Recently just about any food chain you can imagine has popped up into the Stroudsburg area of the Poconos - and now you can chalk up another one with a Sonic being planned to go in on Route 611 near the new Gamestop/Moe’s/Dunkin Donuts/Verizon Wireless plaza.
Sonic coming to the Poconos
June 11th, 2009Pocono Restaurant Week 2009 Results
June 5th, 2009The results are in for Pocono Restaurant Weeek 2009:
Best Fine Dining- The Frogtown Inn
Best Restaurant Atmosphere- Woodfiled Manor
Best Bar Atmosphere- Sarah Street Bar & Grill/ Barley Creek & Jubilee with a 3 way tie…..
Best Happy Hour- Sycamore Grille
Best Cocktails- Cherry Valley Bistro
Best Food Presentation- Frogtown Inn
Most Creative Menu- Stone Bar Inn
Best Family Diining- Big Daddy’s
Best Late Night- Jubilee
Best Brunch - Blakeslee Inn
Best Breakfast- Mollies
Best Dessert- Stone Bar Inn
Best Outdoor Dining- Sam Sead’s
Best Appetizers- Frogtown Inn
Best Burger- Jubilee
Best Sandwich- Jubilee
Best Soup- Mollie’s
Best Salad- Mollie’s
Best Wings- Barley Creek
Best Beer- Barley Creek
Best Chicken Entree- Cherry Valley Bistro
Best Steak Entree- Woodfield Manor
Best Prime Rib- Woodfield Manor
Best Seafood Entree- Smugglers Cove
Best Vegetarian Entree- Kreative Kuisine
Best Italian Entree- Peppe’s
Best Sushi- Sarah Street Grill
Best Japanese- Shiro Restaurant
Best Buffet- Mount Airy (write-in)
Best Ribs- Bailey’s
Best Thai Dish- Saen Thai
Best Waiter- Vinnie @ Cherry Valley Bistro
Best Waitress- Staci @ Frogtown Inn
Best Bartender- Derek @ Big Daddy’s
Best Overall Service- Frogtown Inn
Best Portuguese- Manata Grill
Best Indian- Pangea
Best Pizza- Goomba’s
More info available at: http://www.poconorestaurantweek.com
Who can resist free ice cream?
June 4th, 2009I sure as heck can’t - stop by the Eastburg Friendly’s this Saturday June 6th from 12pm - 5pm to receive a free single scoop cone or dish.
Yum!
Pocono Marathon Run for the Red 2009
May 13th, 2009The fourth annual Run for the Red is happening this Sunday so if you’re planning to visit the area be sure to visit PoconoMarathon.org to view the course map to avoid the race path. Many streets are shut off for periods of time and unless you’re familiar with the area you may find yourself a little lost.
The Pocono Marathon Run for the Red benefits the American Red Cross and all of the profits go back directly into the Pocono community. They always need volunteers so if you’re looking to help out or give some time be sure to contact them.
Pocono Parent Spring Expo
May 12th, 2009Pocono Parent Magazine held its 4th annual spring expo this past Saturday from 11am - 4pm at Stroudsburg Intermediate Elementary School.
The expo is free to attend and had a lot to offer for Pocono Families. We were greeted warmly by Pocono Parent staff and were given information on their “Local Values” which you could sign up for free to receive coupons for the Pocono area.
They had plenty of free fun things for the kids from characters walking around - we spotted Spongebob and Elmo, free face painting, tattoos and a painting craft by Home Depot. The company that was suppose to be offering free kits, Digikids I believe was unavailable so the people from McGruff were offering their basic kit for free that day.
All in all it was informative, a lot of vendors had summer camp information and programs you could sign your kids up for from karate to soccer to music lessons. It was a good array of vendors and information, my only complaint was that it was really really hot and our baby was very uncomfortable and cranky because of it. Besides that it was a good and if you’re looking for local Pocono resources for your kids I’d definitely recommend stopping by next year or this fall for their next expo.
Expo 2009
May 5th, 2009Expo 2009 is a yearly business expo run by the Greater Pocono Chamber of Commerce that takes place at the Koheler Fieldhouse at East Stroudsburg University. It provides local businesses the opportunity to showcase what they do while allowing the community to learn more about them.
