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Message |
    
mlj
Citizen
Username: Mlj
Post Number: 179
Registered: 6-2001
| | Posted on Tuesday, October 25, 2005 - 2:23 pm: |     |
Sunday Brunch (or Sunday afternoon lunch) in Montclair or towns further north - any suggestions? |
Brett
Citizen
Username: Bmalibashksa
Post Number: 1978
Registered: 7-2003
| | Posted on Tuesday, October 25, 2005 - 2:30 pm: | |
Trumpets
http://www.trumpetsjazz.com/ |
I'm Only Sleeping
Citizen
Username: Rbrunner
Post Number: 92
Registered: 5-2004
| | Posted on Tuesday, October 25, 2005 - 2:47 pm: | |
Raymond's. Best New York style brunch anywhere around here. Really amazing french toast. |
michael brant
Citizen
Username: Mbrant
Post Number: 10
Registered: 10-2005
| | Posted on Tuesday, October 25, 2005 - 3:11 pm: | |
I'm only sleeping you are so right. I just moved from Montclair and I often dined at Raymonds..breakfast, brunch and lunch. Not loving their dinner though. Why don't we have a raymond type of restaurant in South Orange? |
pat houlahan
Citizen
Username: Imsocurious
Post Number: 17
Registered: 9-2004
| | Posted on Wednesday, October 26, 2005 - 11:10 am: | |
Michael: South Orange is not one of those towns that can easily accepts new concept with higher prices. Cuisines with higher standards usually charges more because of their creativity and quality. Not able to understand that concept might lead them to compare with Park Diner or any favorite diners in the nearby area. Raymonds is a new bread altogether. Raymond serves memorable brunches and breakfast which people stand in line (like 30 people) every weekend just to taste his food. Raymond has a snappy character but somehow people see past that flaw of his. We have been eating at Raymonds since 1995 and I am sure his history goes beyond that.
We love new restaurants coming to South Orange and we do support every one of them whenever we could. We eat out between 2 - 3 times a week. Not that a lot of restaurants come to town but every new restaurant suffered heavy criticism due to their innovative and quality standards.
It's like asking people to start a business in town but you cannot charge more than the average and we want you to be upscale or at least better than the average decor.
Our local residents expect businesses should charge suburbs prices because of where they are located, not considering what they are offering.
Like most local residents do, we will travel to have better quality restaurants in other towns because they survive there.
We have a handful of excellent restaurants between the 2 towns Maplewood/South Orange and we definitely can support more than that.
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mlj
Citizen
Username: Mlj
Post Number: 181
Registered: 6-2001
| | Posted on Wednesday, October 26, 2005 - 11:43 am: | |
pat - 30 people waiting in line? I am too old and crabby to do that anymore. Sounds like Raymonds does not take reservations. |
summerbabe
Citizen
Username: Summerbabe
Post Number: 15
Registered: 7-2005
| | Posted on Wednesday, October 26, 2005 - 11:50 am: | |
The thing about Raymond's is that for brunch or lunch you wouldn't spend any more money there than you would having lunch on a weekend at the St. Jame's Gate and, I know I'm setting myself up here for a lot of guff from pub devotees, but the food at Raymond's is far superior. So I kind of don't understand your argument. It's not even a matter of paying more, because french toast or eggs benedict at Raymond's will set you back the same $7 to $11 that a sandwich and fries would at the pub, and Maplewood/South Orange residents seem more than happy to pay that judging from the fact that there is always a crowd at the pub. As for decor, you can produce an aesthetically pleasing upscale-looking retro diner for probably less money than they spent redoing the St James Gate space. I don't see why this type of business wouldn't do fantastically here, especially if it offers affordable comfort food and caters to families. So I do think a business like Raymond's could do well here. After all, how many times do we see threads about the lack of good brunch alternatives on MOL? |
I'm Only Sleeping
Citizen
Username: Rbrunner
Post Number: 94
Registered: 5-2004
| | Posted on Wednesday, October 26, 2005 - 12:05 pm: | |
Yeah, I don't get this either. Seems to me that if the line is 30 people deep and people are driving all the way from Maplewood to go to Raymond's, that suggests that this area needs MORE places like that, does it not?
