The Lido

Have you ever found a place that just didn't look like what it's supposed to be?  A restaurant that literally just looks like a place with a sign above the door that says "open".  You walk in and the place looks like it hasn't been updated in about 30 years.  You eat the food and immediately blown away from the taste.  That is what I love doing.  I love a hole in the wall kind of place. 

The Lido

I was first introduced to this place a few years back and I cannot stop going back there for the food.  The outside literally looks like someone just converted a old garage into a restaurant.  You would actually think this place isn't a place to eat, but I assure you it is.  The interior is pretty much the same story.  It's old and out of date but I love it.  You look behind the bar and you will find appliances that you would have at home.  The tables and chairs haven't been changed in a while.  The ceiling is clean enough, but you can see the age. All I can really say is that the place has a lot of character.  I can honestly say that I feel at home there.  The type of place where the waitress is really nice, but not cause it's her job, cause she/he just wants to be nice.  

The service is great.  You can laugh and talk with the waitress about what is good on the menu.  You can pretty much order anything off the menu and be happy with it.  There are two particular dishes that I will talk about.  I believe these two dishes are the star at this place.

First  would be the sliced steak sandwich.  Basically sliced steak SMOTHERED in butter over bread and a side of fries.  When I say it is smothered I mean it's 40% steak 80% butter.  Yes, I know that doesn't make 100% but that's how much butter there is on the steak.  This is not a bad thing.  It somehow has a great balance to it.  the taste and texture of it all just plays well together.  It's like the day that peanut butter met jelly.  This is one of the only things I order from this place and I am happy with it.  

Second dish would be the pizza.  Their idea of pizza is awesome.  There are few places that I have found that make this type of pizza so well.  This pizza is the thin crust pizza.  A crust so thin and made so well it might as well be a cracker.  I am not joking here people.  This pizza is awesome sauce with a side of high fives all around, it's thin and flaky, tasty and great. I can probably eat a whole pie by myself (most likely two).  

If you are looking for a great hole in the wall type of place to eat at.  If you are looking for a surprisingly great meal.  Find this place and eat there.  I think you will enjoy it.

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Follow link for more info

http://www.lidoonline.com/Index.html

Celebrity Bagels

Bagels!  Most any town within the tri-state area has a bagel place.  Most towns have several bagel places and claim to have the best bagels ever.  I have traveled to most of them and tasted them.  I have to say that most places are fairly generic until I found Celebrity Bagels.

Celebrity Bagels

The bagel I would say is pretty much like a pizza.  It's a staple food that a good amount of people agree upon and consume on a daily basis.  It's good for breakfast, lunch and dinner.  It can be consumed plain and or with various toppings.  It has the ability to have different "toppings" on it and also in it.  The bagel is versatile, this is why it is popular.  It has the ability to take on what ever meal the consumer wants to eat.  

I know what most of you are saying right now, a bagel is a bagel.  I say neigh sir/ma'am  this bagel is totally above and beyond.  Most bagels I have had in my life are fairly generic in taste, look, and texture.  The recipe and style are fairly the same across the board when it comes to most places. 

Celebrity Bagels has taken this staple food to a new level.  I often take my friends and family members to this place to experience it.  The texture, taste and look of the bagel cannot be matched.  I still do not know how they prepare it, but I know that it's one of a kind.  I am sure the owner will never let that secret go.  

What makes it so good?  Honestly it's what I like to call the "fluffiness" of it.  It's soft and doughie inside with a nice and hard outside, just like me!  It goes perfect with pretty much any topping they provide at that place.  They also have a wide arrangement of pretty awesome spreads.  This place really takes bagels to a new level and I am there fairly often.  The best part of this place is that you can take their bagels freeze them and all you have to do is throw them in the oven/microwave for a couple minutes and IT'S THE SAME AS IF IT WAS FRESH.  That does not happen often.  I have had reheated bagels that tastes like freezer, but this defies the freezer.  

Heck my parents give these to my out of town relatives as if it were some type of gold and or precious commodity.  As it should be considered, because it's that awesome.  

So if your ever in Tenafly, NJ and you see this place out the corner of your eye.  You must stop in and grab a bagel.  You will certainly enjoy it.  Then you will think to yourself that all other bagels that you have had in your life were just placeholders until you found this place.  A bagel is not a bagel until you have had a Celebrity Bagel.  Just sayin.