The Expo will take place on May 7th from 2:30pm to 7:00pm and on Thursday May 8th from 12:00pm to 7:00pm. Admission is $2 for adults and $1 for children.
Free Golf at Cherry Valley Golf Course
April 8th, 2009From now until “the recession has lessened”, at least for the summer if not the year, after 4pm on Friday’s Cherry Valley Golf Course will be offering free golf. I heard about this at the business card exchange that they held at their location this month but I would still call to double check the details since I couldn’t seem to find anything in writing.
With times being tough all around, the slogan “if it’s free it’s for me” readily applies so whether you’re a golfer or not, a local or just visiting it’s something you might want to check out.
Would you eat there?
April 7th, 2009Ewww…I don’t know if it’s because I’m getting older and more “fuddy duddy” or what…but I’m taking more and more notice to the quality, or lack there of, when I go out to eat. The bathrooms are an issue in themselves - I’ve stopped using them before I eat because 9/10 times there’s something that’s disgusting enough that could turn me off from a meal. Mind you, I don’t eat out that much, the meals on average are maybe $10-$20 a person so I guess you could say you get what you pay for, but still. As any woman who has been pregnant knows it’s not really a choice to forgo using the bathrooms, so I’ve visited plenty in my time.
Aside from bathrooms there’s things like the cleanliness of the dishes, silverwear, table. I understand that sometimes the dishwasher doesn’t work 100%, sometimes you forget to wipe the table after you eat…but when you’re at a location that you’re paying to eat at I assume those are always things that are triple checked. But then again in today’s world I find more and more that customer service has gone to all hell, products are made cheaply and are expected to break and the majority of companies would rather lose a customer then fix the problem at hand.
Anyway, back to the food. The Pocono Record had an article recently on local restaurants that are out of compliance. You can see the list here: http://www.agriculture.state.pa.us/agriculture/cwp/view.asp?a=3&q=137994
Currently out of Compliance:
China Pearl
BLAKESLEE PLAZA BLAKESLEE, PA 18610
Comfort Inn
Route 611 BARTONSVILLE, PA 18321
MARITAS II SW BAR & GRILL
RTES 940 & 423 POCONO PINES, PA 18350
Sammy Boy’s Pizza Plus
222 Eagle Valley Mall EAST STROUDSBURG, PA 18301
Now the disclosure says:
Food Safety Inspections Disclosure
Please remember that any inspection is a “snapshot” of the day and time of the inspection. An inspection conducted on any given day may not be representative of the overall, long-term cleanliness of an establishment. Also, at the time of the inspection, violations are recorded but are often corrected on the spot prior to the inspector leaving the establishment.
But some of these are multiple offenders and just plain nasty…and these are only excertps…
Maritas
Date: 04/13/07
Purpose: Regular
Comments: Food storage room used as a break room, ash tray with numerous cigarette butts on the table. The owner stated that he will address the issue with his employees and there will be no smoking in the food prep and service areas.
Date: 02/11/09
Purpose: Regular
Comments: Black residue observed on the interior of the ice machine bin on the break plate.
Date: 02/11/09
Purpose: Regular
Comments: Sheetpans in walk-in used as shelving have mold-like growth on them.
Date: 02/11/09
Purpose: Regular
Comments: Rice/ chili was held at 98/120 degrees F rather than 135 degrees F or above as required.
Date: 04/13/07
Purpose: Regular
Comments: Old food residue on cook line shelves and tables; on the bottom of the ccok line bain marie by the stove; on the bottom, doors and shelves of the bain marie by the fryers. *Mold/dirt on the divider in the ice machine.
Date: 05/24/07
Purpose: Follow-up
Comments: Mold/dirt on the divider in the ice machine.
Date: 03/26/08
Purpose: Regular
Comments: Old dried food and grease residue is covering the exterior of bulk tortilla chip cotainers, interior of reach-in refrigerator units on hot line, on the floor of the walk-in, on storage shelves, on an out of use fryer, and in the out of use bar reach-in interior.
Date: 02/11/09
Purpose: Regular
Comments: Shelving under prep tables and attached to walls through out kitchen are not clean to sight and touch.
