New to Soma and restaurants are $$$$$$!
If you go to Star Tavern during non-rush hour dinner times like lunch and early afternoon, it is wonderful. The background music is excellent. My wife and my favorite is the portobello special, but it is a little bit more pricey. Plain pies, sitting at the bar, and watching a good game on TV is a slice of heaven. I have plenty of Maplewood favorites, so shop around and you will find reasonable prices. You will figure it out and welcome to MOL. Some places like the Reservoir give you so much food that that you can easily have tasty leftovers the next day. And in some places, the food is so good, you can temporarily accept the price.
RobertRoe said:
If you go to Star Tavern during non-rush hour dinner times like lunch and early afternoon, it is wonderful. The background music is excellent. My wife and my favorite is the portobello special, but it is a little bit more pricey. Plain pies, sitting at the bar, and watching a good game on TV is a slice of heaven. I have plenty of Maplewood favorites, so shop around and you will find reasonable prices. You will figure it out and welcome to MOL. Some places like the Reservoir give you so much food that that you can easily have tasty leftovers the next day. And in some places, the food is so good, you can temporarily accept the price.
the Reservoir. Yes, someone else mentioned them. Reasonable but cash only? Not an issue so I will try it.
Star has won best pizza awards several times. I used to go there regularly years ago, it’s the most successful restaurant in the oranges for a reason. Great pizzas. Loyal customers will drive for miles to go back to the restaurant for food.
I love pizza. Almost any pizza. I could eat pizza every day. But I don't get the hype for Star Tavern. I think their pizza is lackluster and any of the Maplewood establishments far surpass it in my opinion.
To each his own I guess.
ml1 said:
I love pizza. Almost any pizza. I could eat pizza every day. But I don't get the hype for Star Tavern. I think their pizza is lackluster and any of the Maplewood establishments far surpass it in my opinion.
To each his own I guess.
they weren’t kidding when they said all you do is look for arguments. Stop trolling!
CharlesG said:
they weren’t kidding when they said all you do is look for arguments. Stop trolling!
Wrong tree there bud. Different opinions are ok.
CharlesG said:
ml1 said:
I love pizza. Almost any pizza. I could eat pizza every day. But I don't get the hype for Star Tavern. I think their pizza is lackluster and any of the Maplewood establishments far surpass it in my opinion.
To each his own I guess.
they weren’t kidding when they said all you do is look for arguments. Stop trolling!
I, for one, agree with ml1. I think Johnny Napkins in Union is better.
Ml1 and I disagree sometimes, but to join a platform to discuss your displeasure with restaurants and then accuse someone of trolling for discussing his displeasure with a restaurant is interesting. I don't think people are mean here. Just direct. You have to let some stuff go to make it all work. Personally there are a couple of posters who I just try to never engage with, and I'm sure others feel that way about me
ml1 said:
I love pizza. Almost any pizza. I could eat pizza every day. But I don't get the hype for Star Tavern. I think their pizza is lackluster and any of the Maplewood establishments far surpass it in my opinion.
To each his own I guess.
I thought the same. I stopped going there twenty years ago maybe, as I would go hang out with my buddies who lived in west orange on Fridays . Always wondered who were the people doing the surveys that awarded Star as best pizza. I mean, it was years in a row! Their thin crust is great though, but I didn’t feel like driving all the way up there to eat pizza. I have always been to Roman gourmet since moving to maplewood, then Arturo’s improved, then village trattoria opened up and the pizzas in town are just as good as anywhere else.
DanDietrich said:
Ml1 and I disagree sometimes, but to join a platform to discuss your displeasure with restaurants and then accuse someone of trolling for discussing his displeasure with a restaurant is interesting. I don't think people are mean here. Just direct. You have to let some stuff go to make it all work. Personally there are a couple of posters who I just try to never engage with, and I'm sure others feel that way about me
Charles barged in here… complaining about the price of dinner around this sleepy little enclave…he said someone told him to come over here and get help with his dilemma… I wonder why they sent him here…
CharlesG said:
ml1 said:
I love pizza. Almost any pizza. I could eat pizza every day. But I don't get the hype for Star Tavern. I think their pizza is lackluster and any of the Maplewood establishments far surpass it in my opinion.
To each his own I guess.
they weren’t kidding when they said all you do is look for arguments. Stop trolling!
I'm allowed to disagree. And I thought you might appreciate that the reviews are not unanimous.
Perhaps there's a third forum for Charles that would be juuuuust right.
CharlesG said:
GoSlugs said:
CharlesG said:
they weren’t kidding when they said all you do is look for arguments. Stop trolling!
Wrong tree there bud. Different opinions are ok.
no. They was told to stop earlier by others. Read the whole thing from the start.
