Results tagged “Queens”

Just this past June Checkers opened their first Brooklyn location on Court Street. Since then Checkers has rolled out across Brooklyn with several new locations opening. Late summer also brought a location in the Financial District and recently a location in Jamaica, Queens has opened, giving Checkers a presence in all five boroughs.

Columbian chicken chain Frisby, ("Pollo Frisby") only has one location in all of North America, and that happens to be right here in New York City on Northern Boulevard in Jackson Heights, Queens.

3-57 Saint Nicholas Ave, Ridgewood, Queens. L-Train to Myrtle-Wycoff Aves.

Pollo Campero is a Guatemalan fast food chicken chain. It arrived in the United States in 2002 and currently has three locations in New York City: Ridgewood, Corona, and Washington Heights. A Sunset Park location closed within a year of its opening.

The Ridgewood location is brand new, having opened in July of this year. It is easy to reach as it's only a block from the Myrtle-Wycoff Avenues L-Train station and Brooklyn's Bushwick neighborhood. This restaurant is rather large and even has a small indoor playground similar to what you would find at a suburban McDonalds. The dining area was extremely clean during my visit and the tables were even lightly decorated with colorful tissue paper. Latin music via XM/Sirius satellite radio was playing and some customers were even dancing!

The Pollo Campero menu is split about 50/50 between fried and grilled chicken. There are several small sides available, your choice of which is included in the combo meals, as well as several extra slides, such as a small salad, available at an extra cost. Combo meals also include the choice of either bread or tortillas.

I chose the 1/4 white meat chicken meal ($6.49 plus tax) and chose coleslaw as a side (the meals generally have a specific side mentioned but you can substitute), as well as tortillas. Beverage options include a self-serve soda fountain and several tropical beverage options which the staff will dispense for you. There is a salsa bar next to the soda fountain and also a ketchup pump (always a big plus).

The presentation of the meal was excellent. The chicken was served on a real plate along with the tortillas, which were in a plastic wrapper. My coleslaw came in a bowl and was a larger portion than I had expected.

The meal was absolutely delicious. The grilled chicken had a flavorful coating, was moist, and practically fell off the bone. The coleslaw was of a relatively coarse cut and tasted fresh and not overly-mayonnaise-like. I didn't really have a clue what to do with the tortillas, as I was eating the chicken off the bone, so I simply ripped off pieces of them as I went along.

Overall this is a restaurant worth checking out. The healthy options will certainly be appreciated by many, and the clean and welcoming appearance is certainly leagues better than the average New York City chicken chain. One can only hope that this chain will continue to expand throughout the city.

Fun fact: Both Pollo Campero's Ridgewood and Washington Heights locations are on (completely unrelated) Saint Nicholas Avenues.

Here are some updates for the beginning of the Fall 2009 Fast Food Season:

Greenpoint's KFC / Taco Bell Opened Today

Not revolutionary news, but this new location, which replaces a strange Taco Bell / Pizza Hut / Blimpie / Carvel / random coffee place location from the late 90s, is in the modern-day Yum! Brands co-branding style like you would see in the suburbs. Quite the departure from the pick-up-only, teller-window-style KFC locations found elsewhere in the city. You can find this new location in the Key Foods Plaza.

Baja Fresh Opens 2nd Manhattan Location

Right by Times Square this location is already extremely popular. A full review will follow.

Checkers Opens 2nd Brooklyn Location

Checkers continues its expansion throughout the five boroughs by opening its second Brooklyn location on Flatbush Avenue in Prospect Park South / Flatbush.

Submarina California Update

After my recent post on the lack of progress on New York City's first Submarina California in Astoria, the kind Submarina team has responded with an update:

"Out of respect for Häagen-Dazs's busy summer season, Submarina halted construction. The Submarina is scheduled to resume construction during the 4th quarter. Submarina looks forward to introducing the Best Subs Under the Sun® to New York City."

Sounds reasonable, and I'm sure we can't wait to try a California-style sub! Be sure to check out Submarina on Twitter.

3143 Steinway St, Astoria, Queens (Steinway Section) - G,R,V to Steinway St.

When I published my "Summer's Over Let's Eat" article at the beginning at the month I made an assumption:

Grub Street "Coming Soon" article + 1.5 months = Submarina California Astoria complete.

However, upon a visit to Astoria (Steinway Village) this past weekend I found the Submarina California no further in progress than mentioned in the July 20 article. The awning logo still has a "coming soon" banner hanging below it, and inside the Häagen-Dazs it will co-brand with there is no evidence of any construction activities.

So no exotic Californian sub chain anytime too soon. However, the Häagen-Dazs itself is worth a visit - Excellent shakes, friendly staff, and, during my visit, free coffee!

87-86 Parsons Blvd, Jamaica, Queens - F-Train and select rush hour E-Trains to Parsons Blvd.

Miami Subs has quietly opened their first New York City location in Jamaica, Queens sometime in the last month. I randomly discovered this when I noticed it had appeared on the Miami Subs restaurant locator. The chain had previously made an appearance in New York City in the early 90s but then disappeared.

The restaurant is located right by the Parsons Blvd. stop of the F-Train. It has quite elaborate interior decorations featuring Miami and three four-person tables as well as some wall-seating options on one side. It's a very take-out friendly operation with online ordering and a toll-free ordering number. Delivery is also available.

Miami Subs has a huge menu, displayed in small print on four flat screen displays above the counter. Pizza, subs, cheesesteaks, seafood, wings, pitas... you name it. While the online menu features Arthur Theacher's and Kenny Rogers Roasters items, these are not shown on the in store menu (although the fish selections match up with Theacher's - so who knows what's going on there).

