A “Flatcar” is a simple concept: A scoop of one of Hildebrandt’s 13 home made ice cream flavors (banana, butter pecan, cappuccino chip, chocolate, chocolate chip, coffee, cookies and cream, maple walnut, mint chip, peach, strawberry, vanilla, vanilla fudge) is placed on a slice of Entenmann’s All Butter Loaf (pound cake) and topped with whipped cream, a river of hot fudge and a bright red Maraschino cherry.  I always get banana ice cream.  And then I watch it disappear, generally in under five minutes.

If you’re planning on eating at Hildebrandt’s, order one of the tastiest classic grilled cheese and bacon sandwiches, an order of their circular, thin potato chip style French fries (demand well done) and an egg cream to wash it down.  Then prepare for the Flatcar.  Thank me later.

Hildebrandt’s Ice Cream

Subtle gourmet touches elevate Diane’s Bakery Cafe above standard fare.  Sweet Thai Chile sauce adds a subtle sweetness to the mayo-based tuna salad, further enhanced by airy Tom Cat brioche.  Pairing the sandwich with a heaping spoonful of fresh mozzarella salad adds some welcome acidity, a credit to  juicy grape tomatoes mixed with the small, creamy clouds of mozzarella and shreds of bright basil.

The rotating menu of prepared foods, all crafted at neighboring Trattoria Diane, includes just big-enough tins of bread crumb-dusted mac and cheese, flaky chicken pot pies, quiches, focaccia pizza and a seemingly endless array of colorful salads.

Every meal should end with something sweet and the options are abundant.  Treat yourself to a brownie, simultaneously delicate and decadent, possessor of a light, sophisticated sweetness even the most die-hard chocolate lover will covet.

And if it’s just a morsel of sinful sweetness you desire, you’re in luck.  One walnut-studded chocolate fudge cookie offers a deceptive decadence in its small frame, a perfect accompaniment to a fresh cup of Diane’s Bakery Cafe coffee.

Enticing pies, cupcakes and cakes guarantee you’ll be welcomed home with open arms.

Diane’s Bakery Cafe

Google Map

I’ve been eating at Pancho’s for almost fifteen years and while it’s lost a bit of it’s edge, it always satisfies with sizzling steak fajitas, a seriously diverse 4 or 5 item combo meal and the two dishes featured in this article, the Buffalo chicken fingers ($8.95) and the large Pancho’s salad with grilled chicken ($9.95).

There’s only one proper way to start a meal at Pancho’s, however, and that’s with a few bowls of their free unlimited house-made chips and salsa. While the chunky tomatoes in the salsa have been downgraded from fresh to canned, the hearty salsa is till brimming with cilantro, garlic and chopped onion, providing an authentic flavor I’ve only seen rivaled at Burrito Box, home of my favorite salsa in Manhattan.

If you eat the addictive delicious chips and salsa as quickly as I usually do, the Buffalo chicken fingers should arrive by the time you finish your second helping. Thick, fresh chicken tenders are tossed in a light breading and fried until crisp and golden brown before being dressed in a mild house-made Buffalo sauce. Dipping them in the standard bleu cheese is tasty but by no means necessary, the fingers are that good alone.

The large Pancho’s salad arrives on a massive platter overflowing with chopped iceberg and Romaine lettuce, chopped tomato, cucumber and onion, shredded carrots and shredded cheddar. A massive char-broiled grilled chicken cutlet sits atop the goodness, sliced and covered in a thin layer of caramelized marinade. Ask for some extra Mexican vinaigrette (mix it up with a fork before applying evenly), mix the salad up and you’re in for some serious deliciousness.

Both Pancho’s Border Grill & Kensington Deli are in immediate walking distance of the Great Neck Long Island Railroad station, 30-40 minutes from Manhattan’s Penn Station. Click here for a train schedule to and from Great Neck. Feel free to email NYC Food Guy (Lawrence@nycfoodguy.com) if you have any questions.

Pancho’s Border Grill

Multiple Locations

Gino’s Pizza

Gino’s, a classic Long Island pizza chain, is the first place I ever tried a Grandma slice.  But it’s not nostalgia that keeps me coming back, it’s the consistently delicious pizza.  The thin-crust Grandma pizza receives a dressing of olive oil and chopped garlic before a healthy amount of shredded mozzarella and dollops of hearty, fresh-made marinara sauce are spread over the pie.  The resulting flavor conjures thoughts of a homemade Italian meal and when fresh, it’s one of the best Grandma slices I’ve had.

Other items that deserve attention are the airy Sicilian slice, the classic and cheesy regular slice and the Gino’s salad, a mix of iceberg lettuce, carrots, sweet pimentos, olives, cucumbers and a healthy handful of mozzarella cheese all topped with Gino’s hearty Italian dressing.  Asking for Romaine lettuce over iceberg enhances the salad.  All of these recommendations hold true at the Great Neck and Port Washington branches of Gino’s.

Steiner’s Pastry Shop

Steiner’s Pastry Shop is a relic of the golden age of bakeries, when everything was made on premises by people who thought of dessert making as an existence not a job.  For the last 29 years, Franz Steiner’s breads, cakes, danishes, doughnuts and cookies have been making stomachs happy.

The item I recommend above all is the fresh-baked cinnamon & sugar covered Jelly doughnut ($1.45).  Best when eaten at the beginning of the day, it’s slightly firm exterior reveals yeasty insides brimming with sweet raspberry jelly.  It’s a classic, old school Jelly doughnut.  You can’t go wrong.

For a taste of  buttery crumb cake, go for the mini apple crumb ($3.95), filled with juicy, fresh tasting apples.

The decadent crumbs dissolve with each bite, forming a cinnamon and sugar infused layer of deliciousness around the tender, sweet sliced apples.

If you enjoy the flavor of almond paste, set your sights on the Almond Danish ($2.75) whose lacquered exterior reveals a butery interior.

This airy pastry derives its deliciousness more from the finely-chopped sugar and cinnamon sweetened almonds rolled inside, than it does the drizzle of generic vanilla icing on top.

The Scottish Coffee Cake (Prices vary) differs from any coffee cake I’ve ever had.  The combo of nuts, raisins and coconut provide a textural trip, but the main flavor of this crunchy and chewy creation is just plain “sweet.”

Take a closer look at the sugary sedimentation taking place.  Once the crispy, buttery sugar on top dissolves into each bite, the remaining flavor is coconut.  The raisins don’t provide enough of a tart counter flavor as they should.

The cinnamon danish ($2.75) was the most disappointing of the bunch.  Although it’s cakey yet airy body was sprinkled with cinnamon and sugar, it could have used the top layer of crystalization we see crowning the Scottish coffee cake.  Instead the sweetness takes a backseat to the yeasty inner cake.

One More Recommendation in Manhasset

Edison’s Ale House

This sports bar doubles as a respectable grill, serving up quality burgers, decent wings, and salads even mom can enjoy.  It’s an institution in Manhasset and a seat at the bar is an invitation to have a few beers and stay as long as you’d like.