Uppies and Cuppies on the Road: NYC

Smalls, Beardy, and I took a trip to New York City over Thanksgiving this year. We were a little nervous about hauling a two-year old through airports, and then around the city for a week, but the trip went great. We found an apartment to rent on VRBO.com instead of trying to all pack into a tiny NYC hotel room. That was good, too because we could cook there if we wanted, or go out. We did plenty of both. I carried a container of apple slices and carrot and celery sticks the whole time, just in case we ended up at a restaurant Smalls didn’t like, but mostly she did fine. Here are some highlights of our dining adventures.

Sabor a Mexico

This is a small Mexican restaurant in the Yorkville area near the apartment we rented. We went on a Tuesday night, and we were the only people there, but it looks like they do a lot of delivery and take out. It was perfectly comfortable for dining in, though. We had an assortment of tacos (very good), and shared the chicken ones with Smalls. She seemed happy with the tacos and the chips and salsa.

This is Buzz Lightyear's fist. The closest we got to seeing the Macy's parade was looking at the inflated balloons the day before the parade.

Chinatown

We had lunch at Old Shanghai Deluxe because it was there and it was not crowded. The restaurant was big and not crowded, so there was plenty of room for us and our coats and scarves and bags and stroller and everything. We got sesame noodles for Smalls (the ones I make at home are better) and soup dumplings, noodles with beef in broth, and General Tso’s chicken. The food was ok but not great, but it was a good place to sit, relax, spread out, and warm up at lunchtime.

Afterwards, we went to the Original Chinatown Ice Cream Factory, just down the street from the restaurant. Smalls got strawberry, I got green tea, and Beardy got lychee sorbet (dairy free). There’s nowhere to sit inside, so walk up Bayard Street to Columbus Park to eat your ice cream. There are plenty of benches and you can watch people play mahjong and card games at the tables. Even if it’s only 50 about degrees.

This lovely elephant can be found across the street from the Original Chinatown Ice Cream Factory on Bayard Street.

Fatty Fish

This one was an adventure (or I thought it might be—it turned out pretty tame). Smalls and I met one of my friends from high school here for lunch on Saturday, and Beardy stayed at the apartment to watch the Iron Bowl (that’s the Alabama vs. Auburn football game. It’s kind of a big deal). So I rode the bus by myself with Smalls and a stroller, and it went fine. Someone even held the bus door open as we got out, and other passengers gave us the “she’s so cute” as Smalls nodded off on the bus ride back to the apartment. Smalls ate yakisoba (just noodles) and my friend and I ate sushi and talked for about two and a half hours. Smalls ate the noodles and put sparkly taxi and bus stickers on paper the whole time (really! I was amazed). I probably wouldn’t recommend Fatty Fish for a dinner with kids, because the restaurant wasn’t that big, but for a late lunch on a Saturday, it wasn’t crowded, so it was just fine. The sushi was very good.

Sabor a Mexico

1744 1st Ave, New York, NY 10128

(212) 289-2641

Old Shanghai Deluxe

50 Mott St

(between Pell St & Bayard St)

New York, NY

(212) 566-4884

http://www.oldshanghairestaurant.com

Original Chinatown Ice Cream Factory

65 Bayard Street

New York, NY 10013

(212) 608-4170

http://www.chinatownicecreamfactory.com

Fatty Fish

406 East 64 Street, New York, NY 10065

1 212 813 9338

http://www.fattyfishnyc.com

A couple extra:

Uno Chicago Grill

http://www.unos.com

This is a chain and we ate at the location behind the Natural History museum (432 Columbus Avenue). They have a kids' menu, a huge dining room, and calorie counts on the menu.

Mole Mexican Bar and Grill

http://www.molenyc.com

We actually ate at the UES location twice--once for dinner and once for lunch. No kids' menu, but good margaritas.

