Crew Restaurant Bar, Poughkeepsie, NY

And here's another place I've driven past for years. Actually I've parked in front of it several times as it is located next to Half-Time Beverage Store on Rt 9, one of my favorite places to buy beer. From the outside I'd always thought it was a small bar and didn't give it much thought. I decided to look it up online and found that it was quite well rated, and they'd won a few Hudson Valley Magazine 'Best of' awards. I think the category was soup.

Inside it was much nicer than I'd imagined. There is a bar in front and another section where you sit at a counter and can watch the chefs at work, tables and booths on the side. We got there at about five-thirty on a Saturday evening and it wasn't too crowded, but by the time we left almost all of the seats were taken. I did notice that the noise level was rising while we were there, so if you go at a peak time be prepared for some noise, and some crowding. 

The dinner menu is a bit pricey, the top items being in the mid-thirties, but there are some interesting offerings such as; duck breast, steak frites, a few pasta dishes and more. I was bouncing between the duck and the burger. 

I finally decided on the burger with jack cheese. The meat was Pat La Frieda's blend (a top quality meat purveyor in Jersey), grilled with fries, salad, coleslaw, a pickle and your choice of cheese for $16, I chose pepper jack. That's a bit high for a burger, but look at the photo above and see what came with it. I gave Teresa most of the salad, and some of the cole slaw because I was full. 

That burger was good, darn good, just a step below life changing. I ordered it medium, and it came a perfect medium with no grease. Clean, fresh taste with no aftertaste. It was a burger where you just feel good after eating it, not heavy and bloated. The fries were crisp, hot and good. The cole slaw was home made and fresh and the salad had a very nice vinaigrette dressing. 

Teresa got the Club Salad which was a fairly large salad with chicken, bacon and cheese for $10. I took a taste and it was good.

Overall, good food, nice ambiance (if a bit noisy) and excellent service. We'll go back again sometime.