PDA

View Full Version : Food intel



HowieT2
02-03-2016, 09:22 AM
some new entrants into the valley food scene so would be good to share experiences.

haven't been to the new pizza place where akes den used to be, but heard some good reviews.

heard Phantom closed. not surprised.

anyone try the new thai place recently???

cdskier
02-03-2016, 01:51 PM
Was Phantom not getting good crowds? I only visited once back in December midweek. The food was excellent and very creative I thought. They told me on weekends to definitely make a reservation so this news surprised me a bit.

Blue stone looked packed the two times I drove by last weekend. I'll wait until the crowds die down a bit.

I want to hit the Thai place but was waiting to hear more on how they were doing with service. Originally heard they were quite slow in that regard but heard the food was great.

Not new places, but Peasant is excellent as always and Mad River Barn is still doing well. Couldn't believe how crowded they were 2 Friday nights ago when I went there.

Dino's new place at the old pine tree (the Ecks?) is getting closer to opening he said last weekend. No eta yet though.

Hawk
02-03-2016, 02:19 PM
I have not been to either of the new places. I was also waiting to here on the status of the new Tai place. not sure if they figured it out. Also did Dino open the new place at the Former PTP?

BarkingDog
02-03-2016, 04:24 PM
I have not been to either of the new places. I was also waiting to here on the status of the new Tai place. not sure if they figured it out. Also did Dino open the new place at the Former PTP?

The Thai place is great. I placed a take out order last Friday around 6pm and 20 minutes later it was ready when I got there. The online menu may be missing a few items. Crab Rangoons are excellent, but not on the Online Menu. I ended up calling in my order to get them. Still working out some new business issues, but it appears that time to cook a take out order has been solved.

Blue Stone - Stopped by there last week too. The food took a long time. The folks next to me were looking at their pizza that was sitting ready at the window for about 5 minutes before anyone brought it over to them. Their salad came much later after the pizza. The bar area is nice, but the taps are in your face. They serve a lot of good beer, which is why there are so many taps. However, the system is about eye level and you can't see the TV well. Most places have 1 or 2 bad seats due to taps being in the way. This place has 3 or 4 bad seats and the bar isn't that big. It would have been nice if they figured out how to put the taps on the other side, but space is limited. My food took a long time, but it was hot when served, so it wasn't waiting long. I am sure these issues will work themselves out.. The food was fantastic.

shadyjay
02-11-2016, 05:20 PM
Dino's new place at the former Pine Tree Pub/Phoenix location won't be ready until June, unfortunately, according to what he said today. The sign went up the other day which said "The Reks" but in the past week or so, the R fell off, so now it says "The _eks". Think some snow/ice melted and took out the R. Guess there was A LOT of work that needed/still needs to be done to the space.

cdskier
02-11-2016, 05:29 PM
That's a shame. Last weekend he seemed optimistic that it would be soon (said floors were going in this week and then it needed something else along with an inspection). Wonder what happened. We've been teasing Dino every week saying at the rate things were going it might be ready for golf season...wasn't expecting that to be reality though!

shadyjay
02-11-2016, 08:55 PM
Pretty sure I heard June. I'm sure it'll be worth the wait and I hope he is successful. Running a restaurant in the MRV seems to be quite the challenge, even after a good season like last year, let alone one like this year.

SkiVideoGuy
02-17-2016, 03:46 PM
Related topic - where can a guy full growlers between SB and say Stowe? Headed up for a week 2/27


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

HowieT2
02-17-2016, 03:57 PM
Related topic - where can a guy full growlers between SB and say Stowe? Headed up for a week 2/27


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

dont know about north of the MRV, but if you are south on 100 in hancock there's a gas station called JDs quick stop (or something like that, east side of the road) where they fill growlers and have a good beer selection. Not joking.