Below the Radar

Beardy, Smalls, and I went to Below the Radar last Saturday for lunch. We'd just come back from the Scottsboro Hardwood Center, and were on our way to the military surplus store, so all we needed was a good lunch to make the day truly exciting. Below the Radar is billing itself as "Huntsville's First Brewhouse," a slogan I like because that implies that there will be more. 

I checked BTR's website on the way back to Huntsville, and saw that they did have a kids' menu, and they had fish and chips, which sealed the deal for Beardy. We got there at about 11:45, and there were about four tables full, and one or two people at the bar. It stayed about like this for the whole time we were there, so it wasn't too crowded. The TV's were showing football, which made Beardy even happier. We were offered a highchair, but we just let Smalls sit in a chair. They have some barstool-height tables and some table-height tables. 

The kids' menu looks good--baked cheesy penne, grilled cheese, chicken fingers, and hot dogs. Everything is $5. Smalls opted for the grilled cheese and fries. She ate half of it there, and then ate the other half for dinner. I did the same thing with my sandwich (Cuban panini--which was very good, but I'm not sure it was Cuban or a panini.). Beardy liked his fish and chips, and the waitress offered him malt vinegar before he had to ask. The fish and chips was $11 and the panini was $10.

They have a great selection of beer, including local beer. Beardy and I tried Straight to Ale's Stop Work 689 Kolsch and Old Black Bear Cave City lager. I liked the Straight to Ale better.

Lunchtime on a Saturday felt kid-friendly, and I'm guessing their Sunday brunch and maybe early dinnertime would be, too. It may get a little too bar-like for a late dinner, though. We plan to leave Smalls with Grandma soon and find out. You know, just in the name of research.

Bathroom report: Very clean with two stalls (one is large), one sink, and no changing table.

Toddler friendliness ratings
Atmosphere: 3.5 out of 5 booster seats. 
Food: 4 out of 5 booster seats. The children's menu is good, but I'd like to see some fruit or veggie sides.

Below the Radar Brewhouse
220 Holmes Ave. N.E.
Huntsville, AL  35801

Hours:
Monday-Thursday 11:00 AM-10:00 PM
Friday and Saturday 11:00 AM-12:00 AM
Sunday 11:00 AM-10:00 PM

Watercress at Bridge Street

I had a birthday last Wednesday, and Grandma took Smalls and me out to lunch. Because it was a special occasion, and because I needed to spend the gift certificate to Anthropologie that Grandma gave me RIGHT THIS INSTANT, I chose Watercress. Watercress is an upscale restaurant in Bridge Street, down near the Monaco movie theater. Beardy and I have been to their former location in a converted house downtown, but this was my first visit to the one at Bridge Street.

This is not somewhere I'd take Smalls for dinner, and I only chose it for lunch because it was a special occasion. The other clientele were people having business lunches, and there were no other kids. Smalls was incredibly good; the only unnecessary noise she made was RAWR-ing a little too loud when she was pretending to be a dinosaur, and she dialed it down when I told her to. And she put her napkin on her head a lot, but that didn't make any noise.

Quiet, napkiny hijinks.

If you do want to try Watercress, and want to brave it with the kids, go at lunch (or Sunday brunch), and look at the sides menu for more kid-friendly food. I packed Smalls a lunch and ordered her a side of pommes frites, which she liked a lot, of course. Pommes frites just sound better than french fries, don't they? She also ate the broccoli that I snuck onto her plate. The lunch prices are also more reasonable than the dinner prices. You can view the dinner menu here and the lunch one here.

Grandma got the shrimp and grits (mini review: the shrimp and grits at the Classic on Noble in Anniston is better), and I got fried catfish on a cornmeal pancake (looked almost as weird as it sounds, but tasted pretty good). If only they had kept that catfish bites appetizer they had downtown. Beardy and I TOLD the chef not to take them off the menu, but maybe they didn't listen to the ramblings of patrons who may have had a little too much wine.

I like Watercress, and I don't like giving it low ratings. Remember that these ratings are for those times when you have your kids with you. If this blog was for upscale restaurants to go to without kids, I'd give it much higher ratings.