Date: 02/11/09
Purpose: Regular
Comments: Exterior of food storage bins (approx 5 each)are not clean to sight and touch.
Date: 02/11/09
Purpose: Regular
Comments: Black residue observed on the exterior of metal pots and pans.
China Pearl
Date: 10/17/06
Purpose: Complaint
Comments: The handsink in the kitchen was blocked by a used cloth hamper. A handwashing sink shall be accessible at all times for employee use.
Date: 10/17/06
Purpose: Complaint
Comments: There is no sign or poster at the kitchen hand wash sink to remind employees to wash their hands. §46.941(e)
Date: 11/15/07
Purpose: Regular
Comments: The handwash sink in the kitchn area was blocked by boxes and not accesible at all times for employee use.
Date: 10/22/08
Purpose: Regular
Comments: Electric drill and other construction related equipment was stored in hand sink. Faucet on sink is not operational. No running water. Owner set up temporary sink.
Date: 10/22/08
Purpose: Regular
Comments: Chicken, shrimp, and other PHF was held at 45 degrees F rather than 41 degrees F or below as required. PIC iced PHF to bring paramenters . All products no needed for lunch moved into walk in cooler.
Date: 10/22/08
Purpose: Regular
Comments: Potentially hazardous ready to eat food, prepared in the food facility and held for more than 48 hours, located in the walk in cooler, was not date marked.
Date: 11/15/07
Purpose: Regular
Comments: Knives and / or cleavers stored between table edges which are not easily cleaned and sanitized.
Comfort Inn
Inspector Comments: Soap was not available at the handwash sink in the kitchen area. No sign or poster posted at the handwash sink in the kitchen area to remind food employees to wash their hands. Paper towel dispensor empty at the handwash sink in the kitchen area.
Inspector Comments: Temperature measuring devices for ensuring proper temperatures of equipment are not available or readily accessible in all refrigeration equipment.
Sammy Boys
Inspector Comments: Raw meats/poultry above RTE foods in reach-in cooler. Raw beef stored on top of bread in reach-in freezer.
Inspector Comments: Black residue, pink slime observed on the interior of the ice machine bin around ice forming tray.
Inspector Comments: Floor mixer has old dried food residue on dough arm and inside of attachment hole. PIC states he is unable to remove arm from mixer.
Inspector Comments: Butcher block table has dried food residue on food contact surface.
Inspector Comments: Observed staff cleaning wares in 3 compartment sink without setting sinks up: wash, rinse, sanitize. Staff failed to sanitize.
Inspector Comments: Debris and dried food residue on the gasket of display case and on the lips of ss bread drawers.
Inspector Comments: Potentially hazardous ready to eat food, prepared in the food facility and held for more than 48 hours, located in the walk-in and reach-in coolers, were not date marked.
Inspector Comments: Proper cooling methods were not used for potentially hazardous foods. PIC states that sauce is cooled at room temperature to approximately 70*F and then placed in walk-in cooler in plastic 5 - 10 gallons tubs.
Inspector Comments: Single use forks and spoons are stored in a manner to allow employees to touch the food contact portion of untensil.
Well, now that you’ve probably lost your appetite for lunch, or dinner, it gives you something to think about the next time you’re eating out.
Olive Garden opening in the Poconos
March 21st, 2009I know I know, if you like Olive Garden you’re darn excited, if you don’t then you’re probably thinking “seriously, another eatery?”. It opens this Monday, March 23rd at 4pm in Stroudsburg in the Best Buy/Old Navy/Panera Bread shopping center. For the first week it will only be open for dinner starting at 4pm, the following week they should be open for their regular lunch/dinner schedule.
Just a few years ago the strip of 611 from the Crossroads to Main Street Stroudsburg was a lot quieter. Crossroads (not to be confused with the crossings) use to be a highly trafficked area for truckers as an active truckstop/rest area. Over the past few years the area across from the main truck stop has become a retail center that contains a Lowes, Kohls, Chilis, Red Robin and Longhorn Steakhouse. In process where the truckstop there is a Red Lobster, AT&T and Giant supermarket going in.
