thing; however I do personally like an aggressively beef-centric burger. My hunch is that, with food costs soaring as they are now, the leadership at Burger Mondays is having a tough time sourcing high-end product and still keeping the margins decent and the prices in check. I suspect higher quality meat would elevate this burger to something truly excellent, as all the technique was there, it was just the flavors that were a bit lacking.

Basically, I think what you’re tasting at Burger Mondays is potential. It’s new, just having opened about a month ago, and the feeling I’m getting is that Matt is back there training his people with fervor that just isn’t quite permeating the entire staff as yet. This guy was the head chef at Number 5, for pity’s sake – he knows his way around a kitchen, and clearly has a passion for food if he’s trotting a bacon steak recipe around in his back pocket to every kitchen he graces. But there are some issues at Burger Mondays that are undeniable, and I’m going to wait a bit before going back. Dan and I agreed to award a 6.5 on the BHS scale, with room for improvement that I know is achievable.”

Please be sure to check out Big Hungry Shelby’s full review here, and make sure to check out her weekly column every Wednesday!

I reckon this has been a lengthy read, but I have a lot to say about Burger Mondays. Overall, I think it’s a restaurant that has great potential, but it’s not quite there yet. It’s my belief that if the restaurant has “Burger” in the name and they are going to charge the prices they do, the burgers and fries should be out of this world. At this point, they simply aren’t. I don’t know if the issue is just general inconsistency due to being a new restaurant, ingredient quality, or something else, but my three visits have proven that the restaurant is not yet where they need to be to be considered a true dining destination. Don’t get me wrong, Burger Mondays is worth checking out. It’s a comfortable space, a fine addition to Downtown Binghamton, and the food is generally good (particularly the non-burger items, as fate would have it). My hope is that they will continue to improve, and if my most recent visit is any indication, they are well on their way to doing so.

Grade: B




But wait...that's not all!

A friend and reader of the blog, Michael, also wrote a review of Burger Mondays that he'd like for us to share here. I am impressed with his review and I'm hopeful that he'll contribute to our effort more in the future. He seems to share some of the same concerns that Shelby and I had, and would rate the restaurant 2 stars on a 4-star scale. Here is Michael's review:

The moment I walked into Burger Mondays I heaved a sigh of relief. When I learned that someone had added an upscale burger-concept restaurant to downtown Binghamton’s notoriously bleak dining landscape, I resolved to give it a try, but expected the sort of schizophrenic décor one associates with an Applebee’s or Friday’s. Instead, the dining room is sparsely, even severely, decorated, leading one to believe that the brain trust responsible was reluctant to have anything distract the diner from what should always be the star of any restaurant’s show—the food.

Now, I’m not exactly a huge fan of stark black walls—the color is neither warm, nor inviting—and the overall impression is less of a dining room than of a large retail space into which a restaurant has been shoe-horned, but I was encouraged nonetheless. Binghamton is sorely lacking in restaurants that fill the gap between corporate family eateries (like the aforementioned Applebee's) and our few high-end establishments (most notably P.S. and Moxie Grill), and it seemed like someone had resolved to challenge the Lost Dog’s seventeen year run as the undisputed champion of this category. The dining room (and the tastefully-appointed bar) give the clear impression that here, at last, was a serious attempt to provide another option for those of us looking for a nice place to take a date without first undergoing a credit check.

One glance at the menu confirmed that impression. With an array of eclectic, arguably ambitious, appetizers, and a burger menu that ranges in price from seven (the “Mondays Original) to fourteen dollars (an Ahi tuna burger, and “The Jonesy”), Burger Mondays seems determined to distance itself from more traditional purveyors of ground beef on a bun. A closer look, though, raised some concerns; of the ten burgers on the menu, only two (the Original and the “Classic”) are priced at less than eleven dollars, and of the remaining eight, many boast so many ingredients that one is left wondering what they might be hiding under drifts of seasonings and showers of sauces. The presence of other options than ground beef (the Ahi, an Italian Beef sandwich that tempted this former Chicago resident, a mushroom “burger” for vegetarians, and a pulled pork offering) demonstrate a willingness to cater to more than burger lovers, a diversity essential for a restaurant’s survival in this day and age.

Our server was attentive and personable, though, after she delivered our drinks and started taking our order, we received our second warning that all was not quite right at Burger Mondays. When I inquired as to how I should order my burger if I wanted it to arrive according to my notion of “medium rare” (a cool to warm red center) I was cautioned that I should order it “rare,” and that even then it might come out more on the “well” side. While I was grateful for this admission, I was also a little frustrated; I am fed-up with chain restaurants (and others) who refuse to cook a burger to order (unless that order is medium-well or well), hiding behind the false statement that it is “illegal” to do so. Such claims are patently untrue, and just reflect an unwillingness by restaurants to stand behind the quality of their ground beef, and a lack of faith in the ability of their kitchens to handle and store said beef properly. I want to be perfectly clear that I am making no such accusation against Burger Mondays, but one of the reasons I was so eager to dine there at all was so I could avoid such wrangling and disappointments.

We began with a calamari salad, something I was eager to sample since few local places offer much more than fried, previously-frozen calamari and marinara. I was a little put off by the numerous zesty and savory ingredients (aged balsamic, cherry peppers, roasted red peppers, feta cheese) as properly prepared calamari has a delicate flavor that can be easily overwhelmed by more robust accompaniments. As it turned out, the bold flavors of the salad were a god-send, since the calamari itself was overcooked to the point of rubbery tastelessness (imagine batter-dipped pencil erasers). It is hard to guess how the salad might have been had the calamari been rescued from the deep-fryer in time, but the balsamic was applied so liberally, and the other ingredients so bold on the palate, I suspect that, even with properly-prepared calamari, the dish would have come up short.