Toddler friendliness ratings
Atmosphere: 2 out of 5 booster seats. Our waitress was really nice to Smalls, Grandma, and me at lunch, and she even poured Smalls' water straight from her pitcher into Smalls' sippy cup, and that impressed me for some reason, but it's just not set up for kids.
Food: 2.5 out of 5 booster seats. No kids' menu, and it's pricey, so if your kid doesn't like their fancy grilled cheese and tomato soup, you're out $10.

Lunch: Monday-Saturday 11:00 AM-5:00 PM
Dinner: Monday-Saturday 3:00 PM-Close
Sunday brunch: Sunday 11:00 AM-3:30 PM (Closed for dinner Sunday)
There's also a happy hour Monday-Saturday 3:30 PM-6:30 PM. The bar looks small but classy, so find a babysitter and try it out.

Watercress
365 The Bridge Street NW, Suite 125, Huntsville, AL 35806
(256) 585-3265
http://www.watercresshsv.com

 

Macaroni Grill

My mom, Smalls, and I recently had a big day out: storytime at the library, then frozen yogurt, pop jets, and the carousel at Bridge Street, and a late lunch at Macaroni Grill. After pop jetting for the first time this summer (I know summer's almost over, we just didn't get to it until now), I understand now why, in the summer, the bathroom at Bridge Street always made me think of the changing room at Point Mallard waterpark--this is where we have to dry off and change our soggy kids after playing in the pop jets. It gets to smelling like pool water and wet children. Fortunately Smalls and I were the only ones changing in there at the time, or it could have gotten crowded.

Once Smalls was presentable, we went over to Macaroni Grill for lunch. Grandma just retired from 35 years of teaching and got a gift certificate as one of her retirement gifts and she shared it with Smalls and me (thank you!). It was fairly late, maybe 1:30 or 2:00, and it was a weekday, so it was very uncrowded. Smalls was presented with the kids' menu/activity sheet and crayons. When the waitress came over, she brought extra crayons, and Smalls proceeded to draw on the paper tablecloth. And that's ok. It's kind of the thing here. The servers must practice writing their names upside down so they can impress diners as they introduce themselves. I can write backwards cursive, but haven't perfected my upside down.

The waitress also brought Smalls a ball of raw dough to play with, which we've never gotten here before. I wonder if this is standard, or if they're being influenced by the dough ball policy at Pie in the Sky.

I like the kids' menu here. Smalls got macaroni and cheese on a previous visit, and she ate all of it, one noodle at a time, very slowly. This time she got pizza and ate one slice. It's a huge pizza, though. Beardy ate a slice later in the day, and I had a piece for breakfast the next day. Then Smalls had another piece for lunch. Really. It fed us for 2 days! Sort of. You also get good bread before the entrees come, so Smalls did fill up on that a little. Her milk came in a nice, sturdy plastic cup with a lid and straw.

The waitress drew a butterfly on the table, so Smalls did too.

I got the flatbread with roasted chicken and arugula, and it was served on an embarrassingly large platter. Actually the platter was the size and thickness of a boogie board, you know those ones that kids throw into the surf, then run and jump onto it. Then they either skim along the edge of the water on the board or they trip and fall dramatically. Anyway, that's what I ate my flatbread off of. I suggest you share it with someone else if you order it. It's good, though.


Toddler friendliness ratings:

Atmosphere: 4 out of 5 booster seats. I love drawing on the table--I mean, Smalls loves it. I think the atmosphere is a good mix of grown-up restaurant and kid-friendliness.

Food: 4.5 out of 5 booster seats.

Macaroni Grill
5901 University Drive NW
Huntsville, AL 35086
(256) 722-4770

Sunday-Thursday 11 AM - 10 PM
Friday and Saturday 11 AM - 11 PM

http://www.macaronigrill.com
Get all the Huntsville-specific info here (hours, address): http://www.macaronigrill.com/locations/1231


 

Backwoods Bistro

Uppies and Cuppies is on the road again, this time in Sopchoppy, Florida.

