The Everyday Joe

Sandwiches and sides: Roma Italian Deli and Catering, 39 Mill Plain Rd, Danbury CT

In an old worn out shopping center, next to a local favorite bagel shop, is a classic delicatessen with a wide variety of Italian goodies.  Fresh made sausages, imported cookies and crackers, stuffed cherry peppers and salads, and of course, sandwiches.  Big, fresh sandwiches.

Pizza on Central Ave: EuroItalia Pizzeria, 2229 Central Park Ave, Yonkers NY

My wife is from the Bronx, and like most New Yorkers she is very particular about pizza.  I'm from the other coast, and have a much broader view of what pizza can be.  So when I give a recommendation to a pizza place and we both agree that it's awesome, it means that you've got two very different tastes agreeing on one great pizza.  And that pizza can be found at EuroItalia Pizzeria.

Italian in vast quantities: Sunshine Restaurant, 152 Route 202 (Lincolndale Plaza), Lincolndale NY

A couple of quick additions this morning to catch up.  First up, Sunshine Restaurant.

Tucked into a shopping center that looks like it would house a dentist, insurance office, and VFW hall, the Sunshine Restaurant is easy to miss.  But I was hungry and on the lookout, and am very, very glad it caught my eye.

Argentinean Hot Grilled Happiness: Ernesto's Grill, 3717 Crompond Rd. (Rte 202), Yorktown, NY

Just west of the Taconic Parkway is a building that looks like a an old dutch windmill.  It's blue.  Outside of that windmill is a big green sign for Ernesto's Grill, a new restaurant run by an old man with a great sandwich.

His menu is basic, and doesn't even include the awesome rice and beans he gave me a plate to try while I waited.  

Classic Country Diner: Full Bellies, 241 Main St., Bennington VT

The last meal before heading home, the wife and I stopped in Bennington to check out the Bennington Battle Memorial (an ancestor of mine is the featured hero of that Revolutionary war battle), and decided to try a little place just outside of the main intersection of Routes 7 and 9.

Full Bellies is a very basic diner, with a menu that has some very Vermont offerings (Spicy Black Bean Burger, anyone?), but is otherwise seems inspired by my grandmother's specialties.  

Bar B Que and Picnic tables: Top of the Hill Grill, 632 Putney Rd., Brattleboro, VT

If you drive by at traditional lunch or dinner times, it's hard to miss the Top of the Hill Grill, a roadside shack and collection of picnic tables overlooking an algae covered pond.  When is the last time you saw 30 people waiting patiently in line to order off a menu that it drawn up on paper plates, stapled to the wall of a wooden shed?

Old favorites with a twist: Fireworks Restaurant, 73 Main St., Brattleboro, VT

If you ever want to know why people consider Vermont to be a far left, hippy filled, 'progressive' haven, then you should come to Brattleboro.  The wife and I spent Labor Day hiking in the area, and had the opportunity to try a wide variety of local restaurants.

The reviews were not all good, and of all the meals, only two really stood out enough for recommendation - with Fireworks as a great place to start.

New finds coming tomorrow

I've had some good food the last couple of weeks, and spent this labor day in Southern VT, checking out the local trails and sampling what I could.  Have a few good finds out of the ordeal, and an ordeal it was.

One of the things I've alluded to in an earlier post are the bullets taken in pursuit of good local restaurants.  It's not easy to be a 'recommend only' site because there are some places out there that deserve to be roasted for bad service, bad hygiene, bad food, and any combination of all three. 

But that's not what we do here, because we understand that sometimes you catch a place on the wrong day, between cooks, or just before the health department is about to shut them down.  And we would rather not spend our time criticizing - we are evangelists for the great and wonderful local treasures the nation has to offer.

So be on the lookout for a great barbecue, kickin' brick-oven pizza, a great little lunch spot with fresh cut fries, some new deli action, and maybe hint of a warning about what to look out for when you dine among the hapless hippies of the Green Mountains.