For our entrees my companion ordered the risotto appetizer as an entrée (from which the kitchen was gracious enough to remove the dried cranberries at her request), and I ordered the “Mediterranean,” a feta, spinach, and oregano stuffed burger, topped with olive salad and sundried tomato aioli (see what I mean about an excess of ingredients?). Of the two, the risotto proved the better, a nice creamy dish, the starch of the rice balanced nicely against pine nuts, bleu cheese, and a port reduction. Sadly, my burger lived up to my fears rather than my desires, and the caveats about temperature were well-deserved. One bite in I knew that this was nowhere close to medium rare, and that even medium was a memory dwindling in its rear-view mirror. Once I had resolved myself to that disappointment, I then had to contend with the welter of flavors competing with the beef for my attention. Much like with the calamari salad, there was just too much going on—in addition to the previously described ingredients, the meat itself was so over-seasoned as to utterly mask any taste of beef. The best thing about the entire meal turned out to be the fresh cut fries, which were hot, nicely seasoned, and delicious.

And this, ultimately, is the biggest problem with Burger Mondays. So what if the décor isn’t exactly what I might want it to be, or if they fell short on a calamari salad? After all, this is a BURGER joint, and if they get the burger right, they’ve done their job. But they didn’t do that, and, in fact, fell far short of the mark. To have the audacity to charge twelve dollars for a burger, and then fail to deliver something extraordinary, something cooked to the customer’s specifications, is a clear sign that they’ve allowed the concept to get in the way of the burger. Better they should offer the best beef, with the fewest frills, and allow the quality of the meat to speak for itself. Binghamton already has a place that does just that, a little spot on Leroy called, simply, “The Beef.”

Dinner for two (with one appetizer as an entrée, please note), with an appetizer, one drink apiece, and tip, topped fifty dollars, and for that price I should have left happy, but instead I just left full. Burger Mondays definitely deserves a second chance; they’re the new kids on the block, and should have a chance to iron out any problems, but in the process they should remind themselves that the star of any burger joint, high concept or road-side stand, is the meat.

Many thanks to Shelby and Michael for their contributions to this post, and happy dining to all you readers out there!

South Side Yanni's

Name: South Side Yanni's
Location: 1200 Vestal Ave., Binghamton, NY 13903
Phone: (607) 723-1403
Cuisine: Pub food/American/Greek
Price: Inexpensive. Less than $20 for two.

Review:
South Side Yanni's is an institution on Binghamton's (you guessed it) South Side, serving its role as a neighborhood bar & grill for many years. I'm always skeptical about places like these since I'm always worried the emphasis will be more on the "bar" than the "grill," and I'm notoriously picky when it comes to bars. Plus, it's the South Side, not an area of town I get to very often. Additionally, the place looks a little sketchy from the exterior. All of these factors contributed to my being a little less than enthusiastic about giving Yanni's a shot.

A friend of ours who lives on the South Side has been championing the Yanni's cause for a couple of years now and when we were trying to coordinate an outing this past weekend, he suggested Yanni's. I hoped that the place would help to brighten our mood on a dismal, rainy Saturday, but had doubts as to whether they could deliver the goods.

I was astonished by what we found upon entering the place. First, I was surprised at how spacious it was. The bar takes up the right side of the place when you enter, but there's a relatively large dining room off to the left. Wooden tables and chairs and wood-paneled walls give the restaurant an old-fashioned, homey vibe. On looks alone, I immediately liked Yanni's and found it to be a comfortable place to hang out.

The menu features standard bar fare (fried appetizers, wings, burgers, sandwiches) with some Greek options as well (gyro, souvlaki, Greek salad, and a Greek Burger covered with tzatziki sauce and feta cheese). Our friend encouraged us to try the wings, which he claimed were the area's best, and so I started with a dozen hot garlic wings, and ordered the aforementioned Greek Burger for my entree with a side of fries. Megan went with the old pub food standby, a cheeseburger with fries.


The wings were first to arrive, and sure enough, they were the best I've had in the area, narrowly surpassing those of Kelly's in Endicott. They were a little smaller than those you find at Kelly's, but were less fatty and had much more flavor.


My Greek Burger was perfectly cooked to order (medium-rare) and had a great charbroiled taste. I'd never really considered tzatziki sauce as a possible burger condiment, but I thought it worked very well. With diced tomato and onion on top, this was an excellent burger and I'd order it again in a heartbeat. Megan was equally pleased with her burger, and both of us enjoyed the fries. Overall, this was a winner of a meal.

A couple minor drawbacks to Yanni's: they are sticklers when it comes to splitting checks (they don't do it), so be cognizant of that if you're going with a large party. Also, the beer selection features the usual standard macro (Bud/Miller/Coors/Yuengling) options, so if you like something snootier, this is not the place to find it.

I'm told that Yanni's offers specials each night of the week (ranging from meatloaf to chicken & biscuits to prime rib) that are quite good, so I'll be sure to check them out and will report back if I find anything particularly tasty.

Where I grew up in the Harrisburg, PA area, there's a bar & grill a little off the beaten path called the Eagle Hotel. It was a little rundown shack of a restaurant, positively nothing to look at from the exterior, but there was a line out the door to get a seat just about every night of the week because the food was excellent (especially the wings--to date, the best I've ever had by a mile). South Side Yanni's reminds me of the Eagle Hotel in a number of ways. It's a comfortable place that serves good food at completely reasonable prices. It's no surprise to me that Yanni's has become an area institution: of the local bar & grill places I've tried, Yanni's is the best of the lot.

Grade: A-

Rolando's Diner

Name: Rolando's Diner
Location: 140 Court St., Binghamton, NY 13901
Phone: (607) 723-9058
Cuisine: Diner
Price: Dirt cheap. Less than $15 for two.

Review:
I feel like I'm doing this a lot lately, but sorry, readers, for taking so long between reviews. Life gets in the way sometimes, but fortunately we haven't stopped trying new places in and around the Binghamton area and you can expect some new reviews over the next few days.

Today we finally made it down to Rolando's Diner, a mainstay in Downtown Binghamton since 1971 that is well known for its simple charm and low prices. As diner fans, we were hopeful that Rolando's could deliver a quality breakfast, and off we went to check it out.

