Melville - L.I. Please, help me chow...

Business is bringing me to Melville regularly, and I fear for my chowhoundiggidiness....I was nearly brought to tears, when a group in my office suggested Taco Bell, when I asked for a 'non american food' suggestion....The building's 'cafe' has pre-made bolonga and cheese sandwiches and lots of stuff in plastic...It's like a walk in vending machine....

So, I went looking for Fonda Coyocan....got as far as a Pupuseria (in a shopping center) on NY Avenue...about 1/2 mile north of whatever that St. w/ the 1800 flowers is....Very good, freshly made w/ great queso and served with the great vinegary slaw....Greasy and delicious....but kind of far (my office is right off of the LIE) and they took about 15 minutes to make...

Also found a good steam table Jamaican place in Amityville (left side of Street, directly in Village)...so it's a straight shot down 110, but traffic is nuts from 12-2...

Anything??? Please. Is delivery asking for too much? The stuff I've tried has been really bad...I mean really bad....

Also, would love to have some early dinner or lounge/tapas options nearby...or heading back west....but, it's the Lunch problem that may be a deal breaker here!!!

Thank you.

Congrats. you wound up at what I consider the best local Salvadoran. Cardiolo's rules. I have not yet tried every single little place, though. But Cardiolo's is especially intriguing because there's always a treat or two you've never seen elsewhere....though you need a keen eye to scope their chaotic counter space.

Their pupusas, like all tristate area pupusas, are just so-so, though. Nobody I've found makes them right (from scratch to order).

Siobhan, Anadolu is no longer good. Good Turkish places on Long Island have a quality life expectancy of 6 months or less. I don't know a single good one right now, though it's out there somewhere.

ciao

ACtually Medford Pita has been on Rte 112 for years, and I've never had better Turkish, he's probably the one that puts the others out of business.

Let me just say that HUNTINGTON IS A TASTY TOWN...Well, at least the Mex and Central American food is making me kinda happy...Still too far for Lunch, but man, I've been detouring after work and:

I do believe I've found Fresh-from-scratch pupusas-
Don Juan Pupuseria Inc.
1760 New York Avenue

So good! And, the curtido (slaw) was tart and wonderful

The steam table stuff didn't seem too inviting, but it was late in the day....and I took home a VERY DRY corn bread...but those pupusas!

Also, tried MR. SAUSAGE. It's on Route 110...south of the LIE...Had a pressed hero that was too salty, but still the place seems promising...I should have considered that cured meats and 4 aged cheeses might be a bit of a salt lick! Still, ate it similing and had 3 glasses of water after that Manhattan Special:) There was a bit of a refrigerator undertaste going on, but my lunchtime deprivation has already made me lower the bar......I'll give them another try next week....

Oh, I did try the suggested Brew Haus...would go back for an after work beer and brat...but, we ordered more of the bar food, and it just didn't travel well....

Any suggestions for closer to the LIE @110 would be welcomed....

Thanks.

-W

W--

You're an excellent finder, but need to work on "closing". Mr. Sausage, congrats, you've found a major point of light. But, as with Cardiolo's, you missed the good stuff. It's not a biggie....finding is harder than closing. You're very close to the ultimate stages of chowhoundsmanship.

Mr. Sausage has about the best rice balls ever (get a couple of every flavor). A few other things, too, I'll let you explore. Note that there's another branch in Huntington Village.

I'm dying to try don juan's. Great find! Thanks!

ciao

Thank you, for the 'praise sandwich' master :)
I will work hard to prove you correct....

Seriously, I often agonize over what to order...I absolutely have to read an entire menu...I used to think it's just one of my charms, but maybe it's a character flaw...Heh.

Anyway, I posted a new find today....11/8 And, you are right, I may have missed the good stuff!

Don't agonize. Let your intuition do its work, it's a right brain thing. Be more impulsive. Don't think, don't analyze. Use the force.

