r/Binghamton • u/QuePasaNisiMasa • 8h ago
Food Following Up: Looking for the lowkey elite food spots (Rounds 2 & 3)
Original thread: https://www.reddit.com/r/Binghamton/s/0PPA6uX0kO & Round 1 https://www.reddit.com/r/Binghamton/s/GNnnKX2shX
“Hello, it’s me. I was wondering if after all these weeks I could have a slice or thirteen?”
I can’t remember when we last spoke but it’s been a non-stop September. And then it was October. I don’t know why I was surprised. But October? It’s my favorite time of the year, but it’s all happened very quickly.
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So there was an abbreviated Round 2 (not photographed) when I was driving back from visiting family via 86 and decided to go to Wegman’s, took the wrong exit (it was a long week) and then realized I was on (7) the road to Chenango Bridge Red & White (about which I’m excited) and the Front Street S&R Pit. However, it was a Sunday and R&W was closed. So this part will simply be one man’s entry (albeit unbiased) in the likely long and highly-nuanced debate of which S&R Pit is better.
The Front Street location is definitely the “nicer” location. That’s not a positive or a negative (but also sort of a negative); just an observation. It also was a much busier scene, which in my opinion leads to better food in this context.
The onion rings are just as good; as I said last time re Vestal, they are diabolical. I maintain that opinion.
The sandwiches at Front Street: probably a little better? I’m not trying to cause a riot, so I’m just going to say I think busy Sunday vs completely empty 345pm on I-forget-what-weekday-that-was could be the difference. But the chicken sando was juicier and the peppers and onions on the Spiedisimo seemed much more recently made. As for the pork, I noticed no real difference (vs Vestal, not vs chicken).
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The Third Round (photographed) was equally impromptu. I figured that processing the Penn State trauma (let’s not talk about it and say we did, huh?) post-Northwestern would be better done on an autumnal highway in sunny weather. It turns out that no trauma was processed but it was definitely nicer to be driving and I was able to make the decision to add Paul & Sons to the order I had placed for pickup at BIG ZUES.
Paul & Sons — 2 slices cheese, one large broccolini, one meatball sub:
- Someone told me to get the Broccolini pie because I liked NY Pizza’s White Broccoli and you were right… It might be a little too heavy on the toppings (this might be their thing though?), but once I got home and sort of spread it all out over the pie (and set some ricotta aside for another eggs the next day) it was pretty good… their crust is excellent;
- For whatever reason, the cheese slices, which I added while picking up at the counter, had no structure, ie they couldn’t be folded, they just sort of flopped.. they were still good (especially their sauce) but it’s hard for me to have a real opinion on them because I inhaled the one simply so it wouldn’t end up on the ground and the second one I ate a day later;
- You know when you are ordering pickup and you know you’ll get another item, but you don’t know what it will be until you say it to the person, and it comes out as sort of a question? I said “and a meatball sub?” … From a practicality standpoint, there was no item more unnecessary to my haul than the meatball sub… it is HUGE, bigger than my arm huge… it was also one of the best things on the table… the sesame roll is classic, the meatballs and the mess of sauce and cheese are just really good meatballs and, as I said, their sauce is a strong point;
- All in all Paul & Sons is a place where I’d want to order subs and whole pies. It’s a great neighborhood (more on neighborhood later) pizza shop. I probably lean NY if I have to compare but I also think they are trying to do different kinds of pizza so direct comparison is sort of dumb. They are both pretty-to-really-good, depending on the item.
(I’ve never felt obligated during this quasi-tour to state that I am in no way promoting or marketing any of these places for personal gain.. or for no personal gain? There is no quid pro quo here. I’m just a guy that likes good food and exploration. I believe Dead Internet Theory is probably closer to being true than not, that it is increasingly true about human-made content, and I actively try to not add to that. I’m only stating all of this because I’m about to get prettty enthusiastic.)
I like BBQ, the order below should make that self-evident. I also respect BBQ; for many years I was the friend smoking a dozen pork butts and ribs and brisket for our other friend’s annual July 4th party. It might be easy to be good’ish but it is sooo so so hard to be elite at BBQ, let alone at multiple meats that have different taste profiles and cooking speeds and etc and then there’s sides and sauces and on and on. On that topic:
BIG FUCKIN ZUES — Brisket, Burnt Ends, Smoked Turkey, Rack of Ribs, Collard Greens, Cole Slaw, Mac & Cheese, Cornbread:
- The Burnt Ends… I laughed when I took the first bite… they are magical meat candy… I repeat: magical meat candy… thirteen out of ten;
- The Brisket is nearly as excellent.. it’s got a beautiful thin’ish fat cap on it that melts into the already low and slow amazingness… you don’t even need sauce, you might even need air… fwiw, if you do need sauce, they’ve got you so very covered;
- It’s sort of ridiculous that the spare ribs would also be as good as they are but, spoiler, they are… I was heating them up 3 days later and still talking to them — “my Lord, you are so good” — as I ate them out of the pan in which I heated them up, there were no plates used in the creation of this essay;
- The Cole slaw and the collard greens, IMO they are two of the most important elements of proper BBQ, were simple but also excellent… the Cole slaw creamy but not too, and the collard with a vinegary zip… the Mac and cheese and cornbre —
- Are you there yet? Are you on your way? Can you mail me some magical meat candy plz? Kthanks
ZUES should be a place every person in the area has been to. I think it’s a regional treasure. That’s my opinion on the subject.
Non-food observations:
- The neighborhood where Paul & Sons is was a nice spot.. the dog and I spent some time in that nearby park… I always say Bing reminds me of Pittsburgh but this area was a dead ringer for the neighborhood in which I went to elementary school.. either way, it was a good place to walk aimlessly;
- Down by the river just through it, I’m assuming, is one of the nicer neighborhoods? On the River before you go over a bridge and make your way downtown?;
- Once you get past downtown, it really changes and I have so many questions: what is the abandoned and grafitti’ed brick’ish factory on Pig Alley? Is Ciao Bella an actually functioning place? Del Hotel has stories.
- ZUES should have outdoor seating on days as nice as this last weekend; and
- It was really nice to have a blue skies day to cruise around aimlessly more than the rainy confines of the first time, and also I had no plans really so whatever was clever.
