Looking for breakfast, Long Island, NY

Any suggestions? I'd like to stay within +/- 8-9 miles of the Nassau/Suffolk border (Merrick or so in the west, Babylon in the east), on the South Shore. Maybe Hempstead Turnpike as the northern extreme.

I was turned off by Glen's Dinette in Babylon: way too many bare hands all over the food.

I'd vote for Maureen's kitchen in Smithtown but it may be out of your range to travel. Here's a link, look under breakfasts. There may be another place that catches your eye under Best of Breakfasts, Diners, Coffee, Bagel shops...

http://www.longislandpress.com/?cp=40&show=article&a_id=6921

The East Bay diner on Merrick Road in Bellmore has never dissapointed me. The Spinach and Feta Omelette is always fantastic.
I've heard great things about the Marybill Diner on Merrick Avenue in Merrick but have never eaten there.

quote:

Originally posted by Scott_R

Any suggestions? I'd like to stay within +/- 8-9 miles of the Nassau/Suffolk border (Merrick or so in the west, Babylon in the east), on the South Shore. Maybe Hempstead Turnpike as the northern extreme.

I was turned off by Glen's Dinette in Babylon: way too many bare hands all over the food.

I like Glen's, but it is always so busy I have to wait then feel rushed. I really enjoy the Terrace Diner on Surrise Hwy in West Babylon (on north side of road, between Little East Neck and Belmont Ave. overpasses)

quote:

Originally posted by Tony Bad
I like Glen's, but it is always so busy I have to wait then feel rushed. I really enjoy the Terrace Diner on Surrise Hwy in West Babylon (on north side of road, between Little East Neck and Belmont Ave. overpasses)

I've been there twice; the first experience was OK, the second unpleasant.

I'm sitting there, toast in hand, eating when I really start to watch the work behind the counter. The final plate prep was done by a guy who took the plates from the griddle and did the toast/butter. He took the toast, buttered it, put the knife on then pressed his entire hand down on the whole piece of toast, and sliced it. Sometimes one or two more people would put their hands on the pieces--a waitress who came by and tossed the pieces onto a plate, or another waitress who tossed a couple of pieces aside looking for the right variety of toast, then those tossed-aside pieces would be handled by someone else. The same guy who did the toast was going around doing other things (including going outside and doing heaven knows what). I put my toast down and avoided it.

For me, bare hands on ready-to-eat food is an issue.

Also, I didn't get a single refill of my coffee the entire time. I asked for the check and it took 5-10 minutes to arrive. Almost right after handing it to me, the waitress practically demanded the money (foolish--I was looking the bill over to calculate the tip). I won't be returning.

quote:

Originally posted by kozel

I'd vote for Maureen's kitchen in Smithtown but it may be out of your range to travel. Here's a link, look under breakfasts. There may be another place that catches your eye under Best of Breakfasts, Diners, Coffee, Bagel shops...

http://www.longislandpress.com/?cp=40&show=article&a_id=6921

While I've heard good things about it, Maureen's is definitely out of range. A 50+ mile round trip for breakfast... maybe not.

I've been to Mundy's and I like it, but it's again too far. The idea of driving 45 minutes (a similar distance as for Maureen's) when I haven't had the morning coffee....

Actually, Milk & Sugar Cafe in Bayshore has a nice breakfast, but again, the distance... it's one thing when I'm out and about during the day, another thing when the brain is still cycling up to speed.

quote:

Originally posted by Scott_R



For me, bare hands on ready-to-eat food is an issue.

Today's pic of the day (Original NY System, RI) is a nauseating example of unsanitary "touching" of food. That guy's sweaty forearm on the hot dog buns would send me running from that place. Disgusting!!!

quote:

Originally posted by Pigiron
Today's pic of the day (Original NY System, RI) is a nauseating example of unsanitary "touching" of food. That guy's sweaty forearm on the hot dog buns would send me running from that place. Disgusting!!!

Had to look that one up . Yuck.

Here's a "better" story (no pic, sorry).

My brother is a health inspector. He related to me a story of going into a diner, and down to a food prep area they had in the basement.

You know the stuff many diners put on the table first, the small bowls of cole slaw and the like?

Well, there was this worker standing in front of a large garbage pail. He was dressed in a tank top and was bent over the garbage bucket, arms embedded almost to the pits in the cole slaw that filled it. He was using his whole arms to stir the stuff around. He'd come up, shuck the slaw off his arms and back into the bucket.

Needless to say, they were forced to dump the stuff.

A few years ago, comedian/actor Chris Eliott had a short-lived TV show on the FOX network called "Get A Life". A true ne'er-do-well, he attempts a series of occupations, including restaurant Health Inspector.
As he obliviously tours a spectacularly unhygienic kitchen, he happily ignores numerous hilarious violations, including
a Rastafarian cook whose dreadlocks are drooping deeply into the soup-pot he is stirring, and a mangy dog nursing a litter of puppies (and, I think, one skunk)while laying on a split-open sack of flour.
Good times.