Newly Reopened Johnny's Hot Dog Provides Eats All Night

After extensive renovation and retooling, Johnny's Hot Dog reopened in January. The redone restaurant is under the new management of Bill Reidy, and many of his improvements are evident as soon as you walk in the door. The restaurant has also expanded its menu and extended its hours. Now open from 11pm to 6pm, the restaurant has become an overnight hangout which caters to night-shift workers looking for an early breakfast and to clubbers looking for a late-might snack. The restaurant is closed in the evenings for cleaning and food prep.


Johnny's now boasts the lowest priced breakfast in the Capital District, said Cook Tom Reima. For $2.49 customers can get two eggs, homefries, toast and coffee, and breakfast is served all day, he said. "We researched the area, and it's the best deal," Reima said.



Johnny's is the only restaurant in the area open past midnight, he said. "We get a lot of late-shift workers, a lot of cab drivers," he said. And business is starting to pick up now that the weather is improving, Reima said. Nicer weather has increased foot traffic on Central Avenue, and Johnny's is being rediscovered.



Johnny's is located at 66 Central Avenue. They offer a full breakfast and lunch menu and free delivery. 462-1203.

Bob & Ron's Fish Fry sees surge during Lent

Bob & Ron's Fish Fry has been a neighborhood joint for 60 years. People come from far and wide to enjoy the hand-cut, hand-breaded fish sandwiches: "We've had people come from Arizona. They get off the plane and the first thing they do is come here," said Manager David Wilbur.

The restaurant's good reputation has become such, that people are willing to wait in lengthy lines for a taste of the fresh catch, and at this time of year, the wait can be a little longer than usual. "People don't mind waiting half an hour for a fish fry on Fridays during Lent," Wilbur said. The seafood restaurant is about twice as busy as usual on Fridays during Lent, and three times as busy on Good Friday, he said.

That adds up to a lot of fish.


Eddie James has been a fishcutter at Bob & Ron's for 15 years. On a typical week, he cuts 200 lbs. of fish, but during Lent he cuts about 400 lbs. a week, and during Easter week, he cuts 600 lbs. That's about 1800 sandwiches served, he said, and that doesn't include all the other items that the restaurant serves, including shrimp baskets and clams.


The restaurant was owned and operated by the DeLeonardis family for over 50 years. The business was sold to the McGrath family six years ago, and they have operated the business with the same eye to detail and concern for quality. The restaurant ,which offers eat-in or take-out service, does a busy lunch for the area's stateworkers and also serves supper to a number of older neighborhood residents and young families.



Bob & Ron's Fish Fry is located at 1007 Central Avenue. 482-9747.

Aashiana Restaurant offers quiet, kufta, and kibbah

Saleem Ichan opened his Mediterranean and Middle Eastern restaurant Aashiana last year. In Urdu, "Aashiana" means "nest of birds or peaceful place to live," Ichan said, a fitting description for the little cafe, which attracts a crowd for the lunch buffet, but tends to be quieter and more sedate in the evening.

Aashiana offers an ecletic menu, with specialties from Greece, Lebanon, Pakistan, and India. We ordered dolmas leaves ($3.49), hummus ($2.99) which came with warm pita bread, and for dinner Kufta Balls with Rice ($7.99) chicken meat balls served in a masala sauce with yellow rice, and Kibbah ($7.99), pockets stuffed with ground meat and pine nuts served with tzatziki sauce and yellow rice. The food was good (my companion's kufta was better than my kibbah) but the most notable part of the visit was Ichan's hospitality. The meal felt like an invitation into someone's home, with Ichan bustling back and forth from our table to the kitchen to refill our mugs of spicy tea and check on us. He brought out little plates of savory pickles and Turkish olives for us to enjoy in advance of the meal--it was little touches like these that contributed to the feeling that we were truly guests in his little nest. I recommend the restaurant as a quiet spot to expand your gastronomical horizons or to enjoy a neverending cup of tea. The restaurant also offers great views of Central Avenue.

Located at 31 Central Avenue, Aashiana is not far to travel for a little sanctuary. Go check it out!