I think a reasonably priced, mid-scale, kid-friendly, high-quality comfort-food restaurant would do extremely well in M/SO. Something like Bubby's seems like a no-brainer. |
michael brant
Citizen
Username: Mbrant
Post Number: 12
Registered: 10-2005
| | Posted on Wednesday, October 26, 2005 - 12:12 pm: | |
Pat that is sad to hear! If we want better businesses to come to our town we must expect to pay more.
Raymonds is wonderful you can hardly compare it to the saint james gate. We ate their last Saturday night on a reccomendation. In my opinion and this is my opinion the food was horrible. The restaurant by 10:00 was so filled with smoke from the bar that you could not breath. It was terrible. There were 4 of us and no one at the table enjoyed their meal. I hope new restaurants do not read your post as they will be scared from the town. We are planning to try antonellas this weekend and have drinks at Papillon. |
summerbabe
Citizen
Username: Summerbabe
Post Number: 16
Registered: 7-2005
| | Posted on Wednesday, October 26, 2005 - 12:27 pm: | |
Hi Michael,
It was me, not Pat, who compared Raymond's to the Gate, but I was only doing so regarding price point and what M/SO residents are willing to pay. I agree the food at the Gate is not very good and the atmosphere leaves much to be desired, but that's just my personal opinion. My point to Pat was that if we are willing to pay what we pay for the food and atmosphere at the Gate, why wouldn't we be thrilled to have a good restaurant like Raymond's in M/SO offering better food and atmosphere at a similar/slightly higher price? And honestly, I was a little offended by Pat's post because it reads like M/SO residents aren't sophisticated enough to appreciate upscale diner fare/American comfort food, assuming we'd compare Raymond's to the Parkwood diner (not that there's anything wrong with the Parkwood). The only reason I introduced the Gate into this thread was because it's the only restaurant I could think of in our area that is a similar price point and is incredibly successful as a business. It has nothing in common with Raymond's as far as food/vibe is concerned. |
michael brant
Citizen
Username: Mbrant
Post Number: 13
Registered: 10-2005
| | Posted on Thursday, October 27, 2005 - 2:09 pm: | |
Oh thanks summerbabe. I alos found this person to be knocking the sophistication of the residents of the town. I will tell you something interesting that I heard. Raymond was approached a while ago to open in South Orange I believe their was a location available and he decided not to. I believe his reason was that he would not do the business he needed to do. I personally thought this was strange as I was packing to come here! As far as the Parkwood diner we went and it is a good diner. Every town needs a good diner.
I think we could also use a nice Italian restaurant that serves pizza!!! |
pat houlahan
Citizen
Username: Imsocurious
Post Number: 18
Registered: 9-2004
| | Posted on Friday, October 28, 2005 - 12:28 am: | |
I was merely saying the expectation of SO residents wants better fancy restaurants but not willing to accept the price they charge. Comparison to diner prices or lower end restaurants doesn't justify the quality of food and decor they offer.
Voro is a fine example, good food and great ambiance but people will find faults to bring it down, such as, overpriced wines, tips problem, velvet rope and so on. A total renovation with a bar (market value for a liqour license cost close to $300,000.00) and what do you expect them to charge for food and alcohol.
Most great or better restaurants in the area get most of their customers from surrounding towns and only a fraction locally, namely, Papillon 25, Arugula, Voro, Jocelyn's(now Lorena) and a few others.
The locals need basic restaurants for their daily patronage, more down to earth, child friendly, good food and good prices. How do you think those pricier restaurants survive during the week.
All I am saying is to give new restaurants, maybe fancy and pricey, the support instead of giving them the beating. New businesses needs the locals to support them too.
Two great restaurants, one's gone and the other barely surviving are Taste of Asia and Heart & Soul. Chef Jesse has great quality food, a very creative chef and he cares about his food but he charges more than average. I expected that but a lot doesn't. They were comparing him to other BBQ places that charges less in regards of the quality, that's sad.