SkiVideoGuy
02-17-2016, 04:03 PM
We usually come up 22 and over the pass by MRG but we could come up past K then up 100. Too bad Warren Store doesn't do it. Maybe Big Picture Theatre or Flatbread could look into doing it.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

SkiVideoGuy
02-17-2016, 04:14 PM
Craft Beer Cellar in Waterbury is another growler fill spot.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

southvillager
02-17-2016, 04:34 PM
We tried Blue Stone last weekend. We ordered a "white license plate" pizza, a burger, and Mac and Cheese and salad. All the food was good. Service was ok for our table, but we heard complaints all around us. It was pretty cold in there, most patrons had their coats on. It was 2pm , and probably 20 degrees outside, so no excuse there. The waiter turned up the gas fireplace in response. They did a nice job updating the interior.

We tried Fit to be Thaid a few weeks ago. The food was excellent. Service was ok, we had an inexperienced waitress. Luckily, only a few tables we occupied, so no issues with service.

ducky
02-17-2016, 05:41 PM
Really hard to run a restaurant in the Valley. No business all week, then you are supposed to staff and prepare for 200+ dinners on a Sat night, all in 3 hours, and serve to people who are used to NY/Boston area levels of service. I'd rather shoot myself. If I were a restauranteur, I'd choose Waterbury or Burlington over the Valley for my location and make the commute. At least you'd have mid-week business. Restaurants barely hang on here and some don't. The Phantom is a case-in-point. Great food and decent service, but not enough steady customer base to survive.

HowieT2
02-17-2016, 08:19 PM
Really hard to run a restaurant in the Valley. No business all week, then you are supposed to staff and prepare for 200+ dinners on a Sat night, all in 3 hours, and serve to people who are used to NY/Boston area levels of service. I'd rather shoot myself. If I were a restauranteur, I'd choose Waterbury or Burlington over the Valley for my location and make the commute. At least you'd have mid-week business. Restaurants barely hang on here and some don't. The Phantom is a case-in-point. Great food and decent service, but not enough steady customer base to survive.

Phantom was weird. Ate there early on, food was definitely good and tasty. But I don't know whether it was the menu or what, just didn't feel like going back. Not surprised they closed.

ducky
02-18-2016, 07:30 AM
Phantom was weird. Ate there early on, food was definitely good and tasty. But I don't know whether it was the menu or what, just didn't feel like going back. Not surprised they closed.

Wonder if they'd located in the Old Egan's on 17/100 if that would have made the difference in drive-by publicity and walk-in traffic. Though that building has its own problems with something like $1500/month in water bill tax (before any metered usage) from the Town to start off with.

southvillager
02-18-2016, 08:33 AM
Wonder if they'd located in the Old Egan's on 17/100 if that would have made the difference in drive-by publicity and walk-in traffic. Though that building has its own problems with something like $1500/month in water bill tax (before any metered usage) from the Town to start off with.

I recently spoke to the landlord for the old Egan's, he is a close friend of mine.The water bill is not $1500/month...not anywhere near that. The prior owner had estimated that amount of use, but the building was never connected before they went to foreclosure, before they ever paid a bill.

I don't know the new number, but I think the bill was adjusted to a couple of hundred (at most). It is a minimum which is then applied to any metered use. The building also has the original water source, town water making for a solid backup. Previously, water had to be trucked in and held in tanks in the basement for many years, so the connection to town water has solved that issue. Currently the restaurant not in use, so they are not using any public water yet. The big apartment up top uses water, Mad River Distillers rents part of that building and uses some water, it is not an issue. The landlord is very professional and reasonable, and has made sure that water is not a problem for a buyer or tenant. The folks operating the water dept have been quite reasonable in making sure that the water bill is fair, and a non-issue for business use.

This rumor of $1500 (plus) is completely false. It is old and incorrect information.

gostan
02-18-2016, 10:39 AM
We tried Blue Stone last weekend. We ordered a "white license plate" pizza, a burger, and Mac and Cheese and salad. All the food was good. Service was ok for our table, but we heard complaints all around us. It was pretty cold in there, most patrons had their coats on. It was 2pm , and probably 20 degrees outside, so no excuse there. The waiter turned up the gas fireplace in response. They did a nice job updating the interior.