Rolando's is located on Court St. in a nice, central location. There's plenty of metered parking located out front and we had no trouble finding a spot. The inside of the restaurant features the classic diner layout of some booths lining both sides of the restaurant with a coffee counter along the left side toward the back. I'd imagine the place has not changed much since it opened forty years ago. Which, in my opinion, is not a bad thing.

When we arrived around 11:15 I was hopeful that I could still order breakfast. I was a little discouraged to find that each table had only lunch menus, but when a waitress came by she asked us if we wanted breakfast menus. Big win. A quick glance at the menu showed the usual wide variety of eggs, bacon, sausage, corned beef hash, omelets, and pancakes in various combinations. We each ordered a cup of coffee, and Megan ordered two eggs with bacon and homefries with toast ($4). I decided to be an absolute glutton and got three pancakes, two eggs over-easy, home fries, sausage, and coffee included for $6.15. A ridiculously good value, I thought, and it would give me a chance to try out the bulk of the breakfast menu at a low price. Plus, I was really hungry. A win-win situation if there ever was one.


Service was really quick and no-nonsense; our breakfasts arrived in less than 10 minutes. And sure enough, both of us were really pleased with what we got. Megan is tough to please in the bacon department, but it was exactly how she wanted it here. The only complaint she had was that the toast was a little crispier than she would've liked, but overall, she said she liked Rolando's about as much as Danny's Diner (one of her favorite area diners).


As for me, I had no complaints with my breakfast at all. It was exactly what I wanted. The pancakes were golden, fluffy, and most importantly, tasty. The syrup served with the pancakes was the crappy corn syrup variety, but hey, for the price, I'm not expecting real maple. The eggs were cooked exactly to order, the sausage was really tasty, and the home fries were among the best I've had in the area.

If there's one disappointing thing about Rolando's, it's that we didn't visit sooner. Its combination of low-key charm, dirt-cheap prices, huge portions, and tasty food really won me over. This is one of the best diners in Binghamton, and if you are a fan of diner fare in general, Rolando's is pretty much a must-visit.

Grade: A-

Frank's Diner

Name: Frank's Diner
Location: 428 Court St., Binghamton, NY 13904
Phone: (607) 238-1900
Cuisine: American Diner
Price: Around $20 for two

Review:
When putting together a Google Map of all of the area restaurants we've reviewed, I noted that one area of town that our blogging exploits have mostly ignored up to this point has been Binghamton's East Side. For whatever reason, we rarely find ourselves over there. Perhaps our distaste for East Side's Cortese Restaurant has led to some subconscious bias. Seeking to remedy the situation, we plan to visit each of the diners on Court St. in the near future. We started with a trip out to Frank's Diner, one of East Side's newer establishments.

Even though Frank's is somewhat new, it takes over the location vacated by the Robin's Nest, one of Binghamton's most popular diners. It's my understanding that Frank, the owner, is a longtime restauranteur in the area, and he appeared to be patrolling the grounds during our visit.

I would classify Frank's as a "family restaurant" variety of diner. It's a reasonably sized place with probably 15-20 tables scattered throughout its dining room. It was evident that the chairs, tables, and floors were newer and cleaner than at most area diners. We went around 12:30 PM on a Saturday, and decided to try both breakfast and lunch. I was in the mood for breakfast food, while Megan ordered from the lunch menu. The breakfast menu was fairly typical, with several egg combos, pancakes, and omelets, but what caught my eye was the offering of several versions of frittata, a quiche-like dish. My mother used to make an egg, bacon, and cheese frittata for special occasions and I always enjoyed it, so I was excited to try out Frank's. I decided to try out the Italian Sausage frittata. Megan was in the mood for a burger and fries, so she went with a Bacon Cheeseburger.


Where to start on the frittata....hmmm... Let's just say, I don't think whoever made the dish I was served had any idea whatsoever what a frittata is. Frittata is a self-contained food like an omelet or quiche. What I was served was a scramble, not a frittata. There were scrambled eggs, sausage, onions, peppers, and home fries, all of which were quite tasty elements. I enjoyed my breakfast quite a lot, but to call it a "frittata" would be completely inaccurate. Not a huge deal since the food was good, but be forewarned.


Megan seemed to enjoy her burger well enough. In her words, it was "passable," yet nothing to get too excited about. On a better note, I tried some of her fries and they were pretty delicious, the crispy, golden-brown variety. Solid.

In the end, my opinion of Frank's is that it's pretty much middle of the road as diners go. Certainly it's one of the cleanest ones in the area, service was fast, and it's the kind of diner where you never have to ask for a coffee refill. The food was satisfying, but I reckon that I was mildly peeved that I didn't really get what I ordered. If we lived in the area, I could see us making Frank's a somewhat regular stop in our dining rotation, but it's not a place we're likely to go out of our way to visit again.

Grade: B-

Park Bench Delicatessen

Name: Park Bench Delicatessen
Location: 100 Park Ave., Binghamton, NY 13903
Phone: (607) 231-8452
Cuisine: Sandwiches/Subs
Price: Around $5 per person

Review:
Always in search of good lunch options, I headed to the Park Bench Delicatessen on Binghamton's South Side without having any idea what to expect. There doesn't seem to be much information on the internet regarding the small shop on Park Avenue. So with an empty stomach and an open mind, off I went to check it out.

Externally, the Park Bench appears rundown and has probably seen better days. I was hoping that the inside would show an improvement. It did not. The store consists of two small booths if you want to eat there, and the rest of the space is taken up by a long deli counter with various hunks of Thumann's brand meat on display. To be frank, the place kind of creeped me out. There was a weird, oily odor (perhaps kerosene) permeating the store, and it looked to be in need of a thorough scrubbing. The deli meats on display looked kind of gross and no regard for presentation was shown. There did not appear to be any kind of menu to order from. And perhaps most problematic, when I walked in the store, there was literally nobody there. I stood at the counter for several minutes before a woman emerged from a back room. She was on the phone, clearly in a heated argument with someone, and motioned to me to wait before going back into the back room again. A couple more minutes later, she re-emerged and I was able to place an order. I elected to try out a roast beef sub with lettuce, tomato, mayo, and Swiss cheese to-go. A few minutes and $5.00 later, I was out the door, sub in hand. Hopefully the sandwich would surpass my dwindling expectations.


