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Went for a prix fix restaurant week dinner last night. I was meeting 2 others who called to say they were going to be 20 minutes late, but the hostess happily sat me at our table anyway- which was a pleasant surprise. I had a very girlie, but very strong cocktail as I waited, and was checked on (but not in an annoying way) a couple of times by the waitstaff. The menu was unusual and appealing and I tried things I wouldn’t normally order…I figure, during restaurant week it’s the perfect time to branch out a bit. All 3 of us loved our apps, entree, dessert and the delicious flat bread and olives they kept bringing. The service was gracious, knowledgeable, friendly and attentive. The atmosphere, while a little loud, was open and airy and very tasteful. Looks like a fun place to come with a slightly larger party so that you can share lots of apps and grilled whole fish. I’ll come back someday…After I finish trying the other 50,000 restaurants in this amazing city.

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I LOVE Otto’s. I’ve been ordering in and dining here for about a year now and have never been less than thrilled about my bang-for-the buck. Delivery is super fast..Food is plentiful, fresh and delicioso. My favorite part of the delivery experience is that when you call and ask to hear the specials, you think you aren’t understanding one word of what the heavily-accented waiter is saying..But lo and behold, he finishes speaking (warpspeed fast) and you realize that you actually understood everything he said. Yes, I WILL have the garlic bread, Yes! I would like to hear about the desserts. Thanks Mr. nice thick accent man. You are the best. Try the rigotoni with chicken and artichokes and ask them to add fresh mozzerella. YUM. Or, if you are feeling iron depleted, try the awesome sliced steak sandwich.

Update March 2011: I DO still love Otto’s cafe…but I thought I’d add how much I love their butcher shop down the street a bit on 82nd and York ave. They make AMAZING sandwiches. I particularly love the smashed meatball, the chicken cutlets and the italians- usually on a roll or a baguette. I frequently grab a chopped salad and 1/4lb of tuna or chicken salad for a picnic near the river. Aside from that, it’s the best place to buy any kind of meat in the area, not to mention their frozen pastas. It has a wonderful old-world family-run feel to it and the people who work there are warm and helpful. There is often sawdust on the floor which I find particularly charming. Go check it out!

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Wow, this place makes yummy stuff! Everything tastes fresh and homeade. No toritillas from a factory here, nope. A little on the pricey side for some of the items, but the tacos are about 2.50 each and taste great with fresh radish slices and cilantro. Great guac too!

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Excellent UES pizza. I stopped in today for a slice with mushrooms, fresh mozz, and fresh basil and it was much better than average. The sauce has a little kick to it- and the clearly-fresh ingredients make quite a difference from the standard. It took me a while to find this place- but it’s my new fav in my hood.

Follow up:
Still one of my local favs, 3 years later! The owner is very friendly and always greets me with a smile and something nice to say. I still LOVE the mush/basil/mozz slice and just got home from enjoying one!

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eh. Since I am not actually a vegan I probably didn’t like this place as much as I might have. If , for instance, I would never eat a real bacon cheeseburger, than yes, their fake-n soy cheese (not) burger was pretty good but alas, compared to the meat alternative it left a bit to be desired. It came with some mushy mildly flavored sweet potato fries- that we asked for ‘well-done’ but were still pretty squishy. That said, the oyster mushroom app was pretty great- but then again, what isn’t great when it’s deep fried in cornmeal? The prices are kind of ridic considering the ingredients they use. I mean- yes, I know organic is pricey, but $6 for fresh juice? C’mon now.

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For those of you who are not Jewish, and/or don’t have Jewish friends who have educated you in the way a bagel SHOULD taste, THIS is a bagel. This is a darn good bagel in fact. I would go there much more frequently if the whole place wasn’t completely taken over by obnoxious children and parents who can’t control them. My advice, get it to go. One of the things I really like about this place is the service. It’s super fast- and they always say it’s really nice to see me again. I’m not sure if they actually remember me each time, but they are pretty good actors if they don’t.

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My FAVORITE place to get delivery from when I am sick. They make outstanding chicken noodle/matzo ball soup.
When I’m not sick (or when I’m sick but still have a Carey-sized appetite) I LOVE their whitefish salad, chicken salad, and any of their awesome smoked fishes. YUM. Definately plan to get delivery or to-go…’cause it’s always hot and fish-stinky in there.

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I have a love/hate relationship with Eli’s. It’s SO beautiful and fun to shop there…but yet, SO SO SO crazy overpriced. I did my weekly shopping here yesterday for a fun, indoor activity- since it’s about 95 degrees out and I wanted to get out of my apt in some other a/c’ed environment….My normal weekly shopping costs about $50-$75 depending on how creative I am planning to get with my dinners…Here, it cost me $129. Insane…As I unpacked my groceries, I noticed that produce especially was just over-the-top expensive. I (I am embarrased to say) paid $7.99 for organic blackberries and $13.99 for organic sugar snap peas. WHAT?? Cleverly, the produce is marketed in such a pretty way (with the prices written on a blackboard seperately- which kept me from the awareness level that should have protected my wallet) that I bought it anyway. NEVER again. Next time I’ll be going back to Ramon, my favorite corner-produce stand guy, who always has great, fresh stuff AND always throws in some free fruits for me

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We went for the restaurant week pre-fix meal. Fantastic food. The fish was cooked to perfection, the produce was fresh as could be. Delicious bread and different dips/spreads. The only dissapointment was the dessert. As far as I’m concerned, if it’s not chocolate, it’s not really worth the calories…However- this was sticking to the theme- Greek, and so they offered a baklava type thingy and a yogurt thingy…neither of which impressed me much.
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I LOVED this place. I was there for restaurant week for a friend. It was VERY tempting to order from the regular menu..There wasn’t anything on the menu that didn’t sound good. And the cheese. Oh the cheese. There is a room full of cheese. There is cheese fondue (not that we had that, but just seeing it and thinking about it was lovely) Everything we got was outstanding. And the cheesecake, oh the cheesecake. I wanna go back. Soon.