Wings, wings, & more wings!

I think this is a good time to take a break from the classy, elegant restaurants and talk about a restaurant where you can get down and dirty! Dallas BBQ in Times Square is a restaurant that calls for lots of wipes and a big appetite. Dallas BBQ is an America restaurant that is famous for its' wings. With a location of Times Square, it attracts many tourists as well as New Yorkers. I have been to this restaurant at least five times; whenever I have a taste for wings and a desire to go to the city, Dallas BBQ is where I end up.

The restaurant itself is huge. When you walk in through the rotating doors, you are directed up by a waitress. Following the ground floor, is the main floor. Most of the tables and booths are located on this floor. If you continue to go up, you will reach the third floor which is mostly reserved for huge parties. The tables are basic square tables with regular chairs. The menu is a large piece of paper that is neatly place on the table with a fork, knife, and a spoon. However, the view from the main floor is incredible. Being that it is high up, you can see all the way down 42nd street. Also, it is across the street from the wax museum, providing a view of the people lined up to go inside. There are tv's scattered around the restaurant displaying several events going on in Times Square. The restaurant is definitely family oriented and an environment that brings a relaxed feeling.

The menu is the best thing about about the restaurant. It consists of the typical foods you would

expect at a bbq: corn on the cob, corn bread, mashed potatoes, french fries, ribs, burgers, shrimp, salad, beans, coleslaw, and of course, wings. Dallas BBQ has three distinctive flavors of wings that are all AMAZING! The Texas crispy wings are traditional friend chicken wings. If you are not looking for much flavor, these are the way to go. The sticky wings, my favorite, are wings drenched in a sweet honey sauce. They are called sticky wings because the sauce is vert sticky. Lastly, are the Hennessy wings. I know what you are thinking, Hennessy is alcohol. Well, these wings are not flavored with actual Hennessy but they are made to taste like it. Whether you like Hennessy or not, these wings are very good. All flavors of wings come in traditional or boneless in portions of either five or ten. I would suggest getting five because they are bigger than you think. 

Another part of the menu includes the variety of non-alcoholic frozen drinks. The drinks are the first things you notice on the tables as you walk inside. They are so colorful and tempting to get. My favorite one to get is of course the strawberry daiquiri. Dallas BBQ has the best one.

I would definitely suggest making this one of your stops in NYC. The food is great and it is a great experience for tourists being that is it in Times Square. 

Not Your Ordinary Cafeteria

High Schools are known to have giant cafeterias that usually do not have enough seats and serve bad food. However, Cafeteria NYC is not your ordinary cafeteria. Cafeteria NYC  is a classy (can you tell I like classy restaurants) restaurant located in NYC. During the day it serves as an everyday lunch spot for tourists and office workers, but at night, it turns into a calm, beautiful setting.

The inside of the restaurant at night.

I have only been to this restaurant once, but I truly enjoyed my time spent here. The occasion at the time was my best friends birthday celebration (yes the same best friend from my last post). We struggled for weeks with finding a nice restaurant in the city until we stumbled upon Cafeteria. I have to say, this was one of the hardest to locate restaurants ever. (Fun fact: I left my phone in the cab and had to call the cab driver from my friends' phone so he could come back!) We arrived at the restaurant at 11:00 pm, to find a line out the door of people waiting for a table. The line indicated to us that this was going to be a good dinner. To my surprise, it wasn't long before we were seated. The tables were square and black with standard white chairs; cafeteria style with a little classy on the side. We were genuinely welcomed to the restaurant by our waiter and treated like adults. The waiter was not surprised to see such young girls in a restaurant like such at that time of night, which was relieving to see. They were very friendly and did not seem overwhelmed by the amount of people that   chose to have dinner there that night.

To my surprise, and maybe yours, I did not order what I usually order when eating out. The menu consisted of strictly American food; all of the classic American dishes one can expect to eat in New York with relatively fair prices. Cafeteria was known for their special mac and cheese; many people in the restaurant were eating it when I walked in. It came in a little white bowl that overflowed with cheese. That night, I ordered a sprite and garlic chicken with garlic whipped potatoes. That had to be the best roasted chicken I have ever had. It was tender and seasoned perfectly. The potatoes went well with the chicken also. My best friend ordered the famous chicken and waffles entree. As our food arrived, the couple next to us admired how good it looked. They thanked us for helping them choose what to order off the menu. It was about the 1am when we finished our meal and people were still coming in. It seemed to be a busy Saturday night.

The most important thing about a restaurant, at least to me and maybe other girls, is the bathroom. A nice bathroom makes a restaurant even better. It allows a person to say "the food wasn't that great but the bathroom was amazing". The bathroom in Cafeteria was absolutely amazing. You walked in and entered an enchanted world. The inside was so nice and fancy, all I wanted to do was take pictures. My need to use the bathroom was gone.

Although though this restaurant has such a great setting, I would suggest only going when you have the night all planned out. Also, there isn't much to do outside of the restaurant being that it is a bit of a distance from where all the action happens in the city. So if you do decide to visit Cafeteria NYC, make sure you have a ride to and from!