We tried Fit to be Thaid a few weeks ago. The food was excellent. Service was ok, we had an inexperienced waitress. Luckily, only a few tables we occupied, so no issues with service. 3 of us from Club X visited Blue Stone a couple of Friday nights ago. 1/2 hour promised wait turned into hour & fifteen minutes. Food was very good. We sat at a table bordering newly installed windows on the front. They must hace cheaped out on the windows because we all froze.

Mikec142
02-18-2016, 11:32 AM
Related topic - where can a guy full growlers between SB and say Stowe? Headed up for a week 2/27


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Does Prohibition Pig fill growlers at the brewery behind the restaurant in Waterbury? I don't know.

gostan
02-18-2016, 11:44 AM
I recently spoke to the landlord for the old Egan's, he is a close friend of mine.The water bill is not $1500/month...not anywhere near that. The prior owner had estimated that amount of use, but the building was never connected before they went to foreclosure, before they ever paid a bill.

I don't know the new number, but I think the bill was adjusted to a couple of hundred (at most). It is a minimum which is then applied to any metered use. The building also has the original water source, town water making for a solid backup. Previously, water had to be trucked in and held in tanks in the basement for many years, so the connection to town water has solved that issue. Currently the restaurant not in use, so they are not using any public water yet. The big apartment up top uses water, Mad River Distillers rents part of that building and uses some water, it is not an issue. The landlord is very professional and reasonable, and has made sure that water is not a problem for a buyer or tenant. The folks operating the water dept have been quite reasonable in making sure that the water bill is fair, and a non-issue for business use.

This rumor of $1500 (plus) is completely false. It is old and incorrect information.Other than the nature of a 12 month investment for a max 5-6 month business, what else is holding back interested restauranteers from moving on this location?

ducky
02-18-2016, 12:52 PM
@ southvillager - Glad to hear that is no longer true. It has been a source of disagreement in the town for some time - the whole water billing charge system based on how many 3-br houses you equate to, that is. Egan's had been rated at 15x 3-br house consumption when first underwritten. My friend pays $850/yr just for the stub for his (3-br) house which is not connected - so Egans at that rate was just under $1100/mo. Same question as Stan, "what is holding this back from being rented or sold?" Maybe Mad River Distillery will expand and open a restaurant upstairs. I was at the auction in 2010 and bid $250,000. With top bid at $295,000, the bank took it back to write down debt for $500,000. I assume your friend bought from the bank once they softened up on their price. What ever he paid, it is a great location for something with that visibility.

Just had lunch at Sweet Spot behind Bridge St by the covered bridge. Nice vibe, good cappuccino, salad and sandwich. Reasonably priced too and they had art on the walls by painter Julia Purinton..

HowieT2
02-18-2016, 01:26 PM
@ southvillager - Glad to hear that is no longer true. It has been a source of disagreement in the town for some time - the whole water billing charge system based on how many 3-br houses you equate to, that is. Egan's had been rated at 15x 3-br house consumption when first underwritten. My friend pays $850/yr just for the stub for his (3-br) house which is not connected - so Egans at that rate was just under $1100/mo. Same question as Stan, "what is holding this back from being rented or sold?" Maybe Mad River Distillery will expand and open a restaurant upstairs. I was at the auction in 2010 and bid $250,000. With top bid at $295,000, the bank took it back to write down debt for $500,000. I assume your friend bought from the bank once they softened up on their price. What ever he paid, it is a great location for something with that visibility.

Just had lunch at Sweet Spot behind Bridge St by the covered bridge. Nice vibe, good cappuccino, salad and sandwich. Reasonably priced too and they had art on the walls by painter Julia Purinton..

if you have a sweet tooth, get the cranberry toffee cookie. its insanely good.

Hawk
02-18-2016, 01:34 PM
If that location is not renting it must be the cost. That is the best location in the valley as far as traffic. Any new potential restaurant owner would jump at that location if the price was right.