The sub was OK, average at best. I liked the sub roll itself, noting that the Park Bench gets their rolls from nearby DiRienzo's Bakery (another place I need to stop by at some point). The roast beef was relatively thickly-sliced and not bad, but I got the sense that the lettuce and tomato were not the freshest and the mayo was a little warm (I ate the sub within 5 minutes of receiving it on a very cold day, so there's little chance that the mayo warmed up in transit). The lettuce was browning a bit and the tomato was mushy. Overall, this sub was OK, I guess. But it left me regretting that I hadn't stopped by nearby Nezuntoz instead.

As you can surmise by my second paragraph, I was extremely unimpressed with the Park Bench Deli. I love little neighborhood places like this ordinarily, but the combination of poor customer service and a sketchy, odd-smelling store did not sit right with me. My sense is that the Park Bench stays in business by serving a small set of loyal, regular customers. I will not be one of them.

Grade: D

Fu Star Chinese

Name: Fu Star Chinese
Location: 1185 Vestal Ave., Ste. 3, Binghamton, NY 13903
Phone: (607) 722-5767
Cuisine: Chinese
Price: Less than $10 per person

Review:
Sometimes I get these cravings for Chinese take-out for lunch, and the Triple Cities have many options in that regard that are always very quick and inexpensive, but variable in quality. Moon Star in Endwell and Foliage on Riverside Dr. in Johnson City are a couple good ones that I've found, but I'd heard some good things about Fu Star on Binghamton's South Side, and so off I went to try it out.

Fu Star is located in a small plaza on the South Side, behind Thirsty's and across the street from Whole in the Wall and South Side Yanni's. The restaurant is small but has a few tables available if you choose to eat there. My guess is that 90% of their business is take-out. The small store is clean, but does not offer anything by way of ambiance. Which is fine. I do not expect much from these sorts of places.

With it being around 1:00 PM, I opted to order a Lunch Special, which features one of about 25 different entree options (the usual ones) served with your choice of white or fried rice. To me, this is kind of "meh" for a special. Many of the other places offer soup or an eggroll, or at least a beverage as part of their special; Fu Star did not. Cripes. But I was hopeful that the General Tso's Chicken with pork fried rice I ordered would be up to snuff.

Within 5 minutes my order was ready. Be sure to bring cash if you're going to Fu Star, as they do not accept credit cards. It's 2011 and they don't take credit. Come on! Anyway, $5.35 later, I was out the door. A pretty good deal.


Unfortunately, I did not care for this meal at all. As soon as I opened the packaging, I knew this was going to be subpar Chinese due to the glossy, syrupy appearance of the chicken. I am usually a pretty big fan of General Tso's. I like it best when the spicy quotient is amped up and the sweet component is secondary. This was the exact opposite of my preference. Sugar-sweet chicken that wasn't spicy at all. The rice was pretty much par for the course, a little dried out. And no fortune cookie in the bag? What's that all about?

Here's how the missing fortune should've read: You will never return to Fu Star Chinese Restaurant.

Grade: D

City Light Cafe

Name: City Light Cafe
Location: 254 Washington St., Binghamton, NY 13901
Phone: (607) 723-7430
Cuisine: Sandwiches/Soup
Price: Less than $10 per person

Review:
Always in search of a good lunch place, we headed downtown today to check out City Light Cafe on Washington St., just up the road a bit from The Forum, owned and operated by the First Assembly of God church across the street. I'd heard next to nothing about the place and did not really know what to expect.

Located at the corner of Clinton and Washington, parking for City Light Cafe can be found right across the street. The restaurant itself is a huge, beautiful, well-decorated space with seating to both the left and the right. We were quickly presented with menus and I decided to try out the soup of the day (chicken and rice) as well as something called the Montana Turkey Melt consisting of sliced turkey, bacon, cheese, tomato, and ranch dressing on grilled sourdough. Megan got a regular turkey sandwich on rye. She is forever in search of the perfect turkey sandwich and hoped that City Light Cafe could be a contender.


The soup was excellent, very flavorful and rich and much thicker than the standard chicken broth-based soup. I was also impressed with my sandwich; actually, for what it was, it was just about perfect. The ingredients were all really fresh and tasty. It was certainly nothing to get too excited about, and I think another ingredient like avocado would have taken it to the next level. But I cannot complain--I enjoyed the sandwich and it definitely hit the spot.


Megan really liked hers as well, proclaiming it to be better than the turkey sandwich at the Full Belly Deli in Vestal. This is high praise coming from Megan, as the Full Belly is one of her favorite lunch spots in the area. Again, no frills, but just a very well-made sandwich on fresh bread.


City Light Cafe is certainly not perfect. In our opinion, they could do a LOT more with the space, most of which probably does not get utilized on a daily basis. Whether they have the desire and the resources to do so, of course, is another matter. The menu is really very limited as well. In addition to the two turkey sandwiches we ordered, they offer a Reuben, Rachel, BLT, Tuna Salad, and Grilled Cheese, and that's about it (they do have a couple wrap options including a Philly Cheese Steak as well). So if you're looking for an expansive menu with lots of variety like that at, say, the nearby Old World Delicatessen, you're going to be out of luck here. Also, they're only open from 11-2 Monday through Friday for lunch.

If you like a good, no-frills sandwich place, City Light Cafe will definitely be up your alley. It's a great space for a restaurant and I hope they will expand their menu and hours at some point. As it stands now, City Light Cafe represents yet another low-key gem of a sandwich shop that most people would probably really like if they gave it an opportunity. If you are a regular at Escape State Street or the Old World Deli and haven't tried City Light Cafe, I highly encourage you to check it out!

