robertfcowper

robertfcowper t1_jdnx3o7 wrote

Reply to comment by bsidetracked in A Rickel Home Center location in Menlo Park, NJ sometime in the 1990s. Rickel was an early forerunner to Home Depot based in South Plainfield. Bulldozed for a Target. Photo from Flickr user Jeffrey Johnson featured on Facebook page Remembering Retail. by 7nationarmy

Oh man, Charlie Browns. Salad bar was nice, I wish more places had that still.

Just remembered Bennigan's too. I can still taste their turkey sandwich, they were two decades ahead of the pretzel bread trend.

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robertfcowper t1_jdntolw wrote

Reply to comment by MickCollins in A Rickel Home Center location in Menlo Park, NJ sometime in the 1990s. Rickel was an early forerunner to Home Depot based in South Plainfield. Bulldozed for a Target. Photo from Flickr user Jeffrey Johnson featured on Facebook page Remembering Retail. by 7nationarmy

Frank's sounds familiar. Feels like I can picture the logo with a flower within the letters. Did you grow up near Brick?

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robertfcowper t1_jdn4w5s wrote

Reply to A Rickel Home Center location in Menlo Park, NJ sometime in the 1990s. Rickel was an early forerunner to Home Depot based in South Plainfield. Bulldozed for a Target. Photo from Flickr user Jeffrey Johnson featured on Facebook page Remembering Retail. by 7nationarmy

My father talks about Rickels all the time. The plaza in Union where it used to be will forever be "the plaza where Rickels used to be" even though that was like 30+ years ago.

I let myself get suckered in by a Facebook ad for a site selling retro brand t-shirts. Got my dad a Rickels shirt, possibly the best reception to a gift I've ever given him. (For us NJ folks they also had Bradlees, Caldor, Jamesway, Ground Round, Metrostars, and a few good others I can't remember.)

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robertfcowper t1_jdav2z6 wrote

Reply to comment by Bluegreenmountain in Bachelor party ideas by OffroadWheelchair

Second this. Sounds like it'll be a bit of an awkward mix of people who aren't all that close, so AC seems like a bad idea to me. Not everybody is going to be on the same page about gambling, partying, strip club, etc and because nobody's going to want to speak up in a group they don't know well they'll just keep quiet and have an iffy time. But most people can get behind a really nice dinner and some quality hang time in a cool location. Bonus is everybody will have a chance to chat and get to know each other in that type of setting which will make everybody have more fun at the wedding.

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robertfcowper t1_j9s7vit wrote

Reply to Ribs in northern NJ? by poland626

It's not a bbq place but Fire in West Caldwell has surprisingly good ribs (it's a rotisserie chicken place). Very easy ride from Parsippany down 46E and take the right fork to merge onto Bloomfield.

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robertfcowper t1_j1xnmav wrote

Reply to Looking for a date night restaurant in Essex/Hudson by mbc106

Fauborg is our go to for a nice night out. In fact we are going on the 30th since it was way easier to get a sitter than on NYE. We've also had great meals at Turtle + Wolf and Mesob. We haven't been to Mesob since they flooded so I'm not sure if they are back 100%. Samba has some fantastic food but their customer service has become militant since covid so I'm not sure we will be back soon after a weird lunch a few months ago. I'm interested in Porto but haven't been yet.

We haven't been to it yet since the changeover but Parkside Social in Verona looks promising. It used to be Ariane which was our favorite. Bloom in Verona is also very good, we recently did an anniversary dinner there. The menu is small and Korean/French fusion so you might want to do some recon first to make sure it's up your alley.

In Caldwell there's a BYO tapas restaurant called Xunta that we like to bring family and friends to because most people have never been to an authentic tapas restaurant around here. Bring a bottle of wine for their sangria and I think you'd be very happy with how far that $150 goes.

A little further west from when we lived in Parsippany is a little strip mall BYO Italian place called Gourmet Cafe. Unassuming and surprising with a friendly executive chef who greets every table and loves to share his homemade limoncello.

My wife's company has given her "get dinner on us" offers in the past and after her supervisor promised there was no limit or strings attached we lived it up at Ruth Chris on the company card. There's one in Parsippany and Short Hills.

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robertfcowper t1_j052pbm wrote

Reply to Best BLT in NJ? by qazxcvbnmlpoiuytreww

Dave's Delicious Deli in Caldwell makes the best one I've had not homemade. (Everything they make is great and as fresh/homemade as can be, definitely check them out and get the "chicken salad" and the buttermilk chicken tenders)

Best tip for a super easy homemade BLT... Swap bacon for a ton of barbecue chips. You get the crunch and smokiness but you don't have to cook the bacon first. Bonus points, it makes it vegetarian/vegan depending on the chips and spread you use.

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