An Oldie But a Goodie

On my way to someplace else, my wife and I walked by Brooks (on Jackson Ave and 45^th Rd), the same way we’ve each done a thousand times, but this time was different. This time we stopped mid-stride, looked up to the sign straight out of the 1950’s and decided to go in and have an old fashioned dinner. An old-fashioned it was. Everything about the place, inside and out, speaks of good Italian-American comfort; it’s the kind of place that would be your first choice if you can’t go home to your mother’s cooking.

The façade at first glance, and the ambiance, at second, especially when compared to the recent openings in and around LIC, belies the food that’s served. Upon entering, your eyes are drawn to the bar – the MASSIVE bar that must be at least 30 or 40 feet long – it runs most the length of the room. The centerpiece of it, and indeed of the entire restaurant, is a custom built saloon unit with a glass overhang that tops three shelves of respectable liquors, including a great selection of bourbons. A decent selection of beers, including a few local microbrews, is also available for those so inclined. We sat at an old wooden table at the far side of the restaurant and were given very well used, laminated menus. I started with my favorite, Widow Jane Bourbon, a very generous pour that cost $10, which is about $3-5 less than any other bar I’ve seen it at. We see traditional Italian appetizers, such as calamari ($9), Antipasto Italiano ($11), and staples like homemade lasagna ($13) and gnocchi caprese ($14). On the other hand, you could order a Caesar salad ($8), a 10oz burger for $10, a BLT for $9 or a New York Strip for $21. Granted, this is a not a steakhouse and so ordering a strip would give me some trepidation, but I watched as one was carried to our neighbors, and it looked spot on. I was afraid of suffering from orders’ remorse.

We opted to start with a bowl of the Italian Wedding Soup ($5), and one serving was big enough for us to share. Rich, full flavored and certainly hearty, this soup tasted of love. One spoonful gets you a few of the tiny meatballs floating around, delightful little noodle balls and a meat broth so appetizing you could call it a night after just the soup. My wife ordered the California burger ($11) served with guacamole, tomato, chopped red onion and chipotle aioli under a tender brioche bun.  It was ordered medium, and sure enough, served medium with just a little bit of redness in the middle, but juicy, fresh and lightly spiced to bring out the flavors in the meat. It was just delicious.  I opted for the Chicken Hero ($9), a massive grilled sandwich served with zucchini, roasted tomato and pepper, and pesto. The chicken was prepared fabulously, with a few thinly cut breasts accompanied by a mole hill (ie normal portion) of French fries.
As the meal was served, our waiter chatted with us. He mentioned that the bar had been untouched since 1890, when the restaurant originally opened. It had been through a few different lives under different management. Before its current occupants, it was an Irish Pub. While the nationality of the menu had changed, the old world charm was intact. It works as a good pub, a better restaurant and a fine place to chill out at if there’s a game on. For a meal, Brooks offers up a thoroughly satisfying experience, certainly one worth repeating. When there are so many restaurants trying to reinvent the wheel, sometimes the best meals are the ones that are tried and true. That’s what Brooks offers.

Bareburger Hits LIC – But Will It Be a Hit?

  If there’s a saturation of one thing in Long Island City – it’s burger joints. With kingpins like Corner Bistro, the fast and furious keepsakes including Burger Garage and Petey’s and just about every other restaurant offering their own take, one might argue that the addition of another hamburger purveyor is overkill. This reviewer, however, thinks quite the opposite. In fact, as the population continues to swell, the demand for more variety coming from more restaurants will grow in tandem. And so enters the popular Astoria chain Bareburger onto the corner of 49^th and Vernon.

The ostentatious sign on the façade is enough to draw you into the restaurant, where you will immediately notice a chic collaboration between restored and reclaimed Barn wood tables, floors and high exposed ceilings and recycled vinyl-laden booths. Looking around, the entire place is covered in cute framed pictures of cow heads on human busts. You then notice how deceptively small it actually is: there is only space for 40 diners at once. The bar is towards the back of the space, but it is currently dry, as they don’t have their liquor license. Little known fact: they will never be able to serve hard liquor (only beer and wine) since they reside within 200 feet of a church. We get seated after about a 10 minute wait into one of the booths for four and are greeted by possibly the friendliest server in the history of the service industry. He’s wearing a shirt that ironically points out his love of grass (a pun on the restaurant’s certified organic status), and I wonder where I can get whatever he’s been having.

After quite a while deciding which among the numerous very tasty looking bareburgers we should order, I land on the Matador, a bison meat burger served with  queso fresco, jalapenos, guacamole, green leaf, spicy pico de gallo and brioche bun ($12.65). My companions both ordered the Socal, a turkey burger served with aged cheddar, pickled red onions, alfalfa and guac on a sprout bun ($10.85). The beauty of Bareburger lies in their comfort level with altering the order. The first Socal was changed to include vegan cheese (extra charge) instead of the cheddar and to be served in a kale wrap. I fought off my inclination to make a snide remark, which I would have lived to regret, because it was delicious; even the vegan cheese was perfectly melted. Now, it’s easy to come off sounding like a burger snob with so many neighborhood alternatives, so it will suffice to say that the Matador was refreshing in its use of alternative meat, but not altogether worth repeating. The bun was soft and welcoming, but oversized relative to the patty, which was warm, not hot. It was spiced in a way to accent the leanness of the bison meat, but the mountain of guac almost entirely eclipsed the sandwich. Each component was pretty good, but when assembled as a whole, it gets demoted to alright.

As sides, we got the wasabi carrot slaw, a mayo-based concoction with a little heat and not too creamy and the combo of onion rings and sweet potato fries. The onion rings maintained a great batter to onion ratio, were crisp and large enough to be very satisfying. The sweet potato fries were ok. Just ok. The highlights were the dipping sauces that included a habanero mayo, a smoke sauce (aka bbq sauce) and ginger ketchup that was rich and chunky. These were additional complements to the table standard Sir Kensington Ketchup and Mustard that were similarly rich and perfect additions to the burgers.

Finally for dessert, we get suckered (and by suckered, he asked if we wanted to try an ice cream sandwich) into the highlight of the meal – the ice cream cookie sandwich. We four-way split a snickerdoodle which was nothing short of spectacular. Just the perfect dessert, no matter how cold it is outside.

You could make a very good argument for going to Bareburger for a milkshake and ice cream sandwich and it being a very successful meal.  I’ll chalk it up to new jitters, but the burger portion of the meal left a little to be desired if it’s going to fight in the same ring as Corner Bistro. But for the sake of having alternative places to dine or to get delivery from – Bareburger is another refreshing add to the neighborhood and I wish its staff and owners luck. Based on my experiences at other locations, they’ll come around quickly to become one of the neighborhood’s staples.