Grade: B+

Whole in the Wall

Name: Whole in the Wall
Location: 43 S. Washington St., Binghamton, NY 13903
Phone: (607) 722-5138
Cuisine: Organic/Vegetarian
Price: $20-$25 per person

Review:
I have to admit, before I went to Whole in the Wall, I was not too excited about the prospects of eating at a "health food" restaurant. When I go out to eat, I want a hearty meal, I want decadence, I want to indulge. I expected Whole in the Wall, one of Binghamton's most well-known and well-loved eateries, to provide none of those things.

Well, I was wrong, because Whole in the Wall proves that an organic meal can be just as sumptuous as any other.

On my first visit to Whole in the Wall, I ordered the Roasted Red Pepper pesto entree and thought it to be just OK and not deserving of the "Best Pesto in the Universe" praise that the restaurant has received over the years. Megan ordered the Mideast Platter, which included falafel, baba ghanouj, and hummus with sliced pita bread. Neither of us were too impressed with that dish and found the tzatziki sauce on the side to have an off-putting taste. In the end it was an expensive meal that neither of us was really that pleased with so we weren't really in a rush to go back.

Big mistake. Visit #2 would prove to be much better.

Last Saturday we made our second visit to Whole in the Wall, a charming little restaurant with a quaint dining room that includes a piano and local artwork for sale hanging on the walls. When we arrived we were the only patrons there, although as time went on, others eventually filtered in. The lack of other customers helped in the sense that we received mostly excellent service throughout our meal.


Both of us ordered entrees from the list of daily specials. I decided to give the pesto a second chance, opting for the Spinach Parmesan on my friend Tom's recommendation. Megan ordered a dish called the Indian Summer Lasagna, featuring bell peppers, whole wheat pasta, and various cheeses. Both of us tried out the Creamy Mushroom Soup and a house salad as starters. My pesto dish came with a complimentary Garlic Ball, an absolutely delicious whole wheat bread bowl style concoction doused in buttery garlic.


The soup came out first and was pretty awesome. I'm not typically that big a fan of mushrooms, but this was quite tasty. It's a very thick, cream-based soup that both of us enjoyed immensely. We would order it again in a heartbeat. Salads would follow, but the thing that interested me most was the main course.


The Spinach Parmesan pesto was good. Again, not great. I was expecting (and would have preferred) a creamier pesto with the emphasis on the parmesan rather than the spinach. Presentation was nice with the greenness of the pesto being offset by some half-slices of cherry tomato. I'm still not convinced this is the best pesto in the universe, but I did like it, and ate it up in short order.


Megan's lasagna was a little less successful in our opinion. We both found it to be a little on the bland side, with a butternut cream sauce providing the most dominating flavor (and not a flavor typically associated with lasagna). In the end, I am still not 100% pleased with Whole in the Wall's main courses, but the best was yet to come.


We made sure to save room for dessert and decided to split the Raspberry Brownie a la Mode. Served with fresh raspberry topping, ice cream, and whipped cream, this was incredibly decadent and insanely delicious. Definitely one of the best desserts I've had in the area and when we make it back to Whole in the Wall for another visit, this dessert will be part of the agenda for sure. Hard to believe that a dessert this good is made from organic ingredients.

Overall, this was a much better visit than our first, and I look forward to heading over to Binghamton's South Side again soon for a third visit. I still have some reservations about the main courses since neither of us were blown away, but I think this is a case of simply not having found the entree I'm destined to love. After all, the soup was great, the garlic ball was delicious, and the dessert was heavenly, so obviously this is a restaurant capable of delivering excellent food. Service was top-notch and ambiance is charming. And once again, if you have reservations about trying out a "vegetarian" restaurant such as this (they do have several entrees with meat, by the way), toss those concerns aside and give it a chance: you may be pleasantly surprised by what you find.

Grade: B+

Cortese Restaurant

Name: Cortese Restaurant
Location: 117 Robinson St., Binghamton, NY 13904
Phone: (607) 723-6477
Cuisine: Italian
Price: $50+ for two for dinner

Review:
Cortese is one of Binghamton's longest-operating restaurants, a mainstay on Binghamton's East Side and a place well-loved by many. Their location on Robinson St. with not many other sit-down dining options nearby makes Cortese a popular spot for locals, and their tradition of excellence brings patrons through their doors from all over the Triple Cities and beyond.

It was just a matter of time until Megan and I got around to visiting Cortese for a review. We'd been there on two prior occasions. The first time, we went for pizza after hearing that it was the area's best. While pretty decent, it was nothing to get too excited about. On our second visit, we went in search of a good "surf & turf" meal and we ended up shelling out $90 for one of the worst meals we've ever had in a restaurant. Several things about the meal were positively disgusting, capped off by a seafood pasta entree I ordered that was literally swimming in salt water. Yuck. At the time, we swore the place off and promised never to speak its name again. Well, I reckon today was the dawn of a new era since we elected to give the restaurant another fair shot.

Cortese is a large restaurant with ample parking adjacent. Upon entering there's a dining area straight ahead, a bar room to the right, and yet another room beyond that. It's a cozy restaurant with candlelit tables and dark wooden decor. I am fond of the restaurant's appearance and find it to be somewhat similar to Endicott's Oaks Inn in that regard. Unfortunately for Cortese, that is where the comparisons end.

We arrived around 5:00 PM and were seated quickly and placed drink orders: for Megan, a glass of Riesling, for me, a pint of Smithwick's. The diverse menu features a wide array of Chicken, Veal, Pasta, Steak, and Seafood specialties. I elected to try the Chicken Soltimbocca [sic], featuring chicken breast sauteed in butter and garlic, topped with prosciutto and cheese, and served in a buttery sherry sauce. Entrees come with the standard soup or salad, choice of side (potato, rice, pasta), and complimentary bread and butter; I ordered the soup (ham and bean) and pasta. Megan went with the Chicken Parmigiana with salad and pasta.


The ham and bean soup was a fine start to the meal--nothing to write home about, but pretty good nonetheless with a generous quantity of beans and vegetables. Megan seemed reasonably happy with her salad. Both of us were eagerly awaiting our entrees in hopes of erasing the bad taste in our mouths (quite literally) from our last Cortese experience.


