Guido's Pizza, Walden, NY

Walden has a surplus of hair dressers, Chinese restaurants and pizzerias. At latest count there are five pizzerias in a village of under seven-thousand people, and at least a dozen more in a five-mile radius. There were a couple of others but they saw fit to close up. That said, the quality ranges from really good to something that the box it came in tastes better than. Trust me, I've tried them all.

My current favorite is Guido's Pizza located at 35 East Main Street, in the mini-mall. This pizza parlor has been a favorite for years under different names too. Lisa's Pizza (owned by Lisa Cerone) gave way to Cosenza's Pizza (run by Brian), then came Guido's. Actually it started as a Grand Union supermarket when I was a kid.

The pizza is good, very good, and it is consistently so. Some places are a crap shoot and you never know what it's going to be like when you get it. Not so with Guido's. It's always good. They make the standard pie, Margarita pie, Sicilian, and a few more. The sandwiches, paninis, calzones, wraps and strombolis are also excellent. Please note the picture of the small stromboli I had for dinner tonight. Stuffed with ham, pepperoni and sausage for only $5.95. They make gyros too, and I hear they are good too.

The people are nice too, and they hire a lot of the kids from the high school where I teach. From what I've heard, they treat them well too.

No website here, but you can call them at (845) 778-5878 to order. Stop in and try them. You won't be sorry.

Franco's Pizzeria and Italian Restaurant, Walden NY

The little village of Walden, about 7,000 people, has three Chinese restaurants, one diner, two ice cream places, two bars and five pizza places. The pizza places range from just above mediocre to pretty good. Franco's is one of the pretty good ones and is also more of a restaurant in that they serve more traditional Italian dishes. We've been there a few times to eat, and gotten take out a couple more.

Franco's is located at the Thruway Shopping center in the old laundromat. The conversion came out well and it's a pleasant place inside with tables and booths.

In the latest visit I had the Veal Sorrento, veal cutlet with prosciutto, eggplant and provolone cheese on linguine with a white wine sauce. It came with a good salad and garlic bread and the price was $13.95. Teresa had the manicotti, also with a salad, for $8.95. Reasonable prices and decent sized servings. Mine was good. Not great, but good. I thought it was a bit flat tasting and had to add salt and parmesan cheese. The manicotti was good too, but the sauce was bland, like it came from the can and didn't get enough seasoning.

In the past I've had the veal parm hero, it was okay, and the stromboli, not very good. The pizza is good though, probably one of the best in the village, and they have a $9.00 special on Mondays. Anyone out there remember the old five dollar pizza nights? They offer a few specialty pizzas, and the calzones are good.

Overall, Franco's is good. Not great, but good. Pay them a visit sometime.

Ming Jie's House

Okay, I know the title is burgers and brews, but I have to tell you about this great Chinese restaurant we have here in Walden. The name is Ming Jie’s House and you can find it at 47 Main Street. We’ve been going there for years and never had a bad meal.

Ming Jie’s is what I consider gourmet Chinese at reasonable prices. Yeah, they have the traditional stuff like moo shoo pork, noodles, egg foo yung and all that, but try something different. I have a few favorites like the shrimp with bacon, dragon and phoenix, and the crispy shrimp with walnuts and chili sauce. That’s the one in the picture. My family likes the kung pao chicken, the broccoli in garlic sauce and my granddaughter thinks they make the best fried dumplings in the world. Being five she hasn’t seen too much of the world, but they are the best dumplings I’ve ever had.

Ming Jie’s is a family run, and oriented restaurant. They make you feel at home and we’ve gotten to know their children over the years as we’ve eaten there. The service is good, the food is great, and the prices are reasonable.