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Follow link for more info.  Sorry they don't have a website.  

http://www.whitepages.com/business/celebrity-bagels-restaurant-inc-tenafly-nj

Burgerwood

By now you all should know that I love a good burger.  I am always in the hunt for a great burger joint with good food.  This means I have to take the great with the disgrace.  This place is a disgrace to any place that would consider itself a burger joint.

Burgerwood

Where to start with this review.  I will start with the staff.  While I applaud them for having a nice staff, that is really the only redeeming quality of that place.  I am not one to ask people to wear uniforms at a restaurant, but at least dress like you work there.  When I walked into this place I saw a couple kids just standing around.  Not until one of them walked up to me and asked if they could help me was when I realized they worked there.   

I am not one to tell people what to do or say, but there are a few things that you must consider when you work there.  When someone walks in, I think it would be nice to be greeted.  Something along the lines of "welcome to Burgerwood".  Also a name tag or apron would help distinguish a worker to a customer.  I honestly thought the kids that were waiting on me were regular people or customers until they started actually waiting on me.  

Information is KEY.  I asked about a few items on the menu and they seemed very unsure about themselves.   If staff cannot be sure about the product be sure to make them know.  I think customers will buy your product more when people are educated about the product they are selling.  

Also as far as decoration goes.  The previous place was a muscle maker grill.  I was in there a few times.  The decoration did NOT change.  I know things are expensive, but a can of paint won't hurt.  

As far as the food goes.  I rarely say this, but I HATE the food there.  It was borderline offensive.  I ordered corn souffle.  I have had some amazing corn souffle in my life, but this was not.  I know what you are saying.  "But Cezar you went to a burger place and ordered a corn souffle?"  Yes I did.  I did that to test them.  If you have something like corn souffle on the menu, something I would consider an odd ball for a burger joint.  I will order it just to see. 

I had some high hopes for the corn souffle because they said that it will be at least 15 min to get the order to me.  I thought it was because it was going to be fresh.  Fresh it was, but good it was NOT.  this thing was more like corn bread than corn souffle.  They had the gaul to not only say that this was corn souffle but charge $11 for it.  I paid $11 for corn bread.  I was very angry.  I tried this thing from all sides and angles.   This was corn bread.  I was tempted to throw the dish out.   

Seeing that the corn souffle was not that good, I did not have high hopes for the burger I ordered.  I was right not too hope high for it.  Just for future reference when you try to make a burger look fancy, sometimes you forget to make a good burger.  This place wants to make fancy burgers and forget about actually make good burgers.  The bread was too much bread for the burger.  They pile high the toppings therefore taking the attention away from the burger.  I took a bite of this thing and was very displeased.  I didn't even taste the ingredients.  All I tasted was disappointment.  I cleared off all the junk and tasted the meat itself, and was even more disappointed.  It was tasteless and unappetizing.   They didn't even season the meat.  

At the end of the day.  This place makes BAD food for high prices.  I DO NOT recommend going to this place.  Save yourself the money time and heartbreak.  I usually do not wish for places to gout of of business, but this place is an eye sore and needs to be replaced by someone that knows what they are doing.   

Their moto is five star burgers and more.  I say they are liars and for any foodie or anyone curious about this place.  STEER CLEAR of it.  It's not worth your time. 

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follow the link for more info:

http://www.burgerwoodnj.com/store/

Country Pancake House

Breakfast is a meal that I love to eat at any time.  This meal is good at any time and place period.  One of my favorite meals is breakfast for dinner!  I know people say you can't start the day without breakfast; sometimes it's hard to end the day without it either.

Country Pancake House

BEST BREAKFAST EVER.  Yes, I said it and I meant it.  They make some of the best breakfast food I have ever had ever.  When I think of breakfast, I think of these guys.  No exaggeration here people.  There are so many reasons why this place is great and I will go into great detail about it.

Pancakes:

They make some of the fluffiest and most tasteful pancakes around.  The smallest pancake is the size of a normal dinner plate and they give you 4.  Then you can also order the big one which is literally the size of a pizza pie and they give you 2.  The best and most interesting part is that it does not taste like batter.  When you make a pancake that size, being undercooked is always an issue.  They have found a way to avoid that issue.  

