mrchnd » Food Gripes

Newport

chris — Thu, 20 May 2010 19:08:35 +0000

Newport for the day! We ate lunch at The Wharf Pub & Restaurant on Bowens Wharf and it was not so good, I wouldn't recommend it. The "award winning" chowder was watery and flavorless and the staff was unprofessional.

-Chris

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How very hoity toity…

chris — Sat, 15 May 2010 22:09:38 +0000

At a wine and cheese tasting to raise money for the Bantam lake protective society....More pinot noir please.

-Chris

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Foursquare – I’m at Trackside Pizza…

chris — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 10:49:15 +0000

I decided to start using foursquare, the "check in" service/game that has slowly become more and more popular. The thing is, I don't really go anywhere the majority of the time. Most of my time is spent at home or at work and I don't want those gps coordinates broadcast over the net (especially now that some weirdo Chinese website keeps hitting my site a dozen time a day). I have a feeling that foursquare is just going to make me feel terrible about my lack going out, but we'll see. Anyway, I used foursquare to check in at Trackside Pizza here in Wallingford. In the process, I needed to add Trackside Pizza as a location on foursquare which was surprisingly easy (so thats nice). Guess what? I received 11 some odd points in the process. I don't know what the hell to do with the points, foursquare's site says I can donate them. Seriously? Donate points? Sounds silly.

Maybe I can pay for pizza with foursquare points. Probably not though. Nonetheless, Trackside has quite good pizza though and I'd recommend it to anyone. It's in a neat location right next to the train tracks. The building is actually a converted little red caboose. I remember it used to be a breakfast diner when I grew up. They cook tasty, thin brick oven pizza with a nice chewy and crispy crust. I've also been lucky enough to partake in their antipasto and that's very good as well. When getting pizza in Wallingford you have to be careful. There are a handful of Greek pizza places that cook their pizzas in a pan. Personally, I really don't like it. Greek pizza is usually soggier and greasier than pizza cooked in brick oven. But don't worry, this isn't the case at Trackside and that's why it's one of our go-to pizza places.

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Little Italy Gourmet Market & Pizza

chris — Sat, 13 Feb 2010 14:52:41 +0000

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Last night we had takeout from Little Italy Gourmet Market & Pizza and as always it was great. They seem to do a great business over there considering how busy it was at 7:30 pm on a Friday. I had the italian cold cut combination sub and my wife got the veal parm sub. How can you go wrong with capicola, I ask? My favorite part about their sandwiches is their bread. A little sign behind the counter says that it's freshly made everyday, maybe that's why I like it so much. Their sub and hard rolls have a good crust on them that I'm crazy for.

Although I didn't have it last night, Little Italy's pizza is also wonderful. It is nice and thin with a crispy crust like a real pizza should be. Don't get me started on thick crust or greasy pan cooked pizza. That stuff in Chicago is rightly called "pie" because it is in now way pizza. Little Italy's pizza is cooked in a brick oven right on the stone, no pans for these folks.

Over the few years they've been open I've sampled many of their menu items. The stuffed bread is good and is so big, it makes for a nice breakfast the next day. I've never had them before trying them at Little Italy but their arancini (rice balls) and potato croquets are delightful. They also bottle their own sauce that it quite good. I'm partial to the one with little bits of prosciutto in it. I could probably eat it with spoon right out of the jar.

In doing my "research" for this post (simply googling their name) I stumbled upon their website. They offer online ordering! I've never seen a local business do that, so that's cool. I may try it next time.

Why Little Italy is good:

Good bread
Thin crust brick oven pizza
Tasty sides (arancini)
Pasta fagioli
Nice staff
Foxon park sodas
Around the corner from my house
Pizza by the slice

Find them in Wallingford CT on rt 150 in Yalesville

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Tonight’s Game Time Snack

chris — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 21:04:30 +0000

Here it is: My famous 4 meat, double bean chili.

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Panda Garden Chinese Restaurant, Wallingford CT

chris — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 13:24:23 +0000

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Last night, Wife and I went to Panda Garden in Wallingford, CT for some Chinese food. We used to get takeout from Gold Star next to our house but haven't been back since last April due to a bad experience. Anyway, someone at work told Wife that Panda Garden was good. I hopped on yelp.com to see if there were any reviews. There was only one review but it was 5 out of 5 stars. The commenter said they had been going there for 20 some odd years and said it was invariably good. I'm not sure its been open that long, at least under that management, but it has certainly been open a long time. Plus, they had a dining room where you could actually sit and order your food like at a real restaurant. That was enough for us, we figured we'd try it out.

Panda Garden was great. The food was excellent and tasted fresh. The staff was nothing but courteous and helpful. The meal began with some fried noodles, duck sauce, hot mustard, and tea. I got the hot and sour soup and crispy orange beef. Wife got pork lo-mien and chicken and broccoli. Everything was very good. The only thing I can criticize was the decor. It looks like it was decorated in 1989 and left that way. It's really not a big deal, the food, prices, and staff totally make up for it. I just thought it was a little funny.

I must say, eating Chinese food at a "sit down" establishment is way better than ordering from a counter and bringing it home. I didn't realize how filling the food was, I couldn't finish my plate (which is a rarity for me) and now have lunch for today. At any rate, we'll be back. I grabbed a menu on the way out so we can order takeout. I'm pretty sure they deliver too, so that's nice.

Regarding Delivery; I never have any cash on me so delivery is usually more of a pain in the butt than anything. I don't like giving a debit card over the phone and my only other option is to run to the ATM and grab cash before the delivery guy shows up. If I'm already out at the bank, I might as well go right to the place to pick it up. Bah! Stupid paper currency! Also, what the hell is it with places that force a minimum on debit/credit card purchases. Visa prohibits such practices in their merchant agreements but at the same time charges them a minimum fee per transaction.I know...I understand why they do. I always want to report them but its only small "mom & pop" local businesses that do it. I would never throw them under the bus like that, but still, it bugs me.

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