I ordered a 6-inch philly cheesesteak combo which rang up as a modest $6.06, including tax. The cheesesteak was nothing short of delicious and the fries were seasoned and similar to those of Checkers (crinkle fries are also available). It was definitely worth my 45-minute construction-disturbed trip out to Jamaica.

Summer is over. You know what that means: New York City's only Chick-Fil-A is reopening for another NYU semester. I'm personally leading a tour group there on Tuesday, the first day of NYU classes (although it might open a few days earlier as students are returning - remember they're always closed Sundays).

But the end of summer in New York City also means there will be less outdoor activities and more time to enjoy some quality fast food!

Here is some of the news that occurred over the summer:

• Checkers opened their first Manhattan location (at least in this century).
• Submarina California Subs came is still "coming soon" to Astoria, Queens (their first NYC location)*
• Tim Hortons was scheduled to open in three Cold Stone Creameries, but I haven't found any confirmation that this happened. Remember that they're in 11 Manhattan and Brooklyn Riese locations now. Union Square is also in the pipeline.

* Correction to original post: Submarina California has not opened yet (read update).

62-29 Roosevelt Avenue, Woodside, Queens

Jollibee is an American-style fast food chain from the Philippines. There are currently 26 locations in the United States, but only one east of Las Vegas, and it's in Woodside, Queens.

Located conveniently on the LIRR and 7-Line Woodside stop, this restaurant opened this past February to much fanfare. The interior has a McDonalds feel, albeit with a much more colorful color scheme.

When was the last time you saw Ronald McDonald depicted inside a McDonalds? He seems rather phased out these days. In contrast, Jollibee's logo, the Jollibee, a red and yellow bee with a chef's hat is all over the establishment, including in life size outside.

The menu is divided between four types of entrées: Chicken, spaghetti, burgers, and traditional Filipino. The chicken has the largest focus, with twice as menu boards as anything else. It is available with just about anything else on the menu, from fries to rice to spaghetti.

Spaghetti dishes are available with toppings such as a tomato sauce with hot pieces and a shrimp sauce. The burgers include ones typical of McDonalds and an "Aloha Burger" which is a burger with bacon and pineapple. There is also a small traditional section consisting of beef patties with rice and egg rolls (listed as "coming soon").

What's interesting is that this Jollibee practices, what I like to call "burger stacking" - the practice of filling up a display case with burgers without an actual order being attached. This used to be common across the fast food industry, but has long fallen out of favor to the "made to order" mentality. Besides burgers, the various chicken and pasta dishes were also stacked.

One other location I had witnessed this was Chick-fil-A Express at NYU. To be fair, at both these restaurants the demand was so great that the prepared food probably didn't bask in the case for more than five minutes.

I ordered a Aloha Burger Combo, consisting of the pineapple-topped burger, fries, and a drink. Even though my burger had been anxiously awaiting me in the display case for five minutes, I still had to wait another five minutes or so for the next batch of fries to be ready.

This Jollibee has self-serve soda fountains, a feature usually reserved for suburban and rural fast food locations. Unfortunately there was no ketchup pump (a big plus in my mind), so I had to manually squeeze out several ketchup packets onto my burger's wrapper.

The Aloha Burger was certainly a unique experience, thanks to the pineapple. The sweet taste was not earth shattering, so I would not recommend against it. After all, pineapple on pizza is not totally uncommon, so why not try it on a burger? The burger itself was larger than it looked on the display board, which was a pleasant surprise to me, as I was very hungry and concerned about this while ordering.

One downside to eating a pineapple burger? Just like pineapple anything, that fruit gets stuck in your teeth. I think it should come with a toothpick attached - that would be a good gesture.

All in all, I recommend giving Jollibee a shot. As I often say on this blog, it's a pleasant alternative to McDonalds and the other common fast food chains.

69-16 Metropolitan Ave, Middle Village, Queens

Yelpers are reporting on a "brand spankin' new" Arby's in Middle Village, Queens. This location is accessible by subway (Metropolitan Avenue / Middle Village on the M-Train), three bus lines (Q38, Q54, and Q67), and compliments the Fresh Meadows location reported on earlier this week.

Arby's is apparently on a mission to open 41 new locations in New York City in the next decade.

17514 Horace Harding Expy, Queens

Having nearly 2,500 locations across the country, the fact that there is currently only one Arby's in New York City is an oddity. A little research has shown me that were at least two other locations previously, in Jackson Heights and Greenwich Village (the later is now a Lens Crafters).

At least one additional New York City location is on the way - in Downtown Brooklyn, where Arby's will abide to strict historic preservation rules to locate themselves in the historic Gage & Tollner restaurant (See Brooklyn Paper article).

For now though, there is only one, in Fresh Meadows, Queens. This location appears to be rather new and has tall ceilings and a great amount of glass. On my visit it was impeccable. There is a large parking lot, which makes visiting by car easy, as this restaurant is nowhere near a subway (although the Q17, Q30, Q31, Q88, and X32 buses stop nearby). It's right next to the Long Island Expressway, just a few blocks from entry and exit ramps.

I had the Medium Beef 'n Cheddar (445 cal) and a Diet Coke. I skipped out on the fries since I didn't want to counteract the exercise I had partaken in early that day too much. I did utilize some horsey sauce, however. This restaurant is set up in the "suburban free-standing" style, where you have free reign over the soda fountains and there are plenty of ketchup and sauce pumps.

If you are really craving Arby's or find yourself in driving around that part of town, I definitely recommend giving this location a shot. Otherwise, there's the Downtown Brooklyn location to look forward to.