I'm comfortable with people reading the whole thing from the start and drawing their own conclusions.
But as for substance I gave you two recommendations. Park Wood diner and any Maplewood pizzeria -- which would be Maplewood Pizza, Village Trattoria, Roman Gourmet or Artie's.
You're welcome.
DanDietrich said:
Ml1 and I disagree sometimes, but to join a platform to discuss your displeasure with restaurants and then accuse someone of trolling for discussing his displeasure with a restaurant is interesting. I don't think people are mean here. Just direct. You have to let some stuff go to make it all work. Personally there are a couple of posters who I just try to never engage with, and I'm sure others feel that way about me
we disagree about the Mets all the time And I have apologized when I realized I was being jerky to you.
With regard to restaurants, it's all opinion though, isn't it? And I think our Maplewood pizzerias are very good, thank you very much. I would think a person would appreciate hearing that maybe it's not necessary to drive over to another town, possibly have to wait for a table, when a trip to the South Orange or Maplewood Village Trattoria is at least IMHO, a better choice.
but whatever.
CharlesG said:
It just seems like all these restaurants in the area act as if this is not a suburb and it’s some type of urban environment like Brooklyn. This is a sleepy suburb in New Jersey, how are the restaurants not aware of this?
Actually, we are really more of an urban suburb, not a sleepy one. Those are generally farther west, although I don't know if their restaurants are any less expensive. We have a lot of former Brooklynites among us, so perhaps not so different other than somewhat larger homes for the high home prices.
Smedley said:
CharlesG said:
ml1 said:
So you can afford a home in this town, but not the restaurants?
We can afford the restaurants. But if we had to buy our home today, we couldn't afford it.
I’m not sure what you’re saying. I can’t live here if I can’t eat out? Our home isn’t great but we like it. We also like eating out. We try to do it twice a week as a fam.
Don't mind him, some people on here just like to argue.
Dining out in SoMa is definitely a pricey proposition these days. I think this may be peak pricey SoMa dining: https://www.nj.com/food/2023/06/a-68-pizza-revived-new-jersey-restaurant-falls-flat-review.html
(I read the article the other day but now it seems to be a subscriber exclusive. It wasn't kind to Village Hall and its $68 pizza.)
Two other options you may consider that haven't been mentioned -- Reservoir (not cheap but reasonable for good basic Italian) and Valley St Eatery (a pay-before-you-eat place that's primarily breakfast/lunch but I think they've added some dinner hours).
yes, he does like to argue. My wife calls it Internet mouth.
CharlesG said:
yes, he does like to argue. My wife calls it Internet mouth.
I haven't been arguing with you. Initially I teased you a bit, and I subsequently apologized for that.
Then I expressed a few opinions, which is what I thought you were looking for.
But I'll give you my two cents on this whole thing. Coming in hot with the whole "I'm new to your sleepy little suburb and I think all your restaurants are overpriced" isn't going to endear you to everyone.
Many (most?) new arrivals to M/SO are paying cash for $800,000+ houses. This is not your parents' suburb.
I always thought the garlic chicken at Nunzio's on Springfield was one of the great bargains in the area.
ml1 said:
So you can afford a home in this town, but not the restaurants?
We can afford the restaurants. But if we had to buy our home today, we couldn't afford it.
troll post.
CharlesG said:
ml1 said:
So you can afford a home in this town, but not the restaurants?
We can afford the restaurants. But if we had to buy our home today, we couldn't afford it.
troll post.
This is absolutely true for many homeowners in MAPSO. I certainly couldn’t afford to buy a house in MAPSO today. Couldn’t afford to pay the property taxes either. Not a troll post at all.
I think people are trying to engage with you here. There really isn’t any need for name calling.
Charlie busted in here like cosmo Kramer… one would think that he was a troll initially… but no one mentioned that.
He could very well be renting, cause if he bought a house he would certainly agree with MI1. Just bizarre.
In just one weekend, the OP found two restaurants he liked. The system works.
My guess is the OP is someone who has lived here for a while and has (re)joined MOL to stir the pot.
Well we do have physical evidence that the red fruit left his raspberry beret on a bench at the train station….so it’s plausible.
Two restaurant notes. First, Sonny's Indian food in Chatham gets deservedly rave reviews. Indian is something we rarely ordered in the past but Sonny's has upped our intake. Menu seems somewhat pricey though we always get (at least) two meals out of what we order.
Second, did something happen at/to Joe's Pizza? Driving by yesterday morning, there were cones blocking the entrances from both the Millburn and Springfield Ave sides. Granted it was Sunday morning but I don't recall the parking lot being closed whether or not the place was open.
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I don't think the responses have been mean. A person initiating a conversation by saying "I just moved here and your restaurants seem overpriced" is the one who might be perceived as being mean.