Bobby's Burger Palace, Paramus, NJ

Bobby Flay is one of the best-known stars on the Food Network and I've been watching him since his beginnings on his original show, Boy Meets Grill, when he fumbled a few lines. His fame has grown, as have his restaurant holdings and talents, and one often wonders if the celebrity chef's restaurants are as good as they should be. We've been to a few places that have been featured on the Food Network. I've had this place on my short list for quite some time now and the opportunity presented itself to stop by. And no, I did not expect Bobby Flay to be in the back cooking my burger, but it would have been cool if he were there.

There are five locations, and the restaurant we went to was in the Bergen Town Center, an outlet Mall off Route 4. The restaurant entrance is from outside the mall and we saw there was a line to get in. The line moved fairly fast and next thing we knew we were at the counter. You place your order and pay. They give you a number for the table (so they know where to bring the food) and you move to a short line where a server directs you to an open seat. For two or three this seemed quick, but it may be more problematic for large parties. After being seated the food came quick. Even though the place was packed, we weren't there all that long.

The featured burger was the Chicago Burger with all the trimming of a Chicago hot dog, only on a burger. I went with my personal favorite and ordered the Bobby Blue Burger, medium (see top photo). It was cooked perfectly with pink all through the inside and nice juicy flavor running down the mouth, and all over my hands. There was plenty of blue cheese and some very nice crisp bacon, lettuce and tomato and a fresh bun. I had it crunchified (potato chips on it) and added some chipotle ketchup. The price? $7.50 for what was probably one of the best burgers I've ever had.

Teresa had the Dallas Burger (second photo) with cole slaw, Monterey Jack cheese and spices for $7.50. She ordered it cooked medium well and it looked perfectly done and she said it was. We shared an order of sweet potato fries for $3.00 and they were very good with a dipping sauce. Add a soda and the whole thing came to twenty bucks. Good prices, great food, and a neat dining experience.

So the question I had earlier was indeed answered. Bobby Flay delivers in his Burger Palace and he has created a great burger and trained the staff to deliver it as he intended. Like I said earlier, it would have been cool if he were there, but he didn't need to be. The final product was his creation.

By the way, the mall has a Whole Foods store in it so we'll be headed back to do some shopping and to try out some of the other burgers. You should try them too. The website has locations and menu and all that stuff.

Clinton Station Diner, Clinton, NJ

The Clinton Station Diner in Clinton New Jersey, just off Route 78, was featured recently on the Food Network show Outrageous Food with Tom Pizzica. I'd seen the episode, but I didn't recognize the restaurant as one we pass by once in a while on our way to Pennsylvania. Today we were passing by at noon and decided to stop by for lunch. This turned out to be a good decision. One of the reasons we always thought about stopping was that there is a railroad car attached to the building that was once a railroad observation car. We were given a seat in the main dining area, but I peaked into the dining car and realized we should have asked to be seated there as it was brighter and looked interesting. Well, next time.

Still didn't recognize the place from the Food Network until we looked at the place-mats and Teresa pointed it out to me. They make the world's biggest burger, a massive fifty pounder called the Mount Olympus. They also make burgers that are one pound, two pounds, three pounds, and up to a seven pounder called the Zeus, as well as normal sized ones with a whole bunch of toppings choices. I remember the big one on TV. This keeps up with our Food Network restaurants and chefs we've visited and makes number six.

We smelled the coffee as we entered and saw the sign that announces the coffee is made fresh every twenty-minutes so we ordered coffee and water and looked through the menus. Well, we took quite a bit of time looking as the menu is extensive and everything looked so good. I was originally going to get a Cuban burger and finally decided to pass in favor of the Cuban Panini, shown to the left. Teresa got a chicken and eggplant sandwich with marinara sauce on the side. By the way, the coffee was very good.

The food came rather quick and was piping hot, so hot I had to be careful picking up my sandwich. The cheese was melted perfectly, there were plenty of pickles on it and the ham had a nice flavor. The fries were steak fries and there were plenty. Very good sandwich. Teresa's was equally good and the marinara sauce had a nice flavor, better than the marinara at some Italian restaurants we'd been to.