We spent a week at the beach at Alligator Point, Florida, and visited Backwoods Bistro in Sopchoppy two nights in a row (that has to be a hint to how much we enjoyed it). The first night, we ordered from the non-pizza menu (grilled cheese and sweet potato fries for Smalls), but we noticed that other diners' pizza looked and smelled really good. So we went back the next night and ordered pizza (crab cakes and hummus for appetizers), and it was great. We got the Greek pizza, and the Backwoods, which was pesto and chicken. Smalls loved the pizza, too. She also liked the ice cream that came with the churros Beardy and I shared for dessert. She also liked saying "Sopchoppy" and "S-O-Peeee... choppy."

The kids' menu has some pasta choices that sound good, in addition to grilled cheese and chicken fingers. The prices range from $4.95 - $6.95. The pizza is also really good ($15.50 for a medium), and you can choose your own toppings or choose one of their combinations. Check out the menu here: http://thebackwoodsbistro.com/menu/.

Bathroom report: The one one-room bathroom also seems like a storage room, but it's clean and big enough to change a diaper in. No changing table, though.

Toddler friendliness ratings:

Atmosphere: 4 out of 5. It's casual, and kids certainly seem welcome. No complaints, but nothing special. 

Food: 4 out of 5.

Backwoods Bistro

106 Municipal Avenue

Sopchoppy, FL 32358

850-962-2220

http://thebackwoodsbistro.com/

Hours:

Tuesday - Thursday 5:00 PM - 9:00 PM

Friday and Saturday 11:00 AM - 10:00 PM

Fulin's Asian Cuisine

My car was in the shop recently (something that didn't get fixed right from when I hit a deer last winter), so I had to take Beardy to work for a few days last week. That meant he also didn't have a car to go get lunch, so I asked if he'd like for Smalls and me to come pick him up and we'd go out. We went to Fulin's Asian Cuisine in the Shoppes of Madison (it's next to Pie in the Sky).

We got there at about 11:45, and it was almost empty. It's not a buffet, like a lot of Asian restaurants in Madison and Huntsville. That's a plus for me. The TVs were showing the Food Network, subtitled in an Asian language (forgive my ignorance, but I don't know what language it was). I actually tried to take a picture of Unwrapped with subtitles, but didn't get it the first time, then felt really stupid and sat back down.

Their menu looks good; they have a lot of sushi (including lunch specials) and Chinese dishes. I got orange chicken from the Chinese Lunch section of the menu. All Chinese Lunches are $7.95. The Japanese Lunches (sushi) come with miso soup and salad and are from $8.95-$13.95.

Fulin's has a kids' menu, and here it is. Vegetarian kids will have to look elsewhere on the menu.

Smalls got the Fried Chicken with Noodles ($4.95) from the kids' menu. The chicken was small chunks fried in a batter--probably the same chicken that was under my orange sauce in my orange chicken. It also came with sweet dipping sauce for the chicken, steamed broccoli (this was a nice surprise), and a little chunk of pineapple. The pineapple chunk had its own little pineapple-chunk-shaped area in the plate, and that pleased me. Smalls also enjoyed the wonton chips that came with Beardy's hot and sour soup. 

Beardy said the hot and sour soup was very good. He also got kung pao chicken, and said it was pretty good. My orange chicken was SWEET. I've actually never had orange chicken before, so maybe this is standard. Beardy compared it to the icing that comes with Pillsbury cinnamon rolls, and he was right!

Overall, I liked Fulin's. I like that it's not a lunch buffet, and I want to come back and maybe try their sushi for dinner. It was too empty when we were there; I hope more people start supporting it for lunch.

Bathroom report: Nice, clean, three stalls, with a fold-down changing table in the largest stall. This slightly creepy baby is there to greet you.