Heading towards Stroudsburg there’s a strip mall going in on the left that so far just contains a Dunkin Donuts(imo you can’t go wrong with a few more DD’s). If you keep going you’ll see that where there use to be trees(if you haven’t visited in awhile you’d probably be shocked) there’s clearing after clearing making way for who only knows…When you get almost into town that’s where the Olive Garden is going - it’s a relatively new shopping center with an Old Navy, Borders(I think), Best Buy, Five Guys Burgers, Panera Bread and Five Below. Due to the economy both the Starbucks and Linens and things are already gone. Sidenote - KB toys and Waldenbooks in the Stroud mall have also fallen to the times.
Personally, I like having the options and would love to see an Outback Steakhouse go in as well(I know with Longhorn and Texas Roadhouse opening not too long ago it’s not that needed but I still love me some Outback).
The way I see it is the Poconos are changing - they had their shining moment years ago of resorts and celebrities and over the years that has greatly faded. It feels like the area is getting overcrowded at times, which honestly I think it is, but if it’s going to build up I’d rather see some larger companies coming in then just strip malls of lousy stores. Extra people means extra traffic, extra crime(the shootings lately are getting more absurd/frequent), and less trees…but in the economic downfall we’re going through should anyone really complain that there’s more jobs being created and more tourists coming which in the end means more money all the way around.
A visit to Callies Candy Kitchen and Callie’s Pretzel Factory
March 16th, 2009Last weekend was unusually warm for March in the Poconos (above 60 degrees) and after being holed up inside all winter we were more then ready to get out for some weekend fun. My son was dying to play outside but the warm weather had caused all the snow to melt making our yard and the local parks one big mudfest. My husband and I decided some indoor fun might be a better choice and after some thoughts we decided we would see what local factories would be open for the day for tours. We considered a candle factory, which we’ve visited before, but decided on Callie’s Candy Kitchen and Pretzel Factories which would be both new and yummy.
Located in Mountainhome, PA it was a short trip for us and although it might be a bit of a drive for some it was definitely a fun time. We visited the Pretzel factory first - having visited the Snyders factory in the past I had invisioned some huge building and wasn’t disappointed but semi-surprised that the pretzel factory was on such a smaller scale. We walked in and you could see the pretzel making process right there - we went at about 11am so there was no one there but us. My 5 year old was really excited to see the pretzels enter the oven and kept running around and coming back to see if they had finished cooking(they were slowing cooking on a conveyor belt).
They had a section of “left handed gifts” like a left handed spiral notebook for people like my husband who are always complaining “you right handed people have no idea how 
difficult it is to write in a spiral notebook”. They had a large variety of pretzels(of course) both hard and soft and every color & flavor of popcorn that you could imagine (my son got the tutti frutti that is show in the picture). One of the employees showed us how all of the different pretzels were made - he some dough and made a standard pretzel, their pretzel on a stick, and a funnel cake pretzel. On our way out we all bought our choice of pretzels - I went with the soft pretzel on a stick(it just looked fun), my son got the funnel cake pretzel, and my husband got a standard soft preztel all of which tasted great.
We headed up the street to Callie’s Candy Kitchen which was about 5 minutes away. They had your standard variety of candy, chocolate, fudge, holiday candy, etc. but they also had a huge variety of different candies as well. There was a wall of chocolate molds you could buy (the ones you melt discs into) in probably 100+ varieties - so if you’re looking for a ski boot/skis mold or something for a special occasion like a baptism you’re sure to find it there. There were premade chocolates from molds in all the current kids characters like spongebob, transformers, hannah montana, etc.
After walking around for a bit we spoke with Mr. Callie who said he would be doing a presentation in a bit. Callie’s Candy Kitchen was established in 1952 and it’s amazing to see that he still is so passionate about candy all these years later. Mr. Callie not only explained how the candy and chocolates are made - but about the simplicity of business and marketing. How many different types of chocolate are there? 1. How many different types of Ice Cream are there? 1. It’s Ice Cream…not Ice CreamS. That all probably makes no sense, but if you sit down with “The Candyman” he will be sure to tell you all about it.
Oh…and there were samples in the store and a bunch after the presentation - needless to say I had my fill by the time we got out of there! So if you’re looking for an inexpensive(or even free if you don’t buy anything) trip this year be sure to stop by Callie’s - it’s definitely “old school” but unique, true to the Poconos and most importantly yummy!