The service was good and attentive and I watched how the waitress handled a complaint at a neighboring table where the woman didn't like what she'd ordered. They did a nice job of rectifying the situation pleasantly. Oh, and the bathrooms were clean.

Overall it was a good dining experience and I think we may take this route so we can stop by more often to sample a few things on the menu that looked interesting. I will try a burger as I saw one being delivered to another table and it looked big and juicy. They have a website for more information.

Chicago Pizza and Oven Grinder

One time when we were visiting our daughter and son-in-law in Chicago we were watching the Food Network and Rachel Ray was doing her Tasty Travels in Chicago. One of the restaurants featured was the Chicago Oven Grinder on Clark Street. It looked interesting, so we decided to give it a try. Plus there was the draw of the building being across from the site of the Valentine's Day massacre, with the building the restaurant is in having been a lookout. That appealed to the historian in me. Once we got there it was apparent the whole city saw the episode and thought the same thing.

Brian and I dropped of Teresa and Nicole and went out to find a place to park. we got one a few blocks away and when we got back Teresa said the wait was about an hour and a half. After discussion, we decided that by the time we went to get the car, decided where to go, and drove there we'd have to wait someplace else. We stayed. Now they didn't take our name, the man at the door just looked at my wife's face and said he'd remember her. He did. We were called in right after the people who got there before us, and right before the people who came after. Interesting.

Once inside the smell of the food, make even stronger by the wait, was amazing. It was also small, so I can see why there was a wait. We ordered the pizzas and a couple of oven grinders. The pizzas were different. Kind of like a Chicago deep dish pizza served upside down in a bowl, with the crust on top. Think pizza pot pie and you have the visual. We shared the one pounder, and a half-pounder. The oven grinders are baked heros, subs, grinders, hoagie, or whatever you call them where you live. Very good, and very filling. We split the Italian combo on this one.

An interesting side story here. If you note on the right of this blog I have some books featured. I write a mystery series called the Maria Hart Mysteries. I have an image of what she looks like, as well as her husband. While standing in line for the bathroom (they have a one-hole men's room) I was behind a man who was exactly what I thought Dan Hart should look and sound like. I looked over at his table later and his wife wasn't Maria though. Too bad.

Anyway, the food was great and well worth the wait. Check them out sometime and visit their website for more information.

Eveready Diner Brewster

Teresa and I were headed back from Danbury the other day, trying to decide where to eat, when we saw a sign announcing the opening of the new Eveready Diner in Brewster. Having seen the Eveready Diner featured on Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives on the Food Network, we decided to give it a try.

The diner is off exit 19 on Route 84, next to Kohl’s. When the Food Network features a restaurant, get ready for a long wait but it was only about twenty-five minutes and they have wireless internet so we passed the time using the i-pod touch so the wait passed quickly.

Inside the diner has a nice look to it but it seems a bit cramped, like they tried to shrink a large diner to fit into a smaller space, this was a small problem for us as we were seated next to the cashier and the people trying to pay got a bit closer than we wanted. The line backed up a bit since the credit card machine was down. This can be chalked up to being a new place and we had cash anyway, so it wasn’t a problem when we went to pay.

The menu had a lot of interesting things on it and was a bit different from the traditional diner fare. I’m sure they had plenty of house specialties to sample, but I have a theory about sampling restaurants to get a good basis of comparison; I order the same thing at similar restaurants. In Italian restaurants I order the veal Sorrentino or the Saltimbocca, at a diner I order a Rueben. A word of advice to any diner that can’t make a good Rueben; close your doors.

Well, this Rueben was the one of the best I’ve ever had. For a busy place, the service was good and the food came out fast and hot. The corned beef was tender and tasty, the marble rye bread was lightly toasted, and the French fries were crispy and hot. Teresa ordered the Trattoria Chicken, which was also good. Overall, a very good meal at a very reasonable price. I think the whole tab came to about twenty-three dollars including tax and tip.

My advice, give the Eveready Diner in Brewster a try. I think you’ll be quite pleased. We are going to try the one up in Hyde Park in the near future and I’ll give you the lowdown when we do.