Soon enough, our entrees did arrive, and I can't say that the Chicken Soltimbocca was any good at all. A dried-out piece of chicken breast coated in a weird-tasting, greasy pit of garlicky butter, it was simply not good. Let it be said that this entree, when done well (such as at the aforementioned Oaks Inn), is one of my personal favorites. Here, I didn't care for it at all. It had a bitter, salty taste like that of soy sauce and lacked the velvety richness that other, better variants of the dish can have. Disappointing, and at $17.50, a ripoff. As if things couldn't get worse, the side of pasta was served in its own separate bowl and tasted like Spaghetti-O's. Epic fail.


On the plus side, Megan really liked her Chicken Parmigiana. She admired its crispy texture and enjoyed the red sauce on top. I tried a bite and would agree that it was pretty good and certainly better than what was on my plate. But in the end, I did not feel it was anything special, and certainly not worth the $16.25 they charge for a dish obtainable at other (better) restaurants for five fewer dollars.


In one last ditch effort to salvage some worth out of this meal, we opted to try dessert. Megan got the homemade strawberry cheesecake, while the Kentucky Bourbon Pecan Pie intrigued me. Served warm, the Pecan Pie was the first part of the meal that I truly enjoyed, with its slight hint of bourbon and soft crumb crust. Megan seemed to like the cheesecake well enough--at the very least, she devoured it with no complaints!

Service was a major plus at Cortese. Our waiter was an older gentleman who paced the meal nicely and who was a consummate professional in every way. Certainly this was not an experience without some positive attributes.

Ambiance and service may be solid components of what Cortese has to offer, but at the end of the day, I was once again greatly disappointed with the food. In an area full of quality Italian dining options, despite what the locals say, this is not one of the best places around and, in fact, I find it to be one of the worst. Our first two visits yielded feeble swings and misses. On the third visit there was little joy to be found on Binghamton's East Side: mighty Cortese has struck out.

Grade: C-

The Beef

Name: The Beef Restaurant
Location: 62 Leroy St., Binghamton NY 13905
Phone: (607) 722-9732
Cuisine: American Steakhouse
Price: $60+ for two for dinner

Review:
Formerly known by the clever name "What's Your Beef?" the newly revamped "The Beef Restaurant" (new owner, new menu, renovated space) is located on Binghamton's lovely west side on Leroy street on small commercial strip that includes the infamous Leroy Package Store as well as a few other small businesses. Dan and I had visited this restaurant years ago when it was under its former moniker and while we enjoyed our meal, we had not been back since due to the fact that we often forget that it is there. Usually we associate restaurants with what other restaurants are nearby and since there is really nothing else near The Beef, it gets neglected. However, while discussing dinner plans yesterday afternoon, my desire for steak brought it back into our minds and we decided to go back to see what changes had been made.

The first thing you notice when you walk into The Beef is that you are faced with a choice between two doors. The one to your right takes you into the small bar area and the one to your left will take you into the dining room. One small issue with the set up is that there is no proper hostess stand to check into and wait at - granted the dining room is small enough that someone will see you and seat you quickly, but there are still a few awkward moments when you are left standing around not knowing what to do. We were seated and given a menu and wine list to peruse. This was a bit tough because it was very dark inside - so much so that we were not able to take any pictures of our meal. Bummer, but I think most people can visualize a steak. The wine menu runs the gamut from dry rieslings to more bold fare. I actually broke my usual white wine precedent and opted for a red since I knew I would be getting a steak. Who wants to go to a place called "The Beef" and order chicken? Not me. Dan went with an Ithaca ale and we were both very happy with our drink selections. For our meals, I went with the house cut (9 oz) delmonico with baked potato and a house salad while Dan opted for the house cut prime rib with house potatoes and a bowl of french onion soup. Each dinner comes with bread, a choice of soup or salad and a choice of side. I should note that there were other options besides steak which included chicken, pasta, and other dishes which I'm sure are all good.

While we waited, I noted the dining room. It was on the small side, but did not feel crowded. Each table had lit candles and some soothing music (think unplugged versions of popular songs) played in the background. As I said, it was dark, which made the reading of the menu difficult, but which I didn't mind as much during the meal. It is a nice little space, very open and not at all stuffy. You could tell that it had been updated with new tables and wall decorations as I remember it being a bit more weathered looking the last time I was there.

We did not have to wait long to receive our salad, soup and a small loaf of bread with butter. The salad was a salad - I got the house italian and it was nothing special, certainly not as awesome as the house italian at Cacciatores. Dan enjoyed his french onion soup although it was extremely hot and probably should have sat for a few minutes before being brought out. He also noted that it was not your standard french onion soup - the onions were different and it didn't look as if the cheese had been baked over the top of the bowl. At any rate, I think we were both happy with our starters but not blown away.

A short time later we received our beef. Mine was perfectly cooked (medium well) and had far less fat than other delmonico steaks that I have had at other places. My baked potato was served with sour cream and it complimented the steak. One issue I had was the absence of a vegetable - yes, I realize that potatoes are vegetables, but they usually do not serve as such - usually one can get a potato AND a vegetable, preferably a green one to add some color to the plate. The waiter had told us that the vegetable of the day was green beans and I was stoked because they are my favorite. So, I was a smidge disappointed to see only meat and potato on my plate. A minor point, but one worth commenting on.

Dan's prime rib was cooked to his specifications (medium rare) and looked very juicy - a little too juicy for the plate as it turned out. The plate was not deep enough to accommodate the prime rib juice, so Dan had to take extra care when cutting to avoid being splashed. The house potatoes he received were baked slices that had been sprinkled with seasoning and were also served with sour cream. Overall, I think we were both pleased with our steaks - he also noted that his prime rib had far less fat than he expected.

For dessert, we split a slice of cheesecake - made on the premises. It was very good, not too heavy, but rich and the right note to end the meal on. Our waiter was really good - attentive without hovering and he paced the meal perfectly - never did we feel rushed or wait too long for anything. It was a very nice meal that Dan and I were pleased with.