@ southvillager - Glad to hear that is no longer true. It has been a source of disagreement in the town for some time - the whole water billing charge system based on how many 3-br houses you equate to, that is. Egan's had been rated at 15x 3-br house consumption when first underwritten. My friend pays $850/yr just for the stub for his (3-br) house which is not connected - so Egans at that rate was just under $1100/mo. Same question as Stan, "what is holding this back from being rented or sold?" Maybe Mad River Distillery will expand and open a restaurant upstairs. I was at the auction in 2010 and bid $250,000. With top bid at $295,000, the bank took it back to write down debt for $500,000. I assume your friend bought from the bank once they softened up on their price. What ever he paid, it is a great location for something with that visibility.

Just had lunch at Sweet Spot behind Bridge St by the covered bridge. Nice vibe, good cappuccino, salad and sandwich. Reasonably priced too and they had art on the walls by painter Julia Purinton..

HowieT2
02-18-2016, 01:39 PM
If that location is not renting it must be the cost. That is the best location in the valley as far as traffic. Any new potential restaurant owner would jump at that location if the price was right.

you would think, but its been empty for years.

gostan
02-18-2016, 02:03 PM
you would think, but its been empty for years.Being in the RE biz, long empty buildings (especially restaurant sites) take on a pariah reputation, that is hard to shake. But if the price is right, somebody will step up. So I imagine the price and/or compliance issues with current building codes must be continuing to effect marketability. Look at the massive sum of $$ that the Blue Stone put into the former Ake's Den, and all everybody complains about is how cold it is.

southvillager
02-18-2016, 03:32 PM
Being in the RE biz, long empty buildings (especially restaurant sites) take on a pariah reputation, that is hard to shake. But if the price is right, somebody will step up. So I imagine the price and/or compliance issues with current building codes must be continuing to effect marketability. Look at the massive sum of $$ that the Blue Stone put into the former Ake's Den, and all everybody complains about is how cold it is.

Watching the Den and the Phantom locations being renovated was confounding. Egans is in pretty good shape, and has most of the required furniture and equipment in place. It would be a far smaller effort to get Egans up and running than either of those other places. In fact, I think the bar could open tomorrow if a simple food menu was offered. Mad River Distillers sells tastings now, I don't think permits will present a problem, but you never know.

The false rumor about the water bill has been a consistent issue. The property had some other issues that have also been resolved (leaky roof, etc). The landlord is very open minded regarding pricing, whether renting or selling. He has spoken to some well regarded bar/restaurant folks in the valley about renting the restaurant and getting something going, to no avail. The opportunity is there for someone with a good reputation to start something up.

I can guarantee the price is right. It is offered for sale for around $589K. The apartment generates rent, and the retail/tasting room generates rent. After collecting rent, the monthly nut would be quite small, especially considering the size and location for a restaurant. As far as the price for leasing, I don't know the number, but he is flexible and creative with tenants in other properties that he owns.

If I was a local brewer, I would jump on that place. I'd sell my own craft brews, offer a simple limited menu, etc. Be a stop on beer bus tours. Sell growlers. And so on.

tomthumb
02-18-2016, 04:09 PM
I think there are a number of challenges for Egans. Parking has always been inadequate, which could be solved by making an arrangement with Valero for evening parking behind the gas station. Apparently it's still on the original septic, and original grease trap. On such a small lot, that fix will be likely very expensive when the time comes. I have also heard that there is considerable plumbing and electrical work needed to get the building back up to code. This is all 2nd hand from a restauranteur friend that looked hard at the building before the current owner purchased it; but he described it as a can of worms beneath the surface.

BarkingDog
02-18-2016, 04:19 PM
3 of us from Club X visited Blue Stone a couple of Friday nights ago. 1/2 hour promised wait turned into hour & fifteen minutes. Food was very good. We sat at a table bordering newly installed windows on the front. They must hace cheaped out on the windows because we all froze.

