Belmont Diner in Elmont, NY

Belmont Diner is located in Elmont on Long Island, right across the street from the Belmont Racetrack. I ate breakfast here about a week before the Belmont Stakes...

Inside, there were plenty of horse racing themed paraphernalia...

A huge plate of whole wheat toast was served first.

Soon followed by my Spinach & Feta Omelet with homefries. This was a good omelet with plenty of fillings. The potatoes were also really flavorful, with no need to add salt or ketchup. With most of the nearby diners being insanely overpriced for what the food is, this breakfast was really affordable and the food was above average!

Eddie's Ice Cream Truck in Long Island, NY

I love how multiple ice cream trucks pass by several times a day through neighborhoods in Long Island. While up north, I waved down one of these trucks...

Here's a Rainbow Merlin from Eddie's Ice Cream Truck in Elmont, NY. The Rainbow Merlin was a vanilla cone with the lower half dipped in sprinkles and the upper half dipped in hard chocolate.

Of course, no mention of New York ice cream trucks would be complete without Mister Softee:

Bagel Talk Inc. in Elmont, NY

One morning I got breakfast from Bagel Talk Inc. in Elmont, NY. This little store is located in the back corner of a shopping center, right next to an Italian restaurant. Both stores seemed so small and close together that at first I thought they might be connected. Turned out they weren't.

I had an egg and cheese sandwich on a sesame bagel. I was initially considering getting a bagel and cream cheese, but then decided that since the temperature outside was just pushing 30°F, I'd go with something warm. The freshly scrambled eggs did the trick. No complaints here.

Ah Law Kitchen in Elmont, NY

Just as the first snowflakes began to fall starting a big snowstorm, I picked up Chinese take out from Ah Law Kitchen in Elmont, NY. I was considering eating my food here, but their heater was broken. I was cold as I sat waiting for my food, watching the owner attempt to fix the heat, so I took the food back to a warmer location.

I started with a scallion pancake appetizer. I love these things...

I also had the shrimp with broccoli lunch special. It came with huge shrimp, plenty of broccoli, and carrots in a brown sauce. This came with a side of brown rice. The lunch was supposed to come with a wonton soup too, but they forgot to put it in the bag. By the time I noticed, I didn't feel like going back.

I liked the food from Ah Law Kitchen, although I wasn't happy about not getting my soup!

More King Umberto's in Elmont, NY

I've written about them before, but here once again is King Umberto's in Elmont, NY. They still hold my place as the best pizza I've tried. I don't have much else to say except to point out how nice looking their pizza is compared to most other pizzas. Look at the pictures and drool...

Weekend Trip: King Umberto's Pizza

I returned to King Umberto's Pizza in Elmont, NY and had my first experience where their pizza was bad. The place was packed and I think that may have been part of the problem. It seemed like they were a little flustered by the amount of people all ordering pizza at once, plus the overflow of people from their sit-down dining room next door. They still had their amazing selection of pizza, so the experience started out well. I ordered a slice of vegetarian stuffed pizza and a slice with fresh mozzarella. When the slices came out of the oven, they were very burnt. So burnt that all you could really taste was charcoal. Some of the toppings/stuffing were completely black, and forget eating the crust. It was like a rock.


I've never seen King Umberto's serve pizza like this, but it seemed every slice coming out of the oven was blackened around the edges. I'm not exactly sure what the problem was, but I hope it was a one time fluke and their pizza will return to being amazing on my next visit.

Weekend Trip: Greek Salad from Stop 20 Diner

I ate at Stop 20 Diner in Elmont, NY. I was with a very large group of people so that resulted in the service being a bit sub-par, but regardless, this eating experience was better than my last visit here.

The meal started out with a basket of really good challah and assorted crackers.

The plates of coleslaw and half sour pickles came out next.

For the main course, I ordered a Greek Salad. This was a good example of what I want in a Greek Salad, complete with stuffed grape leaves and anchovies. The only thing that was missing was kalamata olives. Besides from the olives, I had no complaints.

Stop 20 got it's name from the days when trolleys/streetcars ran along Hempstead Turnpike. The trains were eventually replaced by buses, but throughout the changes in transportation, stop 20 along these routes has been on the corner in front of the diner, hence the name...

King Umbertos & Italian Pastries

I ate dinner from King Umbertos in Elmont, NY for a second time. Their pizza is still the best ever, and had improved from the last visit where the selection of pizza choices was somewhat slim. Tonight there were plenty of different pies to choose from.

I took home the slices of pizza from King Umbertos rather than eating in the restaurant. I can't name all of the slices, but the square slice is called Grandma's Pizza. Next to Grandmas, there is a stuffed vegetable slice. The slice next to that consists of a spinach crust topped with cheese, basil, plum tomatoes, and more. There is a cheese slice next to that, followed by a slice topped with fresh mozzarella, and then another slice on the spinach crust.



Out of all of those slices, I had the stuffed vegetable slice and one of the spinach crust slices.


They were both really good. It's hard to decide which was better...



I ate some dessert from Ramona Lee Italian Pastries in Franklin Square, NY. Cream puffs, pignolis, chocolate mousse, and more. It was good a good dessert!

Everything Bagel From Elmont Dunkin' Donuts

I ate this freshly baked everything bagel with cream cheese from the Dunkin' Donuts in Elmont, New York across the street from the Bellmont Racetrack. It tasted like a bagel should...

BUT, doesn't it sort of defeat the whole purpose of going to Dunkin' Donuts if you order a bagel?

King Umbertos Pizza

King Umbertos in Elmont, New York has the best pizza I have ever eaten. All other pizzas have to be compared to the pizza from King Umbertos.

When I ate here for dinner, I had a slice of stuffed vegetable pizza and a slice of plain cheese. Although the pizza selection was a bit thin when I ordered and the ovens needed cleaning (which happened as I was eating), King Umbertos still holds the #1 Pizza spot in my book. I will be back...

Stop 20 Diner

I ate lunch at Stop 20 Diner in Elmont, NY today. I ordered the Chicken Souvlaki Pita lunch special. It came with soup, a side Greek salad, the sandwich, dessert, and a drink.

There were several choices of soup to choose from, and I picked lentil. The soup was good. A basket of challah bread and crackers was brought out at the same time as the soup.

The soup and bread was followed with the side Greek salad. It didn't come with the wonderful items that make Greek salads from these Greek diners special such as the stuffed grape leaves or anchovies, but these generally don't come with side salads. It consisted of lettuce, tomato, onions, feta cheese, and olives. It tasted good enough, although it would have been much better with some stuffed grape leaves...

The Chicken Souvlaki pita came out next and was the biggest disappointment of the meal. The pita was filled with lots and lots of grilled chicken, chopped green peppers and onions, and chopped tomato. It was served with a cup of tzatziki. The sandwich was way too much chicken, and not enough other stuff. Each bite was almost all chicken and was way too much and lacked enough flavor. I've had much better chicken souvlaki sandwiches elsewhere...

I ordered a cheese danish for the included dessert. It was tasty enough, and had some currants in it which was a nice touch.

The lunch special was a great deal with the amount of food that was given for the money, but the quality of the food could have been better. My souvlaki had room for improvement. Two of the other meals ordered at my table was a spinach quiche and a spanakopita (spinach pie). The spanakopita and the quiche were exactly the same thing, only the quiche was served as an upside down spanakopita. A quiche is more than a spinach pie turned upside down.

The food here has been better in the past...