At the end of the day, did The Beef deliver the best steak I've ever had? No. Was it the best piece of beef that I have had in Binghamton? No - that honor goes to the greek tenderloin at Number 5/Lampy's. However, The Beef delivered a nice steak and potato dinner in a nice, comfortable space with a nice waiter serving us at a nice pace. It was not a cheap meal - $70 for the two of us with drinks, dinner, dessert, tax and tip, but I would not say that it was overpriced. All in all, I would definitely go back to The Beef anytime for a laid back steak dinner.

Grade: B+

Tom's Texas Hots

Name: Tom's Texas Hots
Location: 1237 Upper Front St., Binghamton, NY 13905
Phone: (607) 771-4687
Cuisine: Barbecue (Hot dogs, burgers, pork barbecue, etc...)
Price: $5 to $10 per person

Review:
Tom's is the second (and as far as I know, last) of the area's "Texas Hot" joints I'll review. Unlike the ancient Tony's Texas Hots in downtown Johnson City, Tom's hasn't been around too long, popping up on Upper Front St. across from Northgate Plaza sometime in the last five years. They have a surprisingly varied menu of different styles of hot dogs, burgers, specialty sandwiches, and sides, but also feature some Greek-style items like gyros and souvlaki. Tom's is a surprisingly cute and clean little restaurant with friendly service, and there's even a drive-thru for those who wish to take their dogs elsewhere before chowing down. In appearance, Tom's reminds me quite a lot of Skyline Chili out in the Cincinnati area.

I am a sucker for a quality hot dog and was hoping that Tom's could successfully deliver the goods. I decided to order a regular Texas Hot (options with cheese and with peppers and onions were also available) and a Pork BBQ sandwich, and opted to eat there in the cozy environs of the small restaurant. A few short minutes later, my order was brought out to me and I was pretty happy by what I saw.

The pork sandwich was really quite good. This was vinegar-based BBQ (Carolina style, I reckon) instead of ketchup-based, topped with sweet relish and served with a side of homemade cole slaw. The slaw was quite excellent in fact and I think it had an ever-so-slight hint of horseradish to give it a little extra kick. The relish was a nice touch for a topping, while the pork was flavorful and well-seasoned, if perhaps just a slight bit dried out.

I was pretty stoked about the Texas Hot on first glance, and it would not disappoint! The dog itself was the flavorful, snapping variety and was covered by chili, chopped onion, and mustard in perfect ratios. The chili also had excellent flavor and was a little bit thicker and heartier than the chili topping I'd had at Tony's. I really could not find a flaw with this hot dog, and I will gladly return to Tom's again in the future for more.

It surprised me how good Tom's Texas Hots truly is, and it's definitely superior in every way to Tony's in Johnson City. (Admittedly, Tony's is much more fascinating to me from a historical perspective.) For a restaurant of its ilk (fast food) in the Binghamton area, Tom's is definitely in a league of its own, with good, fresh-made food made by friendly folks at low prices. This is truly one of Binghamton's hidden gems.

Grade: A-

New York Pizzeria

Name: New York Pizzeria
Location: 33 W State St., Binghamton, NY 13901
Phone: (607) 724-3555
Cuisine: Pizza
Price: Less than $5 for two slices and a drink!

Review:
New York Pizzeria occupies the southernmost corner of the K-Mart Plaza on Binghamton's North Side, a part of town sorely lacking in dining options. Sometimes I'm in the mood for just a slice or two of pizza instead of an entire pie, and I'd heard that this place specialized in slices. So off I went to check it out.

The K-Mart Plaza has seen better days, but I found New York Pizzeria to be a decent enough looking restaurant. If I were to look up the word "pizzeria" in the dictionary, a place with the layout of New York Pizzeria is exactly what I'd expect to see in the adjacent picture. There's a counter straight ahead with about twenty different pizzas on display, all available by the slice, and off to the right, there's a fairly large dining area with a large mural on the wall. I was surprised to find that the restaurant was pretty packed at 1:30 PM on a Sunday, but like I said, there really aren't many other choices in this part of town.

I opted to order two slices. I think a pizzeria is best judged by their plain cheese slice, so I got that for one, and I went with the Meat Lovers slice for my second, which appeared to be a New York-style slice covered with ground beef, pepperoni, ham, and bacon. In addition to the standard triangular slices, they also had Sicilian-style slices, which appeared to be rather popular among the patrons who were there at the same time as me. With two slices, you get a free drink, so I managed to get these two slices and a drink for a mere $3.93, which I found to be one of the area's best deals.

I found the cheese pizza to be fairly average. I thought the crust was pretty good and the sauce had reasonable flavor, but did not care too much for the cheese and it was a little lighter on the sauce than I prefer. The Meat Lovers was much better. They certainly don't skimp on the toppings, and the various meats did a good job of hiding the lackluster cheese. This was a slice I'd order again if I make it back to New York Pizzeria for a second visit. Another plus: service was quick and efficient and slightly on the brash side (which I actually expect from places such as this). On the flip side of the coin, I didn't get the sense that the restaurant was all that clean as evidenced by the copious number of flies buzzing around.

On the whole, I was guardedly pleased with my visit to New York Pizzeria. It certainly fills the need for a good, quick, cheap place to buy pizza by the slice, and the pizza itself is of reasonable quality. Cleanliness is perhaps somewhat of an issue, and aside from the dirt-cheap prices, there's really nothing that separates New York Pizzeria from the dozens of other pizza merchants in the area. If you live in this area, I recommend this place (though if you live nearby, chances are pretty likely that you already know it well), but it's not necessarily worth seeking out if you're coming from a distance.

Grade: C+

Mario's Pizza

Name: Mario's Pizza
Location: 4700 Vestal Pkwy E Ste 36, Vestal, NY 13850
Phone: (607) 798-9444
Cuisine: Pizza/Italian
Price: $5-$10 per person

Review:
Mario's can be found in University Plaza on the Vestal Parkway, hiding out back behind Moghul and Tully's. If there was ever an ideal place for a pizza parlor, this is it. They've got a built in clientele of college students living within aroma-wafting range and seem to be pretty popular among the students. The restaurant itself is nice and big and new with flat-screen televisions gracing the walls. As area pizza places go, this is one of the better looking ones.

