Fun in Saratoga

Breakfast in Saratoga

2013 Update: "Best Breakfast in Saratoga Springs" click here.

If you read some of the books on Saratoga history, breakfasts in Saratoga during its heyday in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries were gluttonous feasts.  These weren't simply large breakfasts using today's standards, but huge buffets with steaks, fried chicken, ham and every other kind of meat you can imagine, plus of course all of the other accompaniments including "Saratoga melons", creamed potatoes, and corn bread.  I love food, but when I read what they had for breakfast back then I reach for the Tums.

The trouble with Saratoga breakfasts today is that they tend to be overlooked, and all the restaurant buzz seems to be about the dinners.  Well I say breakfast should regain its status as a great event in the Spa City!  Let's return to the gluttonous feasts as a cure for the hangover! 

Until that happens, here are my top picks for breakfast (by today's standards) in Saratoga Springs:

1. To me Beverly's on Phila Street is by far the best place for breakfast.  Michael and his staff are so creative with the specials and my only complaint is that they all sound so good that I have trouble choosing.  Their breakfast wraps are a personal favorite of mine - there's one on the menu named after the owner Michael and then usually one available on the special board.  If the weather is good, ask for an outside table in the shaded outdoor dining area. I hope you won at the track at the day before, because while the breakfasts at Beverly's are great, they are also expensive.  UPDATED:  Michael's Mother Beverly has opened The Turf Club Restaurant in the Springwater Inn on Union Avenue at Nelson Avenue and she is serving breakfast also - I haven't tried it yet but I bet it is very good.
2. Compton's on Broadway near Church is an institution in town and it's really the complete opposite of Beverly's.  Both the menu and the, shall we say, ambience and comfort level, are very basic, but Compton's does basic right.  Whereas Beverly's is a sophisticated place with unusual ingredients and innovative dishes, Compton's has trucker special type breakfasts that are hearty, cheap ($5.75), and very good.  Beverly's may have breakfasts with avocado, fresh in season fruit, and perhaps savory spices like rosemary and curry, Compton's on the other hand offers eggs, breakfast meat, spuds and toast.   Both are great, it simply depends what you want. 

3.     Country Corner Cafe is on Church Street behind the post office.  They have some inspired choices like Beverly's and they're a little less expensive than their Phila Street competition.  I have always had good breakfasts there.

4.  The Lab - formerly "The Cupcake Lab/Isabel's Bistro" has great food made from scratch and the dining room is large and comfortable. You can locate The Lab off Long Alley (which runs behind the post office toward Forno Bistro) or off Broadway by entering in the Roohan Building.

5.  Some honorable mentions include the Bread Basket Bakery on Spring Street, which does not have full breakfasts but does have great baked goods and egg sandwiches, the Spring Street Deli which has the best egg sandwich in town, Ravenous, which has excellent crepes and the best pommes frites (french fries) in town, The Horseshoe Inn on Nelson, the Saratoga Diner/Restaurant on South Broadway, and of course you can have breakfast at the track.

Well there are my thoughts on breakast in Saratoga, both in the past and the present.  Let me know what you think.  I hope you are winning at the track.  Lord knows I'm not.

Read reviews of Saratoga Springs restaurants on The Saratoga Life web site.

Singer-Songwriter John Sebastian to play at Universal Preservation Hall Friday night

Welcome Back,

Your dreams were your ticket out.

Welcome Back,

To that same old place that you laughed about.

Anyone over the age of, Ohhhh I don't know, let's say 40, probably will recognize those words as the beginning lyrics from the Welcome Back Kotter TV show theme.  The mid 70s ABC sitcom which launched the careers of John Travolta and...and...well, John Travolta, also gave singer-songwriter John Sebastian a number one hit single.

Sebastian was well established as a musician in the decade prior to America's introduction to Vinny Barbarino (Oh yea, and Arnold Horshack).  He formed The Lovin' Spoonful (as well as other bands) in the 1960s and had memorable hits with "Summer in the City", "Do you believe in Magic" and others. 

Probably my favorite Sebastian effort is one that very few people realize he was part of.  Sebastian played Harmonica and the harp on The Doors' "Roadhouse Blues" ("Let it roll, baby roll...  Let it roll, all night long") and I once heard a great interview in which Sebastian described what appeared to be an incredibly high Jim Morrison - I know, I know, your saying "Jim Morrison?  High? Egads Dan, don't you verify your sources???" (I of course share your incredulousness, but anything is possible, so stay with me here.) Anyway, as I remember the interview, Sebastian described Morrison as acting sort of crazy ("Morrison?"  "Crazy?") and ad-libbing previously unpracticed lyrics, most notably "Save our City, Save our City" and Sebastian said he had to keep up with Morrison's erratic tangents.  If you listen to the song, and know the story, it makes the enjoyment even better and it you focus on the "save our city" lines and Sebastian's response, it demostrates, to me anyway, Sebastian's brilliance on the harmonica. 

