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Park Side Restaurant, Corona


MitchW

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Had a meal here the other night which really shined:

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Double order of their baked clams, which are great.

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And an order and a half of soft-shells, sautéed. Big and meaty they were.

My main, and what I usually order here:

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Chicken scarpariello, on the bone, with sausage.

Don't forget, the mains come with pasta or a salad...

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I've never been to Bamonte's, so I can't compare, but this is some good old school Italian restaurant food.

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1 hour ago, small h said:

I went to Michael's fairly recently. Same kinda thing, and one of my favorite types of food.

While the menus may be similar, I don't know if any place is kinda the same as Park Side.

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It's down the block from The Lemon Ice King? In Corona, Queens.

Its founder, Tough Tony Federici (RIP), was a capo in the Genovese family?

It doesn't take online reservations - you gotta call.

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18 minutes ago, MitchW said:

It's down the block from The Lemon Ice King? In Corona, Queens.

Its founder, Tough Tony Federici (RIP), was a capo in the Genovese family?

It doesn't take online reservations - you gotta call.

Lemon Ice King! Never been to ParkSide but LIK is the shizzle

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1 hour ago, MitchW said:

It's down the block from The Lemon Ice King? In Corona, Queens.

Its founder, Tough Tony Federici (RIP), was a capo in the Genovese family?

It doesn't take online reservations - you gotta call.

So not the food. The other stuff.

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It was an excellent meal.   There were 6 of us and, with a very sizable tip and 4 good enough bottles of wine, we barely managed to get the cost to $100pp   The soft-shells were some of the best I've had, the clams above average & Mitch didn't mention that the other apps were an excellent chopped salad with gorgonzola and a large serving of stuffed mushrooms.  Ginny had the Veal Piccata & I had the Eggplant Parm, both of which made full lunches the next day.  I think that "Significant Eater" (Mitch's wife) had a Veal Parm that she liked a lot, but I'm not sure what Rich (yes that Rich - remember him?) and wife Peg had.  And there was a full plate order of sautéed hot and sweet peppers w/onions as well.

small h asked me this Michael's comparison question before  so I punted it to Rich at dinner, who is a known regular for lots of years at Park Side, but has eaten at least monthly at Michael's (business lunches, staff dinners, some social events, wine dinners, etc) for many years as well.  He believes that the food at Park Side is a notch better (I agree, although Michael's has improved a lot and its a smaller notch) but is very very similar in what's offered/ ingredients used as Michael's.  Park Side is a very different environment than Michael's - Michael's generally being a slice of middle class Jewish/Italian Brooklyn (its in the Madison HS area, home of Bernie and RBG), while Park Side is more of a classy Rao's environment but one where everyone can get in, and is probably more diverse than Michael's (&, as Mitch mentioned, more "interesting").  Park Side has booths with names of patrons on brass plates and a Marilyn Monroe room upstairs, while Michael's has white tablecloths, a catering business & jarred sauces available everywhere.

We talked about Bamonte's, the now shuttered Frost and several other very good old style Italian American restaurants while we ate.  All are/were, in our opinions, several notches below both Michael's and Park Side.  I'd add Monte's to that as well.

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That covers it pretty well.  I did take a look at comparative menu prices, and Park Side appears to be slightly less expensive.

Those soft shells were really great (and now I want to try the fried soft shells)!

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I’m not sure where to place Emilio’s Ballato, as its way more sceny & expensive, but its right up there with Michael’s too.

And, yeah, we take folk to Monte’s a bit.  The street is fratty, but the place is fun.  And good.

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So - Forlini's doesn't really fit.  Frost was good - but it also doesn't fit. And I remember a place in Dyker Heights we liked - New Corner or something?

I've yet to go to Bamonte's.

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23 minutes ago, Steve R. said:

Didnt get back before they closed.

I used to go there every time I had jury duty (four times, I think). And one of my cousins was obsessed with the place and wanted to go there - or Ping's Seafood - every time she was in town from LA.

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Just now, Sneakeater said:

Sam's is a good example of an Old Skool Red Sauce place that isn't nearly as good as you want it to be.

Speaking of which, my own new local Old Skool Red Sauce place, Joe's, which isn't good at all.

But the prices!

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I'd place Sam's a couple of notches below the places that are a notch below Michael's & Park Side.  If you need a fix, it's fine.  If he's in a good mood.  I'd actually recommend going to Vinny's of Carroll Gardens (a steam table place) on Smith St or Table 87 on Atlantic Ave over Sam's but whatever.

As for Ferdinando's, yep.  Haven't been for awhile since a good friend lives in Joe of Ave U's neighborhood, so I go there for my Sicilian fix.  Both are steam table operations but, on days with turnover, make great pasta con sarde, chic pea fritters and spleen sandwiches (with or without ricotta to help clog your soft spot).

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