Fresh Tortillas and Tacos: Victory Blvd: 1 Star (Do Not Enter)

It is Very Very Sad, that we have to write this review but if we didn’t it would not be fair to you, our reader.  This is the Second Restaurant so far on Staten Island, that has made the (DO NOT ENTER) List.  We have ended up at this place due to a “Grand Openings” next door of a African Restaurant called “Mai” and I was hungry for some “Tex-Mex” and it stumbled upon right in front of me.  I must say I was glad I entered… Better Me then You? 

How the One Star came about:  I have pleasantly walked in and picked up a menu to look at and see what they have, The lady who is supposed to take my order yells “WATCHA WANT?”   Me being the undecisive person that I am, I politely ask her which of the lunch specials she can suggest, the Steak and Guacamole or the Steak and Chicken (All served for about 6.10 with can of soda, Including Tax), The reply I get is a very nasty “BOT GOO!”.  I am guessing that is supposed to mean “Both Good”???  ***(I am truthfully not trying to pick at people’s accents, but the attitude was so Nasty that the words sounded worse then they should.  Maybe next time I will carry a Tape Recorder to actually let you hear how this sounded?)*** 

OK anyways onto the Review:

Food: I have decided to go with the Steak and Guacamole, and as many of you already know I do like Spicy Stuff and enjoy “Hot Sauce” with my meal.  after the service already being horrible the way it is, I have asked “You have some Hot Sauce, Please”,  The reply I get is “OVE-DA” (Probably short for: Over There?).  Me being all Happy and Joly about to get my hot sauce, I almost pick up the bottle until I realize all the Crust all over it.  I just walk over to my seat until I remembered that I am now a “Restaurant Food Critic” and I should let everyone see what is going on.  I get a napkin and bring the Sauce back to the table so I can take photos of it: (Please see for yourself).  It is actually kind of embarassing to put the “WhereYouEat.com” logo on top of the photo, but I probably would be more embarrassed to even have that out on display for the customers to see.

The rest of the Meal: The food was nothing special, I had much better Tex-Mex style food on other parts of the Island.  It was your Bland meal which definitely should remove the “Fresh” out of the restaurant name.  It was prepared in about 1 Minute after I ordered (Very Serious).  Although it was a Decent size portion, I would never recommend this place to anybody, Especially this part of the Island having so many other Restaurants (Especially the new: Mai, Offering something different: African Cuisine).

The Closing: Amazingly Nasty Service, Horrible treating of Customers, Disgusting presentation of Sauce.

 

Our New Rating Review System:  We now will use a (Pros and Cons) system to rate and review restaurants.  Every restaurant starts off with a 1 Star, for every Pro that outweighs the Con, it gains a Star.

Pros: Fast Service
Cons: Horrible Staff, Dirty Presentation, Bland Food.
(+1, -3) = 1 Star

Restaurant Information, Menus and Photos

Lobster House Joes Review

This Casual Restaurant offers great food with a great dining room at a very reasonable price.
Rated by whereyoueat: 5 Stars.

              The dining room is nice and simple, it works just right to make it feel like a “Lobster Shack” Lobster House. It features a tank with live lobsters which are available at all times. The meal I am reviewing is the “Joe’s Special” Mussles, clams, calamari, shrimp and all the other good stuff served with pasta on the side. This is a true meal you can enjoy at anytime, Wait time was not long at all about 10 min (During Lunch), price was very fair for all this seafood. The whole place has a pleasant atmosphere even when it gets crowded there is enough breathing space for each table.

The Review:

The Food: Well the picture can probably describe 1000 words?  But if you are a “Seafood Lover” how could you not like what you see?  Yes, it does taste as good as it looks and I hear many people are not able to finish this, I sit there “fishing” for every last shrimp that is covered in the “White Wine Sauce”.  This meal is rated 5 Stars in overall presentation, taste & flavour and portion.
The Service:  Alway’s good.  I visit Lobster House Joe’s very often (For Lunch) and sometimes for dinner.  Service is always very attentive and there when you need it.
The Atmosphere:  A decent size comftorable atmosphere.  This place is a casual restaurant and presents itself in that way. 
Overall Sum-Up: Great Food, Great Service, Large Portions, Great Presentation and a great Casual Feel establishment puts Lobster House Joe’s in the “Hot Spot” listing of WhereYouEat. 