Well Done Please

If you're looking for a classy, romantic, mature restaurant to go to, Ruth Chris Steak House is the place to go. My best friend and I looked up restaurants to go to almost every week. We would both receive random texts from each other with a screenshot of a restaurant we found online. One day, Ruth Chris was one of those restaurants. When I first viewed Ruth Chris on Google, I was amazed. The setting was fancy and gave off a magical aura. So, we saved our money (it was a little on the expensive side) and went to Ruth Chris on a Monday night in January. It has been one of my favorites ever since. (Just a quick tip on going to restaurants: always make sure you view the menu prices before going so you have an idea of how much money to bring.)

When we walked inside, we felt out of place. Everyone inside was older and was dressed professionally. My best friend and I had on ripped jeans, hoodies, and rain boots. However, the waitresses did not hesitate to welcome us to our table. The tables were dressed in white cloths, and decorated with wine glasses. The silverware setting was perfect. My best friend and I knew we would be coming here as often as we could. It felt as though we were, in a sense, "rich and living life".

The menu. The menu was exquisite. You know those menus where you looked at it, and did not know what was on it? This was one of those menus', which made the experience even better. It varied between America's top meals like duck, steak, rib eye, roasted chicken, etc. When the waiter approached us asking what we would like to drink, we ordered our favorites: virgin strawberry daiquiris. Eventually, we came across a section in the menu that seemed to fit our desires. I ordered one of the combination meals which came with an entree, a side, and a dessert. My entree was a well done 10oz. filet mignon, with garlic mashed potatoes and an ice cream sundae for dessert. My best friend ordered stuffed roasted chicken breast with mashed potatoes and ice cream for dessert. The food was out in no time and, keeping up with our dinner traditions, we took a picture and a video of our meals. It. Was. Amazing. Everything was cooked to such a prestige degree. You could hear the sizzle on the plates and the waiters certainly took pride in their job. Something cool about the way in which it was served was that the plate was so hot, it continued to cook the steak while it was served. I thought that was a unique aspect of the restaurants style.


     
My thoughts throughout the whole night consisted of how amazing this place was and how I have to take my mom here and how I would love to have a date here with my boyfriend. My best friend and I enjoyed our night. When it came time to pay the bill, we were not shocked at all (although some of you may be after taking a look at it). My mom however went on a rampage but our expectations were met and nothing less came of it; and besides, it was my money anyway!

Ruth Chris is definitely a restaurant to consider when brainstorming places to get dressed up and go out with your girls or celebrate a special occasion like a birthday or Valentine's Day. The location (the worlds greatest city) sets the scene as well for an amazing night.

Sweet Baby Shortcake!

    One of my all time favorite restaurants to go to in New York is called Grand Lux. This restaurant is located at Roosevelt Field Mall in Garden City. If you ever visit Long Island, Roosevelt Field Mall is the place to go! But anyway, you are probably wondering why I titled this post "Sweet Baby Shortcake"but patience is key. I will get there, I promise.
 
    Grand Lux is an American restaurant that serves all kinds of dishes; between the fancy filet mignon and the simple chicken tenders and french fries. Throughout my my life, I have spent about four of my eighteen birthday celebrations here. (I'm telling you this place is awesome). When you walk inside, it is like a castle. The ceilings are high, the windows are decorated with stainless steel, and the floors are granite. Omg the doors! The doors are the biggest doors I've ever seen! It is like you are walking into a whole other world. The restaurant is only one floor, which makes it seem even bigger than it is. It is essentially a great setting for elegant and classy birthday parties, hence why I had four of them here and why I have attended birthday celebrations for others here as well.

    Enough about the inside, let's get to the menu. Every visit here, I get the same drink, the same appetizer, one of two of my favorite entrees, and the same dessert. So, I order a strawberry daiquiri (virgin of course), fried calamari for my appetizer, shrimp scampi or chicken and shrimp jambalaya for my entree, and last, but definitely not least, the famous strawberry shortcake! Although my dinner selections are very primitive, the menu varies and tends to all taste buds. Some of the most-ordered foods include the Kobe Burger, the lettuce wraps, the the chicken wings, the warm butter cake, and the french fries which are to die for. (Yes I know all of these by heart). My moms' favorite thing to get is actually the lettuce wraps, she absolutely LOVES them!

    Now to my title. "Sweet Baby Shortcake" refers to how I feel when I indulge in the decadent strawberry shortcake.  The best thing about this dessert is that is it made to order; meaning it is made upon request. Each and every time a person receives a strawberry shortcake, it is made especially for them. I personally think this aspect of how it is prepared adds to its uniqueness. The actual dessert is made with a crisp yet soft layer of shortcake, topped with three scoops of vanilla ice cream, another layer of shortcake sprinkled with sugar, and fresh strawberries and whip cream to set it off (how great does that sound and yes, that is my own picture of the dessert to the right). You are given a long spoon and told to "enjoy". It is at that moment, that nothing else in the world seems to matter. It is just you, the spoon, the shortcake, and a friend (if wanted). At the end of the last scoop, you will have felt as if you conquered the world. Dinner has been served.


   Although, to my surprise, there is a Grand Lux in Pennsylvania, I strongly urge you to not only visit New York but to also visit Grand Lux, New York style.