Menu:

Huge.  That's all I can say.  Sometimes I hate a huge menu.  Huge menus easily confuse me, but this is the exception, it's very easy to read and also be tempted. 

Other food:

They make everything good here.  Like everything, meaning eggs to burgers.  That's right they also make burgers.  I am a burger fan and they make one hell of a burger.  It's big and sloppy, just the way I like it.  Do not get me wrong, I prefer a burger that does not fall apart, but this is a real burger that keeps true to the spirit of burgers.  

I know I am jumping around a little bit, but here is a story of what happened to me one time there.  I ordered a normal meal from them and asked for a side of bacon.  Usually when I ask for a side of bacon, I get like 4 strips.  These guys served me something that looked like half a packet of bacon.  This is the only place I have ever said "that's way too much bacon".  Once I said it, I retracted it and proceeded to eat it all.   

There is so much more to talk about for this place.  For instance, they make fresh juice.  They squeeze and make their own juices. 

Here is the score

Service: 3.8 (can be slow at times, but only because this place can get packed.  I once stood in line to eat here for an hour, true story.)

Food: 5

Decor: 5

Price: 5 (great food at cheap prices!)
Total: 4.7

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Follow link for more info.

http://countrypancakehouse.net/

Filling Station and The 9W Market

I don't know why I haven't written a review about this place.  This is by far my number one place to go eat.  I consider this place to have some of the best food I have eaten period.  No joke or exaggeration here people, this is the place to eat at.

Filling Station and The 9W Market

This place is almost literally located in the middle of nowhere.  I have to drive almost 20 min just to get to the place from my house.  This place is surrounded by farm land and trees.  That is one of the major reasons why I love this place.  The fact that I can have a quiet place to eat and get away from the world.  This is a retreat for me, almost a mini-vacation.   This place to tucked away from the world that I often get lost in my mind and just enjoy the area.  I would say that this place is perfect in any season, even considering that most of the seating is outside.  

Lets talk about the food.  This is kind of complicated because the Filling Station and The 9W Market are two different places that share the same land and owners.  One is strictly a burger and ice cream shop and the other is a hot food and drink almost cafe type of place.  I will review both.

Filling Station

One word is all I need for this place.  This word is amazing.  They have found the secret to making the best damned burgers and fries that I have EVER eaten period.  When I eat a burger or french fries I use the Filling Station's burgers and fries as the bar.  When I first ate their burgers I literally heard a symphony in my mind.  Up to that point I thought I knew what a burger was, then I was educated.  This place takes  burgers and fries to a new and amazing place.  The texture, flavor and taste of that first bite was so great.  Honestly I wish I was a poet to be able to really put the food in better words.  The burger I ate was a kobe beef burger and it was just out of bounds awesome.  I know what you are saying.  Kobe beef is good all the time, and I agree.  So I also ate their regular burger and it was on the same level as the Kobe beef burger.  

So eat the burger here, and change your life.  You will never look at burgers the same again.  

The 9W Market

This place is kind of like a cafe and or coffee shop with an amazing kitchen to boost.  I have eaten many of their dishes and drank many of their drinks.  Honestly, I cannot say much more than may I have more.  I can spend days there just eating their food and desserts.  Their desserts are also one of my favorite things ever to eat.  Sometimes they have some homemade pies that really just blow me away.  They also feature one of my favorite iced teas ever, Joe Tea.  I can really sit here and talk about all the food there, but I think I will just run out of words to use.

Overall

Both shops are equally amazing.  I love to eat at both places all the time.  The staff is super friendly and amazing.  The food is cooked great and made great.  Some of the best highlights is that they use all organic food.  No hormones or steroids here people, all free-range and grass fed animals.  All the veggies are also all organic, no pesticides and chemicals.  Their bread comes from one of the best bakery's in the area, the balthazar bakery.   

So if you want to taste and eat real food, this is the place to go.  I am serious here people.  This is my favorite place to go to eat.  I almost did not review it just so that I can keep this place to myself, but I want to keep them in business.  Oh, I forgot to mention that this place is frequented by bicyclers so you may see a few of them there. 

Here is the score:

Service: 5
Food: 5

Decor: 5

Price: 2 (on the expensive side for the food, but worth the price tag)
Total: 4.25

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Follow link for more info

http://the9wmarket.com/