Restaurant Information:

Joe’s Lobster House Menu, Information, Photos and User Reviews

Sushi Excellent: Lounge and Bar Reviewed

 

Sushi, Appetizers, Drinks and a Decent Size Atmosphere.  A few weeks back we wrote the “Grand Re-Opening Walk-Around” for Sushi Excellent (To read it use: Top Navigation [Staten Island-> Grand Openings]).  Well here we have finally tried this restaurant sitting at the new lounge area. Felt really unique and somewhere we can go to enjoy Sushi and a few drinks for Happy Hour.  This is that spot which offers a great variety of cocktails (Strawberry mojitos for the Girl, Lece mojitos for the guy?), and many more great items. The bartender has created great drinks.  Now let’s head onto the review:

 

The Appetizer: We have enjoyed the Duck Salad greatly (This was one of the reason we used to patronize this place before they renovated).  It was greatly prepared and the presentation was excellent which included a side of apples and the duck was on top of the salad.  The portion was a (Medium-Large) size and would be enough to feed a single person.
The Sushi:This is (Sushi Excellent): So the Sushi better be good!  Sushi Excellent has a large Sushi menu, which includes all the regular items such as (California Rolls, Alaska Rolls and all the other basic stuff) for very decent prices (3 Rolls for 13.00 -> Somewhere in that price range)…  But the menu also offers many specialties rolls which makes this place shine (of course, these are a bit pricey [$13+ per Roll], but this is the reason people will come here.  These specialty rolls are simply delicious.  Many house specialties include (Fantastic Eel Roll, Two Way Dragon Roll) and a few others, be sure to view the menu (Link).
The Service: The service was great, Fast, simple to order and easy to communicate. (This place was not too busy the day we reviewed it, so of course this may change if you visit on a busy day…)
The Dessert: What is a Sushi Place (Japanese) have that’s great for dessert? Ah, my favorite Fried Ice Cream.  And yes like everything else, it is simply delicious.Fried Ice Cream of Sushi Excellent.
The Atmosphere: Even though the atmosphere is very fine and unique, there are a few furniture problems (Hopefully it’s fixed by now).  The “Bar-Stools”  bend forward for some reason and it feels like you are about to fall off the stool.  Not all the stools did that, but from 2 of the 3 I tried have.  The rest of the bar looks great, with a fine designed bar and very nice smooth lights surrounding it. 

 

Beer Garden Review: Great Atmosphere, Large Portions

One would think that a “Sports bar & Grill” is exactly that… Serving simple appetizers and wings and would be very surprised to find good food and a wonderful atmosphere.  Well we were surprised, first by the ”Busy Atmosphere” then by the “Large Unique Menu” and to top it off “Large Portions”.  First we started off with a Corona each (To get the taste buds going!!) and while sitting at the Bar Table some patrons next to us had received a Mozzarella Stick (6) Appetizer which were so amazingly huge (See the Photo) that we had to order us a taste and try for ourselves.  They were definitely (Home Made) and tasted so delicious, even though price is $8 for 6 pieces, these pieces are worth the price as they are about 1.75 times the regular size of “Frozen” sticks. 

The full atmosphere was busy and felt great finally being in a place with a crowd, tables were full, bar tables were also full yet the service was great and always someone attended to us when we needed another drink.  Looking at the menu gave many unique items which was not copied for the “Restaurant down the Block” as most restaurants simply copy their neighbors menus, these guys put thought into each one. 

The Food:I have ordered (Fresh Pastrami: Two slices of Rye Bread covered with Fresh Cut Pastrami and Topped with Swiss Cheese) which was under the (Open Face Platters) which comes with homemade potato salad.  It was a huge portion which I could have barely finished and the potato salad went good with the meal.  I would try something else from the menu which looked very appetezing and wasn’t too much overwhelmed with this meal.

My partner has ordered the (Beer Garden Wrap: Prosciutto, Roasted Peppers, Onions, Lettuce, Fresh Mozzarella, Oil and Vinegar) which was under the “Sandwiches and Wraps” which comes with French Fries.  The portion once again was huge and she barely finished half of the meal.  I truthfully could not get a taste as I was busy piling into my pastrami, but she stated the food was good.

Overall Summary Rating:

• Food -> Good (Sports Bar with Grill Rating)
• Menu -> Huge, with many unique items.
• Service -> Excellent
• Atmosphere -> Great Spot to be during lunch, dinner and after college exam “Hang-Out”.
• STAR RATING: 3.5

STAR RATING: Explained:

• 5 Stars: A Unique Menu, Many Home Made Items, Excellent Service and Great Unique Atmosphere.
• 4 Stars: Should include Home Made Mashed Potatoes, Great Service, Excellent Food.
• 3 Stars: Includes either Great Service, Great Food or Great Atmosphere
• 2 Stars: Includes at least one moderate (Food, Service or Atmosphere)
• 1 Star: Absolutely Horrible, Do not Enter, Do Not Eat. 