How can they possibly know exactly when the tables are going to turn over? It's always a best guess. Friday and Sat nights have big parties (I consider anything over 4 to be big) and these folks can really screw up the timing. I refuse to go out to dinner with more than 4. When we do, I am not popular because I say that we have to split up. You don't talk to the people on the other end of the table anyway, but I am digressing because you only had 3. However, you should be mad at the big parties instead of the host who quoted you the 1/2 hour.

southvillager
02-18-2016, 04:33 PM
I think there are a number of challenges for Egans. Parking has always been inadequate, which could be solved by making an arrangement with Valero for evening parking behind the gas station. Apparently it's still on the original septic, and original grease trap. On such a small lot, that fix will be likely very expensive when the time comes. I have also heard that there is considerable plumbing and electrical work needed to get the building back up to code. This is all 2nd hand from a restauranteur friend that looked hard at the building before the current owner purchased it; but he described it as a can of worms beneath the surface.

You may be right, but here is how I see it. The place was a busy, functioning restaurant with all systems functioning when they shut the door. Nothing was downgraded, and some stuff has been improved. I can't see why it cannot be turned on again. When you turn a valve, the water runs. Flip a switch, the lights come on. Turn up the thermostat, the place gets warm. 90% of the kitchen equipment is in place. Tables and chairs are even in the same spot as the final day of operation.

If you want to expand or massively alter the place (like turning the Den into Blue Stone), that could trigger building permits and therefore code compliance. But to use it as is, I don't see the roadblock.

tomthumb
02-18-2016, 04:46 PM
You may be right, but here is how I see it. The place was a busy, functioning restaurant with all systems functioning when they shut the door. Nothing was downgraded, and some stuff has been improved. I can't see why it cannot be turned on again. When you turn a valve, the water runs. Flip a switch, the lights come on. Turn up the thermostat, the place gets warm. 90% of the kitchen equipment is in place. Tables and chairs are even in the same spot as the final day of operation.

If you want to expand or massively alter the place (like turning the Den into Blue Stone), that could trigger building permits and therefore code compliance. But to use it as is, I don't see the roadblock.

You still need to get all of the required permits, which involves State level inspections. Some of the work done by The Blue Stone were planned renovations, but several things were not expected from what I understand. And that building was vacant for a much shorter time. I wonder if the Blue Stone ever considered Egans?

ducky
02-18-2016, 08:18 PM
There are three criteria for real estate, whether commercial or residential: price, location, and condition. You can't have all three but a reasonable mix of short-comings is what makes one property a good deal over another. I expect the underlying downside at Egan's to be price with some condition thrown in.

Wunderbar was fun today. Skiing not so much.

gostan
02-18-2016, 08:21 PM
Watching the Den and the Phantom locations being renovated was confounding. Egans is in pretty good shape, and has most of the required furniture and equipment in place. It would be a far smaller effort to get Egans up and running than either of those other places. In fact, I think the bar could open tomorrow if a simple food menu was offered. Mad River Distillers sells tastings now, I don't think permits will present a problem, but you never know.

The false rumor about the water bill has been a consistent issue. The property had some other issues that have also been resolved (leaky roof, etc). The landlord is very open minded regarding pricing, whether renting or selling. He has spoken to some well regarded bar/restaurant folks in the valley about renting the restaurant and getting something going, to no avail. The opportunity is there for someone with a good reputation to start something up.

I can guarantee the price is right. It is offered for sale for around $589K. The apartment generates rent, and the retail/tasting room generates rent. After collecting rent, the monthly nut would be quite small, especially considering the size and location for a restaurant. As far as the price for leasing, I don't know the number, but he is flexible and creative with tenants in other properties that he owns.