Toddler friendliness ratings:

Atmosphere: 3.5 out of 5. Kids certainly seem welcome, but they're not really going out of their way to cater to them (and that is fine!) It's a little quiet, so if Smalls had made a little noise, I might have felt like she was disturbing people.

Food: 3.5 out of 5. The kids' meal is limited (fried, fried, fried) but it did come with unexpected broccoli and pineapple.

Hours:
Sunday - Thursday 11:00 AM - 9:30 PM
Friday and Saturday 11:00 AM - 10:30  PM

Here is their Web site, which lists other locations (Decatur, AL, and several in Nashville.)
http://fulins.com/

The kids' menu is online here:
http://fulins.com/category/kids-meals/

 

Bandito Burrito, Madison

A few weeks ago, I introduced my Aunt Bessie to Old Time Pottery in Madison. If you haven't been there, Old Time Pottery is a warehouse-sized store full of glassware, baskets, bowls, picture frames, rugs, anything for your house, really. And it's CHEAP. We were there for pasta bowls and bottles. I ended up with chicken-themed cloth napkins that say "Laying Mash." Aunt Bessie had to explain to me what laying mash is.
After our OTP adventure, Aunt Bessie, Grandma, Smalls, and I had lunch at Bandito Burrito in downtown Madison.

Bandito Burrito's front entrance on Main Street in Madison.

We arrived at about 1:30. I've been here several times at lunchtime, and even from 11-1, it's never really crowded; I've never had to wait for a table. We came in the back entrance, and seated ourselves (I think that's what we were supposed to do). There are two indoor dining rooms and one outdoor one. Sometimes they have live music outside on weekend evenings (or they did a few years ago). Another interesting feature is that they offer drink specials while the train goes by (the train goes right through downtown Madison, parallel to Main Street). It's a fun place to go in the evening.

Anyway, we found a table, and I found a booster seat for Smalls, and (although it took a little while to get noticed) a waitress brought us menus. 

We got lunch specials (Aunt Bessie and I got pork tamales covered in chili and cheese) and Smalls got the cheese quesadilla basket with fries from the kids' menu. This is not an expensive restaurant. I think the lunch specials were about $5-6, and the dinners are about $10. You can also order a la carte. We got two salsas--one was spicier than the other, but both were good. You should know that I have had bad salsa here; once it was really cold and gelatinous. But this time it was really good. Smalls liked the quesadilla (just a standard cheese quesadilla) and dipped some fries in the salsa. Does it really have to be fries? Crinkly freezer fries. All fries, all the time.

The kids' menu. That's a lot of fries.

I think the food at Bandito is ok. Not great, but I like the location, so that makes it worth going back to.

Bandito Burrito's back door. 

I always park behind the restaurant, in the small parking lot right behind it, or in the larger parking lot across Martin road with the sign that says "Free Public Parking." Then we sneak in the back door. It may not be sneaking; it just feels like sneaking. It's possible the waitress won't notice you right away either even if you come in the front door. There is street parking in the front, on Main Street.

I spotted some interesting above-the-door decorations on the way out.

Toddler friendliness ratings:

Atmosphere: 4 out of 5 booster seats. It's very casual, and you don't have to sit right in the dining room that contains the bar if you don't want to. There's also covered outside seating on the patio, which is fun. 

Food: 3 out of 5 booster seats. Fries, fries, fries! Next time, maybe we can find our own healthier choices from the sides menu.

Bandito Burrito, Madison
208 Main Street
Madison, AL 35758
256-461-8999 

Bandito Burrito's Web site in under construction at the moment, but it does have a picture of the wonderful funky sign at their location at the intersection of West Clinton and Governors Drive.
This seems to be the Web site for that location (West Huntsville): http://www.banditoshsv.com/

To be honest, I'm not sure how connected the Governors Drive Bandito Burrito and this one are. The Madison location isn't mentioned on the Web site (and doesn't have its own site). I also don't know how related (if at all) Bandito Southside is. I haven't been to the Governors Drive one in years, and haven't ever been to the one on South Memorial Parkway.