Sukhothai Opens Second Location on Central Avenue

The popular Lark Street Thai restaurant Sukhothai will open a second location at 62 Central Avenue next month. The new location will feature similar menus and specials, but it hopes to reach a greater audience.

Carmine's New Television Show Airs on Fox 23

Some professional chefs would hesitate to let you peek into their kitchen, but every week Carmine Sprio opens his doors to a television audience. Sprio is the star of a new reality television show Carmine’s, which is based on his popular restaurant and cooking show, Carmine's Table.

Broadcast on Fox 23, the hour-long television program gives viewers a peek at the day-to-day workings of a restaurant. Sprio, the owner and chef of Carmine’s in Pointe Plaza, is the ever-friendly and obliging tour guide.

Sprio said the show came out of a journal he kept about his life as a restauranteur. After years of recording great stories and events in his journal, he decided it was time to share his experiences with the public. "I wish I had a little more accomplishment with pen and paper, but I don't, so I had to suffer and put it on television," Sprio said with a laugh. Sprio met with several production companies and decided to work with Great White Productions. "They saw the vision that I had and were able to capture on camera the things I wanted people to see," Sprio said.

On a recent episode of Carmine's, Sprio arrived at work to discover that all the menus had a misspelling (It’s chicken, not chkken), the dishwasher has a leak, the oven is broken, the general manager is late, and the director is not able to make it. Unfazed, Sprio proceeds with the show, demonstrating how to prepare a pastry-wrapped pork tenderloin and an apple and pear crumble, and then he feeds the restaurant’s lunch and dinner crowd.

Carmine’s captures all the front-of-house and back-of-house action, but unlike other reality shows, Carmine’s focus is always on the food. Sprio shows audiences how to turn out delicious meals without breaking a sweat or raising his voice. Always hospitable, he even offers tips for entertaining.

The spirit of the show is hospitality, and Sprio wants to bring back family dinners. Sprio said he grew up in a large Italian family in the Bronx. Every week, the family would get together for a Sunday Dinner, bringing together anywhere from 10-60 guests. Sprio wants to bring that same "supper table" approach to his restaurant, inviting families to break bread together and share a good meal. The show offers him the opportunity to teach people at home how to do the same thing, he said.

You can catch all the action Monday-Thursday from 8am-9am on Fox 23, locally broadcast on channel 8.

Capital Thai and Sushi offers wide array of specialties

We visited Capital Thai and Sushi for dinner and left full and happy. We started with the Thai iced-tea, a sweet and creamy concoction that would have made a fine dessert, but also went well with the gyoza we ordered as an appetizer. The small pork dumplings were served with a coconut-based sauce to cut their spiciness. For dinner, we sampled food from both sides of the China Sea. The sushi and sashimi platter, made before my eyes at the on-site sushi bar, boasted fresh, tender fish. The rolls were simple, but flavorful. The generous portion of pad thai was served with bean sprouts and peanuts over lettuce, and made an impressive presentation. The restaurant decor is clean and sparse, with just a few official-looking portraits decorating the walls. Our server was very attentive and friendly, and took time to visit with all of the customers. Even though it just opened, the restaurant had its share of customers that night. It won't be long before this new spot is discovered--so don't wait to visit!

The new restaurant located at 977 Central Avenue, next to Lexington Vacuum, near the Home Depot.

Honest Weight Food Co-Op Buys $1.35 M Building

The Honest Weight Food Co-Op, a local natural and organic grocery store, has purchased a new $1.35 million building on Watervliet Avenue, and plans to relocate to the new space in 2009.
The co-op has been at the current location on Central Avenue behind the Dollar General Store for 12 years, but it is beginning to feel "pinched" in the space, said Cindee Lolick, Operations and Administrative Coordinator.

The new location offers three times as much retail space, and will also allow the co-op to add a teaching kitchen, and a full-service deli, juice bar, coffee bar, and salad bar, Lolick said. Located on 2.8 acres, the new location will also provide more parking space for customers.
The entire process is expected to take 18-24 months, Lolick said. The building still has tenants until August. After that, renovation of the facilities will begin. The co-op is working with 3t Architects to create a design for the new space. The new location at 100 Watervliet Avenue will open late spring or early summer of 2009.
“We’re thrilled,” said Lolick.