If I was a local brewer, I would jump on that place. I'd sell my own craft brews, offer a simple limited menu, etc. Be a stop on beer bus tours. Sell growlers. And so on. We owned a former Bertucci's Restaurant (long involved story) that contained all original fixtures, furniturr, brick pizza ovens, etc., on a main well travelled street west of Boston. Our goal was to resell it for not much more than the asking price of the former Egans. No takers due to the number of cheaper older restaurants on the market that all required major rennovations. We ended up leasing (with an option to buy) the restaurant to a Mexican Restaurant that was expanding its' biz to a larger location. Shortly, we should be able to finance the property based upon the income stream. Again, restaurants are a tough business; even more so in ski area towns.

gostan
02-19-2016, 05:42 AM
You know for sure that if we are all talking about restaurants & food, that we really need a snow storm.

southvillager
02-19-2016, 07:07 AM
We owned a former Bertucci's Restaurant (long involved story) that contained all original fixtures, furniturr, brick pizza ovens, etc., on a main well travelled street west of Boston. Our goal was to resell it for not much more than the asking price of the former Egans. No takers due to the number of cheaper older restaurants on the market that all required major rennovations. We ended up leasing (with an option to buy) the restaurant to a Mexican Restaurant that was expanding its' biz to a larger location. Shortly, we should be able to finance the property based upon the income stream. Again, restaurants are a tough business; even more so in ski area towns.

You get the idea. Egans is available for sale or lease.

The Akes building was listed for a $650K. They did significant investment to Akes on top of that. Like Egans, Akes had an apartment upstairs, but no lower retail space generating rent. Egans is larger, and IMO, a far nicer building, larger dining space, the bar is 2 or 3 times the size, larger apartment, etc. Watching Blue Stone go with Akes was a puzzle to me.

Go Figure
02-19-2016, 07:30 AM
Maybe the fact that Akes sold for $307 makes it work.

southvillager
02-19-2016, 07:48 AM
That would do it!

tomthumb
02-19-2016, 07:57 AM
You get the idea. Egans is available for sale or lease.

The Akes building was listed for a $650K. They did significant investment to Akes on top of that. Like Egans, Akes had an apartment upstairs, but no lower retail space generating rent. Egans is larger, and IMO, a far nicer building, larger dining space, the bar is 2 or 3 times the size, larger apartment, etc. Watching Blue Stone go with Akes was a puzzle to me.


Akes was originally listed for $485K, reduced a few times, eventually to $395K, and as Go Figure posted, sold for $307K. I wonder what they have into it after renovations and the new septic?

southvillager
02-19-2016, 09:01 AM
I had seen this at $650K: http://yellowsigncommercial.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/pdfakes.pdf

$307 makes sense considering the 3000 sq/ft size and condition. Egans is 5200 sq ft, is listed for $569. Both offer an apartment, Egans has retail space (Mad River Dist) to generate rent. Who knows? But I would have gone with Egans over Akes at $307 since the rents at Egans would massively subsidize the monthly cost, plus I think it is a way nicer property, and a way nicer restaurant space. In my opinion.

Njski
02-22-2016, 01:00 PM
I see The Garrison listed at $395,000. I haven't been there in about 20 years. That place must be in sad shape to be listed that cheap.

Would be a nice setup for a ski club to pick up, or a few friends to go in on to use as a communal ski home.

Spartan82
02-22-2016, 01:45 PM
You know things are bad when there is more food talk than ski talk here.

HowieT2
02-22-2016, 03:25 PM
You know things are bad when there is more food talk than ski talk here.

It seems it's gonna get worse before it gets better

cdskier
02-22-2016, 05:04 PM
I'm just hoping it really does get better at some point...

djd66
02-22-2016, 06:00 PM
Really sad that the last time there was a post "ski related" was last Thursday and we are in the meat of the season. Just plain old sucks! I just hope we never have another season like this.

gostan
02-22-2016, 07:07 PM
I had seen this at $650K: http://yellowsigncommercial.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/pdfakes.pdf

$307 makes sense considering the 3000 sq/ft size and condition. Egans is 5200 sq ft, is listed for $569. Both offer an apartment, Egans has retail space (Mad River Dist) to generate rent. Who knows? But I would have gone with Egans over Akes at $307 since the rents at Egans would massively subsidize the monthly cost, plus I think it is a way nicer property, and a way nicer restaurant space. In my opinion. You are entitled to your opinion of course but with all other things aside, $569k without adequate parking is a nonstarter as a restaurant investment. Yes I know the seller and/or buyer might be able to obtain a parking license from Valero, but licenses are revocable.. Best of luck to the current owner in peddling this property.