 

Restaurant Information:
Beer Garden
Establishment Type:  Sports bar with Grill
Cuisine: American
Menu, Hours, Location and Other Information
1883 Victory Blvd,
Staten Island,10314 
Phone :718-876-8900

Pho Mac: Something different for your Taste Buds

If you are like everyone else and tired of the same exact lunch everyday (Wraps, Pizza, Fast-food, Diners and even the same old Chinese Lunch Special) then we have a great restaurant that is worth a try with great prices for lunch.  Pho Mac is of Vietnamese cuisine of Asian descent, offers something similar to Chinese food but very much different.  The squid (Steamed) pictures above, was delicious and a perfect size for lunch.  The price is very cheap for this type of food which I was expecting to be be in the 15$ range turned out to be only about 7$.  The service was decent although I came during lunch time when the employees were eating and felt a bit uncomftorable disturbing them to find out “What I should order” or “What is good” and when I did try to ask, I was not able to understand fully what I should try.  So I went with my favorite from the seafood menu I noticed the squid and it was a great delight to my taste. 

Overlooking to a customer at another table I had noticed a huge soup bowl and now realized that Pho Mac is famous for Soups and the Seafood Mix soup looking simply delicious made me wish that is what I ordered.

The place feels very authentic to my knowledge (As I have never been to Vietname…) They use large spoons for soups which is one of the reasons I wanted to have the soup and feel the way people eat that meal authentically.  Anyways I will be back for some soup some day soon and will try add a picture of it so you can see the way it looks.  For now, Enjoy something different.

Photos added for 10307 and 10309

We have just finished adding most of the photos for zip codes 10307 and 10309.  We will continue our Menu Updates this month and next to make sure we have all updated menus and add the photos that we were missing.

Grand Opening -> Espana Royale: A Distinctive Dining Experience

It has been a while since we recieved a new “Fine Dining” Spanish Restaurant Cuisine on Staten Island.  Well here it goes: The big building that was being built about half a year ago which looked like a “Bank Coming Soon” we also noticed a sign placed “Espana Royale, Coming Soon” and we couldn’t wait.  Well it is here and a walk around features a nice Bar/Waiting area upon entering the place and a decent size simple dining room with 4 seasonal pictures hanging up.

Espana Royale owner is the same from “Espana” in Annadale, and we heard the food is great so we will be sure to give this place a try in the near future and let everyone know how the food is in this establishment.

Restaurant Information:
1657 Richmond Road, Staten Island, Ny 10304: 718-980-4444
Menu and Photos

Welcome to the NEW and IMPROVED WhereYouEat Blog

 We are improving our Website Quality on a Daily Basis.  And as much as we promised you we will go ahead and make our Blog more friendly and simpler to use.   Looking below you are able to see the Categories available and the latest few posts from each category.  You are also able to browse using the top Navigation (Staten Island).  Our Blog is now Custom Built to revolve around the WhereYouEat.com website which compliments it by allowing us to link to Restaurant Reviews straight from the Menu Pages. 

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Menu Updated This week

We have just updated the Menus in Zip Code 10314. The list of all updated menus includes:
Alessios, Al’s, Barios, Bella Vitta 2, Better, Burger Chef, Casa Mia, Dairy Palace, Dakota Diner, East Meets West, Ell Pollo, Famous M and J, Goldens Deli, Good Wok, Grillz, Happy Fortune, Jade Island, Joe and Pats, La PIazza, Lucky Star, Mignosis and Mr Pizzas (Pasta House).

Also we have begun on a new system to keep menus up to date, so please hold on tight as we are going over all the zip codes and updating the menus, Thank you for the support that we have been recieving this week.

Our Blog is Moving: Sad but will be Worthwhile

Please don’t get all upset that our Famous Blog is moving.  It will only get better, that is our promise to you.  So you tell us that we have did a “Pretty Good Job” on our new website and we decided that we should take our blog to the next level also.  It will definently be more appealing, easier to navigate, see latest posts from many categories and easily add your own comments and share blog posts with your friends.  Unfortunetly, we are not able to share our new blogs location while we are doing testing but be assured you will be impressed.