American

Review of Jean Marie Patisserie & Bistro, a.k.a. Jean Marie’s American Bistro (66 Middle Neck Road) – CLOSED

vegetable omelette at Jean Marie American Bistro

Jean Marie Patisserie & Bistro An excellent neighborhood bistro. An excellent neighborhood bistro that in some ways is still trying to find its identity but in other ways fully meets its goal of evoking the feel and flavor of a cozy European-style bistro. Rating by steve: 4 stars Jean Marie Patisserie & Bistro is one of those places that I found to be much, much better than the negative reviews on Yelp would indicate. I’m not sure if I went there on a good night, if they’ve taken the negative reviews to heart and have since improved their menu and service, or a combination of the two. But bottom line, I found it to be quaint, friendly, cozy, and a place worth visiting. The first thing to get out of the way is the name of this restaurant. The signage reads “Jean Marie Patisserie & Bistro”. But I was curious to find that there was no bakery on site (patisserie is the French word for bakery). The mystery was solved when I read their story on their Web site. Evidently in 1988 the chef and owner John Muscarello had a French pastry shop called Jean Marie Patisserie in Garden City…

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Review of Cheeburger Cheeburger (46 Great Neck Road)

cheeburger

Cheeburger Cheeburger Great Neck They’d better clean their act up if they want to survive Cheeburger Cheeburger is one of the best hamburger chains out there, but you wouldn’t be able to tell by its Great Neck location. Rating by steve: 2.0 stars I really, really, really wanted to like Cheeburger Cheeburger. I’d eaten before at their location in Plainview and I loved it. I also try to stop by their location at JFK Terminal 5 whenever I fly JetBlue. And so I was excited to hear that they’d taken over the old location at the Waldbaum’s shopping center that once housed Cosi (which I also liked and was sad to see go). I was perplexed to read an influx of bad reviews on TripAdvisor and Yelp. I figured maybe it was just growing pains, and that a couple months would help them iron out the kinks. But sadly, when I finally visited last week it was one of the worst dining experiences I’ve had anywhere. Granted, a lot of this wasn’t Cheeburger Cheeburger’s fault. We came to the restaurant on a Sunday night and it was pretty crowded. We were seated by the window, and I got to sit…

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Review of Juliebelle’s Gourmet Market and Sandwich Shop (98 Northern Boulevard, Great Neck) – CLOSED

Review of Juliebelle’s Gourmet Market and Sandwich Shop (98 Northern Boulevard, Great Neck) – CLOSED

Update 7/7/12. As regular readers of this blog know, from time to time I’ll revisit a restaurant to see if an old review is still valid. If I see the the restaurant has improved, I’ll bump up my score, and if it hasn’t I’ll make sure my review is updated to reflect it. Honestly, I think this is a much better system than newspaper reviewers (who can make or break a restaurant based on a single experience from years ago) or sites like Yelp (where people have no problems leaving one-star reviews if the server so much as looks at them funny. Today, I had the chance to go back to Juliebelle’s. I was happy to see a fairly steady stream of people coming in. Juliebelle’s is at a place on Northern Boulevard that’s not the easiest to get to, so those who make the effort do so because of the quality of the food. A few things have changed. First, they no longer serve breakfast. It kind of makes sense, especially since they open at 10 AM. This is definitely a place for a good lunch or even a light dinner. Last time I came we focused primarily on…

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Review of Giraffe (30 Cuttermill Road)

Review of Giraffe (30 Cuttermill Road)

Giraffe is one of those restaurants I pass by everyday and have always wanted to try. It’s located inside the Inn at Great Neck, a cute luxury hotel on Cuttermill Road that’s gotten rave reviews and TripAdvisor and by all accounts is a terrific place to stay, a true luxury experience with fresh flowers in the suites, goose down pillows, and marble bathrooms. Walking in on a Sunday night, the first thing I noticed is that the restaurant was completely empty. In fact, the maitre ‘d seemed a bit surprised to see us walk in. The restaurant itself is gorgeous. The decor is fitting of the luxury hotel in which it’s located and really conveys the feel of 1920′s Great Neck. You really feel like you’re walking into a scene right out of the Great Gatsby. My guess is that the bulk of its business is through room service to its guests and events (it’s definitely a great venue to throw a wedding or party, and it’s not uncommon to see the place jammed with people eating and drinking and having a good old time), but not necessarily dining. The service was definitely friendly and attentive. We started our evening…

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Review of Bruce’s Restaurant and Bakery (34 Middle Neck Road) – CLOSED

Review of Bruce’s Restaurant and Bakery (34 Middle Neck Road) – CLOSED

Bruce’s Bakery is a Great Neck landmark. Walk into the door and see the wall of famous people and you’ll see photos and letters from sports celebrities, superstars, and presidents. And something else I love about Bruce’s–he’s an unabashed Yankees fan, and has been one since way before it was “hip” to like the Yankees (if you suffered through the 1980s you’ll know what I mean). If this were a review of the bakery, it’d easily get 5 stars from me. Every time there’s a special occasion like an office birthday party and I need something baked, I go straight to Bruce’s–and get rave reviews. Most of the time I’ll get a cheesecake or a chocolate cake. (Be sure to ask them for something that’s been freshly made–once I got a fruit tart that I realized later had been sitting a little too long). Every now and then you’ll see something really special in the bakery case. Last Fourth of July, I saw them bring out this one and grabbed it right away. So again, from the bakery perspective, Bruce’s Bakery hands-down gets 5 stars from me. But since this blog reviews Great Neck restaurants, I’ll focus the rest of…

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