HowieT2
02-22-2016, 07:28 PM
If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all.

HowieT2
02-22-2016, 07:30 PM
You are entitled to your opinion of course but with all other things aside, $569k without adequate parking is a nonstarter as a restaurant investment. Yes I know the seller and/or buyer might be able to obtain a parking license from Valero, but licenses are revocable.. Best of luck to the current owner in peddling this property.

Good seeing you Saturday. Hope you enjoyed. Saturday, I thought, was great. Really had a fun conditions all over.

HowieT2
02-22-2016, 07:31 PM
You are entitled to your opinion of course but with all other things aside, $569k without adequate parking is a nonstarter as a restaurant investment. Yes I know the seller and/or buyer might be able to obtain a parking license from Valero, but licenses are revocable.. Best of luck to the current owner in peddling this property.
Was parking an issue when it was egans? I always thought they did a good business there.

cdskier
02-22-2016, 07:38 PM
I was always able to find parking at Egans when they were open. Now people from localfolk park there all the time though and stopping that could be tough.

gostan
02-24-2016, 05:51 AM
Good seeing you Saturday. Hope you enjoyed. Saturday, I thought, was great. Really had a fun conditions all over.Same here. i wish we had more time to talk, but the mountain was too good Saturday to not take full advantage.

southvillager
02-25-2016, 10:05 AM
Was parking an issue when it was egans? I always thought they did a good business there.

I agree, it was extremely busy for many, many years. I went there lots of times as Egans, and dozens and dozens of times when it was Gallaghers. I often waited for a table at Egan's, so they were operating at capacity. I don't remember parking being an issue. Parking at the gas station was never done in the past or ever considered as far as I know...not sure how that issue popped up into existence. That is how rumors start I guess.

pinnoke
02-25-2016, 10:08 AM
I agree, it was extremely busy for many, many years. I went there lots of times as Egans, and dozens and dozens of times when it was Gallaghers. I often waited for a table at Egan's, so they were operating at capacity. I don't remember parking being an issue. Parking at the gas station was never done in the past or ever considered as far as I know...not sure how that issue popped up into existence. That is how rumors start I guess.

Of course, one could always park across the street at 'Smokehouse' :idea:

Ride Delaware ?
03-28-2016, 11:17 PM
3 of us from Club X visited Blue Stone a couple of Friday nights ago. 1/2 hour promised wait turned into hour & fifteen minutes. Food was very good. We sat at a table bordering newly installed windows on the front. They must hace cheaped out on the windows because we all froze.
Went to Blue Stone with a friend about 2 weeks ago on a Tuesday night. Place was busy and we had a "15 minute" wait. It turned into 30. I watched them seat a party of 3 who came in after us before us at a 4 person table. We waited an extra 5 minutes for a 2 person. We weren't asked if that was ok (I wouldn't have minded), so that was frustrating.

We both ordered pizza, but my friend is gluten free and ordered that crust specifically. Knowing that almost all GF crusts are pre made, she asked the runner what brand it was since she hadn't seen it before. The runner replied that it wasn't GF because they had run out of GF crust. She figured that the kitchen had told our waitress and she had confirmed that my friend was ok with a regular crust. That wasn't the case, and the waitress was dumbfounded that she hadn't been informed and that it had come out regular. Since my friend is actually allergic (not intolerant) to gluten, that could have been a big problem. Needless to say, our pizzas were delivered about the same time, so my friend said I could eat while she ordered a burger without the bun. The burger came 20 minutes later, so we were both able to awkwardly stare at each other as we ate. They were nice enough to throw in a free flourless dessert, but it was still a huge customer service blunder.