So this brilliant rock and roll hall of famer (I'm referring to John Sebastian of course, Mr. Morrison left the building almost exactly 40 years ago) is coming to Saratoga Springs' Universal Preservation Hall Friday night for a concert. I will be there, and you should be too.  Show starts at 8pm - go on the UPH web site for more information.  See you there!

 

Bruce Springstein on Saratoga B & B prices - "goin' down, down, down"

I have written many posts in the past about Saratoga Bed and Breakfast establishments for sale.  This post here links many of the other posts I wrote on the topic, and here are some updates:

• The price of the Saratoga Sleigh B & B, which was once listed for $1.85 million, is now $1.585 million.  

                        

• The Westchester House B & B (On Lincoln Avenue at Five Points) which was for sale 2 years ago but was taken off the market and I don't think ever did sell, is back on the market for $799,000. 

         

• The Chestnut Tree Inn is back on the market with a new Realtor at the reduced price of $649,000.

• The Fox and Hound B & B and Union Gables are no longer listed in the MLS system.  I would venture to guess that the Fox and Hound owners are willing to listen to a reasonable offer, and I know that Union Gables is presently under new management that is leasing the beautiful home at the corner of Court Street.  

 

• Finally, the incomparable Batcheller Mansion is still listed for the tidy sum of $5.5 million.  I hope if anyone buys it they keep it exactly as it presently is.

    

Diana at Saratoga Race Course to create new Grade 1 winner

ESPN has the story here. 

Don't forget Saratoga Horse Racing will be shown live on the Versus Channel Saturday from 5-6pm.

 

Saratoga Wine Bar has new chef

In case you missed this off the Table Hopping blog - the Wine Bar has a new chef.

Need track tickets?

For 2014 Saratoga Reserved Seating information - click here.

 

I am republishing this entry from 2009 because it's still relevant today:

Did you ever notice that no matter how bad the economy sucks, you still can't get reservations at a good restaurant when you want them?   Unfortunately, the same truth applies to weekend seats at the track; they're hard to get no matter what.   Here are my suggested ways to get track seats for the in demand weekend days:

1. Well, back in January, yes January,  you should have met the NYRA deadline and mailed in your Saratoga seating wish list with a check.  Didn't do that, did ya?  OK, fine, just make a mental note to start checking the NYRA web site around Christmas time and at least you won't have to do the below steps perennially.

2. Check Ticketmaster.com.  I was bothered by the fact that NYRA decided to stop selling seats from the Holiday Inn each night, but that was before I realized how easy and sensible it was to get seats off Ticketmaster, which NYRA has apparently contracted to sell track seats. Type "Saratoga Race Course" into the search box and go from there.

3. Check Stubhub.com - this ticket reselling site is well organized and guarantees your purchase, which is huge when buying tickets where unscrupulous sellers may not deliver as promised or could possibly even deliver bogus tickets. I found Stubhub easy to use and well run, the only problem is that the seller never delivered my track tickets as promised.  I called Stubhub about this and they advised me via a message that some sort of snafu occurred and that they would refund my money, but as I write this later in the day from that message they have not refunded me yet.  I was frustrated because I heard good things about Stubhub but I'm not satisfied with their service in this case (which was for opening day track seats that I was getting for some friends, therefore leaving me high and dry). Nonetheless I'll give them another chance just based on their good reputation.  It wasn't just the seller stiffing me  but also Stubhub's poor communications in this process when I called them with the problem that bothered me.  Even when they (finally) told me they would refund my money I was thinking "I don't want my money back, I want the tickets I was promised!"  Again, Stubhub seems to have such a good that reputation I will try them again.

4. Ebay - as you know, you can buy just about anything on Ebay, Saratoga race course seat tickets included. It's not as well organized as Stubhub, and Ebay does not guarantee much, but it's an option.  Just beware of unscrupulous people. 

5. Craig's List - I believe it was Consumer Reports that described Craig's List as "the wild west" of internet purchases", and it's an accurate description.  It's not well organized, and you really have to hunt for things.  Again, there are no guarantees and you have to watch out even more to ensure you aren't ripped off.  If you can meet in person to make the transaction, then I suggest that to ensure you get what you are paying for. Click on "New York" then "Albany" then search for "Saratoga Race Course" or "Saratoga Track".

6. Stand in line for the 9am opening of the track ticket office on Union Avenue.  Get there early and be prepared to stay there for a bit.  You should also be prepared to get lousy seats, section  'Y' or out in the sun and rain.  Still going to forget again in January?  Also, when in line, make eye contact with people a lot because some of them may be selling their seats that they can't use - and there are also a few there that simpy are scalpers and have tickets available for a (high) price.  They're not supposed to sell there but they often do so it is an option.