Taste of Asia is gone and people were complaining about the price and decor and all sorts of other stuffs. South Orange can't even support a decent Asian sit down restaurant and that's sad. By the way, this past Saturday I was at their Chatham location trying to get an early dinner before a play, they were not able to sit 4 of us down at 6:15pm. They said they were booked solid until 8:30pm. I just don't understand why they failed in South Orange. |
eliz
Supporter
Username: Eliz
Post Number: 1218
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Friday, October 28, 2005 - 9:36 am: | |
Raymond's is exactly the kind of restaurant that I think would do extremely well here. The atmosphere is simple and sophisticated, it's very family friendly, the food is simple and delicious and it's not expensive. |
michael brant
Citizen
Username: Mbrant
Post Number: 14
Registered: 10-2005
| | Posted on Friday, October 28, 2005 - 9:40 am: | |
Pat now I agree with you. Thanks for clearing this up. I used to go to the TOA while I lived in Montclair all the time we loved it. When it moved here we traveled over to go and still loved it. It was without question wonderfully prepared asian inspired food. Always spotless, pleasant, professional and every table set perfectly! I was so sad to hear it closed I had thought it closed due to a lease problem or something. We also now go to chatham and it is always packed...same food....same price and in my opinion for the quality cheap! As a new resident to the town I agre that what is lacking is a nice everyday basic restaurant to go during the week! Where can you get a good burger...a nice breakfast or a casual simple dinner without spending two hours or too much money. And please do not suggest that diner on the corner by the train it is disgusting...filthy and the owner is nasty! That is why Raymonds would be a perfect fit!
Some evenings we stop in Voro for i nice salad and a glass of wine very pleasant but those ropes have to go! Last week we were there for a light dinner and when we left those ropes were up. What is that about! If they need to put ropes up to control the crowd then they should re think what they are doing there in the evening.
But I am sad to hear your reasons for the TOA leaving town too bad it is a gem! |
Starr
Citizen
Username: Starr
Post Number: 117
Registered: 9-2002
| | Posted on Friday, October 28, 2005 - 1:31 pm: | |
Approximately seven or eight years ago there used to be a great Raymonds style place on South Orange Avenue (possibly in Livingston) called Max's. It had a very cool retro style decor. Don't know why it closed. |
summerbabe
Citizen
Username: Summerbabe
Post Number: 21
Registered: 7-2005
| | Posted on Friday, October 28, 2005 - 2:09 pm: | |
Pat,
Now I understand your point. We, too, loved TOA and were disappointed to see it go. And we were surprised by the number of complaints pertaining to their prices. However, I still think Raymond's is affordable, family-friendly, and exactly what the area needs. But maybe I'm just projecting what I want onto everyone else. |
mlj
Citizen
Username: Mlj
Post Number: 182
Registered: 6-2001
| | Posted on Saturday, October 29, 2005 - 11:28 am: | |
Very interesting, and thanks for the suggestions on the posted topic.
Just wanted to try this again - aside from Trumpets or Raymonds, anyone have suggestions for Sunday Brunch or lunch in Montclair or towns further north? (a relaxed setting for adult get together). Thanks. |
dc906
Citizen
Username: Dc906
Post Number: 14
Registered: 2-2002
| | Posted on Saturday, October 29, 2005 - 2:52 pm: | |
Suzette's on the same block as Raymonds serves a much better brunch to me. I have been to Raymonds
many many times and I appreciate the atmosphere but the food lacks "umph". The egg dishes are just blah and the home fries are dry with no flavor. Pancakes/french toast are fine though. The menu items sound good on paper, but never really deliver. Other suggestions are Church St. Cafe, One 15 Cafe |
pat houlahan
Citizen
Username: Imsocurious
Post Number: 19
Registered: 9-2004
| | Posted on Sunday, October 30, 2005 - 12:00 am: | |
Indigo Smoke offers buffet brunch. |
phyllis
Citizen
Username: Phyllis
Post Number: 446
Registered: 6-2001
| | Posted on Sunday, October 30, 2005 - 11:22 am: | |
Anyone know if Raymond's is open for dinner? Sunday night? |
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