That being said, the pizza was as good as the one in Waterbury and my friend said her burger was great. Despite the service, I would return.

cdskier
04-04-2016, 05:41 PM
There's one place that is absolutely excellent that I rarely hear mentioned. Yes, it is pricey, but imo worth it if you want to splurge and treat yourself once in a while...Pitcher Inn. From top to bottom it is just excellent all around. The menu is creative. The food is cooked to perfection (I've never seen such an amazing sear on scallops and duck breast) and insanely delicious. The service is top notch. The wine list has a great selection (and not all of it is expensive either as I saw bottles in the low 30s on the list). Definitely something anyone looking for a truly special dinner should consider.

HowieT2
04-04-2016, 06:32 PM
There's one place that is absolutely excellent that I rarely hear mentioned. Yes, it is pricey, but imo worth it if you want to splurge and treat yourself once in a while...Pitcher Inn. From top to bottom it is just excellent all around. The menu is creative. The food is cooked to perfection (I've never seen such an amazing sear on scallops and duck breast) and insanely delicious. The service is top notch. The wine list has a great selection (and not all of it is expensive either as I saw bottles in the low 30s on the list). Definitely something anyone looking for a truly special dinner should consider.

Love the pitcher inn. All good. But ....upstairs is a long meal. Totally worth it for the right occasion. Downstairs is awesome too but not formal and long. Love the game room.

cdskier
04-05-2016, 09:18 PM
I've been saying for a while that I want to get to Tracks downstairs one day. I did try to go there earlier this year but they had no room that night.

cdskier
04-11-2016, 07:46 PM
According to Dino, opening weekend for The Reks will be Brew Fest weekend...

ducky
04-15-2016, 03:29 PM
Had a sweet shrimp and grits at LocalFolk Smoke House. Forgot how good and reasonable the food is there.

teleo
04-16-2016, 07:46 PM
According to Dino, opening weekend for The Reks will be Brew Fest weekend...
Dino said june 10th last weekend. I didn't connect that with brew fest but it is that weekend. Hope it works out for Dino.

cdskier
04-16-2016, 09:34 PM
Had a sweet shrimp and grits at LocalFolk Smoke House. Forgot how good and reasonable the food is there.

Yup...I went there after skiing today and had an andouille melt sandwich. I think I was only there one other time this winter but definitely good stuff. I like their extensive beer selection too.

cdskier
06-13-2016, 09:11 PM
Well Dino is now officially opening the Reks in July. Right now they're doing a soft-opening. Saturday night they were having a hip-hop party so I passed on going.

I did finally check out Blue Stone though thanks to the rain on Saturday. Normally I'd eat at the Brew Fest but with the rain there was really no where to sit so we decided to just taste beer and then left around 4:30 to go grab some food at Blue Stone. The food was really good. Had the calamari appetizer and one of the pizzas (can't remember what it was called, but it had bacon, ham, and pulled pork on it). Both were excellent. When we left almost all the tables were full and there was still quite a bit of room in the parking lot. That really makes me wonder what it looks like inside when the parking lot is full as was the case numerous times during the winter when I passed.

Ride Delaware ?
06-13-2016, 09:15 PM
That would be "The Three Little Pigs". I can't wait to try of the Reks in July. I should be up there sometime soon. Haven't been up since April 15.

chrisg2
06-29-2016, 04:58 AM
The Reks is suppossed to open this weekend july4. I went inside. Dino did a nice job renovating and cleaning up. The bar is nice and the game room diwnstairs is great. Should be a nice addition


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Ride Delaware ?
07-03-2016, 10:33 PM
The Reks has been open for a couple weeks. I ate there this past week. The menu is limited, but he has the burger dialed in. One of the few burgers I've ever ordered Medium Rare that came out medium rare. All sandwiches come with onion rings, fries, and Cole slaw. Pretty good deal for $13. He also has a good tap beer selection. It's a good addition to the village.