Please note that with Stubhub, Ebay, and Craig's List you may pay below or significantly above face value of the tickets.  It's simply a law of supply and demand.  If you want clubhouse tickets for a Wednesday, you can probably deal and save some money to get them below cost. If you want Clubhouse tickets for a Saturday, be prepared to pay through the nose.  If you want Clubhouse tickets for the Travers, well, they won't quite ask for your first born child, but they will ask for several hundred dollars. If you really want them, you'll pay it, and if you don't, you won't.  Gotta love capitalism!  Please note this is not all inclusive and I welcome other avenues to get these seats in the comments field below.  Good Luck!

A few Saratoga thoughts

Damn I have had trouble blogging lately, darn life keeps getting in the way.  Let's see if this post gets me back in the groove.

• Track season is like summer and Christmas - it sneaks up on you and you barely have a chance to catch your breath before it's over.  Well a few years ago it wouldn't even be starting until this Wednesday so it was a nice weekend even though I didn't win much.  Sunday's weather was beautiful of course, Friday and Saturday - not so much.  NYRA already has plenty of my money, but it's all good and I love it.
• My wife and I are really becoming fans of the NYC ballet.  I think we went for the first time last year, and we went on the final night this year.  I've said it before and I'll say it again - we are fortunate to live in or visit Saratoga Springs and there are so many gems here. 
• Broadway is always abuzz these days, but that empty Borders building sure sticks out - especially at night when it's all dark.  I hope they find something for it soon.  A March 1st headline in the Saratogian read "Saratoga Springs Mayor:  Borders Broadway spot should be filled soon."  Uhhh Scotty, it's nearly August and the building is still empty.
• Other than the aforementioned Borders location, it looks like many of the formerly vacant Broadway locations were filled up - most notably the former Saratoga Guitar Center location at the corner of Caroline Street and the storefront at the corner of Spring Street. 
• Did you know there is yet another pizzeria that either already opened or is about to open near Caroline Street?  It is on Henry Street where the short lived Liberty Bell Cheesesteaks once was and the equally short lived Smokey Joe's Barbecue Express.  I think it's called Prima Pizza or something like that.  Yay.
• I like the work the Saratoga Springs Public Library did on the checkout area - it looks more modern, spacious and inviting.  Our library is yet another gem.  

Well, that's about it for now.  Hope to see you at the track, and I hope your luck is better than mine.

 

Saratoga bar barbs

Hello folks - I've been awfully busy lately and haven't been blogging much, but plan to pick it up as soon as I catch my breath.  In the meantime here's an interesting post I saw in the Times Union's Table Hopping blog about the owner of Club Shadow accusing the mayor of "favoring Sperry's" and "hurting others".

Saratogian sold to NYC investment firm

Wow!  Didn't know this one was in the works.  The Times Union is reporting that The Saratogian and Troy Record newspapers have been sold by the Journal Register Company to a New York City Investment firm. 

I had my complaints about the Journal Register Company in the past, but it seemed like they were trying hard in recent years and, along with Saratogian Managing Editor Barbara Lombardo and the Saratogian's staff, working to make our hometown newspaper better.  Sales like this make me uneasy - out of town investment firms tend to look at the money and...the money.  Let's hope for the best.

Longfellows Summer Beer Dinner

I am copying an email from Longfellows regarding their summer beer dinner:

Longfellows Summer Beer Dinner
Wed August 10, 2011 6:30 PM
Hosted by Chris Dooling of
Saratoga Eagle Sales and Service
 
 
First Course: White Grape and Almond Gazpacho
Paired with: Kona Wailua Wheat
 
Second Course: Korean Shrimp Lettuce Wraps : Jumbo Shrimp sautéed in a sweet-spicy Korean glaze with Asian Vegetables served in a cold crisp lettuce cup
Paired with: Redhook Wit
 
Main Course: Our Hand cut 16oz Prime Strip Steak in a house Sea Salt Rub, Grilled and topped with Caramelized garlic Herb Compound Butter, Worcestershire Glazed Onions and chicken fried Portobella mushrooms
Paired with: Widmer Brothers Pitch Black IPA
 
Dessert Course: Vanilla Bean Ice Cream laced with Bourbon Glaze, Sweet Pineapple Chutney and
Almond Brittle
Paired with: Widmer Brothers Nelson Imperial IPA
 
 
Seating is limited. Please call early for reservations
518-587-0108
$70 per person tax and gratuity inc
Stay the night and enjoy the track at a special rate of $239.00+tx*
*based on availability