Ozone Park, NY....great Italian joint..

was out of town for a week in China and picked up the car at JFK and then started looking for a place to eat before driving back to DC....On Cross Bay Blvd 5 minutes from JFK by car is this small joint at the corner of CrossBay Blvd and Summer? street called Josephines Pizza...6 tables, one unisex bathroom, a pizza counter and Josephine in the kitchen and her daughter waiting tables....I ordered a bowl of Pasta Fagole soup and spaghetti bolangnese and my wife ordered a "small " salad and pasta marinara...our friends ordered eggplant parmigana and the other order was for sausage and green pepper with pasta....first off, home cooked, second off, delicious and third off, wrapped it up to go home..couldnt finish the portions at all....josephine came out of the kitchen to introduce herself and was this delightful woman as were her daughter....so, if you are ever at jfk and have a means of getting there, the place is great...probably if you asked josephine would probably deliver it to jfk though I am surmising here.....

boston and the Stuart Street Grill

In Copley Sq. at the Westin hotel for a meeting, had to find a crummy but good and did..a few blocks away on Stuart Street is the Stuart Street Grill..cafeteria like...good quick breakfast and good sandwiches for lunch..considering what hotel meals cost, it wasnt bad and considering that the only other choice in the area was a Burger King, I am grateful that we found this place...

montauk, long island...Salivars..

returned from a fishing trip in montauk, long island and discovered the ultimate "crummybutgood"..Salivars is open from 3 a.m. to 3 p.m. ..what more can i say..great breakfast and the only people in the place are fisherman (or fisherwoman) ..cant tell you the address but everyone knows where it is; all you have to do is ask...the omelet was almost unfinishable; the oatmeal was great and I was even asked if i wanted it with water or milk?...a great joint...

Laguna Beach, California...

out in Laguna Beach looking for a xmas time rental and came upon, the ultimate "crummybutgood"..the Pelican cafe and Malt shop..on the main drag..S.coast highway, number 981...family owned for 40 someodd years...tattooed "waiter", really couldnt call him that..more like the jokester and partner and owner with a delightful lady whose name I didnt catch...but there we were at 7:30 in the morning on Labor day...I had a ham omelete and fresh squeezed o.j.!!! and barb had a chile omelet which she said was great...the test always is the home fries and they were good as well..the coffee was hot and the ambience was terrible, as it should be!!!...hope we can find a place for xmas reasonably so we can go back and have breakfast again and again...

Niagra on the Lake , Ontario

just got back from a trip to Niagra on the Lake , Ontario which is a great town in the middle of wine country in Ontario and just lovely ...the George Bernard Shaw theater festival is there as well...we discovered the most unlikely crummy but good there.....The Stone Road Grill is in a strip shopping center right outside the historic section and had the most unbelievable food and wine that we had on the whole trip..if you saw the place from the outside, you would never consider it to be worthwhile but having said that...if you ever go there (to the town) dont miss this restaurant...expensive but worth every penny and the wine selection is fantastic..I had the Lamb made 3 different ways and I licked the plate..my wife had Tuna nicoise and she licked her plate......when we left the town to come back to the USA, we went via the Peace bridge and into Buffalo and on the way to the airport, we got off 33 east at Union road, rode about a mile and came upon the Holiday Showcase restaurant on Union Rd. in the town of Cheektowaga..had a great breakfast and then went onto the Buffalo airport...however, you have to get on 33 west to turn around to get on 33 east and then to the airport...

crab cakes...

I was told about a restaurant near BWI airport...its on CocaCola Drive near the airport...the best crab cakes i have ever eaten...i couldnt finish the second one and brought it home...its off rt. 100 going towards ellicott city and off the 295 towards washington....you turn left on cocacola drive and you can see the restaurant off to the left...the restaurant is called TIMBUCKTOO...

the united house of prayer...

in the washington post a few weeks ago, there was a report of a cafeteria in the basement of the United House of Prayer in the district...so, we (wife and I ) of course went...its located across the street from the Mt. Vernon metro and easy to get to..the folks serving are delightful, the food is good, not gourmet, the price is great and from what we understand, the biscuits are to die for ( they had run out the a.m that we were there)..long blue tables, cafeteria style but if you are a visitor to the d.c. area, and want a good breakfast and not for big bucks. the cafeteria at the United House of Prayer is great!!!..seth koch

301 plaza truck stop

One of the ways to go to phila and north from d.c. is across the bay bridge and up 301...a pleasant drive as long as you dont speed....at the town of Middletown, Delaware there is a truck stop ...the 301 plaza....open at 7...i go there once a month on the way to a consultation in plymouth meeting, pennsylvania.....the waitress, Debby, remembers me as her once a month man and I have the Hungry Man breakfast which is 3 eggs, 5-6 slices of bacon, home fries, coffee ( refills are free) and all of this with my senior citizen discount is 8 bucks....so for a 10 spot I have a great breakfast....and I get a coffee to go at no additional charge...such a deal!!!!

Florida discovery

Went fishing in Marco Island last week and we looked for a crummy but good and finally, after an hour of looking and finding a motorcyclist at 6 a.m. who responded with the suggestion that we go to Hoots...and so we did....Hoots is at 563 Elkham circle in Marco Island and is open for breakfast and lunch....Homemade bread and the rye was delicious...the place opens at 7 but there were 5 tables already occupied and waiting for the 7 am waitress....a good sign...in any event, a omelette and rye toast with good home fries was in the offing and the check for 2 of us was 20 with the tip....good breakfast....my guess is with the home made bread that lunch is probably equally as good....

Connecticut..Ridgefield..."Country Diner"

I was in connecticut for a week and had to find a place for breakfast. The Country Diner is not a diner nor is it really in the country. Its in a strip mall next to the Rugged Bear childrens clothing store. The address is 199 Ethan Allen Highway in Ridgefield (on Rt. 7) . Plastic flowers are the designer decor and New England coffee is served. The owner, is as most small joints, Greek and he and his wife and son run the place. The first a.m. I had a western omelet, the second day, oatmeal, the 3rd and 4th day, eggs over easy and bacon. The 5th day, I went elsewhere and came back the next day (the 5th day is not worth reporting)and repeated breakfast as before. All my breakfasts were well prepared, timely and plentiful. The potatoes were home made ( a very important criteria) and the price was reasonable.The coffee was hot and it did not require me to ask for a second cup.

intro information for crummybutgood...

About 20 years ago, I came upon a green ugly shack somewhere on Kiawah island, Georgia that I would have never walked into except there were expensive cars in front and so i went in...the food was prepared by a retired sous chef from the Greenbriar Hotel and I have never forgotten that meal ...so , now 20 years later, I have established this blog site for those restaurants that on the outside look crummy but inside are good...so I invite all of you out there to participate...how?post your recommendations for restaurants that on the outside, you are hesitant, and even inside, may not be worth looking at...BUT the food is good...thats the whole idea...no fast food places, no franchise places, just good family run joints...tell us all about them at any length and with any comments that you think you want to say...lets see what we come up with..in the title, use a location (state, city ..whatever) ..be as specific as you can and lots of details..what you ate, what the price was...anything and everything goes....

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