I have had Mario's a number of times over the years. It's close to the University, where I work, and we've ordered pizza from Mario's on several occasions. I have to admit, I have always found the pizza to be very average. There are a bunch of people who seem to swear by this stuff. My friend Tom doesn't like anything except for sashimi-grade raw fish and the snootiest of beers, and yet he considers Mario's his "go-to" pizza place. Surely there must be something I'm missing here. Yesterday, I decided to get down to business with a taste test.

I got to Mario's around 1:30 and ordered two slices, one pepperoni and one sausage (each $2.50ish per slice) and quickly commenced eating. I started with the pepperoni slice. Tasting notes as follows:

Bite #1: Hmmm, this crust is crunchy. Crunchier than I would like. For a NY slice, this doesn't fold very easily.

Bite #2: Sauce is standard tomato, a little on the sweet side. Cheese is pretty good and not too thick. Still not digging crust.

Bite #3: Pepperoni is somewhat funky tasting. This crust is thin yet has air bubbles all through it. No wonder it's as brittle as a saltine.

Bite #4: Cheese and sauce and even the pepperoni are fine. I just can't get into this crust.

Bite #5: How far is Grande's and can I make it there and back before my next worldly obligation?

Et cetera. You get the point. Not a bad slice of pizza but the crust was not to my liking. The crust was too airy and cracker-like, toppings were average at best. Meh.

On to the sausage. Now this one I liked quite a bit more. This was foldable and the crust definitely had more flavor. Cheese and sauce were the same as the first, not bad. Sausage was the rabbit turd variety. You know what I mean. The little dots of sausage instead of the bigger chunks. I usually don't prefer that style but it was pretty good, and they certainly don't skimp on the toppings. This was a better slice than the first for sure, but certainly no better than average.

At the end of the day, I'm left with the same opinion I had coming in, still wondering what people see in this place. There are dozens of pizza places in this town. Maybe a hundred. Maybe more. Some are very good. Some are unique. Some are both. Mario's is neither. I can see this place being an awesome hangout spot, and the za is probably pretty boss at 3:00 AM after you've successfully escaped State Street. (Yeah, I'm not going to let that one die anytime soon.) To this guy's taste buds, however, Mario's fails to register among the town's elite pizza parlors. Go to Grande's once and you'll never get Mario's again. Unless you're Tom. ;)

Grade: C

Taj Restaurant

Name: Taj Restaurant
Location: 59 Main St., Binghamton, NY 13905
Phone: (607) 723-6454
Cuisine: Indian/American
Price: About $10 per person

Review:
Taj is located on Main St. on Binghamton's West Side, near Binghamton High School and not far from downtown. It represents the third and final installment in my tour of local Indian restaurants. The first I reviewed, Moghul, I found to have great ambiance and very good food, but regretted that they decided to stop their lunch buffet. My second Indian stop was at Curry's of India, which had virtually no ambiance but good food, and I thought their $6 lunch buffet represented great value. I thought the food at Curry's could benefit from more spice. I have been curious about Taj for awhile now, having read some very good things about it and I had heard they, like Curry's, had a lunch buffet that was pretty good. Today, I went to check it out.

I arrived at Taj and found it to have a somewhat rundown, mildly dirty atmosphere. Not exactly the most appetizing of places to eat, but as always, I come for the food first and foremost. After all, Curry's didn't exactly wow me with ambiance or pristine cleanliness, but I liked it well enough. What bugged me is that despite signage declaring that the "buffet (is) served every day," the buffet was not going on at this time. So that was a bummer. In lieu of the buffet I decided to do take out and began a thorough scan of the menu. And what a weird menu it is, with American cuisine like burgers and Greek favorites like gyros tossed in amongst the usual curry dishes that comprise the bulk of the menu.

At any rate, I think the owner mistook my perusal of the menu for being a novice to Indian cuisine and he was quick on the trigger to offer a suggestion. He recommended that I try the Chicken Biryani, and promised that I would love it. Sounded good to me, so I decided to give it a shot. A short 10-minute wait later, and my order was ready. The owner gave me three different sauces to try with the biryani: a yogurt sauce similar to tzatziki, a mildly spicy tomato-based sauce, and a spicy chili paste. He recommended I try the various sauces with the Biryani, in that order. I found his customer service to be good-natured and efficient, if perhaps a bit unintentionally patronizing. Before leaving I asked when the buffet would be going on again, and he replied that once the Binghamton University fall semester starts up, they'll probably start it up. So much for "every day."

$10 later, I headed home to give this Indian meal a try. As it turned out, I really did not care for it. The chicken in the dish was mostly fat and bones, with very few bites yielding any actual meat. What was there was not particularly tasty. That leaves the rice, which looked and tasted like it had been sitting around awhile. It had some good seasoning to it: I could pick out the flavors of cardamom, coriander, mint, and caraway. But it was all stuck together and dried out. The sauces were just OK. The yogurt sauce was very similar to Greek tzatziki (it very well may have been). The tomato sauce was my favorite of the three, and I ended up dumping it on the rice to give it some extra flavor. It had the subtle spiciness that I have grown to associate with Indian cuisine. The chili paste was OK, I guess, but I didn't think it was a very good match for the dish I ordered. To each his own, I reckon.

I do not recommend a trip to Taj. The restaurant has little atmosphere and borders on filthy. I did not care for the food, nor its preparation, a shame especially given that I have enjoyed practically every Indian meal I've ever had before this one. I also didn't think that it really represented good value, and I didn't appreciate the false advertising of a buffet when they did not offer one. I did think the customer service was good, but even that rubbed me the wrong way a little bit. Head the extra quarter mile over the bridge into downtown and hit up Curry's of India if you're looking for inexpensive Indian food, or if you have a few extra dollars head out the Vestal Parkway and try Moghul, home to one of the area's best restaurant atmospheres. It's perfectly possible that I caught Taj on a bad day, but I wouldn't expect a future visit to yield anything much better.

Grade: D