Restaurants

The Barbeque Pit
Bronx/North Riverdale
5788 Mosholu Ave
Bronx, NY 10471
(718) 601-2400

This small restaurant is in a not-often-explored area of the Bronx, but it is worth a trip if you are in the area (they also do take-out). Other than the obvious barbeque items, which are very good, their chili is excellent – not spicy but just flavorful enough – and their mashed sweet potatoes are perfect. The prices are more than reasonable, especially given the homemade food.

Got a hankering for seafood and cinema? Head to The Black Whale in the Bronx! The Black Whale serves up all kinds of surf and turf, as well as pasta, salads, and desserts. On Tuesday nights, the Black Whale offers dinner and a movie–next week its “The Terror” with Boris Karloff and Jack Nickelson. The prices aren’t bargain basement but they aren’t top floor penthouse either. The most expensive thing is a BBQ platter for $23–usually a starting point for places like this.

The Black Whale
279 City Island Avenue
City Island, New York 10464

Looking for some good outdoor grub that’s a step (or two) up from a hot dog stand, but still wallet friendly? Sashay on over to the Shake Shack! As the name implies, they serve milkshakes and icecream with your choice of toppings. They also serve hot dogs, which you can have plain or dressed to the nines, hamburgers (with or without cheese/single or double), ‘shroom burgers (as in a giant portobello), french fries, soda, wine and beer. You can get a single hamburger, fries, single dipped cone, and a soda for just $10.25–you’ll pay more at a place like Junior’s, even if you don’t get cheesecake. Plus, you can bring your dog, and thus save on that spendy dogsitter! Shake Shack, Madison Avenue and 23rd Street, Madison Square Park, Southeast Corner.

Get off the subway at Steinway Street in Astoria, and the first things you’ll see are the back of a pink Cadellac sticking out of a building and a statue of a pirate, a la Captain Morgan. The car belongs to a club called Ritmos 60, and the pirate belongs to a restaurant called El Basurero. On New Year’s Eve, 2006, El Basurero sustained heavy fire damage after a Christmas tree ignited, and was closed for three months. Now, however, El Basurero (which means The Trash Can, in Spanish) is back and as popular as ever.

El Basurero serves Colombian food–so don’t ask for enchiladas, because they are not on the menu. (If you do inadvertently ask for something that isn’t on the menu, don’t worry–the staff won’t be offended.) The menu features all sorts of grilled fish and meat (a great place to bring your carnivore date), fried plantains, and other Colombian delicacies. The sangria will cure what ales you and the tres leches cake will send you to heaven. (The cake is so rich you have to share it, and yes, that is a hint of amaretto you’re tasting).

The atmosphere is both kitschy and lively, with plenty of Salsa music to keep you feeling energized. You’ll leave wanting to come back again.

El Basurero

32-17 Steinway Street. R,V to Steinway Street in Astoria.