You're like my friend Barry. Incredible finder, but closes poorly. I like eating with him because I'm a better closer than finder.

ciao

The pizza/pasta joint in the Tony Dee's shopping center (a bit south of Mr. Sausage, on same side of 110, set back in shopping strip). is pretty good.

Let me just say that HUNTINGTON IS A TASTY TOWN...Well, at least the Mex and Central American food is making me kinda happy...Still too far for Lunch, but man, I've been detouring after work and:

I do believe I've found Fresh-from-scratch pupusas-
Don Juan Pupuseria Inc.
1760 New York Avenue

So good! And, the curtido (slaw) was tart and wonderful

The steam table stuff didn't seem too inviting, but it was late in the day....and I took home a VERY DRY corn bread...but those pupusas!

Also, tried MR. SAUSAGE. It's on Route 110...south of the LIE...Had a pressed hero that was too salty, but still the place seems promising...I should have considered that cured meats and 4 aged cheeses might be a bit of a salt lick! Still, ate it similing and had 3 glasses of water after that Manhattan Special:) There was a bit of a refrigerator undertaste going on, but my lunchtime deprivation has already made me lower the bar......I'll give them another try next week....

Oh, I did try the suggested Brew Haus...would go back for an after work beer and brat...but, we ordered more of the bar food, and it just didn't travel well....

Any suggestions for closer to the LIE @110 would be welcomed....

Thanks.

-W

I feel your pain; I work in Melville as well. It's not cheap but a very nice steakhouse opened up on 110 just north of LIE: Blackstone. They also have a pretty good, if limited, sushi bar.

I know Chinese people who swear by East Buffet on 110, and I've also done pretty well at Empire Szechuan Gourmet, on 110 a little further south. Right next door to ESG is Bertucci's which does very creditable Neapolitan pizza, although since Massa's opened (Jericho just west of 110), that's where we tend to go.

I've made it to Orient in Bethpage in 15 minutes.
The Plainview Diner (Old Country Road and South Oyster Bay Road) has particularly good hamburgers. Also, I second the vote for the Brewhaus.

DO NOT miss the chance to visit Morty the Knife Man on Smith Street just off 110.

Let us know if you find anything else.

Thanks to all....

I'll report back.

-W

P.S. I fear Morty the knifeman; my kitchen is sooooo small that my pepper mill collection is already in storage!

P.P.S. I hit Blackstone last month...had the steak....still a Luger Grrrrrl...but, I'll keep the sushi in mind.

The pupuseria is Cardiolos, btw.

You could try Los Compadres on 243 Old Walt Whitman Road - tacos, something they call gorditas, etc. Also Mexican sodas.

Massas or Mazzas Pizza - Make left on Jericho Tpke from 110, first or second shopping center on left - coal oven pizza and they do slices at lunch.

Search for Paul Trapani's posts. He recommened this Turkish place and if you jump on the LIE and take 231 south, it will only take about 10-15 minutes to get here at lunchtime:
Anadolu
1815-C Deer Park Avenue
Deer Park, NY
He has posted about a few other places in Deer Park also.

Not sure if they are opened for lunch:
Tiny Thai
187 Main St., Farmingdale 516-694-3302

I hate the East West Buffet but it is some people's cup of tea. On the west side of 110 across from Walt Whitman Mall. I have a relaible source at the health dept who tells me they would *never* eat there but that is an attraction for some people.

And there's always White Castle......

Cardiolos will make phone orders and have it waiting. Just take the expected "ready" time with a grain of salt. There is another Salvadorian Place called Miqueleno on the other side of NY Ave that I have also found to be good. Coyocan will also take phone orders and have it ready for you but add extra time to there "ready" time also.

Isnt there a sort of nest of restaurants just south of the Northern State on 110? there's a Starbuck's in there too. By the Greyhound Bus Station. There's a Legal Seafood in the Whitman mall a couple miles north of the Northern State.

There's Black Forest brew haus, making the left
before Adventureland....great lunch options and
not too far. also, there's the brazilian place
Green something....for the carnivores.

Glad to hear they're both still open, I think it's Greenfields.